Sounds Profitable

Today in the business of podcasting:
Spotify is expanding its Verified by Spotify badge to podcast shows, adding a green checkmark to identify official creator, publisher, and brand presences on the platform based on listener activity, platform standing, and audience authenticity.
The 2026 Podnews Report Card collected 779 pieces of community feedback on major podcast platforms, with YouTube reaching second place in the overall rankings for the first time, just behind Apple Podcasts and ahead of Spotify.
A new WARC report, The Multiplier Playbook, surveying more than 200 senior marketers finds that 60% say their C-suite does not fully understand the role of advertising, and only 21% say advertising objectives align with broader corporate goals.
New Omeda research finds 70% of publishers consider audience data critical, yet only 9% of their organizations use it effectively, a gap writer Brian Morrissey links to decentralized and siloed data infrastructure.
YouTube is rolling out its AI-powered likeness detection technology to all eligible creators over 18, expanding access beyond select YouTube Partner Program members and allowing users to set up protection via ID verification.
To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:
Triton Digital's latest Podcast Report reveals that digital audio in the US has reached a market value equivalent to Brazil's entire digital ad industry, highlighting the growing scale of US podcast and streaming audiences.
Global has launched a new premium video advertising format on YouTube, giving brands access to connected TV-style placements alongside the broadcaster's content, including the news podcast Up to Speed.
Captivate has enabled HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) support for private podcast feeds, improving playback reliability and compatibility for subscription and members-only audio content.
A new Digiday report examines the rise of agentic advertising, with survey data showing a majority of advertisers already integrating or building agentic AI capabilities into their ad workflows.
Industry analysis explores how podcasting's trust advantage and audience engagement position it as an effective channel as advertisers evaluate where to place budgets in an AI-driven media landscape.
To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:
Podcasters took center stage at the upfronts, as Amazon unveiled Oprah Winfrey's new Wondery podcast deal and YouTube's Brandcast event featured content announcements from major creators, with both platforms positioning video podcasting as a direct competitor for TV advertising budgets.
Amplifi Media founder Steven Goldstein reports results from a NYU focus group study of AI-generated podcasts, which averaged a 2.3 out of 5 rating; students valued narrow-utility formats but consistently described AI hosts as flat and inauthentic, with Goldstein calling for industry-wide disclosure standards to preserve listener trust.
Podcast hosting platform Flightcast has launched full support for video on Apple Podcasts and HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) video publishing, allowing users to activate video for their entire back catalog with a single click at no additional cost.
To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

This week in the business of podcasting:
New data from the 2026 U.K. Advertising Landscape Study, conducted by Sound Insights for Sounds Profitable, finds that 79% of U.K. podcast listeners recall a podcast ad from the past week — a striking result in a country shaped by decades of ad-free BBC broadcasting, with recall essentially equal across men and women.
A Reuters Institute report finds video is reshaping news podcasting at every level, from how shows are produced and discovered to how they make money, with publishers increasingly building around personalities and layering in revenue from events, subscriptions, and merchandise.
Amazon Music has launched video podcasts for U.S. iOS and Android users using HLS video within an open RSS ecosystem, starting with ART19-hosted content and expanding to more hosting partners later this summer.
Spotify is expanding its video distribution network through five new hosting platform integrations and announcing forthcoming support for Apple Podcasts' HLS video technology, giving creators a path to distribute and monetize video across both platforms simultaneously.

To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.

Today in the business of podcasting:
Spotify has officially integrated five new hosting platforms into its video distribution ecosystem and announced that Spotify-hosted podcasts will gain support for Apple Podcasts' HLS video technology, enabling video distribution to Apple Podcasts without changing existing setups.
New research from Sound Insights finds that 79% of U.K. podcast listeners recall an ad heard in the past week, outperforming most media in a country where nearly half of adults cannot recall any brand advertising, with podcast ad recall among 18-to-34-year-olds surpassing broadcast TV.
RAJAR Q1 2026 data shows U.K. radio weekly reach growing slightly year over year at 87% of the population, with 27% of adults listening to podcasts each week and 11% of podcast listeners reporting no traditional radio consumption.
Streamonomics reports the top eight U.S. streamers posted a combined $9.8 billion in Q1 2026 profits, a 54% increase from 2025, while the Attention 20 index of top global attention economy companies reached $20 trillion in enterprise value.
Japan's inaugural PODCAST EXPO 2026 drew 12,713 attendees across two days in Tokyo, bringing together podcast creators, listeners, and industry professionals in what organizers describe as Japan's largest podcast festival to date.
To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.