April 29, 2026

506. The Podcast Discovery Shift Creators Can’t Ignore | Podcast News

506. The Podcast Discovery Shift Creators Can’t Ignore | Podcast News
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon

Podcast discovery is changing fast, and if you’re still relying on the same old growth habits, this episode is your wake-up call. In this podcasting news episode, we talk through Spotify’s latest discovery advice, why clarity may matter more than cleverness, and how episode titles, cover art, transcripts, chapters, and even video can affect whether your show gets surfaced. We also get into YouTube’s new Shorts limits, Amazon’s bigger plan for Wondery, podcast ads, creator ecosystems, and why podcasters need to build stronger direct relationships instead of depending on one platform to do the heavy lifting. Here’s the thing: the platforms are shifting, but your connection with listeners still matters most.

Episode Highlights:

[01:55] Podcast Spotlight Submissions

[04:42] Active Podcast Stats

[06:35] Spotify Top Podcasts Game

[10:38] Indie vs. DIY Debate

[14:22] Events and Announcements

[18:38] Avoiding Radio Ad Overload

[24:27] Ad Placement: Listener Reactions

[29:31] Tomorrow Editing Tease

[30:56] Unwell Network Drama

[32:04] Amazon Rebuilds Wondery

[34:35] Think Like an Ecosystem

[36:24] Video Editing Tools Update

[39:08] Podscribe Data Chatbot

[41:49] Spotify Discovery Signals

[48:45] YouTube Shorts Limits

[51:59] Shorts Strategy Debate

[01:01:40] Wrap-Up and Support

Links & Resources:

Get Your Podcast Featured on our Show:

podcastingmorningchat.com/spotlight

"How I Fully Automated My Video Editing (Claude Code)":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0EH0xdy2-E

Podcast spotlight submission:

podcastingmorningchat.com/spotlight

The Podcasting Morning Chat:

⁠⁠www.podcastingmorningchat.com⁠⁠

Ways to Watch or Listen:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.podcastingmorningchat.com/joinus/

Meet the PMC Cast and Crew:

⁠⁠https://podcastingmorningchat.com/people⁠⁠

Join The Empowered Podcasting Facebook Group:

⁠⁠www.facebook.com/groups/empoweredpodcasting⁠⁠⁠

Book A Free Call With Marc:

https://calendly.com/ironickmedia/freestrategycall

Application To Submit Your Show For Evaluation:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcastingmorningchat.com/eval⁠⁠

Join us every other Monday at 7 AM ET for the Obsession Worthy Podcasts:⁠⁠⁠

http://podcastingmorningchat.com/owp/⁠⁠

Join us LIVE every weekday morning at 7 am ET (US) on ⁠Clubhouse⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcastingmorningchat.com/clubhouse⁠⁠

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Send in your mailbag questions:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.podcastingmorningchat.contact/⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠marc@ironickmedia.com

Want to be a guest on The Podcasting Morning Chat? Send me a message on PodMatch, here:

https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1729879899384520035bad21b


00:05.220 --> 00:08.700
Marc Ronick: Good morning
podcasters. Today is Wednesday,

00:08.700 --> 00:14.460
April 29 2026 and today news and
comment is back, and we're

00:14.460 --> 00:18.300
talking Spotify discovery tips,
YouTube shorts, getting time

00:18.300 --> 00:21.680
limits and Amazon's not so
subtle. Plan to monetize

00:21.680 --> 00:23.540
everything podcasting touches.

00:25.400 --> 00:25.520
So

00:25.600 --> 00:28.000
if you're listening live on
clubhouse, hit the share button,

00:28.000 --> 00:30.940
top right hand side of the
screen and share it however

00:30.940 --> 00:33.880
clubhouse lets you. And if
you're catching us via podcast,

00:33.880 --> 00:36.400
YouTube, LinkedIn, etc, please
share this with a fellow

00:36.400 --> 00:41.980
podcaster. And now give us about
30 seconds, and we'll get things

00:42.040 --> 00:53.200
rolling. Thanks for being here.
The podcasting morning chat is

00:53.245 --> 00:57.565
powered by Ironick Media helping
podcasters launch polish and

00:57.565 --> 01:01.885
grow great shows, and by Content
Creator's Accountant helping

01:01.885 --> 01:20.890
creators build real business
behind their content. Good

01:20.950 --> 01:23.410
morning again. Podcasting
Morning Chat. Thank you so much

01:23.410 --> 01:28.030
for being here. I am your host,
Mark Ronick, and currently on

01:28.030 --> 01:32.230
stage with me, my co hosts. We
have Ralph Estep, DR Fay, Nick

01:32.230 --> 01:35.575
Nalbach, Sid Meadows, and also
Junaid has joined us. Junaid

01:35.575 --> 01:39.655
Ahmed has joined us on stage
here, the virtual stage. And of

01:39.655 --> 01:43.735
course, Tide aka Knikki's
joining us right now on stage as

01:43.735 --> 01:46.915
well. Good morning to all of
you. I expect we'll see some

01:47.095 --> 01:50.575
more of our cast and crew
momentarily, and if you want to

01:50.575 --> 01:52.435
learn more about them, just go
to

01:53.035 --> 01:58.360
podcastingmorningchat.com/people.
And today, before we get any

01:58.360 --> 02:02.920
further, before we get into the
news, I want to share something

02:02.980 --> 02:07.960
new with you coming here to the
Podcasting Morning Chat. Soon to

02:07.960 --> 02:11.620
be Podcasting Morning Show as of
Monday. Do you want to have your

02:11.620 --> 02:15.160
podcast featured on the
podcasting morning chat? You can

02:15.160 --> 02:19.840
now submit a 60 second clip
about your show, something that

02:19.840 --> 02:24.325
gives people a real feel for
your podcast. If we select it,

02:24.385 --> 02:29.245
we'll play your clip audio or
video on a future episode. We'll

02:29.245 --> 02:33.025
share what stood out to us and
introduce your show to our

02:33.025 --> 02:36.685
community of podcasters and
creators. So you can submit your

02:36.685 --> 02:41.725
clip to
podcastingmorningchat.com/spotlight,

02:42.685 --> 02:47.290
and by the way, this was Ralph's
brain child, and we're both

02:47.290 --> 02:51.010
super excited about this
opportunity for you, one thing

02:51.010 --> 02:54.910
I'll say before I hand it off to
Ralph is, I think what we're

02:54.910 --> 02:57.670
trying to encourage here, and
Ralph, you tell me if I'm wrong,

02:57.910 --> 03:02.410
we're trying To encourage your
voice doing basically like your

03:02.410 --> 03:06.370
own commercial for your podcast.
We debated whether we wanted you

03:06.370 --> 03:11.215
to provide a clip from your show
or not, and I felt like you

03:11.215 --> 03:14.875
providing a clip may not give
enough context to really put

03:14.875 --> 03:18.955
your show in the spotlight. So
we want you to do basically like

03:18.955 --> 03:24.295
a 60 second commercial about
your show. Who's it for? What's

03:24.295 --> 03:29.455
the value for them? When can we
hear it or watch it, etc? Ralph,

03:29.515 --> 03:32.500
like I said, your brain child.
Anything you want to add

03:33.100 --> 03:35.260
Ralph Estep Jr.: No Marc. I
think you did a great job there.

03:35.260 --> 03:38.200
Yeah. The whole point is to give
you some exposure. We want to

03:38.200 --> 03:40.780
feature your show, talk about
your show, and give you an

03:40.840 --> 03:43.840
introduction to our audience and
our audience an introduction to

03:43.840 --> 03:45.820
you. So make sure you do that at
podcastingmorningchat.com/spotlight,

03:45.820 --> 03:50.560
looking forward to getting those
submissions,

03:50.800 --> 03:52.180
Marc Ronick: and as of Monday,
that'll be

03:54.985 --> 03:56.785
podcastingmorningshow.com/spotlight,
but both should work. We're

03:56.785 --> 04:00.505
working on that both links
should work. We will let you

04:00.505 --> 04:01.885
know as of Monday, right? Ralph,

04:02.545 --> 04:03.445
Ralph Estep Jr.: that is
correct.

04:03.565 --> 04:06.805
Marc Ronick: Okay, cool, cool.
Big dramatic pause to hear. That

04:06.805 --> 04:11.545
is correct, but I saw he was
looking for the mute button

04:11.545 --> 04:13.585
there. All right, so again,
podcastingmorningchat.com/spotlight,

04:13.585 --> 04:20.530
no strings attached. We're not
charging you for this. This is a

04:20.530 --> 04:24.190
way for us to give back to the
community and for our community

04:24.190 --> 04:28.150
to get to know each other a
little bit better, by the way.

04:28.150 --> 04:31.870
BC Babbles has joined us this
morning, and he will have a

04:31.870 --> 04:41.455
story for us later in the show.
But first, let's get into some

04:41.455 --> 04:44.755
news, shall we? And the way I
like to start is with a little

04:44.755 --> 04:48.475
bit of podcast data for you,
which comes from the podcast

04:48.475 --> 04:52.855
Business Journal. And I like to
this is a newer thing I like to

04:52.855 --> 04:56.635
do. I like to read this little
blurb that they include with

04:56.695 --> 05:00.355
this particular data point. It
says a helpful. Number to

05:00.355 --> 05:03.760
understand the amount of
podcasts being created is the

05:03.760 --> 05:07.960
total number of quote, unquote,
active podcasts. These are

05:07.960 --> 05:11.680
podcasts that are still being
updated and therefore actively

05:11.740 --> 05:15.280
marketing themselves. So if
you're making podcast episodes,

05:15.280 --> 05:18.160
you might consider this number
to be your competition, rather

05:18.160 --> 05:24.220
than that big overall number
that we see of over 4.6 million

05:24.325 --> 05:28.585
podcasts, right? So yes, there
are 4.6 million podcasts, but

05:28.585 --> 05:33.025
that's really just saying ever
created and put onto an RSS feed

05:33.025 --> 05:36.685
and into the directories, right?
But the ones that are actually

05:36.685 --> 05:40.945
making episodes that number is
quite different, the total

05:40.945 --> 05:48.670
podcasts updated in the last
week were just 197,313 which is

05:48.730 --> 05:53.170
also down from the previous
week. And looking at 30 day

05:53.170 --> 05:56.650
totals, total podcasts updated
in the last 30 days, we're

05:56.650 --> 06:02.110
looking at 370,000 and change,
which is actually up month to

06:02.110 --> 06:07.930
month, from 360 almost 363,000
Dr, did you

06:08.012 --> 06:08.252
want

06:08.252 --> 06:11.972
DR: to so does that cancel each
other out? If one was down 2% or

06:11.972 --> 06:12.992
the other one is up 2%

06:13.472 --> 06:17.012
Marc Ronick: No, I think it's
just more data to sift through,

06:17.012 --> 06:19.832
and it changes the number when
we look at the four week span

06:20.072 --> 06:24.140
versus the one week? Yeah, no,
they don't cancel each other

06:24.140 --> 06:29.000
out. Speaking of dr, by the way,
Dr has got some top five lists

06:29.000 --> 06:31.160
for us and a special list that,

06:31.219 --> 06:31.519
DR: yeah,

06:31.580 --> 06:32.840
Marc Ronick: we don't often talk
about.

06:33.380 --> 06:37.760
DR: Yeah, we're gonna gamify it.
Okay, so this first chart that I

06:37.760 --> 06:40.720
want to read off, or, first of
all, we're gonna play the game

06:41.020 --> 06:45.640
Spotify is marking 20 years by
looking back at the podcasts

06:45.640 --> 06:51.640
that have dominated its app
since podcasts were added in

06:51.640 --> 06:55.960
2015 it's no surprise that Joe
Rogan experience takes the top

06:55.960 --> 07:02.520
spot After its long Spotify
exclusive run. The twist is

07:02.520 --> 07:07.200
okay, you're gonna have to help
me on this name Germany's comedy

07:07.200 --> 07:07.860
hit.

07:08.220 --> 07:13.860
Marc Ronick: Yeah, I can't even
tell you. I can't even G, E, M,

07:13.860 --> 07:18.480
I, S, C, H, T, E, S, whatever,
however you pronounce that.

07:18.480 --> 07:18.720
Jimmy,

07:19.379 --> 07:21.619
DR: Jimmy ship. And

07:22.700 --> 07:24.980
Marc Ronick: no, we are not
bleeping that out, because that

07:24.980 --> 07:27.560
is part she's trying to say
something in German.

07:28.820 --> 07:37.100
DR: Shit. Number two, proving,
once again, that podcast charts

07:37.100 --> 07:41.560
enjoy throwing one curve ball
just to keep everyone awake. So

07:41.920 --> 07:47.980
I thought what we could do is I
will call out a show and between

07:47.980 --> 07:52.420
one and 20 you tell me where you
think it is on this chart. And

07:52.420 --> 07:58.300
again, this is the most streamed
podcast of all time. Who's the

07:59.920 --> 08:04.680
celebrity that used to do that,
Muhammad Ali, so, so let's see,

08:04.680 --> 08:06.660
call her daddy. Where do you
think that falls?

08:06.840 --> 08:09.900
Marc Ronick: Well, I know, but
what does everyone think? Where

08:09.900 --> 08:10.440
would that fall?

08:10.439 --> 08:10.559
BC Babbles: Are

08:10.560 --> 08:13.080
Nick: we talking like? How big
is this list? Is it

08:13.080 --> 08:13.560
Marc Ronick: 20? Are

08:13.560 --> 08:13.980
Nick: you talking

08:14.100 --> 08:16.080
DR: 20? So it's between one and
20.

08:16.679 --> 08:17.819
Nick: Okay, sorry, I might miss
that.

08:18.000 --> 08:21.800
Marc Ronick: Yeah, it's the top
20 all time. Streamed podcasts

08:21.800 --> 08:22.760
on Spotify.

08:23.360 --> 08:25.700
DR: So where do you think? Call
her daddy falls Nick

08:26.180 --> 08:27.080
Marc Ronick: What's your guess?

08:27.620 --> 08:29.840
Nick: Say 10.

08:30.859 --> 08:31.159
Marc Ronick: Not

08:31.160 --> 08:32.300
too bad. Actually,

08:32.299 --> 08:34.279
DR: you're close. That is 11.

08:34.939 --> 08:36.739
Marc Ronick: I'll give him that,
because that's pretty hard.

08:37.040 --> 08:37.400
DR: Anyone

08:37.460 --> 08:40.180
Marc Ronick: want to guess?
Anyone want to guess who might

08:40.240 --> 08:45.220
be on this list again. These are
the most streamed podcasts of

08:45.280 --> 08:50.740
all time, the top 20. Do you
expect to see anybody in there?

08:50.740 --> 08:51.460
Go ahead, Nick

08:52.060 --> 08:52.780
Nick: Joe Rogan,

08:53.199 --> 08:53.739
Marc Ronick: well, we must

08:53.740 --> 08:54.700
Nick: steal that one right away.

08:54.700 --> 08:57.580
Marc Ronick: Well, we Dr gave
that one, and that is the number

08:57.760 --> 09:02.220
one, yes. So yes, that is true.
You got that right, even though

09:02.220 --> 09:05.460
we gave you the answer earlier.
Any other guesses? Or shall we

09:05.520 --> 09:07.680
just dive in? We'd

09:08.100 --> 09:10.680
Ralph Estep Jr.: have to assume
Mel Robbins is probably on the

09:10.680 --> 09:11.760
list there somewhere.

09:12.240 --> 09:17.160
Marc Ronick: Let's take a look.
Is Mel Robbins in there? No. Oh,

09:17.160 --> 09:23.780
thank you. Dr, wow. Not in
there. BC, did you want to take

09:23.780 --> 09:24.260
a guess?

09:24.799 --> 09:26.719
BC Babbles: Yeah. I mean,
there's still kind of a newbie

09:26.719 --> 09:30.319
comparatively. But I almost want
to guess, potentially, the good

09:30.319 --> 09:34.279
hang might be there towards the
end of the list, top 15.

09:36.080 --> 09:39.200
Marc Ronick: Wow. Good hang is
not in

09:39.200 --> 09:41.740
BC Babbles: we make that a sound
for the board.

09:41.860 --> 09:44.020
Marc Ronick: I don't know. I
think that might disturb a lot

09:44.020 --> 09:46.540
of people this early in the
morning. Not sure. It

09:46.780 --> 09:49.120
BC Babbles: will keep Hey, it'll
keep some of us awake. Okay,

09:49.120 --> 09:49.480
Marc Ronick: that's

09:49.480 --> 09:52.600
true. That's true. BC we need to
do everything again to keep your

09:52.600 --> 09:53.620
attention. Yes,

09:53.799 --> 09:53.919
I'm

09:53.920 --> 09:57.100
DR: feeling a little feisty
today, so watch out. Let's

09:57.100 --> 10:00.900
Marc Ronick: do the top six.
Because. There's one on there

10:01.020 --> 10:01.560
DR: six.

10:01.559 --> 10:01.859
Marc Ronick: Yeah,

10:01.920 --> 10:07.560
DR: right. So number six is the
daily. Number five is last

10:07.560 --> 10:12.360
podcast on the left. Number four
is armchair expert with Dax

10:12.360 --> 10:18.720
Shepard. Number three is crime
junkie. Number two is gym shit.

10:18.840 --> 10:25.040
Number one is number one
experience,

10:25.220 --> 10:28.280
Marc Ronick: that's right. And
again, not a bad word. She's

10:28.280 --> 10:30.920
saying. She's just trying to
pronounce some German, and not

10:30.920 --> 10:32.300
doing a very good job.

10:34.219 --> 10:35.839
DR: Well, what can you say? You

10:35.840 --> 10:36.620
Marc Ronick: got another list

10:36.620 --> 10:36.800
for

10:36.799 --> 10:41.739
DR: us? I do. So now I'm this
list has me. I'm a little

10:41.739 --> 10:45.579
skeptical on this one, so just
know that going in, this is a

10:45.579 --> 10:50.679
random chart. This week is the
top five independents. And I'm

10:50.679 --> 10:54.699
putting that in quotation marks,
big time. Okay? Because once you

10:54.699 --> 10:58.059
hear the names of these
podcasts, you'll say independent

10:58.059 --> 11:04.799
what? Okay, so number five is
Diary of a CEO independent my

11:04.799 --> 11:10.259
butt. Number four is, well,
that's interesting. Number three

11:10.379 --> 11:16.439
is, the rest is history. Number
two is the stupid History

11:16.439 --> 11:18.599
Minute, probably the only show
that can get me really

11:18.599 --> 11:23.539
interested in history. Number
one is the hidden brain,

11:24.020 --> 11:24.800
Marc Ronick: yes.

11:25.400 --> 11:29.300
DR: Brain, that doesn't feel
like an independent thing for me

11:29.779 --> 11:31.579
Marc Ronick: in hidden brain, in
particular,

11:32.179 --> 11:35.779
DR: hidden brain and Diary Of A
Yeah,

11:35.780 --> 11:39.380
Marc Ronick: and we've talked a
little bit about Diary of a CEO,

11:39.380 --> 11:43.000
and some people feeling like,
yeah, maybe that's not really an

11:43.000 --> 11:47.440
independent podcast, but I think
technically by definition, it

11:47.680 --> 11:51.040
is, but and I think that
sometimes we have some blurred

11:51.040 --> 11:54.220
lines between what it means to
be an independent podcaster

11:54.220 --> 11:58.540
versus an independent DIY
podcaster, right?

11:58.540 --> 11:58.720
Do?

11:58.840 --> 12:02.880
DR: Can you refresh our memory
as to what the definition

12:02.880 --> 12:05.640
Marc Ronick: I think BC was the
one that gave us the official

12:05.640 --> 12:09.360
definitions of those. I don't
know. BC, if you have that off

12:09.360 --> 12:10.320
the top of your head,

12:10.500 --> 12:12.900
BC Babbles: I do, but I believe
once I deliver the definitions,

12:12.900 --> 12:17.520
I got a bunch of kickback. Once
I gave them out, what I recall

12:17.520 --> 12:21.680
so DIY is completely you do it
yourself. You don't really have

12:21.680 --> 12:24.440
any kind of agency doing any
part of the process for you. You

12:24.440 --> 12:27.740
are the host, the planner, the
producer, the marketer. You are

12:27.740 --> 12:31.700
the whole machine. And then
indie podcasts are likely ones

12:31.700 --> 12:35.780
who have been able to at least
commission some kind of agency

12:35.780 --> 12:38.900
or team to handle production or
maybe marketing for their show.

12:38.900 --> 12:42.040
So they're not completely solo
anymore, but they're not some

12:42.040 --> 12:45.760
huge corporate aid contracted
show by any means, either.

12:46.300 --> 12:49.960
Marc Ronick: Got it, okay? All
right, so there, I guess there

12:49.960 --> 12:54.400
you go. Yeah, I think we all
still need it, but yeah, I think

12:54.400 --> 12:57.760
DIY podcasters, that's like a
lot of our audience. I think a

12:57.760 --> 13:00.660
lot of people that are really
just doing it all themselves,

13:00.660 --> 13:05.640
from concept to production to
promotion, they're doing it all,

13:05.640 --> 13:10.320
whereas independent podcasters
like Stephen Bartlett, they have

13:10.320 --> 13:14.160
a whole team, a whole empire,
but they're still considered

13:14.160 --> 13:16.980
independent because they're not
doing it for anyone else but

13:16.980 --> 13:17.880
themselves.

13:18.300 --> 13:20.940
DR: Yeah, yeah. Oh, well, gym
shits, you know, it's

13:20.940 --> 13:23.540
Ralph Estep Jr.: Can

13:23.539 --> 13:25.999
I interrupt for a second. You
may so, because we've been

13:25.999 --> 13:27.139
butchering that name,

13:27.200 --> 13:27.620
Marc Ronick: yes,

13:27.680 --> 13:31.580
Ralph Estep Jr.: it actually it
means mixed in German, and it's

13:31.580 --> 13:35.540
pronounced GA Mish, tus

13:35.840 --> 13:37.160
Marc Ronick: commission. So

13:37.220 --> 13:41.440
Ralph Estep Jr.: commissioned us
Mish, so just not to correct a

13:41.440 --> 13:42.760
DR, but I just thought we should

13:43.000 --> 13:44.680
Marc Ronick: appreciate, no, I'm
glad somebody

13:44.680 --> 13:47.200
DR: did give it to me again.
Gamish,

13:48.100 --> 13:53.740
Ralph Estep Jr.: okay. It says
G, U, h, and then m, I, S, C, H,

13:53.740 --> 13:57.400
which they said is sort of like
the word fish in English. And

13:57.400 --> 14:01.980
then T, U, h, S, tus, so
pronounced

14:02.880 --> 14:04.320
BC Babbles: us,

14:05.220 --> 14:07.560
Ralph Estep Jr.: yeah, which in
German means mixed. Basically,

14:07.560 --> 14:08.880
that's what we're talking about
there.

14:09.480 --> 14:09.840
Marc Ronick: All right,

14:09.840 --> 14:13.500
DR: so mixed tap is basically
what that show means that, which

14:13.500 --> 14:14.340
is at number two.

14:14.720 --> 14:17.720
Marc Ronick: That's right, okay,
thank you for the top fives. DR,

14:17.720 --> 14:18.620
appreciate that.

14:18.680 --> 14:19.880
DR: Hey, sure.

14:22.100 --> 14:24.980
Marc Ronick: Let me quickly get
into some events, because

14:24.980 --> 14:28.580
there's some AI news I want to
try to get to Nick has to bounce

14:28.580 --> 14:31.640
a little early, and I wanted to
talk to Nick about it. So before

14:31.640 --> 14:36.020
we do that, I'm going to jump
into events around the world of

14:36.020 --> 14:39.665
podcasting. First, a big
congratulations from the

14:39.665 --> 14:42.425
podcasting morning chat to
everyone involved in this year's

14:42.605 --> 14:45.905
black effect podcast Festival,
which took place over the

14:45.905 --> 14:50.045
weekend in Atlanta. The event
brought together creators, fans

14:50.045 --> 14:53.705
and industry voices for live
podcast recordings, business

14:53.705 --> 14:57.905
focused, panel discussions, a
pitch your podcast booth, the

14:57.905 --> 15:03.830
black marketplace and more. Or
according to the here talk about

15:03.830 --> 15:07.850
butchering names today, the
supporter report and pod news,

15:08.210 --> 15:12.110
several key themes kept rising
to surface throughout the day.

15:12.410 --> 15:16.790
Those themes being, be yourself,
stay consistent, create with

15:16.790 --> 15:21.050
purpose and pay attention to the
growing ways AI can support the

15:21.050 --> 15:25.835
creative work without replacing
the creator behind it. Feels

15:25.835 --> 15:28.775
similar in some ways, to
empowered podcasting. Similar

15:29.315 --> 15:33.815
themes have come out of that
conference. We'll get into that

15:33.815 --> 15:37.895
in a moment to learn more about
the black effect podcast,

15:37.895 --> 15:43.415
festival and future events go to
blackeffect.com/podcast

15:43.475 --> 15:47.480
festival. Some upcoming events
for you, or at least one that

15:47.480 --> 15:49.940
I'm going to share with you
right now. The podcast show

15:49.940 --> 15:57.020
happens may 20 and 21st of this
year in London. They say it's

15:57.020 --> 16:00.560
the biggest international
festival for the business of

16:00.560 --> 16:03.920
podcasting, you can join them
for their fifth edition of the

16:03.920 --> 16:09.500
show, which is their quote,
biggest and boldest yet. I just

16:09.500 --> 16:14.945
realized I don't have the link
on me. Bad host slapping the

16:14.945 --> 16:20.465
wrist. But if you look up
podcast show 2026 on Google or

16:20.465 --> 16:24.785
your favorite AI platform, I
promise you'll find it. So check

16:24.785 --> 16:28.625
that out. And also a reminder,
speaking of events that today,

16:28.865 --> 16:33.185
1pm eastern again, I'm going to
say that today, 1pm eastern

16:33.185 --> 16:37.130
time, you can join our live
stream for the Empowered

16:37.130 --> 16:42.170
podcasting Live series that we
do every other Wednesday, and

16:42.170 --> 16:45.890
we're going to be talking
podcast news as well. On that

16:45.890 --> 16:49.550
episode, we also have some big,
empowered podcasting, three

16:49.550 --> 16:54.470
announcements, updates on hotel
discounts, a first look at our

16:54.470 --> 16:58.895
big, updated weekend format, and
a preview of some of the new

16:58.895 --> 17:04.295
social events we're planning for
the big EPC three weekend. So if

17:04.295 --> 17:06.575
you're coming to Charlotte,
thinking about coming, or just

17:06.575 --> 17:09.575
want to stay connected to what
we're building, this is a great

17:09.575 --> 17:12.515
one to catch live. It's the only
way you can catch us at

17:12.515 --> 17:17.915
podcastingmorningchat.com/epclive.
And we will put that in the show

17:17.915 --> 17:21.980
notes as well. So come check
that out. And again, tickets are

17:21.980 --> 17:25.580
on sale. The prices go up in
May. So if you really are

17:25.580 --> 17:30.140
thinking about coming, now is
the absolute time to do that.

17:30.560 --> 17:33.080
And I'm just going to share with
you, because we do a lot of

17:33.080 --> 17:37.460
behind the scenes stuff. Here I
am going, I am stalling right

17:37.460 --> 17:40.760
now because I'm looking for
Ralph's button, and I can't find

17:40.760 --> 17:45.005
it, and I know that wrong button
sound is about to hit me if I

17:45.005 --> 17:48.785
hit the wrong button here, let's
see where is it. It's gone.

17:48.785 --> 17:53.525
Ralph, do you have it? I do you
want me to hit it? Please? Quick

17:53.525 --> 18:03.845
tip, smart move. And today's
content creators business bite

18:03.845 --> 18:07.250
is brought to you by the guy
who's about to host it, Ralph

18:07.250 --> 18:11.210
Estep Jr. of
contentcreatorsaccountant.com

18:11.330 --> 18:14.870
Ralph is a licensed accountant
with over 30 years of experience

18:14.870 --> 18:19.550
helping create. Creators
navigate taxes, bookkeeping and

18:19.550 --> 18:23.150
the money side of their business
with more clarity and a whole

18:23.150 --> 18:27.410
lot less stress. He's also my
accountant, and I'm happy to

18:27.410 --> 18:31.475
recommend him to you. You can
learn more about him at content

18:31.475 --> 18:35.555
creators accountant.com All
right, Ralph, what are we diving

18:35.555 --> 18:36.215
into today?

18:36.740 --> 18:38.900
Ralph Estep Jr.: Well, good
morning everybody. There's a new

18:38.900 --> 18:43.360
piece from Barrett media that's
asking a $65 million question.

18:43.420 --> 18:47.140
Here's the question, Can
podcasting avoid radio's

18:47.140 --> 18:50.860
mistakes? Well, let me give you
the short answer, only if

18:50.860 --> 18:53.860
creators don't sell out the
listener. And this article hits

18:53.860 --> 18:56.320
really hard. I'm going to give
you a couple quotes. One of the

18:56.320 --> 18:59.740
quotes says radio didn't lose
because of lack of audience. It

18:59.740 --> 19:03.060
lost because of how it treated
that audience. If you think

19:03.060 --> 19:05.760
about it, that's not a
technology failure, that's a

19:05.760 --> 19:09.300
trust failure. And here's where
it gets super uncomfortable. In

19:09.300 --> 19:12.780
the article, it says at some
point, the listeners stopped

19:12.780 --> 19:15.840
being the priority, and they
allude to this the moment and

19:15.840 --> 19:18.660
everything changed. It didn't
happen overnight. It happened

19:18.660 --> 19:21.980
slowly, with more ads and more
interruptions and less

19:21.980 --> 19:24.620
connection. But now let's pause
for a second. Let's look at

19:24.620 --> 19:28.040
podcasting today, because the
article raises the concern. It

19:28.040 --> 19:30.920
quotes this. It says, Will
podcasting Chase short term

19:30.920 --> 19:35.180
revenue at the expense of long
term loyalty? And that's the

19:35.180 --> 19:36.320
whole game, right there, isn't

19:36.680 --> 19:36.980
Marc Ronick: it? So

19:36.980 --> 19:38.600
Ralph Estep Jr.: let me
translate this for what I see.

19:38.600 --> 19:42.940
Creators have to deal with radio
optimized for scale. That's what

19:42.940 --> 19:44.920
they did. They looked at how
much of a scale they can grow

19:44.920 --> 19:45.160
to, in

19:45.340 --> 19:45.640
Marc Ronick: my view.

19:45.820 --> 19:47.800
Ralph Estep Jr.: And a lot of
people would agree with this,

19:47.800 --> 19:52.360
podcasting wins with trust, and
the second you forget that you

19:52.360 --> 19:56.380
don't just lose attention, you
lose the business. So here's the

19:56.380 --> 20:00.420
real question, are you building
something people listen to? Or

20:00.420 --> 20:03.180
or something they care about,
because only one of those

20:03.180 --> 20:06.840
survives. So be honest. Have you
ever stopped listening to a

20:06.840 --> 20:10.500
podcast because of too many ads?
Oh, and I really just wanted to

20:10.500 --> 20:13.320
throw that out to everybody, and
what was the breaking point? Was

20:13.320 --> 20:16.320
it the volume of ads or the how
the ads were delivered?

20:16.680 --> 20:19.500
Marc Ronick: I think it's both,
for me, to be honest with you, I

20:19.500 --> 20:22.700
think when I get turned off by
ads. It's that there are a lot

20:22.700 --> 20:27.260
of them and that there's no
connection to them. It's usually

20:27.260 --> 20:31.640
the pre recorded commercials
with random voices, you know,

20:31.640 --> 20:34.820
just voice over people that I'm
not connected to the way I'm

20:34.820 --> 20:38.180
connected to the host, the way I
feel connected to the host. And

20:38.180 --> 20:41.920
it just annoys me there. I
almost never listen to a

20:41.920 --> 20:46.480
commercial on a podcast. I will
absolutely hit the skip button

20:46.480 --> 20:50.860
unless the host is reading the
ad. If the host is actually

20:50.860 --> 20:54.460
doing the ad, it usually keeps
my attention. Yes, maybe it

20:54.460 --> 20:56.980
annoys me a little bit here and
there. It depends how they do it

20:56.980 --> 21:00.360
and when they do it and how
frequently. And I think BC

21:00.360 --> 21:01.680
wanted to chime in as well.

21:02.100 --> 21:04.620
BC Babbles: Yeah, I agree. It
does help when the host is the

21:04.620 --> 21:08.280
one actually narrating whatever
script it is for the sponsor,

21:08.280 --> 21:10.740
but for myself and I kind of I
noticed this too when we're

21:10.740 --> 21:14.640
doing the obsession worthy
podcast on the show, if that is

21:14.640 --> 21:19.080
the first immediate thing to
happen on the episode that

21:19.080 --> 21:23.780
doesn't put a huge break between
the quasi intro than the actual

21:23.780 --> 21:27.140
meat of the episode. That helps
too. If it's the first immediate

21:27.140 --> 21:30.560
thing it's done out of the way,
that helps me too. Otherwise, if

21:30.560 --> 21:34.040
it's in the middle of the meet
or somewhere, trying to put a

21:34.100 --> 21:37.640
dramatic pause between the
climax of a moment, not for me.

21:38.300 --> 21:40.960
Marc Ronick: Yeah. Okay,
interesting. So I think one of

21:40.960 --> 21:44.860
my biggest pet peeves is when I
press play on a podcast and it

21:44.860 --> 21:48.580
starts with a commercial, it
just annoys me, and maybe that's

21:48.580 --> 21:52.960
because of the line of work I'm
in when I'm so when I'm

21:53.020 --> 21:57.580
practically beating you on the
head about opening with value

21:57.580 --> 22:02.580
right away. That is the last
that is the least valuable way

22:02.580 --> 22:03.720
to start your show

22:04.080 --> 22:04.260
is

22:04.440 --> 22:07.200
by playing somebody else's
content, somebody else's

22:07.200 --> 22:10.620
commercial that your audience
has really no connection with

22:10.680 --> 22:12.360
coming in initially anyway.

22:12.840 --> 22:15.000
BC Babbles: And I noticed that
YouTube does this a lot, too. If

22:15.000 --> 22:19.140
you're watching any kind of show
or whatever on YouTube, they

22:19.140 --> 22:22.760
know when, like, the climatic
most watched moments are now on

22:22.760 --> 22:27.020
any YouTube video, they'll put
the ad clip right before that

22:27.020 --> 22:30.140
part begins, and you've taken me
out of the rhythm of the show or

22:30.140 --> 22:32.900
whatever it is that I'm
watching. So that's why it's a

22:32.900 --> 22:34.520
huge no for me doing it like
that.

22:35.060 --> 22:38.780
Marc Ronick: Yeah, I hear ya.
That makes sense. By the way, a

22:38.780 --> 22:43.360
good morning to Amanda yoah,
who's a regular, has been a

22:43.360 --> 22:46.060
regular here on the show, and
good to see her and just like

22:46.060 --> 22:48.940
that. Then there's another
person who is a long time

22:49.000 --> 22:51.400
community member just popped in
the room as well. Stacey

22:51.400 --> 22:55.060
Sherman, welcome back.
Appreciate having you here, and

22:55.120 --> 22:58.060
love seeing all these people in
the audience here on clubhouse

22:58.060 --> 23:01.860
this morning. Awesome to have
all of you here. Thank you for

23:01.860 --> 23:05.040
being here. Okay, so yeah,
Ralph, we you feel like we're

23:05.040 --> 23:07.740
good on your story here. Shall
we move on? Yeah.

23:07.980 --> 23:10.200
Ralph Estep Jr.: I just wanted
to say one more thing. I just

23:10.200 --> 23:13.860
think the big industry question
here is, this is a daily

23:13.860 --> 23:16.920
decision, and we've each got to
make this decision on every

23:16.920 --> 23:20.100
episode, every ad, every choice.
We got to decide and listen, I'm

23:20.100 --> 23:22.280
the money guy. This was hard for
me to say, but I got to say

23:22.280 --> 23:26.480
this. We've got to decide on
relationship or revenue first,

23:26.780 --> 23:30.020
because in the end, they're not
the same path. So thank you so

23:30.020 --> 23:32.780
much for endeavoring to talk
about this today, but it's

23:32.780 --> 23:35.660
something we have to be really
worried about, because radio is

23:35.660 --> 23:38.420
died, because the percentage of
ads is brutal.

23:38.960 --> 23:41.800
Marc Ronick: And, yeah, I'm glad
you took us back to that, Ralph,

23:41.800 --> 23:45.760
because yeah, I mean, I've been
somewhat either a massive fan of

23:45.760 --> 23:52.000
talk radio or even a part of
talk radio in my past. And that

23:52.000 --> 23:56.140
is so true when you think about
it, when we're when radio really

23:56.200 --> 23:59.500
all it cared about were the
dollars and getting as many

23:59.500 --> 24:03.240
people as possible to maximize
those dollars, and I think it

24:03.240 --> 24:06.180
has really hurt them. I think
there are other reasons why

24:06.180 --> 24:09.180
radio is hurting as well,
because I think it's been slow

24:09.180 --> 24:12.960
to really catch up with the
times. But yeah, I think that is

24:12.960 --> 24:16.260
a big factor, and it's a good
reminder that as podcasters,

24:16.260 --> 24:19.560
where we're trying so hard to
get as many people to listen as

24:19.560 --> 24:23.180
possible, maybe that really
isn't the right formula for this

24:23.180 --> 24:27.200
medium. Sid, you want to chime
in. Go ahead. Good morning.

24:27.200 --> 24:27.320
Yeah,

24:27.619 --> 24:29.899
Sid Meadows: good morning.
Everybody. Just a little bit of

24:29.899 --> 24:34.099
a different perspective. I am
not a fan of shows that have

24:34.099 --> 24:37.099
tons and tons of ads. We've
talked about Mel Robbins before

24:37.099 --> 24:39.439
and her seven minutes at the
beginning of her show full of

24:39.439 --> 24:39.919
ads, right?

24:39.919 --> 24:40.279
Marc Ronick: Yeah. But

24:40.580 --> 24:43.000
Sid Meadows: as someone who has
sponsors and someone who runs

24:43.000 --> 24:47.620
ads and someone who has a very
loyal community of listeners, it

24:47.620 --> 24:52.900
was refreshing to receive calls
and messages from some of my

24:52.900 --> 24:57.340
listeners congratulating me on
the sponsorships that I have for

24:57.340 --> 24:57.880
my podcast.

24:57.879 --> 24:58.539
Marc Ronick: That's cool

24:59.080 --> 25:01.380
Sid Meadows: and it just. I was
talking about phone somebody,

25:01.380 --> 25:04.020
because I got a couple messages
about it, which is great, but

25:04.020 --> 25:06.060
then I was on the phone with
somebody who listens all the

25:06.060 --> 25:08.340
time, and he goes, Man,
congratulations on getting those

25:08.340 --> 25:10.620
sponsors. I know that's a big
deal for you, and I know that

25:10.620 --> 25:13.680
helps you a lot, and I just like
it made me realize that maybe my

25:13.680 --> 25:16.140
audience doesn't necessarily
care about the ads, because I'm

25:16.140 --> 25:19.680
really sensitive to how many we
run per show. We have a maximum

25:19.680 --> 25:23.600
of six that we will run, two at
the beginning, two at the

25:23.600 --> 25:26.720
minute, two at the end. So
that's the max we will run. But

25:26.720 --> 25:29.240
when you don't have
monetization, or you don't have

25:29.240 --> 25:32.000
ads, and then all of a sudden
you do, and you have a community

25:32.000 --> 25:34.880
been listening for a long time.
Don't underestimate that they're

25:35.300 --> 25:37.400
happy for you, that your show is
now making money.

25:38.060 --> 25:40.480
Marc Ronick: Yeah, thank you.
Sid. Sid, quick question. Oh,

25:40.480 --> 25:41.260
yeah, go ahead. Dr,

25:41.800 --> 25:44.500
DR: when you said two in the
front, two in the middle, two in

25:44.500 --> 25:49.540
the back, are these six
different sponsors, or is it

25:49.540 --> 25:54.100
like one sponsor gets the front
and the back and another sponsor

25:54.100 --> 25:57.280
gets in the middle? Are you like
doubling up? Do you know what I

25:57.280 --> 25:57.520
mean,

25:57.639 --> 26:00.599
Sid Meadows: yeah, no, they're
no double up. So the one sponsor

26:00.599 --> 26:04.259
does not get multiple ads in the
same show. So if you're a gold

26:04.259 --> 26:07.559
sponsor, you get a 32nd ad at
the pre roll. If you're a

26:07.559 --> 26:10.199
silver, you get a 32nd ad at the
mid roll, and if you're a

26:10.199 --> 26:14.639
bronze, you get a 32nd ad post
roll. So we just planned it out

26:14.639 --> 26:17.279
we're because we have the whole
year planned out when their ads

26:17.279 --> 26:20.119
will run. That's also to help us
make sure we get their ads on

26:20.119 --> 26:23.119
time, and they're recorded in
our queue, right? But we wanted

26:23.119 --> 26:26.479
to plan it out, because I don't
want somebody to just become

26:26.479 --> 26:29.539
tone deaf to them and then be
just like, oh my gosh, so many

26:29.539 --> 26:32.059
ads in the show. I don't want
people to have that experience.

26:32.059 --> 26:35.539
So that's why we limited it to
two in each section, and it's

26:35.599 --> 26:38.839
all there. If there are six in
one show, all six of them would

26:38.839 --> 26:39.319
be different.

26:39.920 --> 26:43.960
DR: Okay, okay. And also, you
said that you know your

26:43.960 --> 26:50.020
listeners know how. You know
they're savvy as to you trying

26:50.020 --> 26:53.320
to get the sponsors and
everything. So you must have

26:53.320 --> 26:56.980
been transparent with them at
some point to say, Listen, you

26:56.980 --> 26:59.320
know, we're trying to get
sponsors or we've got the

26:59.320 --> 27:02.640
sponsor, and it's really a great
thing. How did that go? I mean,

27:02.640 --> 27:04.980
were you transparent like that
with them?

27:05.520 --> 27:07.560
Sid Meadows: Actually, that's a
really great question. VR, and

27:07.560 --> 27:11.340
no, I was not transparent with
them. I just went out and found

27:11.340 --> 27:14.460
sponsors, and then we started
the season with sponsors. I

27:14.460 --> 27:17.760
didn't tell them that I was
looking it is on my website that

27:17.760 --> 27:20.480
if you want to talk to me about
being a sponsor, click this link

27:20.480 --> 27:23.300
to schedule time with me. They
may have seen that, but I

27:23.300 --> 27:26.420
didn't, you know. I did not say
I'm looking for sponsors,

27:26.420 --> 27:29.900
because I also didn't want just
any sponsor. I was very targeted

27:29.900 --> 27:34.040
with who I was going after to be
sponsors of the show, so I

27:34.040 --> 27:36.860
didn't tell them, but they
reacted very positively to it.

27:37.340 --> 27:37.760
DR: Awesome.

27:39.260 --> 27:41.740
Marc Ronick: Yeah, good. Great
questions. Dr, thank you for

27:41.740 --> 27:44.560
asking. I was thinking about
some of those myself. So thank

27:44.560 --> 27:47.800
you for beating me to the punch.
And by the way, John in the chat

27:47.800 --> 27:52.120
is sharing some pet peeves of
his about ad placement on

27:52.180 --> 27:55.540
podcast. And he's saying here
that one of his pet peeves about

27:55.540 --> 28:00.420
ads lazy podcasters who just
crowbar ads at a random time and

28:00.420 --> 28:04.260
interrupt the show in the middle
of a sentence? Yes, that bothers

28:04.260 --> 28:07.980
me as well. I think a lot of
times that those are caused by

28:07.980 --> 28:12.960
dynamic inserts, right where
your podcast platform allows you

28:12.960 --> 28:16.020
to insert an ad and it'll
interrupt your show, quite

28:16.020 --> 28:19.440
literally and just play the ad.
It's a big pet peeve of mine

28:19.440 --> 28:23.240
too, and I will say this one of
my favorite podcasts, a comedy

28:23.240 --> 28:27.260
podcast. It's now called the
Sebastian Maniscalco show. For a

28:27.260 --> 28:30.560
long time, the Pete and
Sebastian show, they do that.

28:30.740 --> 28:34.700
They do those commercial
interruptions, I wouldn't say

28:34.700 --> 28:38.720
literally mid sentence, but it
does interrupt, and it is kind

28:38.720 --> 28:43.840
of startling, but I will say it
doesn't turn me off. I don't

28:43.840 --> 28:48.220
stop the podcast because I am so
loyal to that podcast and I love

28:48.220 --> 28:51.820
the podcast. I will say I hit
that skip button, you know, as

28:51.820 --> 28:54.760
many times as I need to hit it
until I get back to the content,

28:55.060 --> 28:59.560
but I don't leave the podcast.
Now, if I were a new podcast or

28:59.560 --> 29:03.240
new listener to that podcast,
and I heard that it might turn

29:03.240 --> 29:07.920
me off. I might actually turn it
off and go elsewhere. But if

29:07.920 --> 29:11.460
it's some somebody a podcast
that I know and trust, I'll

29:11.460 --> 29:15.060
usually stick around and I'll
just hit the skip myself. But

29:15.060 --> 29:19.380
I'm with you there, John, for
sure. There it is. There's the

29:19.380 --> 29:24.020
music, all right, so I know I
teased that we were going to go

29:24.020 --> 29:27.740
to Nick and that we were limited
on time, and I was not lying.

29:27.800 --> 29:31.340
Nick can't talk today about what
I wanted to talk about, and I

29:31.340 --> 29:35.300
will tease it, because we'll do
this tomorrow, because tomorrow

29:35.420 --> 29:39.380
we're talking about editing. And
specifically, just to give you a

29:39.380 --> 29:44.560
little plant, the seed for you.
Editing won't fix a bad episode

29:44.560 --> 29:49.180
and over editing might actually
hurt you more than it helps. And

29:49.180 --> 29:51.220
the topic that we're going to
talk about a little bit

29:51.220 --> 29:56.560
tomorrow, along these lines, is
some AI editing. There are some

29:56.560 --> 29:59.140
new tools that I've found. I
don't want to go into details

29:59.140 --> 30:01.560
now, but there are some. New
tools that I've just recently

30:01.560 --> 30:06.000
discovered that's making editing
AI tools specifically, that's

30:06.000 --> 30:11.460
making editing even easier. And
it's a let's just say it's

30:11.460 --> 30:15.240
taking it to a whole other level
than what we're used to and what

30:15.240 --> 30:17.700
we talk about now. So we're
going to talk about that

30:17.700 --> 30:21.680
tomorrow. Nick knows a lot about
how this works, and if it's

30:21.680 --> 30:25.160
something maybe some of us
editors might be concerned

30:25.160 --> 30:27.980
about. So we'll dig into that
too, but we're going to learn

30:27.980 --> 30:31.520
more about your editing process,
your editing tools, and we're

30:31.520 --> 30:36.020
going to discuss bad editing and
how to clean that up. So come

30:36.020 --> 30:40.840
join us tomorrow, 7am Eastern at
podcasting, morning chat, comm

30:40.840 --> 30:45.880
slash. Join us. All right, let's
dig into some let's see what's

30:45.880 --> 30:48.820
we've got about a half hour.
Let's dig into a couple of news

30:48.820 --> 30:52.360
bites, and then we'll get to
some of our top headlines of the

30:52.360 --> 30:58.900
day. First, the unwell Empire is
looking kind of unwell. Alex

30:58.900 --> 31:03.660
Cooper, we all know her better.
Call daddy. Her media machine is

31:03.660 --> 31:07.680
facing a very public stress
test, and this time, the drama

31:07.680 --> 31:12.660
is happening off Mike, according
to reporting from the times,

31:12.900 --> 31:16.860
Cooper's company, trending and
its unwell network are dealing

31:16.860 --> 31:21.860
with internal tension, executive
turnover and allegations that

31:21.860 --> 31:25.400
Cooper's husband and business
partner Matt Kaplan, created a

31:25.400 --> 31:29.720
difficult workplace culture and
in the messy Fallout we reported

31:29.720 --> 31:33.860
a couple of weeks ago with Alex
Earl, who left unwell after

31:33.860 --> 31:38.000
launching hot mess under the
network. So suddenly, it seems

31:38.060 --> 31:41.800
the brand built on chaos is
getting a real life case study

31:41.800 --> 31:46.000
in what happens when chaos moves
from content strategy to company

31:46.000 --> 31:52.120
culture. So that is a ongoing
story that we like I said we got

31:52.120 --> 31:56.320
from the times So more to come
on that we will see what

31:56.320 --> 31:59.320
happens. Dr, do you want to take
Story number three?

31:59.800 --> 32:03.960
DR: Sure Amazon is reshaping
wondery from a traditional

32:03.960 --> 32:08.880
podcast company into something
much bigger and much more

32:08.880 --> 32:13.620
Amazon. The new strategy pushes
beyond audio downloads and ad

32:13.620 --> 32:17.940
reads, using major creator LED
shows like new heights, with

32:17.940 --> 32:22.640
Jason and Travis Kelsey as the
model for turning loyal podcast

32:22.640 --> 32:27.980
audiences into video views,
merch sales, live events, brand

32:27.980 --> 32:33.500
deals and shopping behavior. In
other words, the podcast is no

32:33.500 --> 32:37.460
longer the product. It is the
front door. Naturally,

32:37.460 --> 32:41.800
capitalism has found another
room in the house. So some of

32:41.800 --> 32:45.280
the highlighted points are,
Amazon reportedly cut more than

32:45.400 --> 32:50.140
100 wondery jobs before
rebuilding its podcast business

32:50.140 --> 32:54.820
around creator services and
video first talent, audio only.

32:54.820 --> 32:59.980
Podcasts have been folded more
closely into audible while

32:59.980 --> 33:04.500
wonder his new focus leans into
on camera creators and broader

33:04.500 --> 33:09.120
brand ecosystems. The Kelsey
brothers represents Amazon's

33:09.120 --> 33:14.100
dream scenario, a show with
built in fandom, celebrity

33:14.100 --> 33:19.020
reach, sports, culture and
commerce potential, and this

33:19.020 --> 33:22.400
model could pressure small
creators to think beyond

33:22.400 --> 33:26.540
downloads and start treating
their shows like brands, even if

33:26.540 --> 33:30.740
their current brand empire,
quote, unquote is one Canva

33:30.860 --> 33:35.720
template. And wait a minute,
even if they're hard in the

33:35.720 --> 33:36.080
morning,

33:37.700 --> 33:40.580
Marc Ronick: she said it, she
said it. Hold on. There it is.

33:40.580 --> 33:40.940
Mouth says,

33:42.680 --> 33:45.640
Jingle: glory. Morning. Guess I
forgot. Words are hard in the

33:45.640 --> 33:48.460
morning. Did I say that out
loud?

33:50.620 --> 33:54.580
DR: Okay, it gives me time to
read it. So even if their

33:54.580 --> 33:59.620
current brand Empire is one
Canva template and a ring light,

33:59.980 --> 34:00.480
do we need

34:00.480 --> 34:02.520
Marc Ronick: to hit the button
again? No, don't

34:02.520 --> 34:02.820
DR: do it.

34:07.739 --> 34:09.719
Marc Ronick: All right, go cool.
Well, we got it. Okay, that's

34:09.719 --> 34:13.439
the story. Yeah, interesting.
Amazon really getting their

34:13.439 --> 34:18.239
hands a little dirty here and
really trying to monetize, maybe

34:18.239 --> 34:19.679
too much. Maybe monetize.

34:19.740 --> 34:22.700
DR: Tear it down and they build
it back up. That's

34:22.700 --> 34:25.040
Marc Ronick: right. Sid, did you
want to chime in, and then we'll

34:25.040 --> 34:26.660
go to Nikki, go ahead. Sid,

34:27.260 --> 34:30.080
Sid Meadows: yeah, I do believe
that it's too much what they're

34:30.080 --> 34:33.320
doing, right? It's just too
much. But there is a very good

34:33.320 --> 34:36.380
underlying message here, which,
as an independent creator,

34:36.380 --> 34:39.380
independent podcaster, you need
to think of yourself as the

34:39.380 --> 34:43.060
ecosystem and as a need, you are
a media asset. You are a media

34:43.060 --> 34:47.140
company. And that's not that's
beyond just your podcast. It

34:47.140 --> 34:49.720
includes the blog. If you write
a blog, it includes your social

34:49.720 --> 34:52.420
presence. It includes the
newsletter that you may send

34:52.420 --> 34:54.460
out, the emails that you send
out. So you got to think of

34:54.460 --> 34:57.340
yourself as an ecosystem, and to
me, that's one of the things

34:57.340 --> 35:02.100
that helped me attract the spot.
Answers that I have, because I

35:02.100 --> 35:06.540
have an ecosystem that they
wanted access to. And so when I

35:06.540 --> 35:08.880
understood that, really
understood that, I think it's

35:08.880 --> 35:11.340
important, it actually helped me
a lot. And I think it's

35:11.340 --> 35:14.580
important that we all realize we
are a full ecosystem, and Stacy

35:14.580 --> 35:18.060
does a really great job at
leveraging her ecosystem, and we

35:18.060 --> 35:19.500
have to start thinking like
that.

35:19.980 --> 35:22.160
Marc Ronick: I agree. And Sid, I
would say you've been doing a

35:22.400 --> 35:27.320
great job of that as well, for
sure. Yeah, thank you. Great

35:27.320 --> 35:30.680
point. Yeah, I see Ralph is
emphatically agreeing with you.

35:30.680 --> 35:31.940
Did you want to add on to it?

35:31.940 --> 35:32.180
Ralph,

35:32.600 --> 35:34.940
Ralph Estep Jr.: yeah, I do. I
just said, nailed it. You've got

35:34.940 --> 35:37.820
to look at it like you're a
media company, and you have to

35:37.820 --> 35:40.720
start thinking in terms of all
the different places that you

35:40.720 --> 35:43.900
are hitting people and how that
that ecosystem works. So Sid,

35:43.900 --> 35:44.980
great job, my friend.

35:45.580 --> 35:49.240
Marc Ronick: Thank you, Ralph.
And I just want to quickly say,

35:49.240 --> 35:53.980
BC you're on deck, and just in
case, you know, just in case you

35:53.980 --> 35:58.240
might fall asleep over there,
because we might have noticed

35:58.360 --> 36:02.640
once or twice the dozing, no,
you don't think you were, you

36:02.640 --> 36:03.840
know, am I wrong?

36:04.980 --> 36:07.320
BC Babbles: I think you are this
time, but I may not be aware. I

36:07.320 --> 36:07.560
think

36:07.560 --> 36:07.740
Marc Ronick: good.

36:08.760 --> 36:12.060
Okay, fair. Well, you are on
deck, sir. And in the meantime,

36:12.060 --> 36:16.500
I'm going to give some pod tech
news, and I think that kind of

36:16.500 --> 36:19.860
falls under this umbrella of BCS
as well. So we'll hear from him

36:19.860 --> 36:23.180
in a moment. First off, phonic
recently announced that their

36:23.180 --> 36:26.720
new editing capabilities now
allow users to apply its

36:26.720 --> 36:31.880
automatic cutting features to
video files, not just audio. So

36:31.880 --> 36:35.600
just in case you're unfamiliar,
auphonic, one of the things it's

36:35.840 --> 36:41.140
known for is its audio
enhancement does a great job of

36:41.140 --> 36:44.020
things like removing background
noise. Some of you might be

36:44.020 --> 36:48.640
familiar with Adobe podcasts
enhance. It's like that, but I

36:48.640 --> 36:52.540
think better, and it's been
around a lot longer. So anyway,

36:52.540 --> 36:55.720
as back to the story about now
being able to apply their

36:55.720 --> 36:58.840
features to video, that means
that things like silence,

36:58.840 --> 37:02.460
filler, words, coughs and even
music segments can be removed

37:02.520 --> 37:07.140
directly from video podcast
episodes. The company says the

37:07.440 --> 37:13.740
10 ADP video cutting will be
free, while 4k support sits

37:13.740 --> 37:18.240
behind paid plans, and users can
still jump in manually with its

37:18.240 --> 37:22.400
editor complete with synced
video and audio for precise

37:22.400 --> 37:26.240
control. So go check them
out@auphonic.com if that's of

37:26.240 --> 37:29.660
interest to you, like I said, I
love the service. Long time

37:29.660 --> 37:33.440
user. I think it's great, and it
just continues to get better.

37:33.740 --> 37:37.160
There are free plans, as
mentioned, so you can check that

37:37.160 --> 37:39.620
out and play with it. I think
you get, like, two hours of

37:39.620 --> 37:44.920
free, two hours of content free
every month. So go check that

37:44.920 --> 37:50.260
out. Pod news recently reported
that headliner has made its

37:50.260 --> 37:55.060
video tools free, at least for a
limited time, and that could get

37:55.060 --> 37:58.660
the attention of a lot of indie
and DIY podcasters trying to do

37:58.660 --> 38:03.240
more with video without piling
on more monthly costs. According

38:03.240 --> 38:07.620
to the release, creators can now
make unlimited podcast videos

38:07.740 --> 38:12.360
with no watermarks. It also
ready made templates add

38:12.360 --> 38:17.160
captions to clip and full length
videos automatically pull to 10

38:17.220 --> 38:21.800
moments from longer content. So
much like much like Riverside

38:21.860 --> 38:25.700
with magic clips, it will
automatically create at 10

38:25.760 --> 38:29.300
different clips for you and even
schedule and share those clips

38:29.300 --> 38:33.500
to social media or YouTube.
Headliner says The move comes as

38:33.500 --> 38:36.740
more podcasters embrace video
and production costs keep

38:36.740 --> 38:40.960
rising, so this feels like a
pretty strategic play to lower

38:41.020 --> 38:45.280
the barrier of creators who want
more reach without another

38:45.520 --> 38:49.900
subscription. Hit, all right.
BC, you got something from pod

38:49.900 --> 38:52.120
scribe that you wanted to share.
Go for it.

38:52.780 --> 38:53.320
BC Babbles: Yes.

38:55.060 --> 38:56.020
Marc Ronick: He wasn't sleeping.

38:56.200 --> 38:58.000
BC Babbles: I sent you two
stories. You okayed the first

38:58.000 --> 39:01.020
one that wasn't pod scribe, but
then not the second one. I must

39:01.020 --> 39:03.000
Marc Ronick: have missed. I must
have missed the second one. Go

39:03.000 --> 39:04.320
for it. You're good. Give us
what

39:04.320 --> 39:07.200
BC Babbles: you got. So pod
scribe launches an AI chat bot

39:07.200 --> 39:10.980
for podcast data and
advertising. So they announced a

39:10.980 --> 39:14.400
new AI powered chat bot designed
to help advertisers, agencies

39:14.580 --> 39:18.360
and publishers, quickly turn
podcast data into actionable

39:18.360 --> 39:21.440
insights. So this launch come
also came alongside a new

39:21.740 --> 39:25.400
attribution fee attribution
feature. There we go, called

39:25.400 --> 39:29.000
YouTube smart modeling. But the
headline innovation here is that

39:29.000 --> 39:32.300
a chat bot that lets you talk to
your podcast data instead of

39:32.480 --> 39:38.240
digging through dashboards. So
the chat bot here actually lets

39:38.240 --> 39:41.680
you look at conversational
access to podcast data. So

39:41.680 --> 39:45.160
instead of manually analyzing
dashboards, you can ask

39:45.160 --> 39:48.280
questions in plain new language,
get immediate answers about

39:48.280 --> 39:52.660
shows audiences and campaigns.
For example, would my brand work

39:52.660 --> 39:55.720
with this podcast, or what
audiences listen to this show?

39:56.020 --> 39:59.920
And analytics become more
conversational as a result. It.

40:00.000 --> 40:02.760
Pulls from multiple data
sources, like podcast

40:02.760 --> 40:06.420
transcripts, brand safety
signals, historical sponsors,

40:06.540 --> 40:10.380
audience data and more. So what
this looks like for the industry

40:10.380 --> 40:13.920
is that podcast analytics are
becoming very askable. So

40:13.920 --> 40:16.740
instead of learning dashboards,
you just ask questions and you

40:16.740 --> 40:21.380
get the answers that any kind of
analyst would have to cultivate

40:21.380 --> 40:24.560
and make sound pretty for you.
It also means the real audience

40:24.560 --> 40:27.740
for podcasting is expanding. So
the tool isn't for creators,

40:27.980 --> 40:32.300
it's for media buyers, marketing
teams and agency. So we're

40:32.300 --> 40:36.440
getting this real cool tool that
I almost feel like it kind of

40:36.440 --> 40:40.640
goes back to our earlier talk
about, you know, AI and jobs.

40:40.640 --> 40:43.780
You know, it's kind of taking
the place of an analyst who, you

40:43.780 --> 40:46.480
know, spends time learning how
to look at all these different

40:46.480 --> 40:50.200
interfaces, taking the data,
process it, and then deliver it

40:50.200 --> 40:53.500
to you in a way that's very
human based so you understand

40:53.500 --> 40:56.980
what's been working, what's not
been working, and planning your

40:56.980 --> 40:59.680
future pivots from there. So
it's a pretty interesting

40:59.680 --> 41:02.460
feature. Again, this is coming
from pod scribe, like you said,

41:02.460 --> 41:04.860
but they didn't say much more
about the YouTube smart

41:04.860 --> 41:07.620
modeling, because it was more
about this little chat bot. But

41:07.620 --> 41:09.300
yeah, that's the pod scribe
story.

41:09.780 --> 41:13.620
Marc Ronick: Interesting. Thank
you. BC, yeah, cool way to get

41:13.620 --> 41:17.820
your data. And I guess you said,
you know, this is definitely of

41:17.820 --> 41:21.620
interest to marketers and
advertisers, but also available

41:21.620 --> 41:24.320
and of interest to podcasters
too, right?

41:24.380 --> 41:26.960
BC Babbles: Oh, yeah, it does
reduce the workflow time, so you

41:27.200 --> 41:30.140
like much smaller hours of
research. You don't have to work

41:30.140 --> 41:33.680
with multiple dashboards, no
manual reporting, so it really

41:33.680 --> 41:36.860
kind of consolidates your entire
process.

41:37.400 --> 41:41.380
Marc Ronick: Very cool. Thank
you. BC, appreciate that. Let's

41:41.380 --> 41:44.920
get into a couple of our
headlines before we wrap up

41:44.920 --> 41:51.340
today. Spotify is discovery
advice, clarity beats clever. So

41:51.340 --> 41:54.640
here's the story. Spotify is
head of podcast editorial.

41:54.640 --> 41:58.660
Lizzie Hale shared with POD news
in an interview that the

41:58.780 --> 42:03.300
platform's podcast promotion
strategy is a mix of human

42:03.300 --> 42:08.580
curation, recommendation
systems, cultural awareness and

42:08.580 --> 42:13.440
listener behavior for indie and
DIY podcasters, the big takeaway

42:13.860 --> 42:18.240
is Spotify is looking for shows
that retain listeners, feel

42:18.240 --> 42:22.940
relevant and make it easy for
both the platform and the

42:23.000 --> 42:27.140
audience to understand what the
episode is about. So let me dig

42:27.140 --> 42:30.920
into this a little bit. First,
Spotify has a global editorial

42:30.920 --> 42:34.340
team with dozens of people
across major podcast markets,

42:34.340 --> 42:38.120
including us Germany and South
Korea, the platform uses both

42:38.120 --> 42:41.980
editorial judgment and
recommendation systems to decide

42:41.980 --> 42:46.180
what gets surfaced to listeners.
Spotify says it's looking for

42:46.180 --> 42:49.420
shows that builds strong
listener connection and long

42:49.420 --> 42:54.220
term retention, timely, topical
and culturally relevant episodes

42:54.220 --> 42:57.580
may have an advantage, because
Spotify wants the app experience

42:57.580 --> 43:00.840
to feel current. Now. How
they're doing that, I guess

43:00.840 --> 43:03.840
would be with AI, because we
know that, I can't imagine that

43:03.840 --> 43:07.380
the editorial team is listening
to every podcast episode that's

43:07.380 --> 43:11.040
on the platform. There's
currently no formal submission

43:11.040 --> 43:14.460
form for podcasters who want
editorial promotion. We know

43:14.460 --> 43:17.940
that Apple does have something
like that, so I wouldn't be

43:17.940 --> 43:20.780
surprised if we see something
like that coming from Spotify at

43:20.780 --> 43:23.540
some point, but currently not
available to do that, so we

43:23.540 --> 43:27.740
can't get their attention
anyway, through a form also

43:27.740 --> 43:32.120
clear. Episode titles call back
to yesterday, and descriptions

43:32.240 --> 43:35.900
matter because they help Spotify
understand your content and help

43:35.900 --> 43:39.920
listeners decide whether to
press play. And they've tested

43:39.920 --> 43:43.300
cover art Spotify has and found
that users respond better to

43:43.300 --> 43:47.380
artwork that's clear and
informative, rather than overly

43:47.380 --> 43:52.600
clever or flashy. I want to say
that, or at least I want to make

43:52.600 --> 43:56.440
sure you heard me say that,
because that is an area maybe we

43:56.500 --> 44:00.220
need to have an updated
conversation around cover art

44:00.460 --> 44:05.640
over the next couple of weeks,
because I still see cover art. I

44:05.640 --> 44:11.400
still see it very busy, lots of
words all over it and again. I

44:11.400 --> 44:15.000
know I say it. I've said it
millions of times, but when you

44:15.000 --> 44:19.380
do that, and your little cover
art image is a little thumbnail

44:19.380 --> 44:23.360
on a mobile phone screen.
Nobody's seeing that. Nobody's

44:23.360 --> 44:28.280
connecting with that. And I know
nobody is a big, broad word, but

44:28.280 --> 44:31.760
I'm being a little dramatic.
It's much harder to really

44:31.760 --> 44:36.140
connect with cover art if it's
too busy, too wordy, etc. So

44:36.200 --> 44:40.360
DR: Mark, the one that kills me
is the font that is script, and

44:40.360 --> 44:44.020
it's really thin and it's really
scripty. Do you know what I'm

44:44.020 --> 44:45.160
Marc Ronick: saying? Yeah, it's
hard. That's

44:45.160 --> 44:47.920
DR: the one that kills me,
because you can't make it out

44:47.980 --> 44:50.320
Marc Ronick: right? It's not
legible. Yes, and a lot of

44:50.320 --> 44:54.160
people do that, unfortunately,
yeah, transcripts and chapters

44:54.160 --> 44:57.460
can help discovery on Spotify,
because they give Spotify more

44:57.460 --> 45:03.000
detail about what's inside each
F. Episode, hence AI helping

45:03.000 --> 45:07.860
them do this heavy lift video,
apparently, is not required for

45:07.860 --> 45:10.980
promotion, but Spotify says it's
becoming more and more important

45:11.160 --> 45:14.220
because it gives listeners more
context and creates a stronger

45:14.220 --> 45:19.440
connection with the host. So
that's the story. I'm curious

45:19.500 --> 45:23.360
what people think about the
story, and when you hear that

45:23.360 --> 45:27.320
Spotify uses both people and
algorithms clearly to surface

45:27.680 --> 45:30.380
their shows, what comes to mind?
Do you think this is a good

45:30.380 --> 45:33.800
move? Do you think? Do you
believe that this is something

45:33.800 --> 45:37.520
that actually they're doing to
promote? Because I know for me,

45:37.640 --> 45:40.840
I'm a little skeptical. I feel
like, yes, these are all true

45:40.840 --> 45:45.280
statements, but I still feel
like they're focusing on the big

45:45.280 --> 45:48.280
names and the big shows. That's
the ones that they want to

45:48.280 --> 45:50.980
feature, because the big names
in the big shows, the ones that

45:50.980 --> 45:54.640
are successful, they fit this
mold perfectly that we're

45:54.640 --> 45:58.780
describing here. But what about
the smaller guys? That's what

45:58.780 --> 46:01.440
I'm curious about. Will that
actually make a difference if we

46:01.440 --> 46:05.580
follow all of these, all of this
criteria. Ralph, what are your

46:05.580 --> 46:06.060
thoughts?

46:06.660 --> 46:08.760
Ralph Estep Jr.: Yeah. My
question is, I feel like Spotify

46:08.760 --> 46:12.240
is pushing the video side of
things. So is there going to be

46:12.240 --> 46:15.180
a bias towards the people who
are putting video out there as

46:15.180 --> 46:18.360
well? Because I feel like that's
kind of what they're really

46:18.360 --> 46:21.120
trying to drive their audience
to. Not sure what they're going

46:21.120 --> 46:23.580
to do on the audio side, but I
had to be honest, I'm not a huge

46:23.580 --> 46:26.580
Spotify fan. That's just me,
because I don't have a lot of

46:26.580 --> 46:29.513
interaction with it, but I just
feel like they've really made a

46:29.513 --> 46:30.345
push towards video. And I concur
what you're saying, Marc, I

46:30.345 --> 46:34.425
think it just reinforces the big
names that are already being

46:34.425 --> 46:36.825
promoted on their network.
Because think about it like

46:36.885 --> 46:39.825
this, Spotify is whole goal is
to keep you on their network as

46:39.825 --> 46:43.425
long as they can. So they want
to find shows that are going to

46:43.425 --> 46:47.325
keep you staying on their
network, so that they can serve

46:47.325 --> 46:48.165
you up other stuff

46:48.820 --> 46:51.520
Marc Ronick: fair enough, and
like I said in the interview

46:51.520 --> 46:55.600
that they did, they say video is
not required for that for

46:55.600 --> 46:58.420
promotion, but that it's
becoming more and more

46:58.420 --> 47:02.760
important. So who knows, but I
kind of agree with you, Ralph. I

47:02.760 --> 47:07.140
feel like they're going to favor
video podcasts more because they

47:07.140 --> 47:11.100
are pushing it so much. But
that's more speculation than

47:11.640 --> 47:15.120
anything, more than what this
article is saying. So we will

47:15.120 --> 47:19.440
see. And by the way, let's see.
John says anyone else besides me

47:19.620 --> 47:25.280
couldn't care less about what
Spotify says that? And Ralph is

47:25.280 --> 47:29.600
raising his hand, yeah. I mean,
that is fair. That is fair. You

47:29.600 --> 47:33.020
know, it's hard because they are
becoming a leader here in the

47:33.020 --> 47:36.320
podcast space. I know a lot of
people say they're becoming the

47:36.320 --> 47:40.100
number one platform. I have yet
to experience that on this show,

47:40.100 --> 47:43.720
or my clients, for that matter,
and a lot of you that I know

47:43.780 --> 47:47.620
still say Apple is the number
one platform as far as your

47:47.620 --> 47:51.460
listeners go. But that's an
interesting statement. John,

47:51.460 --> 47:55.420
yes, and was it? BC, yeah, I
don't know. BC, asked the I

47:55.420 --> 47:58.360
mentioned the name of the person
being interviewed in this story,

47:58.420 --> 48:03.300
Lizzie Hale. And he's asking, Is
that Lizzie Hale of the band

48:03.300 --> 48:07.380
hail storm? I don't know, but it
kind I mean, how many Lizzie

48:07.380 --> 48:11.220
Hales are there? And in the
entertainment industry, usually

48:11.220 --> 48:12.540
there can only be one.

48:12.720 --> 48:13.800
BC Babbles: How does she spell
her name?

48:14.400 --> 48:17.340
Marc Ronick: L, I, z, z, y, H,
A, L, E,

48:17.400 --> 48:18.720
BC Babbles: nah, that ain't my
girl. Never mind.

48:19.200 --> 48:19.680
Marc Ronick: Okay.

48:22.080 --> 48:23.000
BC Babbles: L, z, z, y,

48:23.600 --> 48:26.480
Marc Ronick: oh, right, that's
true. That's true, and maybe

48:26.480 --> 48:30.020
it'll surprise you, BC, but I've
seen hailstorm live before.

48:30.440 --> 48:33.620
That's mainly because of my
daughter, but still, yeah,

48:34.580 --> 48:35.120
BC Babbles: I gotta go.

48:37.580 --> 48:40.900
Marc Ronick: All right, cool, so
let's keep it moving to the next

48:40.900 --> 48:45.340
story. This one is about
YouTube. YouTube's new shorts

48:45.340 --> 48:50.380
limit could cut off a big
podcast growth funnel. YouTube's

48:50.380 --> 48:54.580
rolling out a feature that lets
their users set a daily limit

48:54.580 --> 49:00.360
for shorts even all the way down
to zero and and Barrett media

49:00.360 --> 49:05.160
argues that we should be worried
as independent podcasters, if

49:05.160 --> 49:09.060
we're relying on short clips for
discovery. The current the

49:09.060 --> 49:14.640
concern is if fewer people are
casually falling into shorts,

49:14.940 --> 49:18.720
one of the easiest and cheapest
ways of indie creators to for

49:18.720 --> 49:22.220
indie creators to get
discovered, could get a lot less

49:22.280 --> 49:26.780
reliable. So the article frames
that this it frames it more as a

49:26.840 --> 49:31.040
digital wellness feature on the
surface, but says it could also

49:31.040 --> 49:34.880
reduce exposure for creators who
depend on shorts as that top

49:34.880 --> 49:38.900
funnel audience growth tool. And
a lot of us have shared that our

49:39.020 --> 49:42.460
shorts, when we put them on
YouTube, historically seem to

49:42.460 --> 49:47.020
get more engagement, more views
over on YouTube than it does on

49:47.020 --> 49:50.440
other platforms. So that's why
I'm feeling called to share this

49:50.440 --> 49:54.400
story with you. It goes on for
independent podcasters, shorts

49:54.400 --> 49:57.460
have become exactly what I'm
saying, that low cost way to

49:57.460 --> 50:01.440
turn one episode into multiple
discovery. Moments, especially

50:01.440 --> 50:04.680
when they don't have the budget
for paid promotion or a full

50:04.680 --> 50:10.260
marketing team, a cap that users
can lower to zero means some

50:10.260 --> 50:14.400
viewers may effectively remove
shorts from their daily YouTube

50:14.400 --> 50:18.060
experience altogether, shrinking
the pool of passive discovery

50:18.060 --> 50:21.800
that many creators have been
counting on. The bigger issue

50:21.800 --> 50:25.940
underneath the story is platform
dependence. If a creator's

50:25.940 --> 50:30.740
audience growth is too tied to
one feature inside one app, a

50:30.740 --> 50:35.240
single product update can
suddenly change the game. This

50:35.240 --> 50:38.060
also adds more pressure on
podcasters to build stronger

50:38.060 --> 50:41.320
direct relationships through
things like your email lists,

50:41.320 --> 50:46.840
subscriber communities, search,
friendly titles, a full episode

50:47.260 --> 50:50.980
and full episode content that
can live beyond one

50:50.980 --> 50:55.360
recommendation feature. So I'm
curious. I know I said in the

50:55.360 --> 50:58.120
past, I've heard from our
community that shorts are

50:58.120 --> 51:01.140
actually bringing you real
listeners, or at least getting

51:01.140 --> 51:06.300
you more exposure over on
YouTube. So is that the case for

51:06.300 --> 51:10.140
you, or is it? Are you maybe
just getting more views, but

51:10.140 --> 51:12.540
it's not translating? I guess
this is somewhat of a

51:12.540 --> 51:15.540
continuation, too, of last week,
when we talked about or I was

51:15.540 --> 51:19.740
sharing how I don't think
podcast clips specifically are

51:19.740 --> 51:23.480
really getting strong attention
these days anymore, on any

51:23.480 --> 51:26.720
platform, for that matter,
again, unless you already have a

51:26.720 --> 51:30.020
big following. And that's a
general statement I've heard

51:30.020 --> 51:33.020
from some community members,
like Stephen Cofer in our

51:33.020 --> 51:36.260
Facebook group, who has said the
opposite of what I'm just

51:36.260 --> 51:40.100
saying, that he's put out some
shorts, and it's worked really

51:40.100 --> 51:43.900
well for him, and it's gotten
him more listeners that way.

51:44.020 --> 51:47.500
There are exceptions, but I
still feel strongly. So anyway,

51:47.560 --> 51:51.160
are shorts actually bringing you
real listeners, or do you think

51:51.160 --> 51:53.620
you're mainly just getting
views? That's my question.

51:53.620 --> 51:54.640
Ralph, what do you got?

51:55.240 --> 51:58.180
Ralph Estep Jr.: Yeah, I think
shorts reinforce your existing

51:58.240 --> 52:02.460
audience, but I'm not sure that
they bring you a new audience. I

52:02.460 --> 52:04.740
think that's my takeaway from
it, because I do a ton of

52:04.740 --> 52:07.740
shorts, like every every day. We
put out seven or eight shorts,

52:08.100 --> 52:11.460
and they get decent viewership,
but I'm not sure that they

52:11.460 --> 52:14.520
translate into new audio podcast
listeners,

52:14.700 --> 52:17.100
Marc Ronick: speaking of too
much noise, Ralph, and I mean

52:17.100 --> 52:21.380
this with all due respect, I
wonder if maybe, and I know that

52:21.380 --> 52:24.260
there are plenty of social media
experts that would tell me I'm

52:24.260 --> 52:28.580
wrong here, but I wonder if
maybe doing less clips might

52:29.000 --> 52:32.540
improve your connection with
your audience, and maybe we

52:32.540 --> 52:35.960
don't want to flood them with
too much content every day and

52:35.960 --> 52:39.260
just give them, you know, let's
say three of the biggest

52:39.260 --> 52:42.280
moments. And I know you do a
daily podcast, so you always

52:42.280 --> 52:45.160
have a lot of clips that you can
share, but I wonder if limiting

52:45.160 --> 52:46.060
them could help.

52:46.540 --> 52:48.640
Ralph Estep Jr.: We actually
tested that mark for like, 90

52:48.640 --> 52:53.200
days, and what we found is that
we got the same viewership if we

52:53.200 --> 52:56.620
release three clips a day versus
one clip a day. And the other

52:56.620 --> 52:59.200
issue that I have is having
three shows now four shows, if

52:59.200 --> 53:02.160
we include this one is, I guess
you can make the argument, I'm

53:02.160 --> 53:06.480
sort of overexposed, so that is
a legitimate concern, and it's

53:06.480 --> 53:09.120
interesting. I just hired a
publicist to help me with that,

53:09.120 --> 53:12.720
so we'll see how that plays out.
But it's a very valid point

53:12.720 --> 53:15.240
mark, and it's something I think
maybe we'll test again and see

53:15.240 --> 53:16.020
what that looks like.

53:16.500 --> 53:18.840
Marc Ronick: Yeah, and I want to
actually a little tease we are

53:18.840 --> 53:23.420
going to have that publicist
join us on this very show next

53:23.420 --> 53:24.500
month. So

53:24.620 --> 53:24.860
she's

53:24.860 --> 53:27.080
Ralph Estep Jr.: planning to
come in on Tuesday May the 12th.

53:27.080 --> 53:30.620
Her name is Cindy Harrison, so
make sure you join us on Tuesday

53:30.620 --> 53:31.280
May the 12th.

53:31.880 --> 53:36.500
DR: Hey, Ralph, can I ask a
question? So you said, you said

53:36.560 --> 53:42.880
that the shorts are getting you.
Maybe your current listeners are

53:43.120 --> 53:46.780
watching the shorts, but it's
not getting new listeners. So

53:46.780 --> 53:48.340
what are you doing to bring
those in?

53:49.000 --> 53:51.940
Ralph Estep Jr.: I think for new
listeners, I my particular thing

53:51.940 --> 53:55.300
is I do a ton of advertising.
That's just what I do. I spend

53:55.420 --> 53:56.260
money on that,

53:56.260 --> 53:57.280
DR: paid advertising.

53:57.280 --> 53:58.840
Ralph Estep Jr.: Yeah, paid
advertising. But that's me,

53:58.840 --> 54:01.440
yeah, and not everybody. It's
interesting. I was working with

54:01.440 --> 54:04.260
a client yesterday who she just
signed up for a 15 minute

54:04.260 --> 54:06.600
discovery call, and she goes,
Ralph. She says, I don't have a

54:06.600 --> 54:08.640
budget like you have. And I
said, Okay, well, let's think

54:08.640 --> 54:11.100
about this differently, and
there are different ways to do

54:11.100 --> 54:15.240
it on a zero budget. I just
think it's a harder path to

54:15.240 --> 54:18.900
take. I think you got to be on
other shows, guesting on other

54:18.900 --> 54:21.860
shows, and introducing yourself
to other audiences that you're

54:21.860 --> 54:24.260
not in front of, and honestly,
that's one of the reasons I

54:24.260 --> 54:27.620
hired a publicist, is because I
want to get out there in other

54:27.620 --> 54:30.680
arenas where I'm not seen all
the time, so that people are

54:30.680 --> 54:32.660
exposed to the virus that is,
Ralph,

54:35.780 --> 54:38.480
Marc Ronick: thank you. Ralph,
yep, Janae, did you have

54:38.480 --> 54:38.840
something

54:39.320 --> 54:42.400
Junaid: absolutely so really
great point on the shorts and

54:42.400 --> 54:46.600
how it's how YouTube's
implementing that thing. Some

54:46.600 --> 54:49.540
people say, Hey, I don't want to
watch shorts. One thing that I

54:49.540 --> 54:55.300
have noticed is flips from
longer form content is not going

54:55.300 --> 54:58.300
to perform well anymore, and
that's because people are

54:58.300 --> 55:03.660
watching content. That's
specifically made for short form

55:03.660 --> 55:07.020
video, meaning you're talking
directly to the person. Hey,

55:07.320 --> 55:10.200
here's what I talked about on
this podcast. Here's what you

55:10.200 --> 55:14.760
can learn. Go listen to this
episode that works more than

55:15.000 --> 55:18.060
just a fragment of a
conversation pulled from your

55:18.060 --> 55:19.440
set, from your episode,

55:19.920 --> 55:22.880
Marc Ronick: and is that based
on your experience, or based on

55:22.880 --> 55:24.860
what you've heard others talking
about?

55:24.980 --> 55:27.680
Junaid: That's based on
experience? What Pat Flynn has

55:27.680 --> 55:31.760
been testing for the past 450,
days, 500 days, and he's got a

55:31.760 --> 55:35.300
course coming on that he
specifically talks about this.

55:35.660 --> 55:39.980
He's done multiple challenges as
well, and this is exactly what

55:40.100 --> 55:42.340
others that have gone through
the challenge are also

55:42.340 --> 55:43.060
experiencing

55:43.360 --> 55:46.480
Marc Ronick: so basically, if I
were to create a short for

55:46.480 --> 55:49.780
today's show, Junaid, your
suggestion, based on all of

55:49.780 --> 55:55.240
that, is that I actually hit
record on a video I talk about

55:55.240 --> 55:58.780
maybe one of these stories like
YouTube shorts create now has

55:58.780 --> 56:02.340
limits that users can pick and
choose, I just sit and talk to

56:02.340 --> 56:06.360
camera, tell my audience what we
talk about, instead of actually

56:06.360 --> 56:08.580
just playing a clip of this
conversation.

56:09.060 --> 56:10.620
Junaid: Yes, okay, yes,

56:10.800 --> 56:11.340
Marc Ronick: interesting.

56:11.340 --> 56:13.980
Junaid: Because I don't know if
you know, but when people are

56:13.980 --> 56:16.920
talking on the phone and they
don't have the speaker on, and

56:16.920 --> 56:20.660
you're listening part of the
conversation, your brain is kind

56:20.660 --> 56:23.060
of like disconnected. I'm like,
wait, what's happening on the

56:23.060 --> 56:25.640
other side? And you probably
experienced it yourself. Your

56:25.640 --> 56:27.980
wife is talking to somebody, and
you're like, Hey, what are you

56:28.160 --> 56:30.800
talking about? And then later
on, she comes back and tells you

56:30.860 --> 56:33.920
the whole story. That's
essentially what people are

56:33.980 --> 56:36.200
jumping into when they're
listening to these clips. And

56:36.200 --> 56:39.680
they're like, Wait, I don't
really care what happened, so

56:39.680 --> 56:42.820
I'm just gonna skip through, but
if you're directing, you're

56:42.820 --> 56:45.640
basically breaking that fourth
wall and talking to the person

56:45.640 --> 56:48.640
on the other side. And I've seen
this myself. The content that

56:48.640 --> 56:51.820
I'm really pulled into is when
somebody's talking directly to

56:51.820 --> 56:54.220
me a message that they're
delivering. I'm going to watch

56:54.220 --> 56:56.860
this short even if it's five
minutes, eight minutes, 10

56:56.920 --> 57:00.180
minutes long. And I've
experienced that for myself, and

57:00.180 --> 57:02.940
I know others have as well,
because there's 1000s of

57:02.940 --> 57:07.380
comments on that video alone. So
that's what's been working, and

57:07.380 --> 57:09.960
that's that's where everybody's
going to as well.

57:10.320 --> 57:12.720
Marc Ronick: Cool. Thank you.
Junaid Sid, did you want to add

57:12.720 --> 57:13.140
something?

57:13.800 --> 57:15.780
Sid Meadows: I'm a really small
YouTube creator, so let's be

57:15.780 --> 57:18.060
very clear about that. But at
the beginning of the season, we

57:18.060 --> 57:21.080
started posting a few shorts,
and we've amped that up a little

57:21.320 --> 57:26.660
bit. They're getting about 40 to
60 views. Great, right? I mean,

57:26.720 --> 57:29.120
there's not a lot of intention
behind it, other than we have

57:29.120 --> 57:32.180
them. Let's put them up there.
And since the beginning of our

57:32.180 --> 57:36.080
season, which is in February, we
went from 20 subscribers to, I

57:36.080 --> 57:39.500
just checked, we have 49
subscribers on YouTube. So my

57:39.500 --> 57:42.340
little YouTube channel is
growing. I'm nowhere near Ralph,

57:42.580 --> 57:45.280
but I'm happy with it. It's
growing, which means I'm getting

57:45.280 --> 57:47.380
more exposure. And part of it
may have to do with we

57:47.380 --> 57:50.740
completely changed the way that
the video looks as well because

57:50.740 --> 57:55.180
of gymnade and Ecamm. And we're
able to use Ecamm now to produce

57:55.180 --> 57:57.460
the show a little bit better, if
I can remember to change the

57:57.460 --> 58:01.140
scenes. But it's growing, and
I'm really happy that my little

58:01.140 --> 58:05.160
channel is growing, and for me,
the shorts are working to a

58:05.160 --> 58:05.580
degree.

58:05.760 --> 58:08.100
Marc Ronick: Yeah. Awesome.
Congratulations. Sid, and there

58:08.100 --> 58:11.340
you go. There are two examples
of, you know, organic growth

58:11.340 --> 58:15.360
versus paid growth, and both can
work, but you just have to have

58:15.360 --> 58:19.260
different expectations as far as
how quickly they work, right?

58:19.260 --> 58:22.340
But I love it. Sid, I'm in your
camp, at least for the time

58:22.340 --> 58:25.940
being with the podcasting
morning chat, and it's fun to

58:25.940 --> 58:29.540
watch that YouTube channel start
to slowly grow. It's cool to see

58:29.540 --> 58:34.340
people joining us live. It's
cool to see the after the live

58:34.340 --> 58:38.360
is out there and available for
people. More people are viewing

58:38.360 --> 58:42.940
that over on YouTube. It is fun
to see. And, yeah, I think that

58:42.940 --> 58:46.240
it's just a matter of setting
our expectations in the right

58:46.240 --> 58:49.180
place. BC, on the other Oh, go
sorry, no, no, go ahead.

58:49.360 --> 58:51.700
Sid Meadows: Additionally, we've
seen a growth. We've seen a

58:51.700 --> 58:55.240
spike in Spotify listeners,
which is very interesting to me,

58:55.240 --> 58:58.420
but we've seen a spike in
Spotify listeners. Now we have

58:58.420 --> 59:02.040
enough to actually get some data
from the Spotify back end,

59:02.040 --> 59:05.400
right? But we are. We're
gathering it all together, but

59:05.400 --> 59:09.960
we are going to start testing
clips on Spotify to see if

59:09.960 --> 59:12.840
because they offer that. So
we're going to test that and see

59:12.840 --> 59:15.540
if that brings any more Spotify
listeners. So as soon as we

59:15.540 --> 59:18.300
start that test, I can report
back as to whether or not it

59:18.300 --> 59:20.780
brought us any additional growth
on the end Spotify.

59:20.960 --> 59:24.020
Marc Ronick: You're talking
about adding the adding clips to

59:24.080 --> 59:25.520
the episode, attaching it,

59:26.060 --> 59:29.240
Sid Meadows: yeah, you can add
shorts or clips, right? And

59:29.300 --> 59:33.080
Spotify has, I guess, a feed
where I don't use Spotify, so it

59:33.080 --> 59:35.780
has a speed where you can go and
view them. So we're gonna test

59:35.780 --> 59:37.040
it and just see what happens.

59:37.040 --> 59:39.740
Marc Ronick: Yeah, good idea.
And I can tell you that for me,

59:40.160 --> 59:43.840
it's never worked, except for
one video, and that was the

59:43.840 --> 59:47.620
Steve from Blue's Clues episode
that we did that one got a lot

59:47.620 --> 59:51.400
of the clip itself, got a lot of
views, which seems to have

59:51.400 --> 59:55.540
translated to a lot of listens
on the actual podcast. Any other

59:55.540 --> 01:00:00.180
time I've put anything up, it's
gotten 00, impressions, zero. Of

01:00:00.180 --> 01:00:04.860
views, just a whole row of
zeros. So I don't know how it

01:00:04.860 --> 01:00:08.100
works, or when they decide to
push anything out, or how, yeah,

01:00:08.100 --> 01:00:12.000
how they decide to do that. I
have no idea. But worth testing,

01:00:12.000 --> 01:00:14.400
and it might work a lot better
for you than it has for me.

01:00:14.400 --> 01:00:16.980
Maybe I'm just putting out
really lousy clips. I don't

01:00:16.980 --> 01:00:21.200
know. BC you wanted a word, I'll
give you the final one.

01:00:21.260 --> 01:00:23.240
BC Babbles: Well, speaking of
views, that collaboration clip

01:00:23.240 --> 01:00:26.540
you and I just released has
nearly 1200 views, at least on

01:00:26.840 --> 01:00:30.380
Instagram alone. But that aside,
a curiosity that I have, though

01:00:30.620 --> 01:00:35.060
most hosts platforms give you
the chance to release a teaser

01:00:35.300 --> 01:00:39.200
alongside full episodes, and I
wonder, I've never done that,

01:00:39.200 --> 01:00:41.080
just because I've always
thought, well, let's keep the

01:00:41.080 --> 01:00:44.080
shorts for like YouTube. But
does anyone actually utilize

01:00:44.080 --> 01:00:47.320
that on their hosting platform
as an alternate to the visual

01:00:47.320 --> 01:00:49.120
shorts to help promote their
show?

01:00:49.720 --> 01:00:52.120
Marc Ronick: I'm not sure I
completely follow the question,

01:00:52.120 --> 01:00:52.960
but maybe someone

01:00:52.960 --> 01:00:55.420
BC Babbles: else, when you go to
like, release an episode on

01:00:55.420 --> 01:00:59.020
Captivate whatever you use for
your host, there's usually an

01:00:59.020 --> 01:01:02.640
option to label the file you're
releasing as either a full

01:01:02.640 --> 01:01:06.240
episode or some kind of teaser
or trailer as opposed to a full

01:01:06.240 --> 01:01:10.320
episode. So I wonder. I've never
used that to release, like audio

01:01:10.320 --> 01:01:14.100
shorts on any of my shows, but I
wonder, out of curiosity, if

01:01:14.100 --> 01:01:17.460
anyone's ever utilized that as
opposed to a visual YouTube

01:01:17.460 --> 01:01:20.720
short for promotionals between
full episodes.

01:01:21.260 --> 01:01:22.820
Marc Ronick: Yeah, that's
interesting. I don't think,

01:01:22.820 --> 01:01:26.480
well, I know we haven't, and I'm
not seeing anybody volunteer

01:01:26.480 --> 01:01:30.080
there in that they have yet, but
maybe that's worth a test, BC,

01:01:30.080 --> 01:01:33.320
and then we can do a live
experiment and see if it's

01:01:33.320 --> 01:01:36.860
helpful for you. Let's try that
out. Yeah, let's check that out.

01:01:36.860 --> 01:01:39.920
Okay, listen gang. We thank you
for hanging out. I know we went

01:01:39.920 --> 01:01:42.980
a little over time today, thank
you for sticking around

01:01:43.025 --> 01:01:47.465
tomorrow. Like I said, we're
going to be discussing editing

01:01:47.885 --> 01:01:52.565
because editing won't fix a bad
episode, and over editing might

01:01:52.565 --> 01:01:55.505
actually hurt you more than it
helps. So we're going to talk

01:01:55.505 --> 01:01:57.845
about that. We're going to talk
about the different tools that

01:01:57.845 --> 01:02:00.545
we're using. We're going to
specifically talk about some AI

01:02:00.545 --> 01:02:05.405
that is now doing your editing
for you completely. We'll find

01:02:05.405 --> 01:02:07.730
out more about that as well. So
come join us tomorrow.

01:02:07.790 --> 01:02:12.230
podcastingmorningchat.com/joinus.
And if you're feeling a little

01:02:12.350 --> 01:02:15.350
generous and want to support
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01:02:20.930 --> 01:02:23.570
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the word, I'm trying to avoid

01:02:23.570 --> 01:02:27.710
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01:02:27.710 --> 01:02:33.335
do with that monetary support is
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01:02:33.335 --> 01:02:38.195
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01:02:38.195 --> 01:02:41.615
meantime, join us tomorrow at
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01:02:42.035 --> 01:02:44.975
make it a great day. Everybody.
Take care. Bye.