PodMov Daily: Thursday, August 20

Episode 268: Your Thursday Podthoughts

The Australian Podcast Awards: Expanded Categories for 2020

The Australian Podcast Awards have announced expanded plans for 2020, including four new categories. The addition of ‘Smartest Podcast,’ ‘Best Indigenous Podcast,’ ‘Best Sex & Relationships Podcast,’ and ‘Best Lockdown Podcast’ makes a total of 30 special titles to recognize the year’s strongest work in audio.

A new role this year, the Chair of Judges is responsible for selecting a judging panel that “fully reflects the diversity of Australian podcasting.” Serving will be Sophie Harper, the creator of the documentary podcast Not By Accident. The judges will be looking for outstanding ideas, talent, formats and perspectives.

As the top prize, ‘Podcast of the Year' will have “appropriately superb sound design and boundary-pushing material that showcases the very best of what Australian podcasting can achieve.” Entries open on September 1 and close on September 25. Winners will be announced at a live online ceremony in November.

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Choosing a Podcast's Ideal Embedded Audio Player

Embedded audio players have become standard in a podcaster’s audience-building toolkit. “Advanced audio players make it easy for listeners to subscribe, browse your library, and share audio clips,” explains Larell Scardelli of Sounder.fm. What's the best way to approach choosing one for your show?

Podcasters have a diverse range of options to fit their needs, including native embedded players and plug-ins. Scardelli explains the differences between the two, noting that ‘podcast king' Tim Ferriss “uses what looks like a default audio player on his site that allows listeners two options: download or listen. That’s it!” If it works, it works.

For new visitors to your podcast’s website, instant accessibility is key. Scardelli advises looking for features like closed captioning, episode details, and in-audio search functionality: “You want it to be simple so a listener can navigate and smart so you can promote and showcase your hard work.”

Data-Driven Insights: The 2020 State of Podcast Interview Study

Interview podcasts are growing faster than ever. Which platforms and styles are on the rise? Stay on top of key trends with The 2020 State of Podcast Interview Study, compiled from Interview Valet’s exclusive data. See the stats for 500+ guests on 20k+ interviews, reaching 50M+ downloads.

The category king of Podcast Interview Marketing, Interview Valet has the largest database of its kind. 2020 has brought massive change and new direction — find out just how much video has grown, the future of livestreams, and which major stat has risen 275%.

It’s smart to be prepared. This study was just released at the Podfest Global Summit, sharing expert insights with top industry voices. Platform competition is heating up (Preview: SquadCast has shot to the top) and talk trends are changing. Download for the inside view on interviews.

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Here's what else is going on:

• Joyful update: The My Brother, My Brother and Me sign has been picked up by that dedicated Seattle fan. Wade Atkinson drove 2,500 miles to the hit podcast’s West Virginia hometown, where Justin McElroy presented the prize. Proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity.

• Forked road: In a feature for NPR, Damon Krukowski contrasts Bandcamp and Spotify as a “tale of two ecosystems.” On playlists, royalties, distribution, and revenue streams, “Bandcamp may not just be the anti-Spotify; it may be operating in an entirely different world.”

• Theme music: Podnews editor James Cridland gamely samples the new Apple Music Hits offering. Alanis Morissette’s one-hour program is “unbranded as being on a radio station ― instead, it’s ‘Alanis Radio,' and one suspects it's built as a podcast-like on-demand service.”

• Open book: In the new audio documentary Black at Mizzou, Lauren Brown shares her experience as a Black student at University of Missouri during the campus protests of 2015. Brown is the co-host and producer of the podcast We Live Here from St. Louis Public Radio.