Sounds Profitable

10

The pace of change the podcast industry is undergoing is staggering. The implications for podcasters, hosting providers, podcast listening app developers, and advertisers and agencies are enormous. And so is the growth potential. Presented as a companion to the weekly newsletter of the same name, our podcast provides you with direct access to our narrated articles, interviews with industry experts, bleeding-edge research, and can't miss industry news recaps. That Sounds Profitable, right? Assumptions and conventional wisdom will be challenged. Easy answers with no proof of efficacy will be exposed. Because the thinking that got podcast advertising close to a billion dollars annually will need to be drastically overhauled to bring in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars podcast advertising deserves.

Recent Episodes
  • New Podcast Features @ WWDC, How a Podcast Promoted EuroMillions, & More
    Jun 10, 2025 – 06:01
  • Podcasting's Programmatic Future, How Podcasts Use Patreon, @ More
    Jun 9, 2025 – 07:59
  • Audiences Trust Podcasts, HLS Could Upgrade RSS, & More
    Jun 6, 2025 – 08:20
  • The Advertising Landscape, Australian Audio Engagement, & More
    Jun 5, 2025 – 05:03
  • Why Podcasting’s Advertising Advantage Is Bigger Than We Thought
    Jun 5, 2025 – 08:35
  • Podcasting's High Trust and Recall, NPR's Open Letter to Congress, & More
    Jun 4, 2025 – 05:52
  • Upgrading RSS with HLS, Kast Media's New CEO, & More
    Jun 3, 2025 – 06:41
  • Podcast Ads Fill Gender Gap, Australia's Internet Ad Spend, & More
    Jun 2, 2025 – 06:34
  • Podcasting's Ad Anomaly, UK Audio Listenership, & More
    May 30, 2025 – 10:06
  • Podcast Ads Addressing Demographics, Spotify Ups Discovery, & More
    May 29, 2025 – 07:51
  • Speaking Up for Spoken Word, Calm and Cautious Q2, & More
    May 28, 2025 – 07:00
  • Podcast Show London Debrief, Brief Spotify Outage, & More
    May 27, 2025 – 06:26
  • Monetizing Your Podcast Globally
    May 23, 2025 – 02:57
  • International Audio Listening, Book-Buying on Spotify, & More
    May 23, 2025 – 07:45
  • Australian Digital Audio 📈, UK Audio Listening Report, & More
    May 22, 2025 – 04:21
  • Channel 4 🔜 Podcasting, New IAB Digital Ad Agreements, & More
    May 21, 2025 – 05:24
  • Apple Podcast Design Docs, Buying 📚on Spotify iOS, & More
    May 20, 2025 – 06:30
  • Podcasts in Times Square, Spotify Plays Updated, & More
    May 19, 2025 – 05:54
  • Prepping for Podcast Show London, Reconsidering the Download, & More
    May 16, 2025 – 08:36
  • Leveraging Podcast Events, Content Creators @ Upfronts, & More
    May 15, 2025 – 08:00
  • Eventful Podcasting
    May 15, 2025 – 07:38
  • Podcasting's $7b 2024, What Podcast Fans are Like, & More
    May 9, 2025 – 09:47
  • Examining Podcasting's Fans, The Downsides of Podcasting for 📺, & More
    May 8, 2025 – 05:51
  • The Great Podcast Divide: Understanding Fans vs. Anti-Fans
    May 8, 2025 – 17:07
  • New Estimate for Global Podcast Economy, CTV Podcasting Growth, & More
    May 7, 2025 – 05:41
  • Spotify Podcast Viewcounts, Epic Games v. Apple Results, & More
    May 6, 2025 – 06:06
  • Podcasts 🔜 Spotify Ad Exchange, Defining the "Top" Podcaster, & More
    May 5, 2025 – 07:04
  • Podcasting's Smart TV Factor, Getting Gaming into Podcast Ads, & More
    May 2, 2025 – 08:15
  • March Ad Spend 📈, SAG-AFTRA to Add Influencers, & More
    May 1, 2025 – 06:30
  • Conversations from Possible, Deloitte's Media Outlook, & More
    Apr 30, 2025 – 05:37
  • The Smart TV Factor: What Growing Connected TV Listening Means for Podcasting
    Apr 30, 2025 – 08:41
  • Digital Video Attracting Spend, UK Podcast Ad Growth, & More
    Apr 29, 2025 – 03:57
  • Selling Podcast Ads to Gaming, Spotify's Podcaster Pay, & More
    Apr 28, 2025 – 05:10
  • 2024's Podcast Ad Revenue, Podcasting's Conversion Problem, & More
    Apr 25, 2025 – 07:50
  • Making Podcasts Stickier, Global Podcast Listenership, & More
    Apr 24, 2025 – 06:15
  • Podcasting's🌏Income, Chrome Cancels Pop-Up, & More
    Apr 23, 2025 – 04:48
  • Branded Content 📈 Revenue, Reconsidering Ad Creative, & More
    Apr 22, 2025 – 05:39
  • Netflix 👀 Podcasters, IAB Ad Revenue Report, & More
    Apr 21, 2025 – 07:10
  • IAB Upfront ➡️ September, Podcast Advertising's Utility & More
    Apr 18, 2025 – 08:48
  • Podcast Ad Versatility, CTV Transparency Concerns, & More
    Apr 17, 2025 – 04:18
  • Podcasting: The Most Versatile Medium
    Apr 17, 2025 – 05:50
  • Podcasting's Advertising Landscape, 🌎Spotify Outage, & More
    Apr 16, 2025 – 05:56
  • Economic Expectations, an Autumnal Podcast Upfront, & More
    Apr 15, 2025 – 05:51
  • Podcast Music Strikes, Young American Listening Habits, & More
    Apr 14, 2025 – 07:24
  • The Impact of Spotify Video, Nickelodeon x Starglow, & More
    Apr 11, 2025 – 09:29
  • Spotify Video Converting RSS, Podcasting's Fandom Boost, & More
    Apr 10, 2025 – 05:17
  • Branded Podcast Clips 📈, Updating the Podscape, & More
    Apr 9, 2025 – 05:29
  • Effective 🎮 Audio Ads, Thinking Like a Network, & More
    Apr 7, 2025 – 07:01
  • Defining "Podcast" for the Industry, Spotify's Ad Exchange, & More
    Apr 4, 2025 – 10:10
  • Podcasting's Report Card, Affiliate On the Rise, & More
    Apr 3, 2025 – 06:04
Recent Reviews
  • ~ Violet ~
    Jolly Badvertising
    Dude wants to turn personal podcast queue management into yet another media gavage? Wut? These people are why your phone is tracking everything you do. And selling that info. They sound like your friends. They’re not. It seems that every time they quote stats in this show, they twist them to make it seem like there should be more advertising in podcasts. As if the skip button doesn’t exist. As if the metrics are honest. As if the numbers don’t actually show audience prefers no ads. It all seems dishonest and bad for podcasting long-term. They ran some experiments with their feed early on so now I have 4 separate feeds for this in my player. And the main part of their feed is now a whole different show, which is essentially a ripoff of another person’s show. So I really struggle with this one. There seem to be some good people involved with this production. This show could do better in finding ways to tailor advertising to podcasting without losing audience. I would predict they’d find much shorter ads, fewer ad breaks, ads that sonically match the show yet are distinct from it, ads in their own chapter breaks, and non-intrusive whole-season sponsorships would be more pleasant and effective than what we’re getting now. Ads are quickly driving me away from podcasting and helping me create my “never buy” list. This show is telling the industry the opposite. I’d be suspicious of whatever it is this show is selling.
  • Bradford Swanson
    Critical information for the podcasting industry
    Sounds Profitable’s series of podcasts have been so helpful to me as I’ve tried to keep up-to-speed with the changes across podcasting and media. I’ve relied on their coverage and insights to learn about how the AdTech industry works and evolves, but have also appreciated their in-depth research and analysis of news across the industry. Highly recommended!
  • consciousdave
    Great podcast for those interested in ad tech aka podcasters
    Bryan and now Tom, are great researchers; been following them both for a while. Bryan is passionate about the podcast space and how ads fit into it. Tom comes from Edison research and has a heavy research background- very knowledgeable about podcast data. They’re already making a great team and I look forward to continue to track this space with them. They too do a good job of helping indies by giving a lot of free game and webinars etc. Definitely recommend to fellow podcasters that want to monetize and run ads
  • RelNiss
    0-100
    I didn’t know anything about podcast ad tech before this show!
  • Courtneyisaboy
    Incredible ad tech learning
    This has helped me understand the advertising side to podcasting. It’s put in such a way that even the dumbest of humans, me being that, can understand and follow along. Great production. Great ideas.
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