PodMov Daily: Monday, March 14

Episode 607: Your Monday Mix

To Protect Your Podcast IP, Read the Fine Print

Podcast incubators, accelerators, and contest programs have exploded recently, but they’re not all the same. A ‘search for the next great’ anything is an exciting premise – winners often receive training, equipment, promotion, and cash to get started. Unfortunately, simply submitting an entry can sign away your IP.

For example, a major media company is currently “searching for the next ten female breakout podcast stars.” Read that fine print: Everything a creator submits is instantly owned by the host platform, including intellectual property and derivative rights. (Entries are legally “work made for hire.” Happy Women’s History Month?)

Gaining traction as a podcaster is hard. You know what’s harder? Succeeding once your best idea, your brightest original spark, no longer belongs to you. Don’t let the allure of discovery get in the way of your homework. As companies line up to offer a boost, assess each opportunity carefully to protect your future.

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Crooked Media Tests Hybrid Podcast Ads for YouTube

Crooked Media is running podcast ads tailored to YouTube, reports Alyssa Meyers of Morning Brew. The ads are part of a new campaign with Blue Moon, marking Crooked’s first audio/visual sponsorship. Title cards will be shown during host-read spots on Offline with Jon Favreau, a limited-series-turned-spinoff show.

“Typically, since ads are recorded separately from the actual content of the episodes, they’re only included as audio clips in the YouTube videos,” Meyers explains. “Crooked agreed to add title cards that say ‘presented by Blue Moon,’ along with the brand’s logo, to the start of each Offline YouTube episode.”

This is also the network’s first sponsorship from a beer brand. Alcohol and blue-chip brands have yet to fully break into audio, though Crooked’s VP of commercial marketing says that’s changing. “I think you’re starting to really see some of these Fortune 500 companies figure out what works best for them on the pod side.”

Podcast Parties: Turn Your Audience Into a Community

When podcast fans spend time together, they become more than just an audience – they form a community. Podcast Parties is a new full-service virtual event production company built just for podcasters. Whether you’re launching a new season or hosting an educational workshop, it’s the easiest way to bring your fans together.

Podcast Parties will help you design your event, promote it, sell sponsorships, and give your fans an experience unlike any other. Podcast Parties go far beyond Zoom meetings by giving your listeners a unique opportunity to mix and mingle at virtual tables.

Virtual events can open new revenue streams through ticketing, sponsorships, subscription perks, and more. Ready to see the platform in action? Schedule a demonstration to get the party started.

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Here's what else is going on:

• Taking notes: Wednesday at 4:00 pm ET is a “Legal Primer for Creatives” from Podcasting, Seriously. For the weekly Twitter Spaces meetup, media and entertainment lawyer Merlyne Jean-Louis will cover best practices and legal aspects of protecting your IP and creative work. No Twitter account needed.

• Cheers, friend: Congratulations to podcaster and activist Sheletta Brundidge, USA TODAY’s Women of the Year honoree from Minnesota. Founded in 2020, Brundidge’s production company has eight shows featuring Black stories and perspectives on travel, mental health, parenting, and more.

• Sound design: Why are there so many podcast apps with so little market share? Even major companies’ apps end up in the graveyard, writes Amplifi Media CEO Steven Goldstein. It’s hard to push through, but look at TikTok: “A new entrant that hits the right cultural nerve can shake up everything.”

• House blend: The key to building a podcasting brand is the feed, not the show, says Edison Research SVP Tom Webster. “Think about what other podcasts in your niche share a similar approach or ethos, and just build a feed that stands for something and delivers on-topic content reliably and frequently.”