Audio opens up in '23 – The Short Stack
Friends,
Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Short Stack, a digestible, monthly look and listen to what’s happening in digital audio tech.
The fresh year brings fresh prognostications about the state of media overall with some being overly conservative. Many media outlets aren’t so bullish at the moment. Podcasting in particular arguably gets a little picked on sometimes (aka pushing around the popular kid) – but I, like many of you, don’t automatically take the clickbait. The digital audio space as a whole continues to grow, with amazing new creators along with technological innovations to support their ambitions.
The more careful approach in media overall is, no surprise, mostly about the current and future state of the economy. That affects everyone, no matter how entertaining or informative your audio content is or how powerful the technology is behind it.
As we continue to build, my goal always remains the same: Keep making it easier for everyone to engage in the podcast and digital audio market. That’s everything from giving advertisers the ability to transact easier, to building an open ecosystem without technology barriers, to connecting ad platforms. I touched on it in this piece in AdExchanger.
Let me know what you think of The Short Stack—it’s here to be useful! And get ready for an amazing 2023.
Jon Stephenson , CEO 
When the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism asked over 300 media leaders where they will be investing more resources this year, 72% said they will be focusing on podcasts and digital audio, more than any other category.
In its latest update, eMarketer says that budget cuts will impact some media channels more than others...Even with digital ad budgets under pressure, eMarketer is still projecting double-digit growth for podcasting.
"A broadcast-to-podcast tool is a setup to be able to ingest that live feed, properly cut it up the way you need to, and then turn it into on-demand audio.” Bryan Barletta sat down with Jon for a deep dive into some of the tech that’s making audio publishers’ lives simpler, including this segment on ways to create podcasts from streaming broadcasts.
