Today on the show, Arielle Nissenblatt chats with soon to be Sounds Profitable partner, Tom Webster. They discuss Tom’s entry into the audio world, what drives him to tell stories with data, how to be into statistics without being a “math” person, and our near and longterm plans for the company.   Here’s our favorite idea from this conversation: Arielle asked Tom to go through the pillars that the team has outlined as important principles for the company and we break them down. This is a mission statement that we want the podcasting public to hold us to. Links: Tom Webster Tom’s recent article for Sounds Profitable The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Fatima Zaidi, founder and CEO of Quill inc., a full-service podcast agency that makes it easy for brands and publishers to create, launch and grow successful podcasts. Quill is launching a hosting service, Co-Host. After years of trying to work with existing hosting solutions, Quill found that their clients desired different and more complex KPIs, so, they decided to build a solution that could track them. Listen for: How and why Quill decided to build a new hosting platform in this seemingly saturated space How Quill has built a tech team after running a production company for a few years P.s. they’re still looking for a developer A discussion on the hype around VC and angel funding  Why we should celebrate bootstrapped companies A playbook on real-time beta testers   Here’s our favorite idea from this conversation: Fatima believes in the concept of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” But she and her team still came to the decision that the existing solutions weren’t hitting all of the needs of their clients. Ultimately, they had to put their clients first. Links: Fatima Zaidi Quill The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Shantae Howell, Creative Director for the Americas at Acast. They discuss branded podcast content: how and when to make it, what to consider, and what to expect  Listen for: The difference between branded podcasts, advertising on podcasts, and sponsoring podcasts. How Acast works with brands to make impactful branded podcasts. When your brand should consider getting into the audio game.   Here’s our favorite idea from this conversation: a branded podcast can have many different goals, whether it be brand awareness, customer acquisition, sharing customer stories, as a creative outlet for the company, and so much more. It’s important for the brand and the creative agency behind the soon-to-be branded podcast to be aligned in their missions for the show. Links: Shantae Howell Acast The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Ma’ayan Plaut, who is the growth marketing manager at 3play media. They discuss what it means to create accessible and compliant podcast transcripts. Ma’ayan recently tweeted about the need for transcripts to include non-speech elements. Her tweet was instructive and contained practical information for podcast publishers. We expand upon her thread in this conversation, and go beyond it as well. We are moving towards a world in which we don’t simply consume podcasts by listening. Consumers will read podcast content, too; whether that’s because they prefer to read it or because they are d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing, or for a variety of other reasons. For those use-cases, and more, we need to find a way to make transcripts for available and accessible. Listen for: Statistics on how many people are consuming podcasts via transcripts How publishers can prioritize creating transcripts beyond just in the initial editing process Discussion as to which lawsuits have impacted this discussion How to dissect important legislation that regulates accessibility requirements for media creators   Here’s our favorite idea from this conversation: transcripts should be vetted by a human. Even if AI gets us halfway there, it’s important to have the final version looked over by a real human. Why? Names like Ma’ayan Plaut and even Arielle Nissenblatt very rarely get AI transcribed the right way. Links: Ma’ayan Plaut 3Play Media Paul F. Tompkins’ Tweet The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Conor McKenna, director at LUMA Partners. They discuss how adtech in podcasting applies to adtech in other adtech-led companies. Listen in to learn about: How we're still in the early days of building technology specifically made for podcasts How we need to build software that makes the process of buying and selling ads more seamless How we need better attribution technology because downloads aren't enough Why Conor recommends that publishers build out other content channels beyond podcasting Here’s our favorite idea from this conversation: Bryan and Conor don't agree about everything. And it makes for some interesting takeaways! Links: Conor McKenna LUMA Partners The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Steve Wilson, chief strategy officer at QCODE Media. They discuss what it takes to get podcasts featured in major podcast listening apps, building relationships with podcast discovery platforms, and becoming a co-marketing partner.Listen in to learn about: Steve's background and how he got into the podcast world. How to put your best foot forward when it comes to partnering with podcast listening apps. Why it's worth it to spend time cultivating relationships with in app curators. Why it's worth experimenting with different strategic partnerships plans with different listening apps. Pod.link, and why it's important to use, but it's not everything. Here’s our favorite idea from this conversation: podcast publishers have an opportunity, when posting on social media, to elevate the relationships they have (or want to have) with podcast listening apps, by promoting the link to their show on Apple or Spotify or Castbox (we could go on all day).Links: Steve Wilson QCODE The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, Bryan Barletta and Arielle Nissenblatt discuss Podcast Movement: Evolutions, which took place last month in Los Angeles. Overall, they had a blast, met with a ton of industry folks, had some nice meals, and attended some innovative sessions. Bryan and Arielle take time to highlight Evo Terra's Podcast Hall of Fame acceptance speech.Listen in to learn about: The overall feel of the event The YouTube announcement Bryan's on-stage time Arielle's social media talk Evo Terra's acceptance speech and his call to action for the future of the industry Future podcast events Here's our favorite idea from this conversation: It was super neat to meet Sounds Profitable listeners, sponsors, and readers in person! Links: Podcast Movement Evo's speech The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast The Podcaster's Dilemma Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re offering up a special treat for you today. You see, a lot of the Sounds Profitable crew was all at Podcast Movement Evolutions last week... and what a week it was! Think non-stop discussions about podcasting, ad tech, equipment, statistics... and more. This week, as we wind down from all the hype, networking, eating, and drinking that occurred in LA, Bryan's having some fun in Disneyland with his family, and Arielle's enjoying some time with family on the west coast. This episode is actually from an episode of another of our podcasts, called Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles. And that podcast is what it says on the box—an article published on Sounds Profitable that’s narrated by the writer. In this case, it’s Bryan, walking you through the entirety of the Sounds Profitable family of shows. At least as they are today. Credits: Written by Bryan Barletta Copy editing by Evo Terra Rather read it? https://soundsprofitable.com/update/many-flavors Audio engineering by Ian Powell Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Tyler Blot, Director of Client Development at TransUnion about data -- 1st and 3rd party data, with a bit of 2nd party data thrown in there. They discuss the differentiating factors between the three of them and what you should know as an advertiser and consumer.Listen in to learn about: Transparency in data collection How and why your data is collected Why this conversation is important to have right now And much more! Here's our favorite idea from this conversation: You have to do your homework. While your industry peers can vouch for a product to a certain extent, you won't be able to make your decisions until you read the fine print.Links: TransUnion Tyler Blot The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Co-hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, Bryan Barletta sits down with Brendan Kelly (director of ad quality measure) and Stacey Hultgren (senior manager of ad quality measurement) of SXM Media to break down the concepts of brand safety and suitability. How do advertisers determine what shows are brand safe and brand suitable for them? They also discuss a proposal that Brendan and Stacey recently brought to an IAB working group, focusing on how transcripts can be used to ameliorate the process of determining brand safety and suitability for podcasts and audio.Listen in to learn about: The different between brand "safe" and brand "suitable. What is the IAB and how can you join? Why Bryan, Stacey, and Brendan think there's still ample time to get in on the ground floor and make changes. Why transcripts are so crucial for advertisers to acquire and consider. And much more! Here's our favorite idea from this conversation: Bryan uses the recent example of the Applebee's ad running on CNN's wartime coverage of Ukraine to explain brand suitability.Links: The IAB The IAB tech lab SXM Media The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron YouTube | The Young TurksCNN Airs Corny Applebee’s Ad While Covering Russia-Ukraine War iabtechlab.com-Established in 2014, the IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that engages a member community globally to develop foundational technology and standards that enable growth and trust in the digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers, ad technology firms, agencies, marketers, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; ad experiences and measurement; and programmatic effectiveness. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, and DigiTrust ide… Show moreSXM MediaSXM Media — The Best of Music, Podcast, and Satellite Radio AdvertisingThis is the best of audio advertising, all in one place. Experience the power of audio across music, podcast, and satellite radio. (27 kB)https://www.sxmmedia.com/pod.linkThe Download from Sounds ProfitableThe most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. Brought to you by Sounds Profitable. (85 kB)https://pod.link/1608566100pod.linkSounds Profitable: Narrated ArticlesSounds Profitable is a weekly newsletter that covers both strategic and tactical changes to the business side of podcasting. Articles cover a range of topics, from podcast adtech to new revenue models to innovative business initiatives and is read by senior podcasting industry management, including CEOs and divisional heads. Our mission is not to make the information from the podcasting industry more accessible to everyone, and this podcast feed is an extension of that. Each episode is a human-narrated version of the articles we publish on our site and in our newsletter, typically voiced by the author. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.