PodMov Daily: Tuesday, October 20

Episode 310: Testing, One Two-day

$325 Million Later, Stitcher's Podcasts Arrive on Pandora

Satellite radio company SiriusXM has completed its $325 million acquisition of Stitcher from E.W. Scripps. All tiers of the Sirius-owned Pandora app have access to top podcasts from Stitcher and its wider Earwolf network, including Freakonomics Radio, My Favorite Murder, and WTF with Marc Maron.

According to Sarah Perez of TechCrunch, “the podcasts will be indexed using the company’s proprietary Podcast Genome Project technology.” Pandora’s personalized recommendation system combines automated technology, like natural language processing and collaborative filtering, with human curation.

“The Stitcher acquisition brought with it several key assets, including its own mobile listening app, which includes a premium tier of exclusives, and the Midroll Media network for podcast advertising,” Perez explains. After buying Simplecast and audio ad company AdsWizz, SiriusXM has gone for the trifecta.

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Buzzsprout Adopts Podcast Locking to Stop Piracy

“Podcast piracy is not a new concept, but it's becoming a new problem,” writes Buzzsprout co-founder Kevin Finn. “Buzzsprout is proud to be working with the Podcast Index on a series of initiatives to improve the open podcast space.” The first of these is the <podcast:locked> element in the “podcast” namespace. 

Activating this coding element will block others from pirating your work, Finn explains. “The new ‘podcast’ namespace provides a simple solution to piracy by utilizing an element added to feeds that simply tells hosting sites if they should allow this podcast to be copied/imported into their platform.”

When platforms freely monetize copies without safeguards, piracy is relatively easy and lucrative. To stop the theft, Buzzsprout and the Podcast Index urge other platforms to adopt this universal security measure. “We need services like Anchor, Libsyn, Blubrry, Captivate, Transistor, and more to support it as well.”

#ShureNext: A New Revolution in Podcast Audio

Shure microphones are not only the finest on the market — they’re iconic. What do The Joe Rogan Experience, Crime Junkie, and WTF with Marc Maron have in common? The world’s top podcasters choose the legendary SM7B to bring their voices to life. 

Your own podcast deserves the smooth, warm vocals only Shure can capture. We’ll let you in on a secret: That reality is closer than ever. For some, budget and user experience level may be a barrier to Shure’s premium audio. This month, the door opens. 

On Monday, October 26, Shure unveils a new revolution in sound. Intuitive, accessible, and affordable, the next generation is yours. Unparalleled flexibility and innovative features are just the beginning. #ShureNext — Inspired by an icon, made for the sounds of tomorrow.

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Here's what else is going on:

• Dinner bell: “Spotify’s [recent releases] have made one thing absolutely clear for every company in the podcast advertising space,” writes Bryan Barletta in Sounds Profitable. “They don’t just want our sandwich. They want to own our whole lunchbox. And probably rent it back to us.”

• Spread out: In an interview with Seedrs, Podcast Radio founder Gerard Edwards confirms broadcasting development beyond the UK. “We are in discussion with digital broadcast networks overseas that will see our first international expansions.” Some lucky region is in for 24/7 podcasts.

• Term limits: Ah, Shows With Music. “For commercial radio, this is another punch in the neck,” writes Amplifi Media CEO Steven Goldstein. Spotify’s new offering highlights another drag on radio stations: “They also have music rights restrictions preventing the replay of on-demand audio.”

• Next level: James Griffin of Discover Pods explains active listening techniques to engage more deeply with podcasts. The goal is to understand, not just remember: “In order to reveal the gold in a pan full of mud, you have to take an active approach. You’ve got to agitate the material.”