PodMov Daily: Monday, April 5

Episode 400: Your Monday Mix

Launch Pad: How Social Audio is Outgrowing Clubhouse

During PM Daily’s spring week off, the social audio space picked up speed. Ashley Carman of The Verge catches us up: “Twitter, Facebook (reportedly), LinkedIn, Discord, Spotify, Mark Cuban, and Slack have all launched or are working on their own attempts at social audio — the space is about to get busy.”

Clubhouse has been downloaded 10 million times, but what does it offer that the others don’t? The social audio format is being replicated by, and built upon, by platforms with massive followings. Clubhouse won’t be able to rely as much on celebrity appearances when faced with hype-courting competition like Spotify.

Mark Cuban’s Fireside is all-in on native recording, social audio’s strongest tie to podcasting. Clubhouse doesn’t offer takeout sound, while Fireside “allows people to input sound effects, like music, and record their shows for distribution across podcasting platforms.” Spotify and Twitter aren’t far behind.

Meanwhile, Podcasting Creativity and Commentary

As always, we’re balancing business — the launch of Acast+, the rollout of Samsung Podcasts, Libsyn buys Advertisecast, Entercom becomes Audacy — with some of the best industry commentary. First, a conversation about audio editor supply and demand with leadership of the Edit Mode training program.

Edit Mode: Story Editor Training for Narrative Audio, a 7-week paid intensive program, aims to close the ‘experience gap’ for emerging professionals. Hot Pod’s Nicholas Quah talked solutions with Casey Miner, who explains why “It still seems like there’s nowhere near enough story editors to meet the need.” 

Second, cliché-busting truth from Edison Research SVP Tom Webster: “For podcasting, content is not King, or Queen, or Monarch. Personality is.” Fans care about Joe Rogan’s charisma, not just his podcast. Exclusivity to Spotify hasn’t damaged listenership because his personality is everywhere else.

Toyota Untold: The Journeys Behind an Icon

Toyota Untold goes beyond cars and into the journeys behind them, from garages to showrooms past, present, and future — featuring experts, drivers, engineers, and more.

Come for stories like Trey McDaniel’s, a medic who survived a deadly 133-car pile-up only to then help other drivers escape danger. He talks about the FJ Cruiser that saved his life and Toyota’s gift, a new 4Runner TRD Pro.

Stay for the heavy nostalgia, with throwbacks like the Toyota MR2 sports car. How did it earn such a die-hard community of fans? Toyota Untold asks three MR2 project builders in a lively roundtable celebrating the mighty mid-engine.

On a road trip, commute, or around the house — tune in to Toyota Untold wherever you get your podcasts.

Here's what else is going on:

• On film: Facebook and PM’s series continues with creative video tips for podcasters. On Facebook and Instagram, what should creators focus on when cutting down full-length recordings? What does a wave of asset launches look like? Creator Studio insights are next on April 19.

• Meet again: The first episode of a podcast shouldn’t open with a repeat of its trailer, says Rob Rosenthal of HowSound. What should the relationship be between those “handshake” moments? With a few examples, he shows how to respect your listeners’ time with better storytelling.

• No rules: This Friday, Audiotrain will host “Trade Secrets: Thinking Outside the Box.” BBC 4 audio drama producers Jenny Sealey and Polly Thomas will discuss advocacy and creative partnerships with Deaf and disabled communities in audio. 2:00 pm BST / 9:00 am ET. Starts at £5.00.

• Pit stop: “If podcasts are audio for a road trip, microcasts are audio for a short commute — or even for brushing your teeth.” Project Citrus from WBUR takes a look at the advantages of shows that brief listeners on a single, tightly thematic topic in under five (at most 10) minutes.