Collaboration bears pod-fruit – The Short Stack

Friends,

What’s better than seeing positive change from a good collective effort? 

As you’ve surely read, the impact of the recent update to iOS 17, which changed the platform’s long-standing practice of automatically downloading all unplayed podcast episodes, now has some solid data behind it. While there are lots of ways to assess that impact – many podcast publishers surely don’t love the drop in downloads – a 30% increase in ad performance (among other things) is pretty compelling. It goes without saying – a listener can only engage with a relevant ad if they’ve actually listened to the episode! Ultimately, the podcast industry is now better positioned to grow listening and ad revenue well into the future. 

There are likely several factors that led to the change, but it’s hard to deny that industry efforts helped drive it. 

As stated in Podnews: “Sounds Profitable, a membership organization of over 150 podcasting companies, may have forced Apple’s hand. Apple seems to have rushed to publicly document this change just a day before Sounds Profitable released a ‘joint statement’ signed by many of its members….”

We’re proud to count ourselves among them, and yes, it feels even better when the efforts prove themselves out.  

It’s also probably worth reiterating the obvious point that positive change comes in many forms. MOSAIC Collective’s work to bridge the gap between brands and diverse voices in podcasting – another industry effort of which we’re proud to be a part – will also surely yield substantial results for everyone soon. 

Have another look at that initiative here, and as always, we welcome your great feedback.

Best,