Are you fascinated by podcasting? Do you long to stay up-to-date with industry news, improve your podcast marketing skills or simply find a bunch of great new podcast episodes to listen to on your daily commute?
We're here to help with 10 terrific podcast newsletters to help you do all that and more.
Let's dive in.
Podcast marketing newsletters
Making a podcast is only half the battle. How do you cut through all the noise and attract listeners to your show? That's where podcast marketing newsletters from experts may help.
Scrappy Podcasting
Jeremy Enns is a podcast marketing whizz, the founder of Podcast Marketing Academy and the creator behind Scrappy Podcasting.
Each free weekly newsletter features a short article investigating one insight into podcast marketing and offers actionable tips for attracting new listeners to your podcast and community.
Here's a sample:
Here's the opening paragraph from the latest Scrappy Podcasting email to hit my inbox:
The first three minutes are the most important minutes of your entire episode. They’re the first impression every new listener has of your show, and are often the sole data point they’ll use to decide whether to keep listening or leave in search of another show.
Jeremy goes on to discuss ATV (Average Time Value) and how podcasters can best use those opening three minutes to capture listeners. The email usually closes with a "Weekly Challenge" which provides a series of steps readers can take to implement the advice given.
Check out 'Scrappy Podcasting' here.
Podcast Marketing Magic
Podcast Marketing Magic is a free Substack newsletter by the writers at Tink Media. Issues feature a mix including best practices, creative strategies, case studies, interviews and round-ups of resources to help keep podcasters up-to-date with the latest podcast marketing strategies.
Features in each weekly email include an article, plus sections with these intriguing titles: 52 Weeks of Podcast Growth, From the Desk of Tink, More Magic, and Meanwhile in Podcast Therapy.
Here's a sample:
Let's take a look at a recent June 2023 edition:
Ratings and reviews definitely seem like they make life easier and more fun for podcasters. But, ratings and reviews are not always what we hope them to be. Today we’re sharing how to make the most of your good, bad, and helpful ratings and reviews.
This issue includes a tip about creating listener surveys has photo of a Vancouver bar billboard that turns a bad review into an hilarious advertisement. The next three sections contain podcast recommendations and the newsletter concludes with a sponsor's spot.
Find 'Podcast Marketing Magic' here.
Podcast recommendation newsletters
How do you find interesting new podcasts to listen to? Subscribe to podcast recommendation email newsletters, and you'll never be short of a new favorite.
Podcast Plunge and Earbuds Podcast Collective
These two podcast round-up newsletters are curated by Arielle Nissenblatt and draw podcast episodes from various industry experts and podcast listeners. Arielle is a well-known audio producer, speaker, podcast marketing expert and author of several podcasting newsletters, including "This and That with Arielle Nissenblatt."
Podcast Plunge features podcasts recommended by the newsletter's readers in its comments section or some from Arielle. Each recommendation includes links to a favorite episode and a short blurb about why it's so good.
Earbuds Podcast Collective newsletter includes five podcast episode recommendations focusing on a theme. A different person curates each weekly edition. The podcast newsletter archives go back to 2017 and have hundreds of episodes. Past 2023 themes include Reflections on Love, Music for Your 30s, Burnout, Oddball Entertainment and Reframing the Unexpected.
Here's where you'll find Podcast Plunge and Earbuds Podcast Collective.
Podcast Review
Podcast Review has been around since 2018. The online magazine's website has in-depth podcast reviews and interviews. Meanwhile, its weekly newsletter features lists of great podcasts and episodes around a theme.
Recent lists have included "9 Best Business Podcasts," "3 Podcasts to Listen to in June," "The 7 Best Drag Queen Podcasts," and today's example, "The 9 Best Storytelling Podcasts."
Here's a sample:
The Battle to Save Reddit, On the Media. Last Monday, Reddit moderators from nearly 9,000 subreddits shut down their forums in what might be the largest moderator-coordinated social media protest in internet history.
Atomic Habits, If Books Could Kill. Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri discuss "Atomic Habits," a book about how to use science (and also some stuff that's definitely not science) to train yourself to be a more functional person.
You'll find Podcast Review here.
Podcast The Newsletter
Lauren Passell founded Tink Media and shares her passion for podcasting and audio storytelling in this Substack newsletter. Each edition includes a massive list of recommendations, a note from Lauren and an interview with someone fascinating in the podcasting industry.
Here's a sample:
You have probably heard Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun (which was #1 on the charts the day I was born) millions of times but have you thought about it, really thought about it? Sentimental Garbage covered the song in a sharp, fun, and academic way, which is really what this show does best. (After listening I thought host Caroline O'Donoghue could rename the podcast Girls Just Want to Have Fun.)
Check out Podcast The Newsletter here.
Podcast Brunch Club
The Podcast Brunch Club is like a book club meeting for people who love listening to podcasts. The club has in-person chapters (groups) and an online chapter for those who can't attend a physical brunch. Every month 3-5 podcast episodes around a theme are curated into a listening list and sent out via the newsletter. Members listen to the episodes and then meet to discuss them (just like a book club.) Anyone can subscribe to the monthly newsletter to get the recommendations, even if you don't fancy joining a chapter.
Here's a sample:
When you say “home,” what comes to mind? Are you thinking of a physical structure? A geographic location? Perhaps you are even thinking about a person or a smell. Home can represent a place of safety, comfort, and belonging. Home is a fundamental aspect of human experience that shapes our identity, relationships, and sense of place in the world. This playlist explores the idea of home.
Find the Podcast Brunch Club Newsletter here.
Podcast industry newsletters
Looking for podcast industry news, views and information? Where better to turn than this collection of newsletters from industry insiders.
Podnews
More than 28,000 people keep up to date with podcasting news through Podnews, a daily newsletter curated by James Cridland, who's well known for his in-depth industry news and views on the podcast world.
The concise newsletter features information on significant industry developments (e.g., the very latest tech, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, apps, acquisitions etc.) and links to more in-depth articles. It also has new chart rankings, events, who's going where, and some of the jobs currently available in podcasting.
Here's a sample:
- A new podcast app for kids has been launched. KidsPod includes more than 300 shows, and an in-app coloring book. It’s claimed to be the first of its kind to present over 300 kids’ podcasts in a visual, intuitive and safe way.
- Acast is to work with Danish podcast studio Podster. The first show they’re working on, a true crime podcast called Forhøret, has already been a success in Sweden.
Sounds Profitable
Sounds Profitable aims to educate and empower the podcasting industry at all levels with a podcast, research, website content, events, consultations and two newsletters—'Sounds Profitable' and 'The Download'—each delivered once a week to your inbox.
Here's a sample:
Here's a sample from Tom Webster's thoughtful commentary on celebrities and podcasting:
I think it's so important for us to understand that podcasting is far from a mature medium, and that what got us here is not going to get us to the next 100 million listeners. We can't look at the existing inventory and derive a system of rules for the game - not yet. This is a medium that I believe is still capable of taking big swings at a vast blue ocean of people that haven't made podcasts a part of their life... it would be wrong to throw out the concept of celebrity podcasts simply because a few high profile examples didn't actually produce good shows. Instead, let's find ways to take known commodities and create new worlds with them.
The Squeeze
Skye Pillsbury is a podcast host and the original writer of Inside Podcasting and shares a wealth of knowledge and industry insights in her weekly Substack. It's a 'freemium' publication, meaning some articles are free while others are only available to paid subscribers.
Skye describes The Squeeze as the "uncompromised reporting on the podcast industry". It features a mixture of reporting and interview articles plus a few tweets, notes and a smattering of industry gossip.
Here's a sample:
RIP Gimlet
I’m heartbroken over the news that Spotify has laid off another 200 podcast employees, though I’m not shocked. Last October, in a piece I titled An Oral History of Gimlet’s Slow Demise, it was clear that employees were already sensing the future. As one staffer told me, “I feel like Spotify just doesn’t want to deal with us anymore. They’re probably like, “why do we own this company?”
You can find The Squeeze here.
The Branded Podcaster
The Branded Podcaster is a newsletter by Quill for brands, marketers, agencies, networks, and pro-podcasters. The newsletter is released bi-weekly and is full of expert advice, data-driven insights, podcast industry happenings and trends, and new and noteworthy reports.
Here's a sample:
Did you know that listeners are almost as likely to listen to branded content as a celebrity show?
Sounds Profitable released its latest (and largest) study "The Podcast Landscape" in partnership with Signal Hill Insights and many of the top brands in podcasting - including CoHost.
What this means for us: The study spotlights opportunities for growth in podcast consumption and reveals key audience insights that should inform the content and marketing roadmap of podcasters, networks and publishers.
Find The Branded Podcaster newsletter here. Or check it out on LinkedIn.
Bonus newsletter - Grants For Creators
Here's one for USA podcasters in need of funding. Danielle Desir Corbett— the creator of 'The Thought Card' podcast and blog—curates a monthly list of US-based grants and other funding opportunities to which creators (including podcasters) can apply.
Check out 'Grants for Creators' here.
Final words
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