Hey podheads, hereâs this weeks roundup.
Sweet freedom
Last week, the US Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction of Curtis Flowers, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 4 people in 1996. In the Dark, the critically acclaimed podcast from American Public Media covered the case in its second season. The investigation by the podcast found widespread racial discrimination in the Jury selection process by Doug Evans, the Mississippi prosecutor.
American Public Media found as part of the podcast investigation that Evansâs office has long exhibited discriminatory practices. In 225 trials between 1992 and 2017, 50 percent of eligible black jurors were excluded while just 11 percent of eligible white jurors met the same fate. - Vox
The evidence uncovered by the podcast played a key role in the case being tossed out.
This isnât the first time podcasts have served as a force for good. The hit podcast Teacherâs pet played a role in the arrest of Chris Dawson.
The Newport Beach Police Department had launched a podcast in the hopes of capturing the fugitive, Chris Dawson.
On a side note, In The Dark had also successfully leveraged Facebook Groups to raise money for the investigation. It had created a Facebook group with a minimum donation of $50.
With Pride
Pocket Casts published a Q&A with some incredible LGBTQ voices in the podcast industry to celebrate the LGBTQÂ Pride month.
Vox published a Q&A with Ben Miller and Huw Lemmey, creators of Bad Gays, a podcast about âevil and complicated gay men in history.â
Branded podcasts watch
Suddenly I seem to be writing a lot about branded podcasts. Current bank, a couple of weeks ago launched Terms and Conditions podcast as a weirdly unique marketing exercise. In each episode a host just reads out the terms and conditions of competitors, thatâs it, nothing else. So far, there seems to be very little chatter on this. But I think this is really interesting.
Cosmopolitan and Tinder launched a new podcast called âSingle, Swipe, Repeatâ. Hereâs an interesting excerpt from this Digiday piece:
Cosmopolitan was paid a flat fee to produce the show. While the publisher declined to comment on price, the going rate for a branded podcast typically begins in the high six-figure range, with more sophisticated productions costing over $1 million.
Moving forward, Cosmopolitan hopes âSingle, Swipe, Repeat,â along with the strong digital reach itâs built â the title claims to reach 78 million millennials across platforms â puts them in position to make more of them, in-house; Cosmo hired an outside production company to make this one.
Tinder, however already had its own podcast "DTR - The Official Tinder Podcast".
In the previous issues, I had covered Mailchimpâs content ambitions and how the big bad banks have taken a shine to podcasting.
Spotify watch
Presidential!
Spotify recently signed a partnership with Higher Ground, the production company started by the Obamas. Hereâs Dawn Ostroff, Chief Content Officer of Spotify on the partnership, speaking at Cannes:
We have expertise, having bought Gimlet, having our own podcast team, weâre just trying to advise them at the start to help them hire their Higher Ground team,
It will now be a calling card that says what kind of content weâre going to make, this is the level and quality of content weâre going to make,â said Ostroff. âI think youâre going to see a lot more announcements after this, because weâve been working hard on not only finding projects that will resonate, but itâs amazing to see the level of talent looking to work in this space. Writers, actors, directorsâpeople are fascinated by podcasts. - FastCompany
Wall Street chatter
Michael Morris of Guggenheim Partners in a research note is bullish on Spotifyâs podcasting fortunes. Stock is up 29% this year.
Hereâs another note by Matthew Griffith of D.A. Davidson & Co. There is plenty of analysis, but this slide kinda sums it all up:
Podfading!
Interesting take by Tom Webster in response to an article on podfading by Steven Goldstein. Hereâs an excerpt from the analysis by Steven Goldstein
Of all of the podcasts tracked by Blubrry, just under 280,000 of the 706,000 have produced a new episode in the one-year period of April 2018, to April 2019.  That means only 39% of all podcasts were in production in the past year.  Or to look at it through a different lens, more podcasts (60%) are out of production than in.
Gimme my money back
Spotify apparently overpaid songwriters would like its money back.
Moolah watch
Wondery raised $10 million in a series B round led by Waverley Capital. Lerer Hippeau, Greycroft, BDMI, Advancit and Water Tower Ventures, as well as Powerhouse Ventures, also joined the round.
Bytes
In the UK, podcast measurement challenges stall advertiser investment - Lucinda Southern/Digiday
With brand dollars pooling in, podcasters are trying to figure out attribution - Max Willens/Digiday
Another big money is ruing podcasting piece. Big Money Is Pouring Into Podcasting. Some Podcasters Love It â But Others Are Freaked Out - Time
Hereâs The Spring 2019 Smart Audio Report by NPR and Edison. No mention of podcasting in the report though.
Voices from India
Voices from India s back after a long hiatus. Hereâs issue #2.
Do gives us a shoutout if you enjoyed reading the round-up.