Podcast Archives - Gizmochina

Stitcher, a popular podcast application to shut down on August 29

Jeet — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 02:17:16 +0000

Stitcher, a popular podcast application and web service, will be shutting down in August this year, as its parent company SiriusXM has announced on its website.

As for the reason behind the shutdown, the company says that it has decided to focus on its own SiriusXM application instead of the dedicated podcast application.

SiriusXM believes that the company can better compete in the market by focusing on its own application, given that the podcasting market has become very crowded and tech giants have entered this space, like Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, among others.

Users of the Stitcher application may get impacted by the shutdown, especially those who have premium subscriptions. The company says that the users will need to cancel their subscription before 29th August, the day app is shutting down. It will be offering refunds to subscribers who have paid for a subscription that extends beyond August 29.

For those who are unaware, Stitcher was one of the first applications for podcasts that gained popularity, thanks to a number of features that made it easier to discover podcasts and get recommendations and curated lists. The app offered a large library of podcasts and some additional features in the premium version, including the ability to listen to podcasts without any advertisements.

Stitcher was launched in 2008 and was acquired by Deezer in 2014, which later sold the platform to Midroll Media. Finally, the app was acquired by SiriusXM in 2020 for $325 million. The company has said that it plans to continue offering Stitcher’s content on its own SiriusXM app.

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Spotify tests Instagram Reels-like vertical scrolling ‘Audio Newsfeed’ for Podcasts

Sean — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 11:45:43 +0000

Spotify is apparently testing a new feature that might be quite useful for those that listen to Podcasts on the audio platform. This feature adds vertical scrolling similar to a newsfeed or Reels on Instagram.

HUGE!! @Spotify is adding a dedicated TikTok-style vertical scrolling feed for @spotifypodcasts to its toolbar!

h/t @SleepwellCap #NewSpotify pic.twitter.com/0CWolZGJQy

— Chris Messina 🪬 (@chrismessina) March 26, 2022

The news arrives from a video shared on Twitter (Via TechCrunch). This new audio newsfeed shows users 60 second short audio clips that scroll vertically. Reportedly, the feature will employ machine learning model that has been trained for over 100,000 hours of audio to make it capable of automatically suggesting selected audio clips to the individual users. According to the audio streaming company, this will be based on technology that it acquired when it purchased Podz last year for around 49 million US Dollars.

Podz was the startup that created the “audio newsfeed” to help address the issue of podcast’s discoverability. Thus, it used a Instagram Reels/TikTok like vertical scrolling format for this process. Notably, the real innovation behind this feature was the ability to select audio clips of shows in a way that didn’t require podcast creators to make their own clips. As of right now, the feature is being tested in limited regions where users are offered a dedicated “Podcasts” button within the application itself.

Clicking on this will take them to the vertical scrolling audio newsfeed. Interestingly, the audio clip is also transcribed on the display as it plays. If interested, users can click on the play button to continue to the show as well. In a statement to TechCrunch, the company said that “At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience. Some of those tests end up paving the way for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning. We don’t have any further news to share at this time.”

Spotify acquires two podcast analytics firms Chartable and Podsights

Jeet — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 03:38:10 +0000

Spotify, one of the leading music streaming platforms has been actively trying to expand its business and is focusing more on podcasts. In line with that, the company has announced that it is acquiring two podcast-related companies — Chartable and Podsights.

The company has revealed financial details related to these acquisitions but it marks the first major acquisition this year in the audio-related business.

Podsights’ team of around 40 full-time employees will join Spotify and the company says that it has no plans to adjust that team at this time. On the other hand, Chartable will be added to Spotify’s Megaphone.

Both the companies — Chartable and Podsights operate in the space of podcast marketing and ad attribution. They allow podcasters and networks to include tags in the shows to track details like who listened to the tracks, if they heard the ad or if they took any action upon hearing the advertisement, etc.

Talking more about the acquisition of Podsight, Spotify says that it will use the technology outside podcasting and bring it to the “full scope of the Spotify platform, including audio ads within music, video ads, and display ads.”

As for the Chartable, Spotify plans to focus more on the podcasters instead of advertisers. It will be integrating its audience insights and its promotional tools, SmartLinks and SmartPromos with Megaphone so podcasters can grow their business.

The development comes at a time when Spotify is facing backlash because of Joe Rogan’s podcast which critics say is spreading misinformation related to COVID-19. It has also led to several artists leaving the platform in protest.