Joe Rogan says he bought a subscriber bump from all of the controversy

Well hello, everybody, I hope we’re all relaxed and prepared for a really calm, very regular week. I do know I’m definitely prepared to remain centered alone initiatives and never get wildly distracted by the whims of billionaires with cash to burn. Wish me luck.

Joe Rogan “gained two million subscribers” from latest controversy

From the division of any press is nice press: Joe Rogan says the latest firestorm round his ongoing vaccine misinformation and previous use of a racial slur solely added to his fan base. “It’s interesting, my subscriptions went up massively — that’s what’s crazy,” Rogan mentioned on an episode Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “During the height of it all, I gained 2 million subscribers.”

The Reporter provides that, in response to unnamed sources, Rogan’s numbers have “been consistently growing” since he joined Spotify, with out spiking on account of any explicit occasion. (I’ve reached out to Spotify for remark.)

On one hand, this doesn’t shock me. The backlash that kicked off after Neil Young pulled his music from Spotify led to lots of publicity round Rogan at a time when sure largely right-wing audiences are rallying round figures who declare they’re being silenced at the same time as they attract immense crowds.

On the opposite hand, Rogan’s progress doesn’t imply the incident was excellent news for Spotify: it led to actual turmoil with the corporate’s staff, noticed a number of main names pull their music from the service, and continues to be a model debt that the corporate received’t have the ability to shake. I do know Spotify has compelling causes to maintain Rogan round, but when I needed to make a guess, I’d wager the corporate would take a greater public picture over the two million further subscribers.

P.S.: Spotify reviews earnings Wednesday morning, with a name at 8AM ET.

Exclusive: SiriusXM indicators exclusivity cope with Therapy Gecko

SiriusXM has landed one other advert gross sales and distribution cope with a success podcast, this time with one of many stranger reveals I’ve written about on right here: Therapy Gecko. The present is a few “lizard psychologist who travels the universe talking to strangers,” and it someway garners “more than 900k monthly downloads,” in response to SiriusXM. The collection is created by Lyle Forever, who has discovered greater than 2 million folks on TikTok keen to subscribe to look at him gown up in a lizard outfit and inexperienced face paint to speak remedy, or one thing prefer it.

Under the deal, advertisements will probably be bought by way of SXM Media and Stitcher will deal with distribution. The deal covers the audio launch of the present.

SiriusXM has made a complete bunch of comparable offers like this lately. Just yesterday, the corporate locked down ad sales for the I Am Athlete podcast from Brandon Marshall and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson as half of a bigger audio cope with the community.

P.S. once more: SiriusXM will report earnings Thursday morning, with a name at 8AM ET.

Apple provides extra podcast analytics, extra podcast promos

Podcasters providing subscriptions by way of Apple Podcasts can now download monthly reports that mixture the listening habits of paid and free listeners. The new platform’s “listening report” breaks down the place persons are listening to content material, what episodes they’re tuning into, and the way a lot they’re listening. Apple says it’s helpful to see the variations between how paid and free listeners are tuning in. The reviews are generated month-to-month and obtainable by way of Apple Podcasts Connect.

On the consumer-facing entrance, Apple Podcasts has additionally added three new editorially curated sections — known as Darkside, tbh, and Popped — to its storefront throughout platforms. The collections spotlight reveals within the true crime, tradition, and leisure classes and may very well be a great way to drive new listeners to reveals. Apple says you possibly can pitch your series here.

SoundCloud says indie artists are incomes extra with its new pay system

Last 12 months, SoundCloud began a program the place indie musicians may receives a commission out primarily based on subscription income from their precise followers, somewhat than being lumped into an enormous pool with main artists and divvied out the pennies. It’s a significant shift (with caveats!) in how artists are paid, and now, practically a 12 months later, SoundCloud says unbiased artists are incomes 60 p.c extra on common than they have been with the standard mannequin.

Caveats abound, in fact. It’s not fully clear how a lot of a subscriber’s cash goes to the pool that will get divided up for indie artists. (SoundCloud tells me it is determined by their listening habits.) But the determine nonetheless means that the brand new mannequin isn’t all discuss. It should result in increased payouts for smaller artists, and it has.

The Podcast Upfronts are nearly right here

Last week, IAB introduced the record of presenters for its 2022 Podcast Upfronts — and I’m seeing lots of huge and acquainted names and faces on that record. Just from a company perspective, we’ve bought NPR, SXM Media, and Wondery, plus some extra shocking entrants like Disney and Paramount. It’s an extended record name-wise, so check that out over here. The occasion is being held nearly this 12 months from May tenth to May twelfth.

Substack’s e-newsletter app is now a podcast app

Alright, so the app already had podcast playback controls, however with an replace yesterday, they grew to become a complete lot richer. The app now has a full-screen podcast interface with velocity and playback controls. You may now queue up a playlist of recordings. The app continues to be iOS-only, sadly, however these sorts of desk stakes options are going to be vital if Substack needs to assist creators see its platform as a viable one for podcasting.

Insiders, get able to say hello to somebody new on Thursday. See you then!