375 - Signal Awards, Podcast Scam Alert, and AudioBoom’s $325M Milestone

0:05 Good morning podcasting Morning chat. Today is Wednesday, September 24th, 2025, and today we're continuing our countdown to the Empowered Podcasting Conference. And since it's a Wednesday, we've got headlines from award nods and new tools to sketchy scams and smarter stats. So if you're listening live on Clubhouse, hit the share button, bottom left hand side of the screen and share it. However, Clubhouse lets you. And if you're listening via YouTube or podcast, please share this episode with a fellow podcaster. And now give us about 30 seconds and we'll get things rolling. Thanks for being here.

1:21 Good morning again, podcasting. Morning chat. Thanks so much for being here. I am your host, Mark Ronic, and on stage with me we have producer Ashley Feller, Dr. Faye, Alex Baelish, Jonathan Howard, Sid Meadows and Nick Nolback and Billy in the audience are first audience member here. And Billy, you're welcome to come up and join us too if you'd like. And thank you again for being here. The countdown is on two days until the Empowered Podcasting Conference. I was just looking at our Eventbrite page and some of the statistics and things and I was looking at we kicked things off as far as ticket sales go on April 10th. That's when we made our first tickets available for people and yeah, 5:00 or so months later, here we are the week of and I am super excited.

2:18 I thought what we could do today before we get to the news is start with a little icebreaker question. We haven't doing our usual icebreaker question stuff. And by the way, happy birthday to Ashley. Thank you for putting that in the chat. Ashley, I appreciate that you announced it. A lot of times when a birthday in this community happens, the birthday person doesn't say a thing and we don't know about it and we don't get to recognize it. So thank you for saying that. Ashley, happy 40th to you. How are you feeling? I'm feeling much better, thank you. You're welcome. I know the 40th birthday was one of the reasons why Ashley can't make it to Empowered Podcasting this year.

3:02 It's going to do some celebrating with family and friends. Totally understandable. And the way I want to do the icebreaker here is really in a way that could help anybody attending any kind of event, whether it's a networking event, a conference, whatever it is, if you're a content creator, putting yourself out there, networking with people, going to events to learn, get new insights. I think that I want to come up with some questions for you that will help anybody, whether you're coming to the conference or not. So let's do this for today, and we'll keep this going on Thursday and Friday as well. And I don't know, did I say it out loud? We're two days away.

3:45 Here's the question. What's one thing you always bring with you to a conference that other creators might overlook? OK, this could be anything. And it's somewhat inspired because I got a, a text yesterday from Alex asking should we be bringing recording equipment to this conference? And my answer to that was, if you're planning on recording content, absolutely. But what else? What are some things, Sid, you go to conferences, you've been to a few already this year and I know you're coming to Empowered Podcasting as well. What's one thing that you recommend or you personally always bring with you to a conference that other creators might overlook? Good morning.

4:33 Good morning, everybody. So to be clear, I've only been to one creator conference, which was podcast movement. So this was my second event as a creator. But I do go to a lot of events. I've got 1 coming up in January. I'm going to one in October. And I'm going to sound so freaking old school, but I always take my business cards always. I mean, just you never know what do you need to hand them out? And if you don't have them and you can't give them out. So I mean, that meant that really dates me. But I always, I always bring business cards. I think I saw a TikTok or something, somebody was handing their business card to somebody else and the somebody else said what is this?

5:16 Are you are you handing me your trash? Yeah, it is a little old school and I bring mine too. Some people still prefer it, right? And and not meaning, and I don't mean some people prefer handing their cards. Some people prefer receiving the cards and there are arguments to doing it digitally or doing the old school business card. And here's what I mean. The business card, it's tangible. It's something that you walk away with. Hopefully it's memorable enough that when you look at that meaning memorable enough of a, an encounter with that person that when you look at that card, you remember that person, right? And then you can look, you could take all your cards, put them all out on a table and start planning.

6:03 OK, who am I following up with? And when Dr. Did you want to say something? Oh my God, I feel so strongly about this. I'm so I am definitely a business card person. Definitely there is something and you said it, it's very it's tangible. There's something about you're holding that card in your fingers and you look up at that person's face and you look at the card and you kind of get some kind of a, you know, attachment to the face, to the card. And I've got a pro tip for those who are bringing business cards. Please leave the back of your business cards.

6:45 I have AQR code on mine, but it's at the very end. But leave some blank white space on the back of your business card so you can take notes. Met them at Empowered Podcasting. Birthday is the same as my daughter's. Soccer is, you know, some kind of something that you could put on the back of that card. My card, if you had a stack of 100 cards in your hand and you threw them up in the air and they all fell on the ground face up, you would know you could see my card. If you were from across the room, you could pick out my card because it's a color from from edge to edge.

7:29 It's very, it's like bold. It's very out there. And I think that's important. Yeah, You know what another reason I'm in that camp with you is because if you do it digitally, you know, like I, I have it too, right? Like I have AQR code that I put on my home screen of my phone to make it easy to scan for people, right? So I'm not fumbling around trying to find the QR code. It's just my screensaver. But the problem with it is, is that it's gets stored, right? They'll scan it, they store it in their phone, but then that's it. They don't, they don't know who they scanned and when, right? So it's like, oh, who is that person?

8:10 Like I'm describing myself. Who is that person with the, the blue glasses that always wears the podcast shirts? What the heck is that guy's name? And and that's it. It's gone. You have to essentially go through your whole contact list and hope that you find it. So that's what what a big reason why I like the business cards. And if it's a business card, I'm constantly going into my purse, into the pocket of my purse where I keep those cards because I keep other things. And in order to get to those other things, I have to take out all of those cards. So those cards are always in front of me, you know, it's like I if I have to find someone, I know the pocket that that card is in.

8:51 So I I'm so strongly for in the camp of business cards and complete white on the other side so you can do notes. I like that tip. Thank you, Dr. and Jonathan, I saw you wanted to say something. Go ahead. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. So I'm on the no business card front there. But before I say that, the thing that I would make sure that I brought if I'm going to a conference is an extra phone charger and comfy shoes, especially after last year's podcast movement. Extra phone charger and comfy shoes. The phone charger is huge. Yes, yes. And it kind of ties into how I do network.

9:34 Always take a selfie with the person that you're you're, you're meeting, take a selfie with them. So you can always go back to that. And that's how you can know who it is in your phone. You've got it there in connect with it. So always take a selfie with them. I love that. And here's a little extra pro tip on top of that, Jonathan, if you have an iPhone, I'm only familiar with iPhone. If you have an iPhone and you pull that picture up from your album and you're looking at it right, It's the single picture on your screen. If you tap the picture and pull up with your finger, you'll get a lot of information about the picture. But the cool thing is, is that the very first thing you can do is tap and then you can type a note.

10:17 So that's what I sometimes do when I do that at a networking event, a conference. When I take the selfie, when we walk away, I quickly bring the picture back up and I leave a little note so that I remember who this person is, or maybe it's their name or it's their phone number or both, whatever that looks like. But it's a great little way to keep it all together in one place. And by the way, Amy in the chat said business cards, Flyers, advertising your services for the lobby table, list of questions, point for areas you are unsure of. So yeah, we will probably have a table out for people to do that sort of thing. I'm glad you said that, Amy.

11:00 Thank you for for bringing that up. Does anyone have anything else before we move on and dive into the news? Any other tips? One thing that you think people should bring comfy shoes? Absolutely, Jonathan. I think that's a big one for a lot of people. I got 1. Hey, Dominic, go ahead. Morning, morning everybody. Hope everybody is well. Breath mints. Oh heck yeah. Listen, listen, you, you hit that lunch break right and you forget that, you know, maybe you had a nice, you know, Kraut dog or something. Maybe the breath ain't as fresh, ain't as fresh as it used to be. Got the dragon going right. So maybe a a a few breath mints, not just for yourself, but they maybe somebody you meet as well could probably go a long way. And to say you know it goes a long way. Say you looking out for them too. Oh yeah, I mean, I fully agree.

11:50 I'm I've always got breath mints or gum on me at these things because yeah, I mean especially even forget like what you might have eaten for lunch. It's like, you know, after a full day going to different talks and doing and doing a lot of talking yourself, just your breath might get a little stale after a while. It's might be time to grab some breath mints. Yeah, great. Great idea. Thank you, Dominic. I have one. Go ahead, Dr. OK so this comes from all my years of working in casinos. Even in like in the hike of summer when it's like a hundred 200° outside, bring a sweater because usually they have the air conditioning cranked up to 11.

12:36 Thank you Spinal Tap and you are freezing inside the hotel. So bring a sweater. Did you know that they're doing, I think they're doing a sequel, yeah. Sequel to Spinal Tap? Yeah. I did and I went out and I, I purchased the original for my husband because we, we want to do the, the whole series, you know, the first one, we want to see it again and then we want to lead into the second one. Love that, by the way. Some might say to bring water, right? I think it's really important to hydrate at these things. And our conference, we will provide water, we will provide coffee, we will provide hot water for tea, which I say that because the podcasting conferences I've been to didn't do that. So we wanted to make sure that we keep people hydrated, keep people caffeine filled if if needed. And then of course, I would say bring snacks. Yes, I would say bring snacks.

13:38 And we're going to feed you a lot on Saturday. Saturday we're providing lunch. It'll be, it won't be the the hot dog or what, what the example Dominic said. It'll be make your own tacos, which we did last year and it was a huge hit. And then in the evening for our private party, we're going to have, if you're familiar with Cava, it's not cava. It's actually, in my opinion, a whole lot better. So I'll just say Mediterranean for dinner at the private party Saturday night. But you still may want to bring some, some snacks during the days. And here's another one along the lines of hygiene. Bring, bring hand sanitizer or, or wipes. We want to keep everyone healthy and I'm sure the other events do too.

14:24 So maybe you want to bring that and of course, a pen, a Sharpie, something, if you are going to use the back of that business card, something to write on. And we'll also have pens there for people as well. OK. I think, I mean, we could certainly go on and on and on and on. And by the way, yeah, you could bring pen and paper, and we will be providing conference journals for you at our event so that you can take all sorts of notes, and it will guide you through the type of notes and types of things you should be thinking about when you're at these sort of events. OK, let's get into the news. And by the way, again, thank you.

15:05 Is Amy still here? Yes, Amy is here. So Amy, just because I haven't noticed you yet in the room before, I don't know if this is your first time. And thank you for participating in the chat. And just so you know, you are also always welcome to join the conversation up here on stage. And if you or anyone else here has any questions around podcasting, creating content, etcetera, even if you feel like they're not really talking about that right now, we don't care. We take questions at any time. Think of this like a radio station. You can call in your request anytime. So what I like to do first when we dig into the news is share some podcast data for you first 181,808 total podcasts updated their show this over the past week.

15:56 I can't tell you exactly what that how that compares to the previous week. I don't have that data in front of me, so please forgive me. And the number one podcast on Apple, the Charlie Kirk Show, again, for probably obvious reasons being that Charlie Kirk is a big headline lately to say the least. And I'm going to hold off on the number one on Spotify A because you probably have guessed it. And BDR will give us the top five on Spotify since it's always the same person at #1 Go ahead Dr. You know that Dr. is in the kitchen right now. I don't have my Do you want me done in front of me? I'm so sorry. I'll do it, I'll take it over. I forgot because we took some time doing the icebreaker. So #5 overall on Spotify, good hang with Amy Poehler #4. Countdown 2.

16:49 That's it, It just ends there. Countdown 2. It's a Spotify music studio production #3 just creepy. Scary stories #2 the past weekend with Theo Von and #1 The Joe Rogan Experience. Shocker and Dr. also picked for us a top five in a specific genre. This is a new one. I think to us, we haven't gone through a top five under the courses, genre courses and the number one, the Scriptures are real. This is a podcast where they look at elements of the scriptures and it goes. On you mean #5?

17:32 Did I say 545? Yes, that was #5 thank you. Thank you Dr. as you're cooking eggs. Appreciate it #4 immersive Spanish and it the description says immersive Spanish is a unique tool for learning Spanish #3 the Hillside College online courses podcast. So this is Hillside college. They were founded in 1844. A mission to I got to do my timpani again, a mission to provide all who wish to learn the education necessary to preserve dot dot dot dot dot. It got truncated. Please forgive me #2 Econ talk with Russ Roberts and the number one podcasting courses, the Bright Lion Podcast.

18:22 So those are your top five courses on Spotify as of yesterday, September 23rd, 2025. Mark, I was just going to say that next Wednesday when we get to this segment, if she's in the kitchen, it's absolutely OK for you to just wait and do another news story before and let her come back and do the top five. I was really deflated though. I was going to say that, but I was being nice. OK. The emotion and the animation and the just the way she does. You are so right, I agree. You guys. Yeah, Dr. You're officially a staple for the news segment, if you weren't already. Yeah.

19:07 I wanted to bring up that number one, the Bright Line podcast out of breath, sorry, that is faith-based and categories are kind of topsy turvy. I mean, anything can go into this category. Technically, we could go into this category because we educate podcasters. So there you go. That's interesting. Yeah. And I've never really noticed a courses category to choose from before. I might go look at that because it's a really good point. By the way, Dr. I'm also going to stall for one second because I know you're you said you were out of breath. And the next thing on the list, actually what I'll do is I'll go to events and then we'll get into this story, the awards story we wanted to get to. And we have a really cool announcement to share about that.

19:55 So first let me share some events coming up that you may be interested in. If you didn't guess, Empowered Podcasting is coming up this Friday, September 26th. It will be the 26th through the 28th in Charlotte, NC. 28th is really more of a. Informal short day 28th. We will just be doing some brunch informally at the hotel. Say our goodbyes, do some final networking, get some final hugs in along the way. So come join us in Charlotte. Go to empoweredpodcasting.com. You can still get tickets. We will have tickets available until Friday morning. Also, Speak Fest Night of the Living Pod happens in Houston on October 10th. And by the way, if you look that up, if you're interested, Speakfest dispelled Speke.

20:44 Speakfest also coming up in October, October 16th in Baltimore, MD, the 7th annual Afrozen Audio podcast festival uniting black podcasts. Check that great event out. Again, that's in my old neck of the woods, Baltimore, MD and also Denver Podcast Happy Hour on October 17th. And if you want more information about that, we will put that in the show notes. And also you can always find out more about any of the events I just listed at Pod News slash, I'm sorry, Pod news.net/event or just look for the events tab on their website. Dr. you had a couple of things actually. I'm going to give you one more second to catch your breath and remind everybody that pre registrations just opened for the 4th edition of Podcast Thon, running March 14th through the 20th of next year 2026.

21:44 This is the big charity driven podcast movement where creators rally around different causes and for the first time, they're now welcoming Spanish speaking podcasters, which means even more communities and nonprofits will get the spotlight. Last year was massive. More than 1500 podcasters from 40 different countries each dedicated an episode to a nonprofit that they cared about. We even took part on the podcasting morning chat here with an episode called After the Flood, The impact of Hurricane Helene, highlighting the recovery efforts and the people behind them from that devastating hurricane that happened almost exactly a year ago, just a few days away from that year anniversary, for lack of a better word. Dr. Did you want to share a couple things before you get to the Signal Awards?

22:33 I do. So there is a virtual networking event called Meet Up and Match Up and it's every Thursday. And this Thursday it's going to be 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM Eastern Time. And this Thursday, they change topics every Thursday. So this Thursday, the group of topics is training the news society, science and the environment. And you can get in for free if you use the initials of this show PMC. And hey, tell them that Dr. sent you and we will put the link in the show notes. OK, Signal Awards go big with new categories and big names. And familiar names.

23:20 Familiar names as. Well, exactly. Wonder who that could be? So the Signal Awards are back, and this year they're bigger, louder and more competitive than ever. Submissions jumped nearly 30% as the podcasting industry shows no signs of slowing down. Organizers rolled out 10 shiny new categories, from the best host in news, politics and culture to fresh honors for video, podcasting and even fiction voice acting. The 2025 finalists lists reads like a star-studded gala. Michelle Obama. Jon Stewart, The Kelsey Brothers, Katie Couric, Kira Swisher, Keke Palmer and more are in the running and right alongside of them is our very own podcasting morning chat. Community member Dominic Lawson and his wife Kenda are nominated for six awards.

24:15 I'm going to repeat that six awards between their three shows, Black as America, Mental Health, Rewritten and The B Word and Beyond Bragging Rights podcast. I'm sorry, past winners say the signal stamp of approval delivers real world perks, funding, validation and a serious boost in visibility. Is voting open? No, voting is not open, right? It's. Closed. Yes, voting is closed. It's closed on the 12th, sorry. And the Industry Expert panel will also crown bronze, silver and gold champs across categories before the big winner party is November 10th.

24:57 Experts say to expect award shows like The Signal Awards to keep expanding categories, especially around video and niche genres. The industry is maturing and awards will increasingly become a form of currency for creators negotiating with sponsors, advertisers and platforms. That's such a good point. Let's give a round of applause to Dominic and Kenda getting more nominations. Pretty awesome. And Dominic, please, if you don't mind, would you share some details, what categories which shows? Because I think between the two of you, there are three different podcasts and I think all three have at least one nomination.

25:41 So would you like to share a little bit? And congratulations, my friend. I appreciate all of that. Let me just say, I've always appreciated and have been very grateful of this community supporting what me and Kenda try to do with AL's education company in the shows that we create. So just want to say that also really quickly, just a slight change if you will, there is voting that started yesterday. It's the listener's choice. So, so everybody in each category gets either bronze, silver or gold like that's locked in. But the Listener's Choice award is voted on between now and I believe October something, so that part is open.

26:26 OK. Yeah. So I think it's October voting is now open through October 9th. That's what it says. OK. Yes, yes. So there is a voting aspect. 6 nominations is something that I definitely don't take lightly. The first time submitted for the Signal awards, I got 6 nominations just for Black as America alone. But this one feels more special one because Kenda joined joined the award-winning track when it comes to signals as well. But also I think it goes to show no matter if it's mental health, black history or self improvement, we're able to create content in different genres that make an impact.

27:07 I say it's like going to the Grammys and getting nominated for hip hop, country and polka. That's quite a feeling, if you will. I don't know where poker came from, but here's what it is. 3 shows, 6 nominations for all of them. Actually, it evened out to each to each show. Oh. Nice. Kinda is for best host and best show when it comes to self improvement. She's actually in the same category as Keke Palmer, which is kind of cool. And her show the B word, by the way, Ken. The B word yes, thank you Black as America has entered as well. Best host once again, but also for sports documentary. Best individual episode for sports if you will. So the episode I did about Wilma Rudolph, Shakira Richardson and Florence Griffith Joyner is the episode that we submitted a lot of strong indication we were going to get something for that episode because of the feedback and then now joining the crew. Now we can save the officially award-winning show. Mental health rewritten as nominated for two is 2 nominations as well for best individual episode and Health, Wellness and Best show or Health and Wellness as well and the best host sharing the category with Jon Stewart, which is always kind of cool to attach yourself with that. And I'll say this and land my plane. This is just another indication for anybody who's listening, who's an independent podcaster that you can, you can beat the bid dogs.

28:38 And I say that because we have 6 nominations and Lemonade has three. So you do with that what you will. So I'll land my plane there. Thank you, Dominic. Appreciate. That Nick. Congratulations again. Go ahead, Dr. I want to make sure that everyone understands that the one common thread throughout all of these six nominations is the producer. Yes, indeed, yes indeed. Dominic is the. Producer, I appreciate that. Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank. You. Yeah. So even when Kendall wins, Dominic still wins. And not just because it's his wife we're talking about here. It's because he has a hand in that show, too. I like hands in my bets. I can tell.

29:21 Hopefully you're not hedging those bets on your Dallas Cowboys, though. Never, never. I always have to have to throw in a comment about the Cowboys whenever I can when Dominic's in the room. Dominic, we are so excited for you and thank you for continuing to be an inspiration and motivator in this community. It's been a wild ride and it's been a lot of fun being with you for a lot of that ride. And as I've brought up before, just a few years ago, I remember when you were joining this room as a regular community member. And I remember the day I asked you to to be a community leader. And it's just crazy to see how many awards you've accumulated over such a short time.

30:04 And it's and it's a it goes to show you the hard work, the passion that you put into it that anyone puts into it. If you really put that love into it, that passion into it, that hard work into it and that and make that effort to find a way to be a little different than the rest. I mean, that's you are a perfect example of that. And we appreciate you having you being here with us. I appreciate all those words and I, I really do it. It means a lot to me. I, I know I don't come around a lot, but that's all because I'm, I'm really focused on what I'm trying to do, but I'm still around. I'm still around, still lurking, still checking out what's going on with Empowered and I definitely still in support Empowered and just want to give back what I got from empowered.

30:49 So even if it looks different. Yeah, and I know that this coming weekend you can't make the Empowered Podcasting Conference, and I believe you'll be doing the Pod in Box in Memphis at the Cassette Library, right? Yes, definitely Ena. You, you know Ena very well as you spoken at pot box, the very first one actually in Memphis. But it's growing, it is growing rapidly. The city has 100% put it's thought and intention and more importantly fiduciary funds and monetary things towards building pie box. We got 2 Rockstar keynotes, Lauren Larosa who is part of The Breakfast Club and Doctor Jamal Bryant who's a pastor of the mega church I believe in Atlanta, I believe. So it's going to be a huge draw.

31:38 It keeps getting bigger and bigger. The funding for from the city who really believes in podcasting. Even the mayor himself is going to speak at potluck. So that just goes to show how much how important podcasting is to the city of Memphis and how much we are intended on growing it. So it's super. I would love to talk to you about how I can bring that to my area of Nashville. Absolutely, absolutely. You know, Nashville's got got a lot going on. You know, you got a got a new $2.1 billion stadium you're trying to finish up there. So, so, so maybe they can cut some of those funds towards podcast and you get a little start up fund going forward.

32:22 So I I'll definitely have that conversation with you. Thank you. Yeah, and it's a it's a, it's an event that was when I attended the first one, really inspiring and I think absolutely influenced me in in in my desire to start my own event. Ena puts on a great day of podcasting, insights, podcasting presentations. It's a real event there. And of course, they even have their own podcast studio there at the library, which I find very cool. So good luck to them. I'm certainly my support to you, Dominic to Ina and everybody at Pod and Box. If I could have been there, I would have been there. We are looking forward to hearing more about it. OK, let's do this.

33:08 Let's go ahead and keep things moving. Now I, we only have about 1/2 hour or so. And so I'm going to have to needle through all this and find which stories I want to make sure to share with you today. So first I wanted to share Audio Boom just announced it paid out more than $325,000,000 to podcast creators worldwide, highlighting its role as one of the biggest revenue engines in the industry. Over 8000 creators have earned income through Audio Boom's ad marketplace and premium partnerships, with video now fueling much of the growth. More than 60% of their shows are in video, and video revenue doubled in the first half of 2025.

33:53 From indie hits like Astonishing Legends to global chart toppers, Audio Boom says its mission is simple, helping podcasters turn passion into sustainable business. And if you're curious about this, I thought I would just share some details because I know it sparked my interest seeing the success of these programs. So Audio Boom's ad marketplace, which they call Showcase is their global advertising marketplace or ad tech platform. It works like or with dynamic ad insertion, which we've talked about before. Even last week, we talked about how YouTube is incorporating dynamic ads to place ads into podcast episodes programmatically.

34:38 I can never say that word. Matching advertisers with inventory, so advertisers using Showcase can target by category, listener, demographics, geography, keywords and genre. And Audio Boom recently integrated shows like Triton Digital Sounder to give Showcase smarter contextual, contextual, my words aren't working targeting and brand safety control. So the Audio Boom premium partnerships. Audio Boom maintains a premium advertising program, premium network that works differently from the more open marketplace. The premium network is more curated. It involves host read endorsements, live reads, brand sponsorships tiered to top tier creators rather than just inserting pre produced ads into archives. So it's a really thoughtful process on how it works and I applaud it because clearly they understand the value of host read endorsements and live reads. I think more of those the more successful advertising and podcasting will be.

35:48 I think when we're playing pre recorded spots, especially ones that don't necessarily appeal to an audience, I think that's a recipe for failure. So if you're interested, that's Audio Boom, You can check out Audio Boom and see if that's something that's of interest to you. Looks like Apple Podcasts quietly rolled out an update to a page called Show Availability Features. It gives you more control over your podcast and where it shows up. According to Apple, you can select where you want your show to be available on Apple Podcasts. So by default, all countries or regions are selected, but you can deselect territories where you don't want your show to appear.

36:32 Keep in mind that any change like this takes around 24 hours to kick in. Dr. You have a story here about Brazil? Story #7 in case you're following along. With over half of its 203,000,000 citizens tuning in weekly and averaging 11 hours of listening, far outpacing the US and this. Is Brazil you're talking about? This I'm sorry, yeah, I forgot headline. Brazil is an emerging as one of the most passionate podcast markets in the world, now far outpaces the US Yet despite this massive engagement, the country remains underserved by global platforms that continue to push one-size-fits-all tools built for US and European audiences.

37:25 Language barriers, clunky monetization options, and misaligned pricing models are leaving billions in potential revenue on the table for podcasters and platforms willing to adapt to Portuguese first tools, local payment systems, and creator focused features. Brazil isn't just another market, it's a goldmine waiting to be claimed. Now my question is how can the US based podcaster take advantage of this? That's my question now. I realize that there's probably some bilingual people in Brazil, but you could probably use AI to do the translation, yeah.

38:09 Well, yeah, I mean YouTube again, we announced last week YouTube is adding that feature in so that you can change your content to speak in any language and even the lip sync is appropriate. You can change the the way that you're the mouth moves so that it looks like you're actually speaking the language. So yeah, more and more of those tools are available and I, you know, I'm not sure of other ways yet that podcasters can take advantage of this other than maybe some of the more obvious thing like doing a show that would appeal to a Brazilian audience or doing a Brazilian based show. I think that it's going to, there are some advantages to that. And based on what you're sharing from this article, it sounds like there's not a lot out there yet to really take advantage of this to monetize something like this.

38:57 I I would say really the key here is our platforms like Spotify and Apple should probably get on board with this and try to do more to appeal to such a growing audience. Yeah, the one thing that's missing from this story is to know the numbers between YouTube and audio. First, I would like to know that those numbers when it comes to Brazil. And I think that this story where we found this story I believe at Pod News, I think that it's this story is assuming that we're talking about the audio first platform. It does say listening in here. Yeah, that does use 11 hours of listening.

39:39 Yep, by the way, keeping it to the international theme, in Canada podcasting is on a serious upswing. Monthly listening jumped 19% over the past year and now nearly half of the country, 46% of Canadians are tuning in every month. That's a big deal for the medium and a clear sign the audience keeps growing and I certainly hope our friend Simona Costantini is cashing in on the country's latest podcasting boom. Simona being in the Canada area although. With Simona, where in the world is Simona? Simona's always traveling somewhere, speaking on different stages. Dominic, did you want to say something? Yeah, two things.

40:21 One, going back to the the previous story isn't at the new Airpods. Aren't they going to have like a language feature? I think they are. Yeah, yeah, that's cool. I wonder if that kind of plays into all of this as well, especially since how Apple is big in podcasting, in case anybody didn't know that. But also as far as Canada's, you know, rise in podcasting and stuff like that. I, I can definitely attest to that just from the standpoint of in the Black Podcasters Association, we've had a huge influx of Canadian Black podcasters who have joined the association, right? They're probably the largest group or they're probably the fastest rising group as far as like people joining this association in the association are Black Canadian podcasters.

41:09 So I can, I can attest to that to a bit, a little bit. Interesting, interesting. Thank you. Dominic and I see Chris in the chat said Canada is Radio Garden State's second most listened country and Radio Garden State, a New Jersey based Internet radio station playing New Jersey music. But Canada's very interested in that. It sounds like. That's really cool. And by the way, I forgot about the Airpod thing because I'm a little bitter about the new Airpods coming out because I literally bought the the previous model a month before the announcement. And I even asked the Apple guy, I'm like, I know you probably can't tell me, but should I wait? Is there going to be a new one? He's like, you never know.

41:50 They always talk about a new one coming, but you never know. So I went and bought it anyway and now I really kind of want the newer ones. You got like that old commercial but I just bought this one. Yep. Exactly, son just asked me. I should have Jonathan, I forgot that you really are a good Apple buddy that I need to lean on a little bit more 'cause you know, Nick, my, one of my other buddies, he, he's an Android guy. So I can never really talk too much. And so is Dr. All right, let's keep things moving. I'm trying to figure out here. What do we want to do next? And Janae's coming up on stage. So I'll look at my headlines and discuss with Dr. while we say hello to Janae.

42:37 Janae, anything specific you wanted to share or you just joining the conversation? Good morning. Good morning. So yes, Airpod twos will translate just like the new ones. The new ones just has a better, you know, it has a better ANC or active noise cancelling feature in it. And yes, that you never know because they took a long time to come up with version 3, whereas on iPhones every new every year they have a new one coming up. Indeed. And I wanted to congratulate Dominic on the nominees. I mean, that's really amazing. And Ashley, happy birthday to you. Thank you, Janae. Appreciate that. I'm sure they do as well.

43:17 All right, I'm going. To. Yep, there you go, there's Dominic. All right, so with that, let me give you a headline I saw recently. There's a new scam targeting podcasters with fake celebrity invites. Scammers are sending fake invites that look like they're coming from big name celebrities or managers offering to pay you to appear on a podcast. Once you bite, they get you to download quote UN quote software for the interview. So they're basically telling you like here, you need this software. Something maybe they're trying to say is like a Riverside or Squad cast, something like that, which is really malware designed to hijack your bank accounts, emails, social media, etcetera. Experts are calling it social engineering and it's exploiting our hunger for fame and recognition. So for podcasters and creators, credibility is everything, and falling for scams like this can wreck not only your finances, but also your online presence.

44:21 If your accounts are hacked, your audience's trust may disappear overnight, depending on what that hacker decides to do with your account. And I've shared with you before a few years ago when my account, my Instagram, was hacked, the hacker was all of a sudden turning me into a, a Bitcoin salesman basically and trying to scam people out of money for fake Bitcoin. And that account, I ended up losing it completely until finally the hacker just went away and I was able to take it back. But I don't use it anymore because of that very reason. I just feel like it's a tainted account at this point, and I've established another one since then and it's doing just fine.

45:04 But it's something to think about. And the real question, why are so many people still so desperate for these shortcuts to fame that they they'll believe a celebrity manager just discovered their podcast? The scam works because too many creators buy into the myth of the overnight success, in my opinion. Maybe the hard truth is that if it sounds too good to be true, it's not a golden opportunity. It's a setup. What's that saying? My overnight success took seven years to get there or something like that? Yeah, Yeah. I mean, I mean, it's a tale of old, as old as time, but I can't give you any concrete examples. But like, I'm pretty sure there's something, you know, back in the day where, you know, and I'm talking maybe 18117 hundreds where people were trying to skirt the, you know, whatever they was trying to do. It's unfortunate though, because I think there's something to the journey, you know what I mean, to appreciate that part. A good friend of mine who's since passed away, he said that if I could Fast forward and he was a really successful businessman, like making $2,000,000 in his a year in his business and stuff like that.

46:11 And I asked him like, you know, a question, I don't remember, but he said if he could Fast forward time to put himself in this position right now, he wouldn't know how to handle that success because he didn't know how you built it, right? So it's like it would be worthless to circumvent the process, if you will, because even when you get there, what do you do next? You don't even know how you built it. You don't know how you got there. You can even GPS your way back if you wanted to because you don't know how you got there. So he said he always got to appreciate the journey in the process. Indeed. And I would say anyone listening to this story right now, if that happens to you, you get an e-mail that seems like it's from a big name celebrity or a big name celebrity manager.

46:56 Come share it with me. I'll let you know what I think. I'll give you my opinion. And I guess really the point to that is ask around before you just dive right in and make sure this is a safe or legit thing. Well, I was going to say that. Phenomenons like the Haktua girl. I bet you thought we wouldn't be mentioning your name ever again. I'm wondering where you're. Going to go at this. Go ahead, but she says 1 funny thing into a microphone and all of a sudden she's known worldwide. But she wipes out as fast as Fame Game. That's how fast she was wiped out, and she had some legal troubles on top of it. The fast way is not always the best way, that's for sure. Yeah, go ahead, Dominic.

47:39 Just really quickly, because when Dr. was talking about, you know, the signal awards and how it's becoming more and more awards are becoming more and more currency, that means the scammers are popping up too. So just to your point, if somebody said, you know, to contact you, if somebody, you know, if some feels fishy when it comes to awards contact, contact me because I see them all the time. Like this just just feels scammy. And we already know that awards have a like a large price point for for a lot of indie podcasters. So that's that's precious things you can be doing elsewhere as opposed to giving it to a scam. We're trying to get you to, you know, sign up for an award situation. So just want to put that in there this well.

48:20 Yep. Thank you, Dominic. Appreciate it. Glad you're here to add that insight. And Dr. Did you have anything else there? Yeah, so the pod scribe declares war on vanity metrics with engagement scores, and this is kind of going echoing to one of your stories that you had earlier. So Podscribe is stepping up its game with a set of fresh updates designed to make podcast analytics smarter and more transparent. The big reveal? Well, it's engagement scores that go beyond download counts. Comparing metrics like iTunes reviews and YouTube comments to actual audience size.

49:02 Shows will now be ranked on a scale from outstanding to low engagement to giving advertisers A clearer picture of how interactive podcast listeners really are. But that's not all. Podscribe is also rolling out new attribution tools, including vanity URL tracking so marketers can see how many listeners land on a campaign page even if they skip the promo code. On top of that, advertisers will now be able to peek at who's spending with specific publishers. The podcasters get a boost in security with multi factor authentication. It's important because this means the game isn't just about downloads anymore. It's about proving your audience cares. High engagement scores could be the golden ticket for attracting audiences.

49:55 I'm sorry for attracting advertisers who are tired of vanity metrics with more precise attribution tools. Smaller shows high. Highly active audiences may find I'm sorry, I'm Losing it. Active audiences may finally have the data to back up their value. Most experts say that you can expect engagement scores to spark some drama. Podcasters with either brag about them or Rage Against them either way, but they'll change the ad sales conversion over time. The winners won't be the biggest shows. They'll be the ones who can prove their listeners actually show up and act. So here's some engagement questions that I want to ask for a little bit.

50:41 Will listeners care about engagement scores? Will it help them decide on what podcast to really listen to? What do you think, Mark? Yeah. So basically it's something similar. We've had conversations like will listeners care if you're, you say your podcast is an award winner, right? Does that make a difference to them pressing play or choosing a different podcast? So in this instance, I don't know. I don't know if an an engagement score would actually make the difference or not. I'm thinking I mean I guess it depends how and where it's displayed. Well, let me ask you this then. Or would you rather show off your download numbers or your engagement score to a potential sponsor?

51:27 When we're talking about this day today, I would probably say, well, if if we're saying I have big download numbers versus big engagement score numbers, first of all, I would share both at that point. But if we're comparing them equally, I would probably lean toward download numbers today because I think that's what a lot of big advertisers still pay attention to. Do I think that's right. No, I do think that an engagement score or you know, ways to prove that you have heavy engagement on your podcast. I think that is the future and I think that it's important for advertisers to get on board with that when it comes to podcasting.

52:09 Did somebody want to say something? Go ahead, Dominic. I would lean on an engagement score more than downloads, but that's only because my podcasts are a little different than than others, right? I have to rely on consumption numbers, consumption rate, right? So I would probably lean on that a little bit and, and share that with audience members or potential sponsors and stuff like that, because again, I'm not going to win on download numbers. I'm just not. So I'm probably going to highlight some type of engagement store or engagement store engagement score or consumption rate when it comes to that regard. But but I think that speaks to your podcast, your podcast strategy and things of that nature that it's, it's different for everybody and not everybody has to do the download, not disparaging the download part, but just saying that depends on your strategy and what you do.

52:58 Yeah, I, I hear you. And what I would say really like if, if it's just up to me, I'm going to share both. Like I said at the top, I'm going to share download numbers. I'm going to share engagement numbers. If, if I'm trying to get an advertiser or a sponsor on my show, both I think are important. And I think overtime engagement is going to be the new download as far as numbers go. Sid, did you want to say something? Yes, good morning again. So I'm going to be a little bit of the contrarian here, if that's OK. We've spent quite a bit of time this morning talking about advertising and you know, getting advertising dollars from the other story that you read and this one. And First off, I would absolutely share the engagement numbers, but I would share it in a way of thanking my audience for engaging in the show, right?

53:50 Thank you for engaging. It really helps us. I mean, somehow I'd frame it like a thank you to share it, not to be braggadocious or anything like that, but just to share it as a way to say, hey, I really appreciate you guys engaging. But you know, 99% of the people in this room are independent podcasters. And you know, my question, my contrarian question is when are we going to rise up against this CPM rate of advertising? Because everything that you're talking about and attracting big advertisers and doing this and doing that and going to sound cast or whatever the other story was not going to impact us. We're going to make $0.08, you know when we run that, when we insert a dynamic ad or maybe a dollar, right, it's not going to impact us. And I think that we have to look at monetization and advertising strategies differently if we want to make real money with our show because we are not the type of none of us have these shows that are going to get, you know, the advertising dollars that Mel Robbins gets or that other people get. And we have to, in my opinion, have to take a stand against this because our shows are equally as valuable in whatever genre that we're in or ever niche that we're in. And, you know, I just think that we have to look at it differently and we have to talk about things that show because if I'm an advertiser, I'm going to probably look at engagement rates first, overlooking at downloads because it tells me how often does your audience actually take action? Are they going to listen?

55:14 Are they going to do the things that you're asking them to do? And that advertisers want people to go and buy things or sign up for things. So I just think we have to, as an independent podcaster, you have to take a different position because you are not going to make the money that you want leaning into what the industry has said is acceptable because it's a form of journalistic advertising in CPM rights. It's just not going to work for the independent podcaster. Thank you, Sid. I want to comment on that in a second. And 1st I just want to say Chris was I guess listening to what you were saying and Chris is saying advertisers and corporate will always demand ROI tracking should be looked at more of a branding awareness strategy over transactional. I agree with Chris and Sid, I agree with a lot of what you shared as well. The one thing I wanted to potentially correct you on is that earlier story I shared about Audio Boom does apply to independent podcasters as well.

56:07 For example, they even mention in this story here that, you know, an indie hit podcast, Astonishing Legends, you know, they're a part of this. There are indie podcasts that are able to take advantage of this from Audio Boom. It's designed, I think, to really help podcasters, content creators of all various sizes with monetization. So I just wanted to clarify that, but I'm with you. I think that I think it, it definitely is going to be up to us as creators to really change that narrative. And it's, I do believe it's going to be a challenge. Like to what Chris's point is, I think we can scream it from the rooftops that the old ways of advertising doesn't work with podcasting and engagement is really the value that we should be looking at when it comes to advertisers anyway.

56:58 They should be looking at our engagement. I agree with all of all of that. I think I think it's important to figure out a way to change their narrative. I think we're all our narrative has been changing. I think sponsors are the the tough nut to crack in my opinion. OK, so I want to disagree with that for just a hot moment. And you said something to just again, I'm going to be the contrarian today, I guess, but sound cast referred to indie hit independent podcast, podcast that had a hit show, right? I think I have a hit show, but I likely don't have the downloads that that one is talking about and referencing that's going to work.

57:42 So I think you just got to try to like take it all into context here and understand that if your desire is to generate revenue for your show, you got to look at it differently. And every sponsor that I've had, downloads came up and we talked about them, but I never once brought up ACPM rate. I never once leaned into it. I said here is what the cost is for you to sponsor my show. And this is what you get. You get a shout out at the beginning of the show. You get a brand logo on each landing page that you're the sponsor. You get your logo on the YouTube page and each one of these has a different cost associated with it. Cuz he came back to me one day and said what about your social media?

58:27 And I said you're not paying for social media advertising. If you'd like me to include that, the price is gonna go up and we'll give you a shout out on social media. You'll put your logo and say the podcast is sponsored by XYZ. And it worked for me. I mean, that guy paid me for three years, almost $3000 a month to sponsor my show. That's real money. And that's money that I am not going to get in ACPM rate because I took a different approach to talking to a sponsor that's in the industry, relevant to my content, relevant to my audience. And I'm also going to say he came to me. He came to me for a year before I ever agreed to let him sponsor my show because I my limiting belief, I believe that sponsorship meant he got a creative control, which it does not. Once I understood that then I embraced it. But he approached me a year and talked to me on multiple times about being a sponsor my show before I actually agreed. So you have the ability to set your own rate. Don't walk away from it.

59:29 Don't lean into what these CPM rates are. Look at what and the way I did it was excuse me, I looked at what my show cost me to produce time and things I paid out what it cost me to produce and I got there's my cost and I how much money do I want to make and I put that profit on top of it and I went to my sponsor and so the potential sponsor of the time he said, here's how much it's going to cost him. He said yes. So you, I believe you as the podcaster have a lot more control in this and driving revenue through advertising or through sponsorships then you really believe me doing. Thank you, Sid. And I am on board with what you said. I appreciate you digging in deeper. I think when I'm answering those questions, I'm thinking of big corporate sponsors. And to your point, yeah, absolutely. I think that smaller podcasts quote, UN quote can work with quote, UN quote smaller businesses on advertising arrangements, sponsorship deals, etcetera. And I think to your point, I mean look at that from the 1st 10 years of podcasting For me when I was doing it in the first ten years of podcasting, that's how I would approach it. I wouldn't go with the cost per thousand nonsense because it wouldn't have been very helpful to me. Even with several 1000 listeners, on average, it still wasn't going to make a huge difference in my wallet. So I went a different approach.

1:00:59 I just, I basically named my price and showed why I named it that price. I showed the value of my podcast to my sponsors and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But I was able to have continuous sponsors throughout the duration of my old show, the Mark and Lowell show. So yes, I am with you there, Sid. I think that there it it's a matter of finding the right fit. So thank you for sharing that example. Okay, we are well over time and that's okay. So I will make this brief. We are back tomorrow at 7:00 AM Eastern. We're going to be playing a clip that Dr. found and discussing it on the future of podcasting and also really the past of podcasting.

1:01:42 I will explain more tomorrow, but I can tell you that from a 5 minute back and forth with Dr. there are a lot of angles to go with this conversation tomorrow. So we we will dig into that tomorrow. We'll also do some more Ice Breakers around getting the most out of attending conferences, whether it's for you as a podcaster, a YouTube, any content creator, how to get the most out of a podcast content creator conference. So join us tomorrow at 7:00 AM Eastern live on Clubhouse. And if you can't just wait, a couple hours later, we'll put it out as a podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Again, congratulations to Dominic and Kenda, looking forward to seeing you guys win all of those awards and we'll be cheering you on along the way.

1:02:30 So until tomorrow, make it a great day everybody take care.