Why We’re Bringing Podcast Movement to SXSW (And Making It Free) by Bryan Barletta
Starting next March, the previously stand-alone event Podcast Movement Evolutions is merging with the now three years of podcasting presence Sounds Profitable has fostered at SXSW. Instead of choosing between the two Spring industry events, now podcasting is firmly headed for Austin.
In preparation, Barletta announces the venue Skybox on Austin’s famous 6th Street has been reserved for the occasion. A venue with a capacity over 400, open spaces for networking, lounges for companies looking to entertain guests, and both food and drink throughout the day. A quote from Barletta:
“And here’s the kicker: there are no Podcast Movement ticket requirements to join us. While this is an official SXSW partner event, we’re opening registration to everyone—SXSW badge holders and non-badge holders alike. We’re asking everyone to pre-register so we can manage capacity and keep you updated, but registration is free and there’s no cost to attend.
No Podcast Movement ticket. No SXSW badge requirement. This is an official SXSW partner event, fully listed in their schedule, but we’re opening the doors with capacity as the only limitation (which is why we are asking for pre-registration, as you’ll see below).
Choosing to forgo ticket sales and our own fully hosted event was not an easy decision, but it was absolutely the right decision with our goal of making it possible for podcasting to continue to show up in a way that can’t be ignored.”
SXSW badge holders get priority access, but the broader podcasting community are welcome as long as space allows. To that note: to allow the best possible experience at the event, Sounds Profitable and Podcast Movement ask everyone intending on attending to pre-register here. The free registration will facilitate direct communication about speakers, scheduling, and updates. In addition, it’ll help with managing the venue capacity responsibly and give the planners an indication of what’s coming so the event can be arranged accordingly.
In addition, the full-hour SXSW podcast-focused sessions will kick off with a ten minute presentation slot, which will be open for anyone to submit to. Registration signups for the ten minute presentations will be made available in the coming weeks. Presenters will pitch their ideas to be voted on by industry peers. Barletta says the team is working to establish an honorarium for the speakers as a thank-you for supporting something new.
Also starting with the 2026 SXSW event, Podcast Movement will be both following SXSW’s diversity guidelines and implementing similar guidelines for standalone Podcast Movement events going forward. Panels will be capped at four people (including moderators), and the same person will not speak more than once at a given event.
Accessibility is a watchword for SXSW, as attendees have dozens of potential events from all forms of media to attend at any given time. Uplifting the industry is paramount to Sounds Profitable, and always has been. In the spirit of that, Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW is planning on taking advantage of the physical space to highlight independent podcasters live at the event.
Netflix Video Podcasting Aims To Start Strong
Last week we covered several instances of companies being approached by Netflix for video podcast licensing deals that would make full episodes of signed shows exclusive to the platform. Ashley Carman in her Soundbite newsletter added some further context from sources familiar with the matter. According to her sources, the deals are experimental in nature at one year in length, and are relatively low in money offered. Some of the larger shows in the conversation likely even make more on their own in the open web than the exclusivity contract offers. Also, the streamer has been directly contacting content creators to commission net(flix)-new podcasts.
Then later in the week Lucia Moses, writing for Business Insider, brought even more behind-the-scenes details to Netflix’s podcast shopping spree. Reportedly the deal-makers have made it clear that Netflix is aiming to have 50 to 70 podcasts on the platform when they launch early next year, with a potential upper ceiling of growing to 200 over time.
The Podcast Host has published the results of their Indiepod survey, built from the responses of 558 independent creators with the goal of understanding the current state of independent podcast production. 25% of respondents have been podcasting for less than a year, with 1-3 years’ experience and not-yet-launched tying for second place with 19% and 3-5 years scoring 15%. Excluding pre-launch respondents, the top three biggest challenges for surveyed podcasters are audience engagement (32%), making money (39%), then growing and audience/discoverability (72%).
85% of respondents say their podcast is not making money. Though, as the report notes, elsewhere in the survey only 9% identified revenue and profitability as a primary measure of success. Profitability didn’t crack the top three of the “ultimate goal for your podcast” section, either. As a result, the low number of profitable podcasts might be a result of the majority of podcasters surveyed not specifically prioritizing monetization.
Google’s AI Becomes YouTube’s Main Door by Laurie Sullivan
McKinsey & Company research estimates AI-powered search will impact $750 billion in revenue by 2028, with half of consumers already using AI search in some capacity (e.g. Google). As is expected, around the holiday season more ecommerce searches hit the internet, but brands are not necessarily guaranteed to pop up in AI-generated search results. While traditional searches focused on own-site content, in a lot of instances AI searches only source a brand site directly in 5 to 10% of searches.
Which LLMs and why they do that varies depending on which company and which way the virtual wind is blowing a certain day, as the models are changing rapidly. That said, YouTube dominates Google as the top-cited source for ecommerce AI Overview results. 6.9% of ecommerce AI Overview citations, almost three times the norm of any other non-brand domain according to BrightEdge.
Video podcasting on YouTube, in addition to the benefits of just being on YouTube in general, might also be a good play for brands and B2B ventures looking to catch the eye of AI search engines.
A new report from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative finds that of the top 100 podcasts in 2024, hosts were overwhelmingly white and male (64% and 77% respectively). Stats that don’t change much when the study broadened its scope to the top 592 podcasts (using both Spotify and Edison Research charts).
A gap that could be impacting incoming audiences. In part one of The Podcast Landscape 2025, 48% of respondents who had ever listened to podcasts were women, while 59% of the “never listened to podcast” group were women. Total monthly podcast listening is actually brought down on average by white respondents, who scored 52% while Hispanic, Asian, and Black respondents scored at least 62%. Looping back to the USC study, Dr. Smith argues podcasting’s inherent pitch as a medium is its democratic nature. Anyone with a mic can make a podcast, theoretically.
As the format matures into mainstream acceptance, the opportunity to embrace the voices behind those microphones, ensuring they are as diverse as the audience consuming their podcasts, presents itself.
As for the rest of the news…
- Through integrations with Shopify S2S, Ibotta, and credit card transaction data, Podscribe can now link audio ad exposure to verified in-store conversions.
- Podcast Marketing Academy and Lower Street have partnered to publish a report built from a survey of 308 podcasters. From the detailed data shared by respondents, such as audio downloads, YouTube videos, and consumption metrics, the report assigns return on investment (ROI) to both video and audio podcasting in terms of audience attention.
- iHeartMedia has partnered with TikTok to launch the TikTok Podcast Network, producing video podcasts co-branded with TikTok and hosted by TikTok influencers. The podcasts will be distributed by iHeartPodcasts and broadcast on iHeartRadio.
- Magellan AI is back with another of their industry case study reports. This time around the case study of a company using Magellan AI’s tools is full-service podcast firm The Podglomerate, who needed a consistent and transparent way to measure paid advertising, cross-promo, DAI, and baked-in placements.
- Spotify and the NMPA have launched a portal for independent publishers and songwriters to sign a direct licensing agreement giving Spotify audiovisual rights in the U.S. in exchange for higher royalties.
