Monday 7th August: Do fewer podcasts mean more audio revenue for publishers?

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So it seems like we’re at the beginning of the end of the boom era of podcasting for publishers. That’s not to say it’s not a medium that allows for any number of indie launches — that’s why we love it, after all — or that publishers are taking it any less seriously. Quite the contrary, as this piece from Digiday points out. It’s just that we’ve got to the period where considered launches and tighter slates of shows are the priority:

“It’s certainly been a string of bleak news for a contracting podcast industry that ballooned during the pandemic. But as a result of budget cuts and the end of the “dumb money” era in podcasting, audio networks are consolidating teams to put more resources — including production, sales and marketing power — behind marquee shows.”

I’d be surprised if podcasting ever became truly rigid, with standardised commissioning and monetisation strategies across the entire industry. But as publishers continue to invest, it makes sense for the larger publishers to take a more formalised approach to monetisation, and for them to throw their weight behind their tentpole shows.

This would never happen in Britain, and we’re the poorer for it. The journalists at Journal du Dimanche have conceded that they cannot prevent the former editor of a far-right title from taking charge, but that doesn’t mean they’re taking it lying down. More than half the journalists at France’s only standalone Sunday newspaper have resigned. All the respect in the world to them.

This article provides a checklist of purported bad practice in digital advertising. Honestly, every time you think the authors have found the bottom of the barrel for the alleged misbehaviour at wedding publisher The Knot, some new act of fraud or shady activity gets raised. It’s a reminder that trust isn’t something that comes with legacy, but needs to be maintained and replenished all the while.

I play D&D. I own a number of the sourcebooks, from the Player’s Handbook to adventure guides like Rime of the Frostmaiden. But I guarantee you I wouldn’t pay through the nose for any more if it turned out the art in them was no-effort gen-AI pablum — and I think we’re going to see some publishers come a cropper assuming that their audiences won’t care. You’re paying for craft and care, not something r/stablediffusion can turn around in a few short minutes.

_{P.S. hit me up if you want to play D&D!}

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