by Gavin Gaddis
Tom Webster will debut a new piece of Sounds Profitable research this week at Vidcon. Dubbed The Podcast Atlas, the new report aims “to map the whole podcast universe at once: not just audio, but the video, the clips, the social posts, and the newsletters that now travel with a show, and how a real audience moves among all of them.” A key takeaway that sits with Webster is most podcast promotion plans focus on strategies designed to appeal to people who are already die-hard podcast fans (trailers, promo-swaps, etc.) but the under-35 demographic isn’t perusing podcast trailers. They’re living in vertical spaces. TikTok surfaces new shows for under-35s at 7 times the rate it does for listeners 55 and older. Trailers account for just 3% of discovery, and podcast ads for 4%. Spotify-discovered listeners post a net brand receptivity score of 58 and TikTok-discovered listeners score 52, both well above a baseline of 35, suggesting vertical discovery channels produce commercially engaged audiences. Webster argues the unit of discovery for younger listeners is a vertical clip made by a platform-native creator, and recommends funding ongoing vertical programs rather than launch-week stunts for shows targeting under-35s. The live webinar debut of The Podcast Atlas is scheduled for Wednesday, July 1, at 2 p.m. Eastern. Registration is open now.
Richard Fawal, founder and CEO of Voxtopica, has a new piece for Sounds Profitable arguing mission-driven podcasters at nonprofits, universities, government agencies, and advocacy organizations are largely overlooked by the industry despite doing skilled work under distinct constraints. Their value does not map onto downloads or CPMs: a public health podcast reaching 4,000 clinicians who change prescribing practices delivers more mission-critical impact than a chart-topping entertainment show. According to Nonprofit Marketing Guide research, only 5% of nonprofit communicators report their roles are well understood by colleagues, and the industry provides no segmented research, relevant benchmarks, or conference programming for this group. Fawal draws on Sounds Profitable's trust research to argue the medium's credibility is especially suited to mission work, and calls for research, pricing, and professional recognition that treat mission-driven producers as peers.
An analysis of 1,262 campaigns from the Effie x System1 Databank, spanning 17 years and five markets (U.S., UK, Australia, Ireland, and Europe), found that campaigns incorporating audio delivered 75% higher profits, 81% greater trust, 81% higher price insensitivity, and 19% more customer acquisition than campaigns without audio. When emotional creative was paired with audio, profits approximately doubled. Marketing professor Mark Ritson presented the findings at Cannes Lions 2026, placing them directly in front of agency media planners during the annual budgeting season. "For a relatively modest investment, it's an unfair advantage hiding in plain sight.”
…as for the rest of the news:
Spotify VP of Product Per Sandell told AdExchanger at Cannes Lions that audio is "the most underrepresented medium in advertising," attributing the gap to fragmentation across sellers and weak measurement infrastructure, and noted that 63% of Spotify's listeners are ad-supported but generate only around 10% of revenue.
Triton Digital has posted the May edition of its Canada Podcast Ranker.
Hernan Lopez's mid-year streaming report highlights vertical video as a $150 billion opportunity and covers platform consolidation moves including Fox-Roku and Netflix-WB alongside Instagram and YouTube's push into episodic content.
Digiday's Cannes briefing finds creators this year arriving with pitches in hand rather than party invitations, with brands showing up with active briefs for creator campaigns.
Radio America podcast network Helios Media has signed Matt Morse and his daily political commentary show The Morse Report.
PAVE Studios has partnered with Supporting Cast to power premium subscriptions for Crime House.
