Libsyn Announces Spotify Video Distribution
As of this morning, all Libsyn hosting plans have video functionality. Users can manually submit Libsyn-hosted MP4 files to Spotify. Video distribution directly into Spotify, enabled by the Spotify Distribution API, starts at $25/month. For more on Libsyn’s future plans, President and CEO Brendan Monaghan is interviewed on the latest episode of The New Media Show.
JoneKiri x Hanging with Dr. Z
Next week things will get hairy at Netflix is a Joke Fest. The third annual comedy festival will feature a live performance of Hanging with Doctor Z, where comedian Dana Gould hosts in character as Doctor Z — a satirical Planet of the Apes Dr. Zaius, complete with full-face makeup prosthetic. The premise has evolved from a 2021 pandemic project into a full live show at one of the country’s top comedy festivals. For the Netflix is a Joke Fest performance, marketing firm JoneKiri is operating as exclusive representation for Hanging with Doctor Z, offering brands the ability to get in on the action. Offers range from organic product placement in the live performance to title and full season four sponsorship.
Introducing a network built on connection, not attention by Drew Rowny
Patreon has overhauled its home feed to foster connection-building discovery. Supported creators’ content tops the feed, which also surfaces free posts, Quips (Patreon’s new short-form posts), and recommended creators from outside the user’s follows. Like YouTube, Patreon also offers collaboration posts that allow a post to be “from” two creators at the same time, overlapping both audiences instead of requiring content be duplicated across accounts. Patreon VP of Product Drew Rowny says creator engagement—via formal collabs or cross-post comments — boosts fan engagement more than five times over baseline.
Bauer Media and Elevate Consultancy have published Sound Check Europe 2026, surveying over 1,000 senior agency and advertiser decision-makers across nine markets. 86% of respondents now consider audio a core part of their media strategy as budgets shift towards channels that can deliver trust, attention, and measurable impact. 70% of European respondents find digital audio to be brand-safe. 82% believe podcasts reach highly engaged audiences, and 47% plan to increase podcast investment.
iHeartMedia, Omnicom Study Shows Audio’s ‘Multiplier Effect’ Across Media Channels
Inside Audio Marketing covers Turning Volume into Value: What New Audio Innovations Mean for Advertisers, a new study built from more than 3,500 U.S. adults who listen to audio content weekly. The study finds audio advertising lifts core brand metrics: +22 points in unaided ad recall among in-market consumers, +5 in favorability, +6 in search intent, and +5 in purchase intent. Long-form host-read ads further amplify the effects of audio advertising, with the report finding they deliver up to twice the recall of shorter ads and double near-term purchase likelihood.
As for the rest of the news…
- Podcast hosting platform Castos has launched Castos Campaigns, a new feature that adds the ability to run pre-roll and post-roll ads on podcast episodes.
- Nielsen has named measurement expert Julie DeTraglia its new Head of Content and Strategic Insights.
- José Roman, Lead Editor at The Podglomerate, has a piece breaking down research methods and strategies to boost SEO for video podcasts on YouTube.
- Net Influencer has a new piece interviewing Sounds Profitable Partner and Podcast Movement President Bryan Barletta about the two companies’ merger and where they go next.
- American Public Media’s mental health series Call to Mind is publishing five new special reports for Mental Health Awareness Month in May.
- Yesterday’s issue of the Scalable newsletter looks at the trend of YouTubers producing movies for release in theaters, and how in some ways it’s easier to distribute to physical theaters than it is to digitally distribute to YouTube.
- Resonate Podcast Festival has announced its first-ever African edition in the form of RESONATE Podcast Festival Cape Town, set for February 19-20, 2027.
