Sounds Profitable

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U.S. Radio Sees Political Surge, Apple Music's AI Label, & More Aug 28, 2026

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This week in the business of podcasting:

Apple Music now mandates "Made With AI" labels on AI-generated tracks, a music-distribution move that signals how fast audio platforms are formalizing AI disclosure.
Political ad spending on radio jumped 22% in a month to $124 million, with AdImpact projecting a record $11.6 billion cycle and the biggest wave still expected after Labor Day.
Bloomberg reports YouTube is offering creators millions to stay exclusive and off Netflix, a video-first fight worth watching as podcasting leans deeper into YouTube.
Steven Goldstein argues Spotify's new Skip Ahead test simply shows that podcasting is not necessarily huge to Spotify's bottom line, urging publishers to diversify beyond any single platform.

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

Podscribe Launches YouTube-Only Attribution, Creators Going Programmatic, & More Aug 27, 2026

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Today in the business of podcasting:

Podscribe launched YouTube-only modeled attribution, closing a measurement gap for influencer campaigns that run only on YouTube by anchoring probabilistic modeling to audio performance data. It is free through September 30.
Digiday weighs the case for and against the programmatic-ification of the creator economy, as automated buying pushes into brand-creator deals once struck by hand and raises questions about commoditizing creators.
YouTube's EMEA chief pushes back on a UK proposal requiring guaranteed prominence for public-service broadcasters, defending its algorithm while acting as a TV distributor without the obligations broadcasters carry.

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

Why Research Drives Podcast Returns, Video Podcasting Goes Mainstream, & More Aug 26, 2026

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Today in the business of podcasting:

Signal Hill Insights' Paul Riismandel breaks down four ways audience research drives return in podcasting, from uncovering whitespace to proving value to advertisers with measurement tools like Triton Digital's Demos+.
Podscribe reports that podcast video has gone mainstream, with 82% of episodic campaigns now including a YouTube simulcast, even as Spotify's baked-in video ads still face attribution gaps.
In a Google-sponsored piece, Digiday lays out how publishers can strengthen connections with advertisers in the AI era through first-party data and diversified, cross-platform selling.

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

Political Radio Spend Jumps Before Midterms, How TikTok Boxing Impacts Categories & More Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

Today in the business of podcasting:

Political ad spending on radio has jumped 22% in the past month to $124 million, and with AdImpact projecting $6.1 billion in total 2026 political advertising, the post-Labor Day rush is a reminder of how much election money still flows to audio heading into the fall.
A new IAB white paper argues radio's attribution gap with digital is closing fast, crediting pixel-based attribution, dynamic ad insertion, and identity resolution with giving audio the kind of digital-like precision advertisers expect.
Steven Goldstein breaks down where podcasting actually fits at Spotify, noting podcast ads make up roughly 4% of Spotify's revenue while subscriptions drive about 89%, so the platform will keep prioritizing listeners over publishers.
Kirby Grines uses TikTok streaming a live championship boxing match to argue that traditional media categories are collapsing, as social, streaming, creator, gaming, and TV now all compete for the same finite attention that podcasting fights for too.

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

IAB Announces Podcast Upfront Agenda, Apple Music On AI Labeling, & More Aug 24, 2026

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Today in the business of podcasting:

The IAB has revealed the full agenda for its 2026 Podcast Upfront, the invitation-only event landing September 16 between the Sounds Profitable Business Summit and Podcast Movement, with an official after party at Terminal 5.
Apple Music will now require "Made With AI" labels on tracks made with artificial intelligence, a signal of how fast audio platforms are moving toward AI content transparency.
Triton Digital's Q2 2026 U.S. Podcast Ranker shows comedy still on top with 44.5% reach while news climbs 8.4% ahead of the midterms, as creator-led and opinion-driven shows convert social audiences into chart placement.
Bloomberg reports YouTube is offering top creators millions to keep their videos off Netflix, protecting first-view exclusivity as the lines between podcasting, YouTube, and streaming keep blurring.

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

YouTube Defines the "Engaged View", Podcasting's Place @ SXSW 2027, & More Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

This week in the business of podcasting:

SXSW will make podcasting a core pillar in 2027 with its first-ever four-day Podcast Festival, and Podcast Movement Evolutions returns to Austin that same week for two free days at the SKYBOX on 6th.
Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster argues podcasting's real gap is the lack of a default, as dedicated hardware fades and 57% of Americans aged 12 to 34 now live in homes with no radio.
Point-to-Point Marketing and Strategic Solutions Research announced the Podcast Study 2026, a listener research project on discovery, loyalty, and monetization that debuts at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit on September 14.
YouTube is redefining the "view" as an "engaged view," a change that runs about 7% lower across 300,000 podcast episodes and could reshape CPMs and sponsorship math for video podcasts.

Podcasting's Place @ SXSW 2027, Magellan AI's H1 Ireland Benchmarks, & More Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

Today in the business of podcasting:

SXSW will make podcasting a core pillar in 2027 with its first-ever four-day Podcast Festival, and Podcast Movement Evolutions returns to Austin that same week for two free days at the SKYBOX on 6th.
Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster argues podcasting's real gap is the lack of a default, as dedicated hardware fades and 57% of Americans aged 12 to 34 now live in homes with no radio.
YouTube is redefining the "view" as an "engaged view," a shift that runs about 7% lower across 300,000 podcast episodes and could reshape CPMs and sponsorship math for video podcasts.
Magellan AI released its first H1 2026 podcast advertising benchmarks for Ireland, showing 33% year-over-year spend growth, financial services on top, and a 5.71% average ad load.
Flightpath shipped Automation Playbooks to fight unreliable ad delivery, responding to an ad-tech platform change it says threatens publishers with revenue losses of up to 50%.

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

The 2027 Ambies Open for Submissions, IAB Labels AI-Made Ads, & More Aug 19, 2026

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Today in the business of podcasting:

The Podcast Academy opened submissions for the 2027 Ambies, spanning 23 show categories. This cycle adds Best Music Podcast, Episode of The Year, and a new Advertising category covering Best Ad Read, Best Branded Podcast, and Podcast Advertiser of The Year.
Triton Digital released its Australian Podcast Ranker for July 2026. Mamamia Out Loud held the top spot, Hamish and Andy placed second, and ABC News Top Stories cracked the top three for the first time.
The IAB updated its AI Transparency and Disclosure Framework with a standardized sparkle icon or text label for advertising where AI materially changes what consumers see or hear. The harder problem is keeping that disclosure attached to the creative as it moves through agencies, DSPs, ad servers, and publishers.
Buzzsprout reports more than 11,000 HLS video episodes are now live on Apple Podcasts. Among 562 established shows, median Apple Podcasts downloads rose 19 percent in the 28 days after a show's first HLS video episode.

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

That Stupid Radio Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

A nine-button Italian radio with a dead app can teach us some lessons about podcast discovery.

Written by Tom Webster
Edited and narrated by Gavin Gaddis"

Find the full article here.

The YouTube Definition of a View, Podcast Study 2026 Announced, & More Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

Today in the business of podcasting:

Spotify says a bug, not a policy, made a podcast ad appear unskippable, telling Podnews the 15-second skip was hidden in the viral example and has since been fixed — and that skipping works for both Free and Premium listeners
YouTube changes how it counts a "view" starting August 24, registering a play from the very first frame while making the more meaningful "engaged views" metric private, cutting off third-party rankers and data companies
Point-To-Point Marketing and Strategic Solutions Research announce the Podcast Study 2026, a national effort on discovery, loyalty, and monetization co-sponsored by Crooked Media, NPR, and PRX, with findings due September 14-15 at the Sounds Profitable Business Summit
The Streaming Wars reports NFL insider Tom Pelissero, out at ESPN, has landed at both Netflix and Spotify-owned The Ringer, a case study in one institutional job splintering into several targeted assignments
A Magellan AI case study details how boutique network Rhapsody Voices used data-driven creator-sponsor matching to reach better than 80% sell-through on two priority shows as it scaled beyond manual research

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