Welcome Arielle NissenblattFollow upLast week we talked about Spotify's new TikTok style podcast discovery. If you'd like to check it out on iOS open Safari and go to spotify:internal:podcastclipsExplainer on TikTokspotify:internal:podcastclipsApple Podcasts Releases Follower NumbersFollowers = clicked the ⊕ follow button (similar to download numbers)Listeners = listened to 1 second (22%, 18%, 22%)Engaged listener = 20min or 40% of episode (14%, 14%, 20%)ACast Spam turned up to 11One podcast consultant reporting that Acast had spammed his client within seconds of signing with a competitor. A majority of Acast’s mailings seen by Podnews omit a physical postal address, which is required by US law. One unsolicited Acast email claims that “you subscribed to our newsletter via the beefree·io website”, but BeeFree has denied any affiliation with Acast. Acast’s emails also reference Mailup Inc; but mail headers reveal that Acast’s emails are sent using a competitor, Mailgun (via customer·io).Hit Spam early and oftenTopicsSpotify is promoting fake music artistsSpotify builds platform on the back of top music artistsSpotify convinces users to use their playlistsSpotify creates their own content and promotes it in their playlistsArtists are left with no distribution and no moneyBuzzsprout Platform Stats+5.8% listens across the platformApple is up to 37.4%, Spotify to 27.9%Spotify users listening to less podcasts (Edison Research)Or Spotify favoring owned content?Podcast download chartsTop 1% - 3,994Top 5% - 795Top 10% - 335Top 25% - 93Top 50% - 30How do Apple Podcasts charts work?listeningfollows completion rateRatings, reviews, and sharesWNYC built a bot to get their shows into Apple PodcastsNPR monitored when their show fell out of the rankings, ran Facebook ads to get it back, then turned them offAlban heard this story at Podcast MovementNPR issued a statementWNYCWe'll be heading to two conferences next month, and we'd love to see you there!The Podcast Show in London from May 25th-26thBlk Pod Festival in Atlanta, Georgia from May 28th-29thValue4Value + Review