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Daniella Murphy, creative director at Acast UK talked about how to make podcasts pay without selling out, in today’s Podcast stream at Radiodays Europe.“Ads don’t need to be a tax that poor pay to consume good content… Ads should be just as enjoyable as the content,” she told conference delegates.She also urged podcast advertisers to “take the conversation into the real world.” To illustrate the point she told the story of a bank that teamed with a podcast to create a card game called ‘Money Talks.’ Each card asked a question to get people having conversations and asking advice about money, something that people in the British target audience were reluctant to do.As part of the promotion for the game and the bank, Acast and the agency responsible got many podcasters to play the card game in their podcasts and include the conversations they had about money. The response was so strong that there was huge demand for the card game. “It took the conversation beyond audio into the real world,” said Daniella.Daniella’s Ten Commandments for good podcast advertising are:
Respect your audience – “it’s an intimate environment, don’t shit in my head,” with over the top or disrespectful messages.
Worship simplicity – “what is the single most important thing to communicate,” take away all the rest and put that in the ad.
Be believable – “the audience feel they’re your friend… friends don’t lie to you.”
Embrace emotion – “people are full of emotion” put it in your podcast ads
Stories not scripts – you will get your message across better by telling stories not making hosts read boring ad scripts.
Show don’t tell – “use immersive sounds, place people on location by letting them hear the kitchen or the factory… don’t rely entirely on words.”
Never copy and paste your creative – “tailor it to the podcast medium, which is a highly personal medium.” Don’t just use radio ads on podcasts, tailor your treatment to the podcast environment.
Beware of Cliches – “is there a more interesting way to say it than using advertising or compliance jargon.”
Think beyond the podcast to the real world
Have fun!
In the same session, Rob Greenlee from podcast hosting company Libsyn said podcast listeners are increasing everywhere and the industry is “expecting a huge increase in monetisation right across the world.”“The beginnings of podcasting were largely anti-commercial, but things have changed over the 18 years that podcasting has been around. Now people want to get a return on the investments they have made in podcasting,” he told conference delegates.He showed a chart illustrating the penetration of podcasts into major world markets as a percentage of internet users. Canada and Sweden are doing very well and  there is growth happening on most developed markets.Why should people advertise on podcasts?“To reach and target matched niche audiences,” said Greenlee. “Radio is not made in a way to take advantage of niche audiences but podcasts can. It is also a safe medium for advertisers – something their brand would like to be associated with.“Campaigns are usually longer and frequency is important, so is the value of the message and the trust between the podcaster and the audience. Advertisers get a targeted educated audience with good disposable income through podcasts.”Greenlee predicts that podcast revenue worldwide will be worth $2 billion this yearTo be successful in monetising your podcast Greenless says you should ask who is your customer, the audience or the advertiser? “What you answer will have an impact on your growth and who you are trying to reach.”“Podcasting builds strong trust and relationships with the audience and it builds advertiser trust,” he said, outlining the types of advertising in podcasts.One of the significant changes is the increase in dynamically inserted ads and the decrease of baked in ad reads that are recorded when the podcast is recorded and remain in the show forever. The new term being used is not ‘baked in’ but ‘faked in’ advertising – the host still reads updated ads, but they are dynamically inserted, even into old shows.In Greenlee’s opinion, putting the ad within the content (mid-roll) is better than putting it at the beginning of the content (pre-roll) because it connects better to the host and the content that people are closely listening to.For less commercial shows, paid podcast subscriptions and crowd funding through donation platforms such as Patreon are more successful than inserted ads, because those podcasts may not have enough listeners to gain much advertising.In a session in the same stream Julie Shapiro, Lory Martinez and Arif Noorani discussed their podcast company philosophies.Arif explained that CBC Podcasts are a mixture of repurposed radio shows and new bespoke shows.“Narrative storytelling is where we excel… We want our content to do well on the world stage.”Lory’s company takes a pragmatic approach: “We ask, will this resonate with people in other countries, other than the one it has been made in.” She used the examples of a story about a Mexican girl. “It was not a Mexican/American story, it was a story of a girl looking for her missing mother.”New podcast genres that the panel identified as likely to take off in the coming year in include:
Biographies and memoirs
Science Fiction
Comedy
Children’s audio
It is no surprise that News podcasts are so numerous in popular podcast genres. Tom Webster said that his Edison Research studies have confirmed that habit is a big factor in success.“When news podcasts are released at the same time daily you build a habit around them… predictable reliable and consistent delivery produces rewards.” […]

Amel Suljevic and Petter Hallén from P3 DIN GATA took the audience through the reasons their station has become so successful in the past two years since changing formats.The station was relaunched in 2020 to become a Hip Hop station, and a big part of their success lies in that they hired hosts with a love and knowledge of the genre that would broaden the appeal, making P3 DIN GATA the station Where Hip Hop Lives.Petter Hallén says that rap is now the most pop style of music in Sweden and those that follow that category has now expanded so that the younger listeners are either listening to, or at the very least aware of this genre of music.Back in to mid 2010’s it was mainly young immigrant rappers in Sweden who were performing and promoting rap to a small audience, but this scene has now expanded onto mainstream music, and P3’s entry into Hip Hop means their audience is now highly engaged.Their presenters use 3 main points to keep that engagement strong
Do not try to figure out “youth focused content”
Be really good at what you do
Be who you are
He says a young audience can spot a fraud quickly, so it is important to be real, and this usually means being true to oneself.Petter’s success, despite his age of around 40, is based around his knowledge of Hip Hop. He shares the same cultural references as his audience without trying to sound like a 17 year old.The station talent’s approach to its audience also means that artists want to be a part of the station.P3 also doesn’t necessarily report on news unless it is music/artist linked, so, for example, the recent riots in Sweden weren’t reported on the station. […]

radioinfo’s Wayne Stamm is off to Malmö to cover Radiodays Europe, and filed this story as he headed for Sydney International for the flight to Europe.My bags are packed, I’ve got a warm jacket, scarf, computer, headphones, and my Opal pass to get me to Sydney International Airport for the flight to Copenhagen and then on to Malmö for Radiodays Europe.Oh, yes and my Passport. I say this with the confidence of someone who has left his passport at home and had to turn around on the M1 to go back and get it, and has also left it in a hotel safe in Las Vegas, only to discover that fact in LA on the morning of the flight home from an NAB Show.It takes 8 hours to drive to Las Vegas and back, but only 2 hours to drive home on the M1.Radiodays organiser Rosie Smith insisted I should also take 6 pairs of shoes, so my feet don’t get sore, murmuring something about lessons learnt during her modelling days, but I don’t have room for 6 pairs and a long coat, so I’m only taking 2, and I’m not planning on modelling anything.I am also looking forward to this conference as it is focused on radio/podcasting/audio unlike the NABShow which takes in everything ‘broadcast’ including TV/video meaning it’s sometimes easy for radio to get lost.And there are some really interesting sessions this year with Radiodays Women, a Youth forum, Podcast Summit, sessions headed by names I know well, including Grant Blackley, Caroline Beasley, Francis Currie, Joe D’Angelo, Tom Webster and James Cridland, as well as a session on the war in Ukraine and its effect on broadcasting.Some of the sessions I’ll be attending include, Rise of Audio Drama, American regional radio in a digital age, Radios quick response in a crisis, Triton Digital’s Q&A, How Oldies and Classic Hits took over radio, and more.There is a lot packed into the three days of Radiodays Europe, and I’ll get to as much of it as I can, reporting back daily for radioinfo. […]

Content from BPRBack in the 90’s, an audio device called auto-tune began to be used in the music industry. The first big hit using auto-tune was Cher’s “Believe.” Auto-tune soon became a fixture on the pop music scene. As the name implies, in addition to creating a special audio effect, auto-tune actually corrects the pitch of the instrument or the singer’s voice. In effect, anybody can sing in perfect pitch using this audio device.An article in the music magazine Indie Panda explains it in this way:“Auto tune can be programmed to stay within certain parameters, such as a scale or a key. When the vocalist sings into the microphone, the program will morph the vocal track towards the nearest programmed note.The speed at which the program adjusts an incoming note can also be calibrated. A slow tuning speed will sound much more natural, whereas a fast-tuning speed will sound digital and artificial.”Recording artists no longer need great voices or even good ones in order to sound “professional.” Auto-tune can even be used in live performance. This has opened doors to many singers with only the lowest level of singing ability. All they have to do is to sing or rap in time.Digitally-created instrument sounds that attempt to replicate real instruments have become so common that it is difficult to find pop hits that are using real instruments. The problem is that digital instruments tend to sound artificial. This results in many recordings sounding very similar to each other. For example, digital piano and drum sounds are very difficult to distinguish apart in a wide range of current recordings.Computerization in audio recording has led to the “everything sounds the same” syndrome. In other words, listener fatigue due to lack of variety. The big advantage of computerization is that it is far cheaper to create a digital instrument or voice track than if one uses real musicians or talented singers to do the same.By Andy Beaubien, BPR […]

Selling Radio Direct with Pat Bryson
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) was back in session last week. After a two-year hiatus, it was great to see friends and fellow broadcasters back together again.My trip was to be a short one: I arrived on Friday, spoke to the BEA group on Saturday, attended the BLT reception and MIW dinner Sunday night and returned home on Monday. In between, I experienced some great customer service and some not-so-great customer service. As I have lately been teaching sessions on adding value to our offerings through great customer service, I was especially intrigued.My first morning there, I wandered into Sid’s restaurant in the Westgate Hotel for breakfast. Who greeted me? Paul, the singing waiter. Now, I knew he was the singing waiter for two reasons: first, he wrote it on my tab, and second he SANG!Lesson number one: Do something to stand out from your competition.Lesson number two: Do what you promise to do.Paul was attentive: he fulfilled my needs, but what made him memorable and set him apart from the other waiters was his uniqueness.I returned to Sid’s for a quick lunch. Someone served me, but I don’t remember anything about that person.Lesson number three: If they don’t remember you, they can’t buy from you!But the next morning, I returned to Sid’s for another breakfast. My waitress, Marianne, came immediately and introduced herself, and ASKED FOR MY NAME. Thereafter, she referred to me by name in every interaction. I asked for a glass of ice tea (my caffeine beverage of choice). When she returned, she brought TWO glasses of tea.“I wanted to make sure you didn’t run out.”I ordered toast and crisp bacon. Guess what? The bacon WAS crisp, but when she brought the jam and butter, she said, “The butter was hard as a rock so I softened it for you.” Now, if you have ever tried to spread rock hard butter on toast, you appreciate the added value. After checking back several times, when she brought my check and change she said, ” I hope you have a wonderful day. Send good thoughts out into the universe.”Lesson Number Four: Surprise your clients with that “little extra.” (two glasses of tea)Lesson Number Five: Go above and beyond expectations and tell your clients what extra you did for them. (melted butter)Lesson Number Six: Always project positivity with your clients.While I was in Las Vegas, I ate at some expensive restaurants. But the best service I found was at Sid’s. Which only goes to show you don’t have to be Number 1 to be the best. Being the best is up to each of us.Our mission for 2022: provide extraordinary service to our clients.Happy Selling! […]

The Adthos Platform has received its second industry award having been crowned ‘Ad Tech Company of the Year’ at the latest Global Business Tech Awards, which recognise, reward and celebrate all things technical in the business world. This is the second win for Adthos, following the IBC’s Best of 2021: Radio World Award.The platform combines an innovative ad-server designed specifically for radio, with Adthos Creative Studio which provides advanced text to speech and synthetic voice technology to create audio advertising on the go. New features are being developed and further releases are expected later this year.Raoul Wedel, CEO of Adthos: “We are delighted at the recognition that Adthos continues to receive. We’re already so proud of what we have achieved, and to have it validated by the industry is fantastic. We have a lot more still to come with the platform so watch this space!” […]