PodMov Daily: Tuesday, July 12

Episode 679: Testing, One Two-sday

Reconsider the Most Powerful People in Podcasting

Each year, Inside Radio designates ‘The Most Powerful People in Podcasting.’ The list of executives doesn’t change much, which is fine. Most industries could say the same. As the 2022 survey was circulated, an unrelated tweet caught my attention: “If you're early in your career[,] who do you want to hear from?”

The question was from Alice Wilder, planning a new season of “Starting Out.” Her terrific resource series includes interviews with heavy-hitting creators like Misha Euceph, Josh Gwynn, and Anna Sale. Recently, she dug into the trailblazing Gimlet Union with three members of the original organizing committee.

Projects like Wilder’s recognize the most powerful people in podcasting to podcasters. Executives don’t inspire creative fortitude. That’s not their bag. They don’t ignite changes to inequitable patterns, like Tracy Clayton and Heben Nigatu helped raise the industry conversation around show ownership in 2020.

Podcasting’s playing field is even like the surface of the Moon is even. Those that impact quality of life in the industry deserve a list of some kind. Those that influence salary standards at production companies and fight for the ability to retain IP, to access quality resources, to afford to enter an awards program.

Responding to a ‘Most Powerful People,’ nomination, Podnews editor James Cridland said on Twitter: “Not sure what ‘most powerful’ really means. Sounds like a more aggressive version of ‘influential’. (I’d like to have a positive impact on the industry; not be ‘powerful’).” Semantics aside, this is the attitude we need.

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Here's what else is going on:

• Consider this: Programmatic advertising doesn’t deserve its bad rap, writes Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable. “We don’t break it down enough, and we generalize, with a major focus on pointing out the unsavory bits, leaving out the fact that each of us can control if we even want to include those options.”

• Let’s begin: “Building Your Podcast From the Ground Up” is this evening at 6:00 ET. Podbean will host Lynz Floren, GM and executive producer of Growth Network Podcasts, for a talk on branding, audience growth and building a network. Floren will answer questions live on YouTube. Free registration.

• Win some: “Notoriety in Podcasting” from Pod People is this Thursday at 6:30 pm ET. When submitting to an awards program, standing out is essential. Deondric Royster (Signal Awards, Spotify) and Lauren Passell (Podcast The Newsletter, Tink Media) will explain how in a live panel. Free registration.

• Screen time: Spotify has expanded video podcasting to Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, and Mexico, bringing the feature to non-English dominant countries for the first time. Meanwhile, the hosting platform Disctopia now lets users automatically sync audio from video podcasts to their RSS feeds.