Uncategorized

Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
Maximize your SEO efforts in 2024 with insights on Google’s SGE, algorithm updates, and expert tips to keep your site ahead.
Download this guide and learn how to optimize and manage Google Performance Max campaigns, with expert insights and actionable strategies to ensure your campaigns are effective.
Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
Join us as we dive into exclusive survey data from industry-leading SEOs, digital marketers, content marketers, and more to highlight the top priorities and challenges that will shape the future of search in 2025.
Google Podcasts is making it possible to search for episodes based on what was discussed in a show.
According to Android Police, Google Podcasts is automatically transcribing dialogue and using it as metadata.
So users can search for specific episodes even if they can’t remember the name of the podcast.
Android Police discovered that transcripts are being logged in the page source of episode web pages on the Google Podcasts web portal.
It has been confirmed you can search for text in the transcript using the Google Podcasts app and find the right episode.
Transcripts cover the entire show, however, they’re not perfect. Since they’re automatically generated there are bound to be some mistakes.
For example, the name “Corbin Davenport” was transcribed as “Corbin dabbing port.”
Android Police also notes that transcripts are not being generated for all episodes. Although when they are generated it greatly improves the discoverability of the episode.
Last August, we reported on an interview Zach Reneau-Wedeen of Google’s podcast team in which he announced plans to make audio content more searchable.
It would appear we’re now seeing the first signs of Google’s plan coming to light.
This has the potential to help more podcasts get found by new listeners. It can also help podcasts get found by lapsed listeners.
If a former listener remembers a line of dialogue but doesn’t remember what podcast it was from, they may be able to find the exact episode thanks to these transcripts.
There’s much Google could do with podcasts transcripts in the future, such as publishing them on the web and making them even more searchable.
Matt G. Southern, Senior News Writer, has been with Search Engine Journal since 2013. With a bachelor’s degree in communications, …
Conquer your day with daily search marketing news.
Join Our Newsletter.
Get your daily dose of search know-how.
In a world ruled by algorithms, SEJ brings timely, relevant information for SEOs, marketers, and entrepreneurs to optimize and grow their businesses — and careers.
Copyright © 2024 Search Engine Journal. All rights reserved. Published by Alpha Brand Media.

source

Park Seo Jun on self-care, friendships and well-being burnout  Tatler Hong Kong
source

If there is anything the last 15 years has taught Seo In Guk, it is that the actor, singer — and recently — director should not be afraid of taking charge about the narratives that surround his life. Speaking with Men’s Folio, Seo In Guk shares how he has moved away from seeking perfection, and that the best kinds of gestures come from none other than yourself.

Seo In Guk wears a sweater and pants from ZEGNA, and the 142 mini bag with M LOCK 4810 buckle from Montblanc on the cover. 
There is a chance that anyone who is into K-dramas has some Seo In Guk-related memory. Perhaps you faintly recall knowing him as the love interest in Reply 1997 or as Prince Gwanghae in The King’s Face. Maybe his role as a timid rich heir in Shopaholic Louis stuck with you through the years. Even if you had only just been antiquated with K-dramas, it is still likely you might find him familiar as the main lead in Death’s Game, which stars Seo alongside Parasite’s Park So Dam. Maybe it was his music that you had listened to before. Those who can recall a time that predated streaming services may also collectively remember him from his win in the first season of Superstar K, a talent competition that ultimately changed his life. Even if you are not a super fan or even a fan at all, there is no escaping Seo’s presence in South Korea’s entertainment scene. But having spent the last decade and a half playing all sorts of roles, Seo is only getting started on his most pivotal one yet — as himself.
There is no shortage of vlogs on YouTube from the 37-year-old actor, singer and, recently, director. One of them, a day in his life, is as real as real gets. While others would opt only to have the cameras rolling after some form of “getting ready”, Seo starts it in bed, still undressed, bed head visible, and eyes still red from last night’s rest. At one point, he even shared statistics from his phone’s health monitoring app, which gave him a score of less than 40% on his overall well-being. Having had an illustrious career in the spotlight, you might assume that oversharing would be an artiste’s biggest concern. Short of that, though, is that this comes from someone who revealed his humble beginnings on national TV, where money was always an issue in his childhood, having won the hearts of South Koreans in Superstar K.

Cardigan, sweater, shirt, pants, all Hermès

But the vlogs that detail his life, which have been regularly posted since 2023, are part of Seo’s way of taking back control, something he lost as he reached the peak of his career. Thus, for the first time since altering his fate when he was just 22 years old, he believes he is finally ready to take charge of the narratives surrounding his life, thus eliminating the ones formed through the perspective of others. “I used to think I had to be perfect,” he shares. “Whether it be a character in a project or my vocal and musical abilities as a singer, I always had this belief that I had to be somewhat flawless in front of the camera at all times. This really troubled me, and even so, I often felt disappointed with the results.”
Perhaps 15 years of being on the scene can change your perspective. In recent years, Seo has veered his efforts towards producing his projects, including directing his short films. One of them, titled TRAP, sets itself around the premise of a troubled artist struggling to reveal his innermost imagination — one that is drawn from his very own experiences. It went on to win the Global Spotlight Award at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia. “I’ve realised that letting go of that pressure and simply showing my true self works best for me,” he adds. “I feel fortunate to have quickly moved away from seeking perfection for the sake of others’ opinions. This has given me the strength to present my most authentic self.” Clearly, there is so much more to his story.

Sweater, jacket, pants, all Fendi
Let’s start from the very beginning. What made you join Superstar K while in your early twenties?
I joined the competition in my twenties. I’ve dreamt of being a singer since I was young and participated in many auditions. Then, I heard about a large-scale audition happening in our country, and with my cousin’s encouragement, I decided to give it a shot. Thankfully, I ended up winning!
How did winning the competition changed your life?
My life completely changed. Before Superstar K, I was just an aspiring singer. After winning, so many people started to support and recognise me, allowing me to debut as a singer. It really feels like my life has completely transformed.
Was it hard to depart from being a singer to working as an actor? 
At that time, I think I was very desperate. I had debuted as a singer, but due to various circumstances, the opportunities to perform on stage were quite limited. Then, an opportunity to act came along. Initially, the role wasn’t significant or impactful, but I thought to myself that I really wanted to do this, even if it was just a small part. Fortunately, the character was a singer, so the director decided to hold auditions specifically for candidates with a singing background. I was lucky, and thanks to the director’s support, I was able to start my acting career.

Shirt, pants, all Givenchy; Extreme 3.0 Compact envelope bag with M LOCK 4810 buckle, Montblanc

We read in previous news articles about your relatively normal upbringing. Do you think having a childhood that was indifferent to most Korean teens affected how you approached being a singer and, eventually, an actor too?
I believe that the influences on me aren’t necessarily related to my profession. Rather, it’s my life environment, how I interact with the people around me, and how much joy I can find in my work that has contributed to my growth the most. I often say that I’m fortunate to have great people in my life. I’m really grateful and feel so lucky to have met so many good people around me. Whether it’s in work or outside of work, just in my life in general, I feel thankful for these people.

Reply 1997 was when you had your breakthrough in acting. What was your reaction when the show reached critical acclaim in the local entertainment scene?
I was incredibly happy. At that time, I had just been cast as the lead in my first role as an actor. Many people around me, including myself, doubted whether I could handle a lead role. This was largely because many viewers couldn’t envision me as an actor after appearing on the audition program. Plus, my previous role had been more of a comedic character, someone playful and light-hearted. Transitioning to such a serious and significant role in the next project raised many concerns. Fortunately, the director guided me well, which contributed to the positive outcome. I felt really proud, which was also a turning point in my life.

Sweater, pants, all ZEGNA; 142 mini bag with M LOCK 4810 buckle, Montblanc
What character archetype have you not tried yet that you wish you could? 
I’ve been acting for over ten years now, but I still feel that I lack experience compared to other seniors. However, I believe there are countless characters and expressions I can (still) explore. I’m quite ambitious, so even though I’ve played a villain, I don’t want to stop at just one type of villain. I want to explore different types of villains and characters who show pure love or express deep, heartbreaking love in a different way. If I had to choose a specific category, I think I haven’t yet played a character who uses superpowers. For example, my character in Doom at Your Service was somewhat of a supernatural being. While that character had abilities, I haven’t played a normal human who drives a story with superpowers or any abilities. I often find myself pondering that I’d like to try a character like that at least once.
What were some choices that changed your life? 
There are definitely things that many people can relate to. So first, there was Superstar K and Reply 1997, and some other projects after that. I mean, I did choose to do them, but honestly, it wasn’t like I could predict how things would turn out. I had a lot of worries like, “What if it doesn’t work out?” Thankfully, many people have shown love for the choices I made. I wouldn’t say I’m perfectly satisfied with everything, you know? But people ended up liking my work way more than I expected. That gave me confidence in my choices in acting and music, and it’s honestly what keeps me going.

T-shirt, Dior Men; Pants, Stylist’s own
Then, what were some choices that you were glad you made?
Oh, too many. I mean, definitely Superstar K and Reply 1997. Also, before that, every project and album after Love Rain. But, as I said, not every album or project was a hit. Someone once asked me, “How does everything you do succeed?” And I just told them, “Well, there are things that didn’t work out; maybe you just didn’t hear about them!” Still, I think the reason I can keep working hard and making choices is because so many people love my work. That’s why I’m always careful with each decision. Even if the results don’t always satisfy me, whether it’s ratings, audience response, or my feelings, seeing the people who really loved the work makes me think, “Okay, I’ve made the right choice.”
What keeps you in character, especially scenes that are uncomfortable to experience?
I don’t think there’s a specific method. I keep thinking about the scene and try staying in that emotional space. If I have a scene where I need to cry a lot, I probably handle it similarly to everyone else by focusing on the emotions I need to evoke. Some actors even start preparing days ahead. I don’t go that far, but on the day of the shoot, I continuously think about the scene and work on controlling my emotions.

Shirt, polo t-shirt, jeans, boots, all Balenciaga
Do you think you’re an emotional person?
I’m both a very emotional and very rational person. I have both sides. Sometimes, I handle things really rationally, and other times, I approach them emotionally. It varies. But seeing the people around me stick by my side makes me think that maybe it’s not such a bad thing after all.

Jacket, shirt, all Balenciaga
Has any of your characters changed the way you lived? For examples, did part of them become a part of you? 
Not really. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about that. However, I find that when I portray a character, especially during shoots that last about 6 to 9 months, I spend more time in that character than myself. Aside from sleeping, I immerse myself in their mannerisms, habits, and gestures, and those habits tend to stick with me for quite a while. But it doesn’t really influence my personality. While playing a challenging character can be difficult at times, it doesn’t change my core personality. I feel I’m still learning how to navigate social situations. Being part of a drama cast helps me develop my social skills, and I learn from different environments. I am gradually growing as Seo In Guk.

T-shirt, sweater, all Diesel
Who has given you the best advice in life?
When I heard the question, the first person that came to mind was senior Sung Dong-il. This is a story that really needs to be listened to carefully. When I worked on Reply 1997, he told me, “In Guk, make a lot of money, but do it through acting.”
At first glance, it sounds like, “Oh, I want to make a lot of money, sure.” But what he meant was that if you want to earn money as an actor or singer in this industry, there are many things you need to pay attention to. Being good at what you do doesn’t guarantee success, and simply being a nice person doesn’t mean you’ll get by. You really need to have everything in place to succeed, which means putting in a lot of effort. That conversation has stuck with me for over ten years.
Recently, I met senior Sung Dong-il again, and he asked me if I remembered that conversation. I told him I definitely do. So, I’m working even harder and trying to improve. Everyone works hard, but it’s about doing it well. I told him, “Yes, I’ll make sure to do it well.” His words carry a lot of weight for me. It’s not just a light comment about making money; it’s about how much I need to refine myself to achieve that goal.
Photography Chae Dae Han
Creative Direction & Styling Izwan Abdullah
Interview & Fashion Coordination Manfred Lu
Grooming Seung Mi Hyun
Hair Byun Ji Hyun
Set Design Jason Woo
On Set Stylists Yun Dae Hee, Lee Hye Jin
Photography Assistants Chung Se Bin, Yim Sang Min, Lee Hong Seok
Styling Assistant Kelly Hsu
Production Oh Seo Yul | SY Production
Once you are done with this story, click here to catch up with our November 2024 issue.

source

Podcasts have experienced tremendous growth in the digital landscape, becoming an increasingly vital marketing tool due to their rising listenership and audience engagement. An understanding and strategic implementation of SEO can significantly enhance your podcast’s visibility, making it more accessible to potential listeners and helping it stand out in a crowded market.
Podcast SEO refers to the optimization of your podcast and its episodes for search engines to increase visibility and accessibility. This process involves optimizing podcast titles, descriptions, and metadata and strategically leveraging keywords that potential listeners are actively searching for. Effective Podcast SEO can transform your podcast from just another series in the vast sea of available content to a standout feature that captures and retains audience attention.
By using the targeted podcast SEO best practices below, you can significantly increase your podcast’s performance:
Optimizing your podcast starts with the fundamentals: selecting a name and episode titles that resonate with both your content and the potential search terms your audience might use. Here’s how to integrate keywords effectively:
Having a dedicated website or a specific landing page for your podcast serves as the central location for all your episodes, providing essential information and engaging content to your audience. This digital home base for your podcast should complement your presence on popular podcast platforms, maximizing reach and discoverability among potential listeners.
With this digital foundation in place, you can leverage advanced analytics tools to further understand and expand your audience. Having your own podcast website enables the use of comprehensive analytics to gain deep insights into listener behavior, episode popularity, and demographic trends. These metrics are crucial for effectively tailoring your content and marketing strategies:
Podcasts are evolving from purely audio experiences into rich multimedia platforms. An October 2023 study by Cumulus and Signal Hill revealed that 28 percent of weekly podcast listeners now prefer YouTube for podcast consumption, surpassing the combined totals of Spotify (15 percent) and Apple Podcasts (12 percent). This marks a shift from October 2022, when YouTube and Spotify were tied as the most preferred platforms. A 2023 Gen-Z Podcast Listener Report from Edison Research found that “84% of Gen Z monthly podcast listeners listen to or watch podcasts with a video component.” This trend highlights how podcasts are evolving to meet the demands of younger audiences, making video and multimedia integration increasingly essential for capturing their interest.

Incorporating video and interactive transcripts can also provide substantial SEO benefits. Filming podcasts for YouTube and similar video platforms engages a broader audience, helping increase your listener base and diversify ad revenue. To maximize visibility on these platforms, optimize your videos with targeted keywords and strategies to enhance searchability.
As the podcast landscape continues to evolve, mastering effective SEO strategies and embracing multimedia content are essential for capturing and maintaining listener interest. By implementing these best practices today, your podcast will stay relevant and excel in the competitive digital media environment.
Get the latest on the world of digital marketing right to your inbox.

Let’s Work Together
Copyright © JumpFly, Inc., All Rights Reserved
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Top ▲
Get Our Marketing Insights Right To Your Inbox

Get Our Marketing Insights Right To Your Inbox

Fields containing a star (*) are required
Content from Calendly will be embedded here

source

Welcome to Hot Pod, a newsletter about podcasts. This is issue 209, published May 14, 2019.
The state of play, mid-2019. Last week, a good portion of the podcast community got glimmers of something they’ve long wanted: seemingly structural-level solutions to discovery, one in the form of playable Google search listings and one in the form of an upcoming Spotify app redesign. But you don’t get without giving, and some would argue these solutions entail the ceding of more power to the rising layer of active platformization — which brings a ton of theoretical changes to the relationship between publishers and audiences.
But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves — first, the details.
At Google’s I/O developer conference on Tuesday, the company made a quick mention that Google Search would soon begin indexing podcasts such that playable episodes would appear as actionable entries within relevant search results. “Soon” turned out to be an understatement; the feature went live for both desktop and the mobile web by Thursday.
Here’s what it looks like:

As you can see, the execution is a little awkward, particularly when it comes to the fact that the episode players are often (though not always) appended to the Apple Podcasts listing entry in the search results. This arrangement provokes direct competition right off the bat. After all, if I searched, say, The Longest Shortest Time after learning about the show for the first time, I’d immediately find myself at a portentous fork: either click through to the Apple Podcasts platform and begin building my listening relationship there, or click an episode play button and get routed to the Google Podcast platform and begin building my listening relationship there. If I were the Apple Podcasts team, I don’t imagine being too psyched about this.

For what it’s worth, I’m still hesitant to invoke the “platform war” framework at this juncture, and that’s mostly because I think the Apple-Podcasts-link-appending business feels possibly unintentional on Google’s part; my sense is that the in-search Google Podcasts feature generally seeks to attach itself to the most relevant response, and it happens to be the case that Apple Podcast listings tend to be the most relevant response to podcast-related queries. For this to be a “podcast platform war,” I think, there should be overt intentionality. Then again…I don’t fault doomsday preppers for building underground shelters.
Anyway, the introduction of this feature also yields other potential complexities, mostly associated with the everyday doldrums of SEO management. In particular, this is probably going to change how people think about naming their shows, as they now operate within a universe that contains a powerful search engine with robust rules.
Meanwhile, also on Thursday, Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw reported that Spotify is in the midst of testing a new, redesigned version of its app that’s meant to position podcasts on equal footing with music within the experience of its platform. (To make podcasts “first-class citizens” on the app, one could say.) Here’s the key quote from the writeup, courtesy of Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy: “We want you to get there in two clicks versus seven.”
This is, of course, a gambit to more consciously drive existing Spotify users towards its non-music assets as the company works to transition from a streaming music service to an all-consuming audio platform. This is probably going to be a tough process, as it requires some balance in maintaining the music-centric UX that brought its user base onto the platform in the first place while pointedly introducing the new podcast-centric stuff to encourage the necessary identity shift. All this Indiana Jonesing depends on the company’s assessment of the users’ relationship with the platform, plus their secondary assessment of the tradeoffs they feel they can make and ones they feel they can’t.
Again, the overhauled app still appears to be in its testing phase, and the article made no mention of a concrete rollout timeline. I’ll let you know when the redesign pops up on mine, and it probably won’t slip by me; over the past year or so, Spotify has become one of my primary listening points, mostly because it fits well with my data plan when I need to stream.
Now, I don’t believe in making ~thought leadery~ predictions one way or another about whether either of these things will really move the listening needle. They might, they might not. We’ll find out. But if there’s one thing I definitely believe about what we’re seeing here, it’s that we’re looking at the culmination of two long multi-sided processes — we’re a long way past an Apple-centered environment.
Quick history rundown: The Spotify redesign hubbub caps off an exceptionally busy few months in the platform’s aggressive effort to plant its flag in the podcast business. These efforts chiefly took the form of three podcast acquisitions since February — Gimlet Media for $230 million, Anchor for $110 million, and Parcast for $56 million — that were fully couched in the Swedish company’s commitment to an idea of itself that goes far beyond music assets.
But the acquisitions and redesign should be situated within a broader timeline of tinkering. Remember that the most recent iteration of Spotify’s podcasting adventures largely took the form of intellectual property acquisitions, where the company sought to sign exclusive deals with talent like Joe Budden, Jemele Hill, and Amy Schumer as well as bringing in the previously independent music podcast Dissect. Also recall the iteration before that, which mostly revolved around ideas of windowing and exclusive content partnerships, as with the case of pre-acquisition Gimlet Media’s Mogul and the second season of Crimetown. All that, of course, was predated by Spotify’s very first attempt to dip its toes in the space, back in 2015, with a small, controlled distribution play that saw the platform serving up podcasts only from a select group of partners. (The company has since opened distribution to all.)
Spotify’s podcasting adventures can possibly be interpreted as a series of fits and starts, but it’s also a process of testing and discovery. In the near future, we’ll likely be treated to a scenario in which the company ends up pulling together all those learned components — the talent deals, the windowing, the content partnerships, the distribution — into a multi-sided operation that resists simple “X move causes Y outcome” analysis. Any single effort isn’t the point; the increasingly active process is the thing more worth the attention.
So it goes with Google. The search giant’s modern podcast efforts can be traced back to 2015, around the same time Spotify first began playing with podcast distribution. Back then, the Google podcast experiment was largely funneled through its Google Play service, built off the bones of Songza. That experiment didn’t seem to ultimately amount to very much, but the conversation around it did surface a bunch of new ideas. What followed after were more seeming fits and starts, including the acquisition of the short-form audio app 60dB in 2017 — maybe for Google News? maybe for smart speakers? — and some minor adventures in original programming like City Soundtracks.
Fits, starts, and then crescendo: Last week’s in-search episode discovery feature rollout is the culmination of two signals from last year. The first took place last April, when the company announced its intention to “make audio a first-class citizen” within its search universe. The second took place a few months after that, when it started rolling out the Google Podcasts app, which is meant to do for Android what iTunes/Apple Podcasts did for Mac/iOS. Some were quick to call the app a failure, and though, sure, there were technical hiccups here and there, we can now see that the app itself is just a piece of a larger multi-sided thing. What sounded like a series of separate beats now feels, in fact, like the start of a drumroll.
Again, maybe last week’s developments from Spotify and Google will be the definitive trigger for fundamental podcast distribution shifts. Maybe, maybe not — we’ll see. But they are part of a longer, increasingly concerted process that’s pushing in that direction — so we should begin anticipating the world that comes after that. How should a dominant Spotify and/or Google impact the way we think about podcast distribution?
Obviously, I have no idea. I’m just a pundit. But here’s what I’m thinking:
Questions, questions, questions. Mmm, yes, punditing.
Meanwhile…From BuzzFeed News: “Supreme Court Says Consumers Can Sue Apple For Allegedly Monopolizing The App Store.”
Anyway, let’s stay on Spotify for a bit longer…

It’s a (Sound)trap! [by Caroline Crampton]. Soundtrap, a Swedish online music collaboration startup acquired by Spotify in December 2017, is launching a tool today aimed at podcasters called Soundtrap for Storytellers. The software itself includes a remote, multitrack interviewing system, interactive transcripts and text-to-audio editing, and access to a sound effects library. Each of those products already exist in all sorts of forms, but Soundtrap is betting on the attraction of uniting these different aspects of podcast production in a single place and, since they’re operating on a freemium model, under a single $14.99 monthly subscription. (That is of course separate from a Spotify Premium subscription, because listeners and creators are two different monetizable buckets, I suppose.)
I spoke to Per Emanuelsson, Soundtrap’s co-founder and CEO, to learn more about this expansion into spoken-word audio after years focusing on music. (Soundtrap also has an educational version of its music tool aimed at schools.)
The intention, Emanuelsson said, was to create “a full production environment where you can do professional-sounding podcasts, collaboratively done on the web.” He’s confident that they will get people switching from their separate solutions for remote interviewing, transcription, and so on to the combined service. “We’re catering to the semi-professionals, I would say, who would like to have something that’s simple to use in a browser that doesn’t require a big hardware investment.”
(Sidenote: How sought-after a feature is the kind of text-to-audio feature that Soundtrap is offering? As a producer, I’m instinctively wary of it, since I’d never want to cut tape without being able to see the waveform. I do use transcripts for story edits, of course, but via a tool that timestamps, rather than actually cuts, the original audio file. But I’m aware that I might be in a minority here, and that it could be a big timesaver for some. Let me know.)
Soundtrap is also taking advantage of its position as a Spotify-owned company to promote that platform; anything made with Soundtrap can be published directly to Spotify or downloaded for hosting and distribution elsewhere. It’s this aspect that interests me most: Isn’t Anchor supposed to be Spotify’s one-stop-shop for podcast creation? How does Soundtrap sit within the wider Spotify family, then?
Soundtrap, Emanuelsson tells me, is “run basically as a separate brand within” Spotify. When I asked him about how this new Soundtrap product works alongside Spotify’s other podcasting businesses, he made several distinctions between what Anchor his new tool. “Anchor is a creation tool focusing on mobile first — a little bit more like simple and fast creations that you do on the fly, on the mobile,” he said. “And then there’s the other part of Anchor, which is hosting and monetization for any podcast.”
The company has no intention of offering those publishing options at the moment, and they’re looking to attract podcasters working at the more advanced, production-heavy end of the market. “What Soundtrap is focusing on is the ability to create professional-sounding podcasts with all the different aspects of that — sound design, effects, remote interviews, music, and all that.” It’s a fine distinction, and Soundtrap is openly acknowledging that there is some overlap, since users who don’t want to publish solely on Spotify and want to host their Soundtrap creations somewhere are recommended that they use Anchor.
So there’s some attempt at synergy and cross-pollination here between the two Spotify-owned businesses. I’d also see this as experimentation — Spotify wants to see what works and, on the creation side, which parts of the market are most likely to pay for what. There’s a bit of a “throw things at the wall and see what sticks” feel to this, for sure. Judging by the software demo I was shown, I’m not sure that audio professionals at big publishers will be switching away from their current systems to use Soundtrap, but I can see the attraction of the price point for what I would loosely call serious hobbyists and part-time podcasters.
The other aspect of their tool that Soundtrap is keen to push is the transcription (only available in English at launch) and its potential for discoverability. It’s possible to transcribe audio on the platform and then use a text-editing interface to cut the tape, but also to publish the finished transcript alongside the audio to “improve SEO.” Soundtrap includes the ability to publish transcripts as well as audio to Spotify, Emanuelsson said, which is a feature the platform is adding in the near future. “For now, when [Soundtrap for Storytellers] is first released, it’s available for search engines, so it will be indexed by Google. Later on, obviously it will also be available for clients to consume it.”
Some tantalizing hints, then, about what’s to come from Spotify with podcasts in the next few months. Maybe.

On the international front… Two stories I’m thinking about:
— From The National, by Miriam Berger: “The rise of Arabic podcasts: ‘a digital revival of a long-term tradition.’” Here’s the chunk that stuck:
Ramsey Tesdell, 36, one of Sowt’s co-founders, says… Sowt has so far remained in a “weird no man’s land” free from government pressure because traditional licensing regulations and other rules that govern media don’t yet extend to podcasts. Authorities have yet to take notice of podcasts, says [Kernig Cultures co-founder Hebah] Fisher. “That’s going to change as it becomes more mainstream.”
You can pair that with…
— From The New York Times, by Amy Qin: “In China, a Podcast Inspired by ‘This American Life’ Gives Voice to the Real.”
Another challenge facing “Gushi FM” is that the show is firmly rooted in reality, warts and all, at a time when many Chinese are looking to tune out daily anxieties. That desire has fueled a surge in escapist entertainment like online live-streaming, Korean television dramas and blogs that churn out feel-good clickbait content.
These exist alongside a powerful state media apparatus bent on promoting “positive energy” by pushing party propaganda, including in forms as unlikely as rap performances and game shows. Even popular audio streaming internet platforms often focus more on promoting self-improvement through educational courses and audiobooks.
…and you can tie that to last year’s Marketplace piece on China’s $7 billion FOMO industry, which instigated an entire conversation around whether China’s “podcast model” could work stateside that never quite accounted for the whole state media apparatus part of the whole equation.
Hmm.

What’s next for the indie podcast studio? Indie podcast studios are a dime a dozen these days, as enterprising producers see less upside in working for a preexisting publisher and more upside in opening up a shop they’ll own.
There are two main things driving that perceived upside. The first is an industry environment that’s exhibiting a decent appetite for acquisitions. As more established media companies look to move into podcasting, buying their way into competency is an ever-present option. The second thing is trickier to articulate, but it’s essentially rooted in the podcast ecosystem becoming significantly more complex in composition. There was a time where, as a podcast creator, your primary overarching preoccupation was having to develop and then expand an audience for your show. With the increasing participation of established media companies (and select non-Apple ~platishers~) looking to grow and control their own respective podcast audience slices, podcast creators nowadays have the option of selling shows to those corporate newcomers — which is in many ways a hell of a lot easier than needing to make stuff while building an audience.
Not that there aren’t downsides to striking out on your own, of course. You’d need to cultivate clients, hire employees, do the hard work of keeping the lights on. Speaking as an independent small business owner myself, I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in three years and I live in perpetual fear of annihilation with every passing second of the day. And that’s not even addressing the matter of simply needing to be good at your job.

Still, it’s a ripe time to be an independent studio, and one of the more interesting things to watch is how the parameters of an indie studio have changed since Pineapple Street Media first hung up its shingle three summers ago.

We can discern some of those differences from briefly examining Magnificent Noise, the new-ish studio founded by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker that’s quietly coming out of stealth mode this week. Baker and Nuzum, of course, are both public radio vets who most recently held high-level positions at Audible Originals, back when the division was still pursuing a strategy built around podcast-style programming. The duo left the Amazon-owned audiobook platform last summer, shortly after the company restructured the division in the wake of a leadership shuffle to pivot towards what I like to call the “more audiobook-like products but without the pesky book part” strategy. (The restructure, by the way, resulted in the termination of Nuzum and Baker’s old team, leaving several producers out of a job.)
Magnificent Noise is Baker and Nuzum’s next act, and as mentioned, it takes the form of an indie podcast studio. Well, more specifically, they’re calling it “a boutique production house and consulting company,” and the announcement note they recently circulated noted a focus on making “distinctive and genre-defining work that entertains, enlightens, and fosters meaning.” The studio already has a few clients lined up, some that can be named and some not so much; ones in the former category include TED, the product of which, called Sincerely X, is now out on the Luminary platform, an active buyer for many such indie studios; Esther Perel, who already worked with Nuzum and Baker back at Audible; and The New York Times. Magnificent Noise currently has three full-time staffers: Eva Wolchover, Destry Maria Sibley, and Noor Wazwaz.
When I checked in with the duo last Friday, a recurring theme was about making specific, focused, inward-facing choices. They told me about how they’re not doing any branded content work for now — not that they think anything ill of it, they maintain, it’s just not something they want to do — which didn’t use to be an option for podcast studios back when there weren’t as many potential buyers. They also talked about an intention to remain small and focused, with a view to preserving an ability to choose projects with a select pool of partners of a certain kind. One imagines this would be a tougher proposition for a shop that’s raised any amount of investment capital — suggesting that to be in this position, you either need to have the capital to begin with or the right kind of starting contracts to get you going.
It’s fascinating how the indie studio model builds on itself, much like everything else, and just how much difference a few years can make. I can’t imagine a newly-founded indie studio being able to assert that much freedom of choice in, say, the summer of 2016. Then again, I can’t say I’ve imagined much of the way podcasting has shook out, either.
During our conversation, Nuzum and Baker told me about their flexibilities in certain other areas. How, for instance, they’re somewhat laid back in regards to their relationship with the intellectual property of the things they make — “it’s not really a hill we want to die on,” they noted — and around revenue participation percentages. Extending this line of explanation, they evoked the film and television-style model of packaging show ideas and commitments together to bring out to potential buyers. (At the moment, they are not working with a talent agency.)
The duo also laid out their theory of how Magnificent Noise is different from the pack, which itself hinges on their theory of the future: “What we hope to see is the U.S. developing something similar to what you’d see in London, where there are maybe over a hundred small production houses, many of them two- or three-person shops, that have mostly supplied content to the BBC but have, in recent years, realized that there is more than one person in town to dance with. In this kind of arrangement, you’d have these different studios that each specialized in a different type of production.”
It’s an appealing vision, one that’ll undoubtedly feed into the perceived upside of the indie studio. But I dunno. So much of that will depend, frankly, on the nature of the buy side, and there’s so much about it that’s still so far up in the air.
Cite this articleHide citations
CLOSE
MLA
Quah, Nicholas. “Podcast episodes will now show up in Google searches. Helpful discovery mechanism or a shot in the Platform Wars?.” Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 14 May. 2019. Web. 18 Oct. 2024.
APA
Quah, N. (2019, May. 14). Podcast episodes will now show up in Google searches. Helpful discovery mechanism or a shot in the Platform Wars?. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved October 18, 2024, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/05/podcast-episodes-will-now-show-up-in-google-searches-helpful-discovery-mechanism-or-a-shot-in-the-platform-wars/
Chicago
Quah, Nicholas. “Podcast episodes will now show up in Google searches. Helpful discovery mechanism or a shot in the Platform Wars?.” Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified May 14, 2019. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/05/podcast-episodes-will-now-show-up-in-google-searches-helpful-discovery-mechanism-or-a-shot-in-the-platform-wars/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
    | url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/05/podcast-episodes-will-now-show-up-in-google-searches-helpful-discovery-mechanism-or-a-shot-in-the-platform-wars/
    | title = Podcast episodes will now show up in Google searches. Helpful discovery mechanism or a shot in the Platform Wars?
    | last = Quah
    | first = Nicholas
    | work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
    | date = 14 May 2019
    | accessdate = 18 October 2024
    | ref = {{harvid|Quah|2019}}
}}
To promote and elevate the standards of journalism
Covering thought leadership in journalism
Pushing to the future of journalism
Exploring the art and craft of story
The Nieman Journalism Lab is a collaborative attempt to figure out how quality journalism can survive and thrive in the Internet age.
It’s a project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

source

source