Political Podcasting Survey, Spotify’s Education Experiment, & More

Sounds Profitable at Evolutions by Podcast Movement

Tomorrow the Evolutions by Podcast Movement conference kicks off in the J.W. Marriott at LA Live in sunny Los Angeles. The Sounds Profitable Partner Lounge returns once more, powered by Claritas. In addition to its function as a private space for Sounds Profitable partner networking, the lounge will be hosting two panels open to all attendees: Podcasting in Full Spectrum Marketing: How the Industry Can Make its Place at the Table at 12:30 on Wednesday, and A View from her: Women Leaders in Podcasting and Tech at 11:45 on Thursday.

Survey Finds Some Podcasts Are Ready-Made For Election Year Listeners

A recent survey by Podcastle interviewed 1,000 respondents representing the general U.S. population, specifically asking questions regarding how they consume, engage with, and share political media during the 2024 election season. Open text responses were then analyzed using AI-powered tools to identify common themes. 57% of respondents say they’re engaging with political news as much as they were in the last election, while 28% say they’re engaging with political news and podcasts less than 2020. [Source]

Political ad spend is nearly triple what it was in 2016 by Sara Lebow

According to eMarketer’s forecast from December of 2023, U.S. political ad spend is projected to hit just over $12 billion over the 2024 electoral season, almost three times the 4.24 billion spent in 2016. Save for a spike in 2020’s election cycle spending, the data shows a steady increase in U.S. political ad spend. One proposed side effect of this is rising prices, as the seasonal political ad spend takes up inventory space, potentially leading to heightened bidding for what’s left. The world of podcast advertising has grown exponentially since the 2016 election season, and podcasting is well-equipped to get a piece of the 2024 political spend bump. [Source]

Spotify Tests Video-Based Learning Courses in the UK

Starting today, Spotify users in the U.K. have a new section amongst music, podcasts, and audiobooks: video courses. The new addition is the result of a partnership with education tech companies like Skillshare, Thinkific, and BBC Maestro. Spotify says the experiment is motivated by data showing about half of Spotify’s Premium subscribers have engaged with educational or self-help podcasts. Research that pairs with larger studies podcast listeners, as “education” or self-help tends to trend high in reasons why survey respondents listen to podcasts. During this test period, both free and premium Spotify users in the U.K. can access at least two lessons per video course before deciding on purchasing more lessons from a dedicated webpage. [Source]

…as for the rest of the news: