James Cridland: 0:00

it's Friday, November the 11th, 2022. In the chapters today, podcasts, companies release their financials, busy, gets busy with adding visualization, and Sam goes to a pub.

Sam Sethi: 0:22

I'm Sam Setti, the co-host of this new show, and I'm also going to be relaunching a new podcast called Sam Talks Technology Soon, but less of that and more of you, James,

James Cridland: 0:32

and I'm James Criden, the editor of Pod News. And yes, if you missed last week, this is the same show with a new name. Pod Land is now the POD News Weekly review.

Sam Sethi: 0:40

This podcast is sponsored and hosted by a Buzz Sprout. Last week, 3,499 people started a podcast with Buzz Sprout podcast hosting made easy with powerful tools and remarkable customer support. So what's the top story this week? James? I hear you ask. Well, ast a caster released its financial results for Q3 2022. In revenue terms, they've made 321 million Swedish Corona, or in US terms, 29 million. It's up 21% year on year. All good. Except it made a loss for the quarter of 65 million Swedish Cro James. Tell me more. What do you think of these?

James Cridland: 1:29

I think from my point of view, Average revenue per listen is down 20%. And you look at that and you go, Yikes, average revenue per listen down 20%. That's a bad thing. But total listens are up nearly 50%. They're up 47.9%. So I think that a cast is going in the right direction here. They're not selling all of their inventory as well. So I think if, if they can sell more of their inventory, then uh, that should, um, turn into more, uh, profit as well. But, um, yeah, I. I think personally looking at the numbers, they're pretty good numbers.

Sam Sethi: 2:01

Yeah, I mean, the markets are demanding, you know, companies reach profitability, um, and they seem to be heading in the right direction. So congratulations to aca. They're also doing a deal, uh, we talked about last week that Amazon music, for Prime users now added loads of podcasts and also millions of music tracks, and it seems that they've also added a deal from Acast. What have they done, James?

James Cridland: 2:27

Yeah, it's pretty clever. This actually, Acast has essentially gone to sell Amazon music, uh, a bunch of their ads. On some of their biggest shows, they're saying thousands of ad free podcasts, which isn't all of them, but is quite a lot of them. And so essentially that means that creators are still getting money. Um, Amazon are happy because they've got lots of podcasts, which don't have any ads in them. And so, uh, therefore everybody seems to win out of that. And in fact, when you go onto the Amazon Music podcast app and you try listening to, for example, the rest is Politics, which is, uh, the number one podcast in the UK at the moment, then that proudly says ad free. Amazon are essentially paying for that bit. So, um, it's pretty good actually. I think that's a really clever, uh, plan where everybody seems to win. The audience wins cuz there are no ads. Amazon wins cuz they've got something special and acas wins because they're getting paid for it.

Sam Sethi: 3:21

Why is Amazon doing this? I mean, they've got such a small market share in podcasting. Is this their final role of the dice to try and get it into parity with Apple and Spotify?

James Cridland: 3:33

I think, um, Amazon are very keen to make a bit more of a push and certainly making all of the music, which is now available in the Amazon music app, although some people don't like, uh, having to, uh, shuffle music. But still, that's just the way that it goes., all of. The music and all of these ad-free podcasts is a real point of difference to something else, to other shows, uh, to other platforms which are out there. So I think, uh, yeah, you know, it is pretty good. Amazon music is still very, very small in most western countries. It's very big in Japan. Um, if, if, if I can coin a phrase big in Japan, um, their. Three, uh, in that market, but they're, you know, pretty well nowhere in other parts of, uh, the world. But I think that this should be, at least there's a reason now to download the Amazon music app and to start listening to podcasts on there cuz there are fewer ads in there. And I think that's a pretty good thing.

Sam Sethi: 4:31

Well, if you want the POD News Daily podcast, that is on Amazon Music and this podcast, Weekly podcast will be there too. I'll put in the show notes if you're interested, how you two can add your podcast to Amazon Music podcasts. Now moving on James, uh, other financial results this week or to see published its financial report for q3. Uh, it's not good including podcasts. It made 62 million US dollars in this quarter, but it's only up 2% year on year, and it's down 10% on the quarter and it's total revenues declined by 3.8%. Um, tell me more why Odyssey sounds like he's in.

James Cridland: 5:15

Yeah, I mean, Odyssey really sounds like it's in trouble. I'm only looking at the podcasting side, the digital bit, which is 62 million in the quarter. Now let's just compare up 2% year on year from Odyssey. A cast is up 21% year on year in terms of revenue. Quarter. On quarter a cast is up just 2% or to see down 10%. So it's not looking great for them. They've been told by the stock market in the US that if they don't make their stock price more than $1, then they're gonna be taken off the stock market. And, um, the, the. Do not like what they are currently doing. Stock hit a record low earlier on in the week of just 27 cents. Um, so it does look as if they're gonna be coming off the stock market and that will make a lot of people very angry. Indeed, I think.

Sam Sethi: 6:10

What titles do Odyssey have? I mean, have they got an extensive slate or are they quite small?

James Cridland: 6:16

Uh, so Odyssey own people like Pineapple Street Media, they own, um, Cadence 13, so they own some pretty big podcast companies. They also, of course, own. An awful lot of large radio stations. They used to be called Intercom. And um, an intercom used to, well, still does own an awful lot of very large, uh, stations in the US and perhaps that's what's pulling Odyssey down is just the amount of money that they're sinking into those. Broadcast radio stations. So they own some pretty big things. They also own podcast, which is a podcast advertising, uh, service. Um, I learnt today that podcast's founder has now left the company. Uh, they were purchased, uh, in March of 2021. Um, so presumably she had an 18 18 month clause. Uh, but, you know, Oey a pretty large company, but really not doing very well, you know, in terms of things. But that, that said, you know, iHeart hasn't done particularly well, uh, this time, uh, either in terms of, uh, making a loss.

Sam Sethi: 7:17

Yeah, iHeart's, uh, revenue for the quarter was 91 million. Um, but it's up James 42% year on year. Um, so although it's made a massive loss of 310 million, how do you make such a big loss if your revenues and your year on year is up? Every other metric.

James Cridland: 7:39

Well, because again, iHeartMedia owns an awful lot of large radio stations and that's what's pulling things down. So, um, the value of its broadcast licenses has actually dropped by more than 300 million. And so that's a value on the book, and therefore they have to declare that, uh, which is why it's made a loss of 310 million this time around. It had made a very modest profit, uh, this time last year. I think what they've done is very clever. They've. Basically split their company into two. They've got the new and shiny stuff, which includes their app and includes their podcast and everything else that Con Burn is looking after. And then they've got their, uh, I think they call it multi-platform, but it's essentially all of the old stuff, all of the radio stations and the transmitter masks and everything else. And that's what's dragging iHeart Media down a bit.

Sam Sethi: 8:27

all of these seem to be slightly down. Um, is it just the market? I mean, I saw a, a number yesterday, which totally blew, me away. Amazon has become the world's first public company to lose a $1 trillion in market value, $1 trillion, it went its market cap shrunk by $880 billion. From, it's a 1.8 trillion and it's not on its own. Microsoft also, uh, lost 889 billion of value yesterday as well. it's crazy

James Cridland: 9:02

good. It's not good news in terms of the tech markets at all. I mean, Meta is, uh, laying off more than 11,000 employees. Um, so we've heard quite a lot of layoffs elsewhere and Amazon have certainly made layoffs too.

Sam Sethi: 9:19

Yeah, I mean the, the irony being that, uh, me lays off 11,000 people and it stock jumps 8%. So, uh, there you go. I think,

James Cridland: 9:29

And Zuckerberg turns around and says, Oh, well, you know, I'm, I'm going, I, I'm, hold myself completely responsible and then fires 11,000 people. Yeah, you might, you might, if you're holding yourself responsible mate, you might want to consider firing yourself, but clearly that's not gonna happen.

Sam Sethi: 9:47

that's not happening. But actually that, that just tells you that what the market's saying is, uh, get more profitable, uh, get leaner, get meaner, and we will, uh, increase your stock price. Which goes back to our original point about acast having to let go of people to get into profitability.

James Cridland: 10:03

Yeah,

Sam Sethi: 10:04

the underlying tone is.

James Cridland: 10:06

Exactly right.

Sam Sethi: 10:07

Now moving on. Uh, Podcasting's A Twitter fallout? Uh, yes. Oh, it's been a week, hasn't it? James, On Twitter this week. Um, Elon Musk, he's, he's launching something, then he's pulling it back. Then it's gonna be $20, then it's $8. Um, what the hell is going on at Twitter, James?

James Cridland: 10:27

What is going on? I mean, who knows what's going on. I noticed that Twitter Blue has gone live for you, like in the, uh, uk. Um, I weirdly, uh, Uh, was told in the Twitter app that I couldn't get it, uh, here in Australia, and now apparently you can get it. It was a bug in the, uh, in the app or, you know, something else. But yes, lots of people leaving Twitter, lots of people moving over to Macon, which, uh, I've been on for a while. Podcast index.social is where I am. And, um, you know, lots of people using that. But yeah, there's a lot of people who are at least considering moving away from the website altogether. Elle, this black friend of the show has launched a Discord server around podcasting and it's been very successful. More than 800 people were on it when I checked earlier on today. Uh, Spotify also has a Discord server as well, which is full of, um, people talking about Spotify podcasts, if you can imagine such a thing.. Um, so. That's all going on. But, uh, you know, I think, I think it's a real, you know, it's a real change, uh, to those of us who've grown up on, uh, Twitter. I've been on Twitter for many, many years and, um, you know, just the incredible changes that Elon Musk has put through in a week, and they're not all positive changes by any stretch of the imagin.

Sam Sethi: 11:50

Yeah, well, I got my Twitter blue verified, uh, last night. Um, and it just doesn't mean anything. I mean, in my head, I, you know, any Tom, Dick or Boris can get this now. I mean, you know, if you, if you are a Russian St who wants to be a troll, pay your $8. And there you go. You're verified and, uh, rename yourself to Elon Musk and.

James Cridland: 12:12

I agree. I'm, I'm astonished that you can still rename yourself after you've been verified. That seems to make no sense whatsoever. I don't think there's real verification going on anyway. Interestingly, on Masteron, there is verification. You post a little bit of code on your website and, um, Masteron sees that and notes that you are now a verifi. Per person that that, um, website is something that actually belongs to you on your master in account, which makes an awful lot of of sense. So I've done that. You can, uh, see that in my, uh, profile on that particular service. Um, whereas Twitter verification doesn't seem to verify anything at all so far as I can work out. Apart from the fact that you have a credit.

Sam Sethi: 12:58

Yeah. Now, I mean, in going, taking it back to podcasting, we have got, of course, this new, uh, tag called podcasting dot txt. Which I guess is our way in the industry of putting in our own set of verifications, um, by removing the need for email and, uh, adding in a DNS type or, you know, verification system. Has that, that hasn't really been adopted yet, has it? No one's re so far that I can see. None of the hosts have enabled it yet.

James Cridland: 13:31

Transistor has actually, transistor has put it, uh, live, um, but nobody else has. And actually. Uh, I, funnily enough, I tried, um, claiming this particular show on, uh, Amazon Music Podcasts last week. And it turns out that they want the email address, which is, uh, in our RSS feed, which of course isn't in our RSS feed, uh, because we are on Buzzsprout and they've turned all of those off. So you have to go into Buzz Brat and turn it back on for 24 hours, and then you have to, uh, then verify that. And so, You know, it's, uh, it's gonna be a little bit of growing pains, I think, but I do think that more people are going to be enabling that and, um, certainly I suspect that we will see more of this coming online, uh, in the new year when Apple formally doesn't need any email addresses anymore either.

Sam Sethi: 14:24

So do you think people are gonna switch to Master Don? I know that you, you are on Podcast Index Social. So am I actually, But I don't use it enough to really say that I'm on it. Uh, although I do have an address. Um, Is the fed averse, this is the, the terminology, uh, that we have to use. Is this gonna take off or is it just a, Oh, I'm gonna try master on? And then people from what I've seen have said, The UI is too hard. They don't understand it. They'll just come back to Twitter after they've had their little haru.

James Cridland: 14:55

Well, I mean, I'm delighted that the UI is too hard for some people because they're stupid and therefore they don't deserve to be on this particular social me social media network. Uh, is my, is my own slightly, non PC view. Um, but uh, no, I mean, I think the fedi verse, so Masteron is a client on the fedi verse. So the fedi verse is essentially activity pub Masteron speaks activity pub, Therefore Masteron communicates with it. But you can also download another server called, called. Oma, I think it's called, um, which, um, uh, does much the same, which talks to Macon, uh, and talks to other things as well and talks to cast apart because Cast Apart has been connected to the Fed verse since April, 2021. And also this is where cross app comments, uh, live because, um, we've been talking about cross out comments for a long, long time. One of the things holding cross out comments back is the requirement for people to go off and get an activity pub, a master don. A, you know, uh, a fed averse account, and of course, lots of people are getting them now. Um, so this is good news potentially for cross out comments. So I think that there are going to be a large amount of people that. Switch and, um, maybe stay there. There are gonna be an awful lot of abandoned accounts, but I think that there are gonna be an awful lot of people who do end up staying there. And certainly the, you know, the feeling from those people that have moved across is that master Don has a couple of very interesting, uh, UX changes, which a actually means that at the moment it's a much nicer place to be. Um, perhaps that's a, a good thing and perhaps people will actually stay there because.

Sam Sethi: 16:39

Well, like you, we've been on Twitter, I think, since 2006. Uh, and in the early, early days, I mean, that was literally the early days. It was a nice place as well, Twitter until everyone else turned up. So, um, yeah, you never know. Now if you are one of the many people making a leap to master on, you might be interested in, uh, a service called mato Feed, a tool to share new episodes of your podcast. And, uh, I will put a link in our share. Its James, Have you used Mato Feed or tried it?

James Cridland: 17:09

I haven't, and I kind of think, isn't this spamming? And, uh, would that, would that be a, a bad thing? Um, so I ki I'm kind of not sure whether or not it's a good idea, but nevertheless, it's there. It's mato feed.org or whenever I say Mato feed, it's, it's just a, it's just half a word away from something that's. Very, very, very rude. Um, so, uh, I feel very strange, uh, saying Mato feed. But anyway, uh, if you fancy a bit of a Mato feed, then uh, go and, uh, take a peek at that.

Sam Sethi: 17:42

Yeah, I was gonna say something else, but I'll move on now. vii, uh, not a, not a product I've used myself, but VII is a web-based enrichment platform. It's looking for early adopters to use its tools, uh, such as images, chapters, and links, which can be added to podcasts, and they're viewable on Apple Podcast, overcast podcast addicts, and many others. James, you met up with the ceo, didn't you? This.

James Cridland: 18:08

I did. Yeah, I wondered what VI was all about. I heard him talking at podcast day about, uh, two or three weeks ago, about, uh, enriching your podcasts with images and chapters and links. Just basically the same as podcast chapters, which are out there. So I asked Nick Ivanov what VI.

Nic Ivanov: 18:28

So vii, which has just released the Busy Studio, is essentially an a tool, a piece of software. We are, um, Uh, platform independent. It's browser based where you can go and you can enrich your MP3 files. So predominantly to add things like chapters, images and links, um, into your podcast's audio, as well as some handy tools for generating your show notes, which is actually quite, has been quite popular.

James Cridland: 18:55

it, it's part of the standard, right? Uh, images and links and chapters and that sort of thing.

Nic Ivanov: 19:00

it's part of a standard. Let's just say, so obviously part of the standard, we have two standards really going in parallel. And there is the, uh, current rails, I guess, which uses, um, RSS and MP three. So we work with that. We work across any platform that supports, um, MP threes that are enhanced with ID three tags. it will also work on all the apps that do have the other standard, which would be Jason files. They also work with, um, MP3s in RSS feeds. So we're independent of both standards and support, both, of course.

James Cridland: 19:35

Very nice. So what does VII Studio bring to this then? Is it, is it an easier tool for podcasters to use, or what, what? What do people get when they use it?

Nic Ivanov: 19:44

It's very easy to use and it's, um, it. It's visual, it's, it's kind of like, you almost wanna think about it of the early days of computers, and it was clunky and it was made for people to use that had, um, skills released, knew how to, you know, type in commands. Now, VII takes all of that out and it's kind of a point and click. So when you upload your mp3, you can see a timeline. You can add things to the timeline, like chapters, and then you can add images to those chapters. You can add copy, et cetera, and links, and it just puts it all together.

James Cridland: 20:15

Very cool and it works with, um, therefore pretty well. Um, you know, most podcast apps under the, under the sun, and I'm guessing, you know, maybe most predominantly Apple podcasts.

Nic Ivanov: 20:25

works extremely well with Apple Podcasts and equally well with the others. To be honest. Um, the only one currently not supporting that is Spotify and. Hopefully that they will come on board and support it. Uh, however, all the other apps I've tested, supported, um, certainly all the big ones. So Apple Podcasts, um, is, is is the big boy there. And then obviously Overcast Supports it, Pocket Cast supports it, podcast at supports it. Um, Casto supports it, so, um, it it's across every everyone.

James Cridland: 20:56

So you sent out a call earlier on this week for early adopters for your service. Um, who are you looking for?

Nic Ivanov: 21:02

We are looking for everyone is the short answer. Um, but more specifically podcasters. So the people that are gonna use the tool, um, looking for feedback, looking for thoughts, for early impressions, looking for people to go in, they're tested, use it, um, get some feedback from their listeners. You know, make sure you remember to tell them that, Hey, we're using this thing now you can have an image on the, on the screen. What does the nick look like? Service and image. If you're talking about something technical specific, show it on the screen. So, podcasters is our number one. Um, certainly studios, production houses, people that, um, are making content. There's, I think, some pretty cool new, um, possibilities that open up with chapters and images for new, um, formats. You could potentially build an interactive story depending on which chapter you go. At the end of, of the previous chapter, you know, the audio is linear, but you can jump around in it now, and that could be supplemented with images. So I'd love to speak to some studios, um, for their existing podcasts or for new ones. And finally, hosts. We wanna work with the host. We wanna integrate with the host. We're interested in making technology that makes podcasting better.

James Cridland: 22:11

What sort of podcasts does this work with the most? I mean, I'm guessing it'll work with all of them, of course, but, um, I mean, I'm thinking true crime particularly might be a real opportunity here in terms of images of people and places and, and articles and so on.

Nic Ivanov: 22:26

exactly. So true. It's funny, it's, it's creeping up the, the idea of multiple still images, enhancing the audio and giving the, um, listener a bit of additional context is coming up more. And there was this incredible article by, uh, Pacific Content. And in the article the writer writes, um, uh, about true crime and goes, What would it have been like in serial season one when Sarah describes what was revealed in the cell tower map and then goes, you know, imagine if an image popped up at that point in time and you could see what was happening rather than jumping into Google or leaving your medium and jumping into Google. So true crime is an obvious one. There's a lot of Tech Review podcast. Obvious news stories are great cuz you can break it up. Six news stories. Six images. Six chapters. Six links. Um, it's very good for book podcasts. We do. Buy them and judge them on their covers., no matter what anyone says, uh, there's so many. Travel is an obvious one. History works really well. Um, cooking design, it's actually incredible when you dig deep, deep how many podcasts are actually visual based and are always describing things and you've got a limited amount of time. Describing a Venn diagram is quite difficult. Um, but showing a picture of it only takes one second.

James Cridland: 23:44

And there's been a bunch of, um, companies doing research around, um, added visuals and chapters to podcasts as well, haven't

Nic Ivanov: 23:53

Yeah. Yeah. Um, there's been some research coming out slowly. There is, um, some research that was done by Intel who were very early in on the space and did some incredible work about the, um, recall from listeners. With podcasts that have been enhanced with images and the recall was editorial recall, and obviously brand recall was both two to three times higher, seven days later if the podcast was enhanced with images. I think there's probably still research that will be, that will come out. I'd be very interested in understanding. How much time people spend within their podcasts rather than out, because I think sometimes you lose them. And an obvious example is you're on the train, you're listening to a podcast, you hear something interesting. Where do you end up on Google? And then do you continue? Do you go back to your podcast? Do you go down rabbit hole? So if you bring it all in to the screen, I think it could retain listeners into the medium as well.

James Cridland: 24:50

so how can people learn more about, uh, vsi?

Nic Ivanov: 24:53

Vi fm . Easy as that. Um, on our website, the studio's open for signups. Sign up, try it out. Email me directly. Um, my contact details are all over the website at Nick vii for Twitter as well, and happy to bring on as many podcasts as we can and, and just keep building it.

James Cridland: 25:13

And, uh, one last question. Is the, is the beard a permanent fixture or, or is the beard,

Nic Ivanov: 25:17

No, this is new. Yes, . So I thought, I thought I would have a little James Cridland style, beard it and see how it goes for me for a while. I should have probably done it in winter.

James Cridland: 25:28

Yeah. It's doing, it's doing well. Uh, Nick, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.

Nic Ivanov: 25:32

Thank you, James. Thank you.

Sam Sethi: 25:34

We go. Nick Ivanoff from vii. I wonder what effect the lock screen will have on iOS for podcast chapters done in tools like VI Studio. James, what do you think?

James Cridland: 25:45

Yeah, cuz I think actually when you use the new iOS 16, then you've got that great big, uh, pretty lock screen, which shows chapter images and, uh, actually means that your phone doesn't need to be unlocked. You don't need to necessarily be holding your phone or using your. Phone, you can still see the chapter images and things, and you can see that for certain shows isn't it was talking about for certain shows that would be actually quite a useful thing. So, um, yeah, I think that, uh, perhaps the lock screen will be one of the things that, um, pushes people to use, uh, chapters a little bit more. And it was really good to hear that he supports both ID three, um, uh, chapters, but also the new podcast namespace, uh, Jason chapters as.

Sam Sethi: 26:31

Hmm. I might give it a try little later on. Now. Uh, it's time to sing Happy Birthday, James. Or do we have to not sing it? Cuz we might be having to pay copyright. I can't remember. Are we allowed to anymore?

James Cridland: 26:44

I, I think we are allowed to now, but, uh, no, I'm not going to. I think that there was a court case around who owns the copyright for Happy Birthday and it was, uh, worked out that nobody really did. But, uh, yes, happy birthday to li in, uh, who is, uh, 18, uh, who turned 18 over the weekend, founded by four people. And you kind of, um, I think when you look back at what the internet was like in 2004, Of course there was no such thing as Amazon, uh, aws. At least there was no such thing as, as firing up your own servers and everything else. I was, um, I think it took me until 2007 before I was actually, um, spending money on. Co-located servers and stuff. So these guys were really early. It was Dave Mansueto, Matt Hoops, Marty Mulligan and Dave Chean, um, who set up lips in, uh, a while ago. Um, I, I found the backstory during the week and I also, uh, found, uh, Lips Inn's first video ad. Not sure whether it ever ran on tv, but it's, uh, very, very 2005, I think at the time. Uh, very, very 2005, uh, his little clip. Great podcast, man. This is great. I love your podcast, man. Yeah, it's nice podcast, man. Yeah. Hello out there. So yeah, so Lipson's first, uh, video and very, very cool. Uh, but, uh, many congratulations to them turning.

Sam Sethi: 28:24

Yeah. Libs in's current ceo, Brad Turak, said, uh, to you Actually, James, We're proud of our growth and transformation. Our innovation and investments are paying off, uh, with scaling of our advertising business, international expansion and enhancements to our industry leading tools. Yeah, Libson seems to be doing well. It's Libson five is their new platform, so, um, yeah, well done to.

James Cridland: 28:49

Yeah, it's doing very good now. They're 18 Lipson will be legally able to get a tattoo to vote, to use a meat slicer and to adopt a child, so that's something to look forward to.

Sam Sethi: 28:59

One of our former sponsors, uh, and a service that we use a lot, uh, New squad cast integrations are happening. Um, headline is Eddy. You can now select an import squad cast recordings to save time in your post-production workflow. You can check it out at edit eddie.com/signup. Yeah. Again, it's another way of integrating or simplifying your workflow. So, uh, yeah. Nice job. By and by headliner.

James Cridland: 29:30

Yeah, I think so too. I think it's a really smart tool and, uh, well worth, uh, having a look at both, uh, Eddie, uh, which is, uh, you know, much like Descripts, but different, uh, as well as their integration with, uh, with, uh, squad casts. So, yeah, I think it's a good thing.

Sam Sethi: 29:46

What is going on at Bus SPR Towers? Someone is certainly on the juice. Did they watch go, um, to film Back to the Future or something? They've been creating videos, Allah, the nineties? I mean, uh, Or what's Albin doing? James?

James Cridland: 30:01

I know. It's very, it's very good and, uh, I love the fact that Al doesn't even call himself Al, he calls himself.

Sam Sethi: 30:15

And I'll.

James Cridland: 30:18

I mean, it's so 1990s, right? But they haven't explained at all why they're recording this in a 1990s style. It's brilliant. I mean, perhaps that's what Florida is still like. It's still stuck in the 1990s. Who knows?

Sam Sethi: 30:33

Yeah. Uh, it was the fact that on their desk they had an, uh, what was one of those old Apple Max that Steve Jobs came back with, you know, with the fluorescent colors. It was brilliant. I, I, I loved it. I actually thought it was very funny.

James Cridland: 30:47

Yeah, it's the first, uh, it's the first one of these videos that I've actually sat and watched all the way through. So it's a video which is basically all about, appearing as a guest and what to do and, uh, you know, what you should be, uh, downloading and everything else, but it's just brilliant. And the way that they, uh, the way that album, uh, sorry, that Al uh, shows it all off, uh, is, uh, fantastic. Um, I'm a particular fan of the rap, uh, in the, in the middle. Have you heard the rap?

Sam Sethi: 31:20

I, I haven't, no, I must listen to it all the way through then.

James Cridland: 31:23

It's, it's, uh, the rap is a classic. Here's a little bit Before you end, if you gotta get in the zone, how do you do this? To choose the right headphones, EarPods, EarPods, whatever you need. You'll notice when you're speaking too quietly. You see headphones is the top. Access the limit. Distractions give you clarity. You'll hear yourself in real time. You'll pull it off just like these sick rounds. I think that's enough of that. Um, but , it's just, it's, it's just something else really, really good. Adam Curry has tweeted, I want this guy to do a video on value, for value. Um, and, um, excitedly, uh, album appears to have, uh, uh, said exactly that They're talking about doing a value for value video. Next, he is hoping, uh, But, uh, yes. I just want to know whether, um, that's Al's real mustache, cuz I know that he's been growing a mustache. I, I'm wondering whether that's album's real mustache or whether or, or whether there's a bit of, uh, mustache enhancement going on in that video.

Sam Sethi: 32:22

I was thinking the same. Or is he just doing a vember? You know, he might just be doing it for charity

James Cridland: 32:29

that might be it.

Sam Sethi: 32:31

it's all, Or he is gonna be coming back to us going, No, that's my new look. What's wrong with it? You know? Um,

James Cridland: 32:37

that'll, uh, that'll be clearly to Anyway, Buzzsprout a, uh, sponsor of the POD News Weekly review. Uh, and uh, thank you for that.

Sam Sethi: 32:46

Now, uh, Spotify have snuck out a new desktop notifications. A friend of the show Christmas scene had posted yesterday that, uh, the Spotify app includes podcast and show recommendations on the desktop app. So I had a quick look and it is there. And so yes, if you want to get uh, notifications in real time from Spotify, you can go to your account profile and turn them on.

James Cridland: 33:11

Hooray. And this is recommendations for podcasts and shows we think you might like. Uh, so if you, uh, if you fancy some notifications on your desktop about the Joe Rogan podcast, well you won't get them, because Spotify never promote that show, do they? But you'll, but you'll get something else. Uh, prob probably Megan Markle, if you're lucky. Um,

Sam Sethi: 33:32

Or Parenting Hell.

James Cridland: 33:34

Yes indeed. Or Parenting Hell. if you are in the uk. Yes. It's, it's, it's the thing, isn't it? Uh, so, uh, thank you to Christmas e inventor of the hashtag and friend of the show, uh, friending up, spotting that. Now, this is the part of the show where we go all techie. It's the stuff you'll read every Monday in Pod News. What's going on in the tech world, Sam?

Sam Sethi: 34:00

Well, you and many others have been banging on about Apple in iOS 16, putting in a different user agent so that we can do some better analysis of what actual clients are using. Which podcast and which service. So, uh, every time that, uh, John Burett keeps looking at the latest beater release, uh, and he's hoping and praying that that's actually been released into it seems there isn't anything in there. Um, but, uh, the good folks at Pocket Cast might actually get there first before Apple. So, uh, tell me more.

James Cridland: 34:38

Yeah, I reckon that they probably will. Um, so pocket cast, of course, is now open source. John Spurlock, who is a very clever man, submitted a pull request. To the folks at Pocket Cast basically saying, Right, here's the code for you to set your user agent properly in iOS 16 and above. And that has been accepted and it will be in pocket casts later on in, uh, the month, apparently November the 28th, 7.27. Uh, if you're checking out those pocket cast updates, um, which is really good because firstly there's a useful reference there to show other apps how to do it. But also secondly, it means that they will probably be there before Apple Podcasts itself gets its own code into its own app. Um, So, yes, rubbish is the basic thing. Um, one wonders why they're kind of holding back, um, given that, uh, this, um, new key has been available to them since, um, iOS 16, uh, broke, uh, a couple of months ago. Um, and, uh, you know, the conspiracy theorist might say, Might mean that people stop counting all of Apple core media as Apple podcasts and Apple goes down. But uh, that might just be a conspiracy theory.

Sam Sethi: 35:56

But, but, uh, why is it important for all of us to have this, or why is it important for all the app providers to do this?

James Cridland: 36:04

Well, I mean, it's important, um, just for podcasters to understand where people are consuming their podcast. We don't ask for much in terms of getting into apps and things. We certainly don't ask for payment. But one of the things that we do ask for is that we actually know which app is using. Are podcasts. And, um, at the moment if you stream something using Apple Podcasts or a number of other things, including podcasts, it comes up as a thing called Apple Core Media. And so therefore we don't know. So it's just being polite to the content, uh, creators really. Um, but um, yeah, so it's an important thing from that, uh, point of view. And it's just something that, um, you know, responsible podcast app developers should really be doing. I think.

Sam Sethi: 36:53

Hmm. Now moving on, uh, O P three, Another initiative from John Burlock, which is an open source podcast analytics service committed to transparency and listener privacy. Well, it's been implemented by RSS Blue, so the users there now can route their requests to their audio files through i p three to enable public analytics. So congratulations to rss.

James Cridland: 37:18

John Spurlock has also been having a look at user agent lists for, uh, O P three. Um, I think he's on the cusp of announcing something there. Uh, he checked out both the lists from Buzz Pro, which are open and available, and also oppo, which are open and available. Um, and uh, my suspicion is that we will see some form of announcement, uh, over the next, uh, week or so in terms of, um, helping us understand what is consuming our shows if we are using, uh, o P three. So, um, yeah, I think that's um, good, good news from that side too.

Sam Sethi: 37:52

Moving on then. Um, Overcast is to close its web player next year. Uh, I've never had the time or modern web development skills to make it a great way to use Overcast as developer Marco Armand. Uh, adding that, the experience is terrible. Thanks to Justin for the, uh, notification there on that one. On as a tweet, James, I, when I saw this, um, I had two thoughts. One was, Is it because he doesn't think anyone uses a web desktop client for podcasting? Or is it just that he has a horrible, set of UI features that he doesn't wanna support anymore?

James Cridland: 38:30

I think it's a little bit of both. I think. Um, he says that not very many people use it, although the people that do use it use it quite a lot. Um, but, uh, not too many people use it overall. But I think also he is in the process of, um, refactoring, um, all of the back end of the overcast, uh, system, and he just doesn't want to. It's not something that, um, he thinks that people will be using very much going, uh, forward. So yeah, so I think it is a little bit of both there. And of course it's made an awful lot easier. If you have a modern Apple Mac computer, you can download the iPhone app onto your Mac and uh, and just use it there. So he's, uh, hoping that more people are going to do that. Um, so I think it's, you know, it's a. Plan to focus on the stuff that he's good at and the stuff that frankly, he, he enjoys doing too.

Sam Sethi: 39:19

Albe, which is, uh, our digital wallet that we support here, um, and value for value, which is a way of actually getting streaming or Booster. Graham sat, um, you spotted a new, uh, UI for a dashboard from a company that I hadn't heard of called, and I'm gonna get it wrong now, Con shacks.

James Cridland: 39:41

Yes, Yes. Contracts. Um, it's a new value for value dashboard that essentially you log into your LB account and you can see where all of your boosts have come from, where all, all of your individual shows, you know, how, how they've done and everything else. There's loads of graphs, there's loads of very cool stuff in there. It's well worth having a peek at. Um, you can, um, For shared in pod news this week. Um, a couple of screen grabs of it including, um, you know, pictures of the number of supporters or the number of boost messages that you get and all of that kind of stuff. It's just really cool and it's, um, and it really surfaces a lot more of the data, which is actually currently available to you as a value for value podcaster. Particularly you can see using streaming sets, you can see where people are stopping listening. Um, so that's, uh, a. Helpful, uh, tool. So, uh, contracts, uh, is the, uh, is the thing, contracts, dot app, uh, is where to go.

Sam Sethi: 40:41

Excellent. I, I'll have a quick look at that cause I've obviously played with Saturn, which is from Alby. And this might be a little bit better now. Uh,

James Cridland: 40:49

Hmm.

Sam Sethi: 40:50

This is the thing I never understand, and I'm gonna ask you again because it doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I know it works. Uh, you've, uh, talked about a new tool that generates a podcast goed for your podcast. Where do goods come from? Who sets the good and how come it can be unique if it's individually set by each different? Well, I see host, so tell me more, James, cuz I'm totally confused how a goed can be unique if everyone's setting their own GOs.

James Cridland: 41:20

Right. Well, let's, uh, step one back. What is a Goed? Uh, a goed is a unique identifier for a podcast, and, uh, one of the problems is there are lots of different podcasts, which are all called the same name. So you can't necessarily. Refer to a podcast by name, nor can you refer to a podcast by an RSS feed because you might change your hosting company and in, and in which case then you are changing your RSS feed. And so therefore, that's no good either, and you can't rely on that 3 0 1 redirect being there forever. So a podcast Goed is a really easy and simple way to basically say this number or this very long. Uh, refers to this particular podcast, and the way that it's calculated is it's calculated by the initial RSS feed that you use. So if you change your RSS feed, then your goed still won't change, and people can still find you that way. Um, the way that, uh, it works is that it is a very long he decimal, uh, number. It's a. Particular type of good and I forget the um, uh, the name of the, uh, of the exact, uh, tool. Uh, but it's a particularly long and complicated. He decimal, um, uh, number. I think it's, uh, 32 characters. Um, And so therefore it is really unlikely to ever collide, as they say, It's really unlikely to ever, uh, be given the same good as somebody else. Um, and in fact, um, I know that Dave is busy running, um, some code on the podcast index just checking that that isn't actually happening. Um, but yeah, I mean, basically the, the answer is it shouldn't, um, and it probably won't. So that's probably a good thing.

Sam Sethi: 43:05

But who, who initially says it? Is it the host when you first create your RSS feed, is that where it initially

James Cridland: 43:12

the host should be setting it. The host should be setting it, um, when you initially create a feed, and the host should be, if you are. Importing your feed from somebody else, then the host should be using the goed, which is already in your, in your original feed. But if you don't have a Goed in your RSS feed, then the podcast index automatically works one out for you so that their systems are using that goed internally as well. So, um, yeah, so it, it is automatically set if you don't have one. But, um, as with everything, if you've got it set in your RSS feed, The podcast index will use that as its source of truth.

Sam Sethi: 43:54

Finally in, uh, Tech Corner, uh, Podcast Republic. A popular Android podcast app is now testing in beta on iOS as well. Uh, at Tip to Tyler. There. F for, uh, telling us about that.

James Cridland: 44:08

Yes, And it looks good. It's, um, it's an app which many people have been using on Android, and it's nice to see it moving . Onto iOS as well. It is indeed and, uh, lots of boosts coming in. Um, we've got a big boiler boost, uh, which we'll get onto in a minute, but firstly, thank you. 25,000 sat, um, congratulating us on 100 episodes of the old show. Looking forward to the pod News Weekly review, he says, Well, you're on it, Matt. Uh, thank you for sending your 25,000 sat from uh, the Fountain app. Really appreciate that. That's a good thing.

Sam Sethi: 44:48

Uh, yes, we've had a rush boost. 21 0 12, Is that how you say it, James? I haven't quite

James Cridland: 44:55

Oh, I think it's a, I think this is a, a massive rush boost or something. 21 0 12. But anyway, yes. I, I, I think you're right. It's from Kyron, isn't it?

Sam Sethi: 45:04

Yeah, I thought it was the Beverly Hills Show. Okay. I never get that right. amazing chat with Dave and Adam you had there, Sam. Thank you., when you all get rolling and talking about the future? I get super excited. Podcasting 2.0 and Value for Value is fixing the world. It is indeed. It is indeed. And uh, that was a good chat. Now I've gotta apologize cuz I got Castigate by Dave and Adam on their show. After that interview. Um, they didn't expect to be put into the. And one more thing, section. Um, I think they thought they were gonna be the main thing. So, uh, apologies to Dave and Adam, but it was a really good chat if you missed it. The last episode, episode 100 of, uh, pod land. It's well worth listening to both what Dave and Adam have to say about the future of podcasting.

James Cridland: 45:52

It, it was a great, uh, chat. I, I sent Adam a quick email after I heard, or a quick, uh, uh, signal message after I heard him castigate on on the podcasting 2.0. Uh, podcast. And, uh, and I said, sorry about the interview at the, at the end thing. It's all Sam's fault. Uh, . That's what I said. Uh, and he replied and he said, Just giving you shit, James. So, uh, there you go. I'm probably gonna have to have to bleep that out now, aren't I?

Sam Sethi: 46:21

Well, if, if he was a little bit more verbose, we would've got it into the main part of the show. But as the interview was over 50 minutes, I don't think we could really have put it in the middle of the show.

James Cridland: 46:33

No, it's probably a bad thing. Um, yes, moving on. Uh, Boomie, Thank you. 100,000 sat. That's a big number that if, if the, if the, if the Big Baller jingle was actually in the, uh, in the GitHub thing, then I could play it now, but, uh, it isn't, so I can't, uh, he says thank you for all the work on the old show and the input high five. Uh, so, uh, that's, uh, super good. So thank you so much for that. Brian of London also sends us, uh, an Israel booth, 1948, and he says from the beach, I did notice that he also put this on his, um, master on as well. And there was a picture of Brian of London on the beach, uh, which was all, uh, very good. Um, and uh, yeah, and we got one from Oscar Mary as well.

Sam Sethi: 47:21

Dig out the blog post. Downloads Adam would love to read. And what a moment of history. Yeah. This is when, uh, Dave Wener deleted it, didn't he?

James Cridland: 47:30

Yes, Dave. We deleted it, so there won't be any digging out that blog post. But yes, the famous blog post that Adam wrote, um, where he came up with the idea that turned into podcasting that has since been lost to the bit bucket of time. Uh, Oscar, thank you very much. If you're a fan of the show, please consider supporting us. Everything from this show is shared by me and Sam. You can support this with Cash pod news.net/weekly support or support us with SAT by hitting the boost button. Now. What's happening for you this week?

Sam Sethi: 48:04

Uh, well, I went out to a pub with a bunch of podcasts in London. Uh, Ariel Nien Plat, uh, was over in the uk so she pinged me and said, uh, do you any pubs in South Ken Sam? And so we ended up in a very, What I would call touristy pub personally. Uh, it's called the Churchill Arms. Uh, Yeah. Just to make it, uh, really touristy. It had a Thai restaurant in the back of it, so, so not English. Um, but it was a lovely evening. Uh, loads of good people come along. There's some great photos on Twitter if you check out Ariel's to handle. Um, and yeah, a couple of friends were there. Jake Warren was there from Message Herd and James Bishop from AFI Place. So a lovely evening. I think we're gonna try and do one in February as pod news. Um, there seem to be a lot of, uh, interest in people physically meeting up again. So, um, what's this?

James Cridland: 48:57

Yes, I think that's a very good thing. And, uh, I will be doing something similar along with, uh, Kyron here in Brisbane, uh, on a Friday at some point in the next few weeks as well. So more details on that in next week's show for the very few people who listen to this show in and around Southeast Queensland. Uh, but yes, we are going to go to a pub as well. The Brisbane podcaster group. Um, and uh, that'll be good, quite why we've chosen Friday, uh, on the South Bank as well. Who knows? But anyway, um, I'm sure it's gonna be, um, uh, incredibly packed, but nevertheless, um, as long as Karin can find somewhere that sells decent beer, uh, then I'll be good. So looking forward to, uh, that and, uh, how's this new podcast of yours?

Sam Sethi: 49:44

Well, after lots of extensive research, nobody wanted off the mic. Uh, they didn't see any longevity in, in talking to influence. About what they're doing besides podcasting. Um, so, uh, I had a look around and one of the things I do love is technology. Not just podcasting, but all sorts of technology. Uh, my, my background is 30 years in doing technology from TechCrunch and various other podcasts I've done. So I've, uh, re brought back, Is that a word? I don't know. Uh, Sand Talks technology. Recorded my first two episodes, which I, I'm really excited about with two VC investors who are very heavily investing into lots and lots of value for value. Companies like Smiles and Stacking news and various others. So, uh, yeah, my first two interviews are in the Can. I'm editing 'em now and hopefully in the next couple of weeks we'll be launching Sam Talks Technology again.

James Cridland: 50:40

Excellent. It'll be good to, uh, hear that back.

Sam Sethi: 50:42

James, what's happening for you then?

James Cridland: 50:44

Well, so I've been, uh, I've, I've booked a flight, uh, down to Sydney. Hooray. Um, I'm going to the Australian Podcast Awards on November the 21st. If you are going, I will, uh, see you there. I'll be the person that, um, doesn't quite, uh, uh, fit in. Um, And then, um, I'm thinking on November the 22nd, cuz I happen to be down there for work on the 22nd and on the 23rd, I was thinking on November the 22nd, in the evening we might, um, go to a pub somewhere and have a podcaster, uh, meet up. Now of course, um, there is another c. Um, round of infections going on in this country. So who knows, everything might be canceled, but at the moment, the idea of, um, going out and finding some nice beer on November the 22nd sounds like a plan. So if anybody's up for that in Central Sydney, uh, then that would be excellent time@jamesatcraig.land. If you want to, uh, send us an email and, uh, we might end up, um, sorting that out. So that should be in a couple of weeks from now, and that's it for this week.

Sam Sethi: 51:48

You can give us feedback using our new email, which is weekly app pod news net, or send us a booster gram, which we love. If your podcast app does a support boost, then grab a new app from pod news.net/new podcast apps.

James Cridland: 52:05

Our music is from Studio Drag and Fly. Our voiceover is Sheila D, and we're hosted and sponsored by Buzz Sprouts Podcast. Hosting made easy. Get updated every day. Subscribe to our newsletter@podnews.net. Tell your friends and grow the show. Support us and support us. The Pop News weekly review will return next week. Keep listening.