Thursday 24th February: Dolly Parton saves podcasting

February 24, 2022

Good morning! This morning's Media Roundup is brought to you by Chris.

Strap in because there's a lot of podcast news today. Firstly, LinkedIn has decided that now is the time to launch a podcast network, in the immediate aftermath of Spotify's attempts to redefine podcast advertising through acquisitions, and in the wake of platforms like Acast investing heavily in discovering and promoting new talent. Better late than never, I suppose.

LinkedIn's USP - naturally - is the integration with the wider network. "LinkedIn says podcasts hosts will be able to further connect with audiences on LinkedIn through newsletters, live events and other tools directly on their profiles."

Meanwhile Spotify has attempted to shake off the negativity of the Joe Rogan situation with the launch of its first 'bookcast'. It's an audio adaptation of Dolly Parton's novel, mixed with an original soundtrack created by Dolly herself. Look forward to Media Voices' first musical episode coming very soon.

Here's a nice treat. Brian Morrissey delivers part potted history of the banner ad, part look forward to the new reality of post-cookie advertising. It's a change and an upheaval, absolutely - but as Morrissey suggests, it's potentially a change for the better. Oh, and he also says that the "cockroaches" of ad tech will continue to thrive.

It's easy to pussy-foot around potential subscribers - you want to lure them into your ecosystem before snapping the subscription trap shut. But now that subscriptions are one-fifth of the Beast's total revenue, the team there feels comfortable with not having the point of conversion as the ultimate goal.

Yeah yeah, I know that publishers have sold NFTs of their articles for unreal figures. Those sales provide significant short-term gain but, as this research from YouGov demonstrates, the UK public have a low opinion of brands that try to sell them. Is that short-term gain worth the erosion of trust?

This week's podcast:

This week we hear from Abbianca Makoni, a 22-year old journalist who, after completing a four-year apprenticeship at the the Evening Standard, decided to go it alone with own online publication Awallprintss, which shares the voices and stories of under-reported communities around the world.

"So much nicer that the stuffing penguin-suits-round-a-table boredom-fests that normally afflict us," wrote one attendee of 2020's event. Come and join us for a definitely not-boring evening celebrating the best in publisher podcasting.