Sounds Profitable
Bryan Barletta
The pace of change the podcast industry is undergoing is staggering. The implications for podcasters, hosting providers, podcast listening app developers, and advertisers and agencies are enormous. And so is the growth potential. Presented as a companion to the weekly newsletter of the same name, our podcast provides you with direct access to our narrated articles, interviews with industry experts, bleeding-edge research, and can't miss industry news recaps. That Sounds Profitable, right? Assumptions and conventional wisdom will be challenged. Easy answers with no proof of efficacy will be exposed. Because the thinking that got podcast advertising close to a billion dollars annually will need to be drastically overhauled to bring in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars podcast advertising deserves.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 26, 2026 • 6min
Programmatic Audio's Importance, Ambies Voting Now Live, & More
Today in the business of podcasting: audio becoming more vital to programmatic buys, Netflix CEO says they compete with YouTube in "every dimension", Substack launches a streaming app for CTV, and The Ambies voting is live until February 5th.Click here for all the links covered today! You can also find an archive of everything covered on this show by heading to The Download's section of SoundsProfitable.com
Jan 23, 2026 • 10min
Ambies Nominees Announced, Refuting 'Podcasting is Dead', & More
Today in the business of podcasting: what would you do if you really loved podcasting, Ambies 2026 nominees announced, pushback to "Podcasting is dead" and Goalhanger crosses 250k subscriber milestone. Click here for all the links covered today! You can also find an archive of everything covered on this show by heading to The Download's section of SoundsProfitable.com
Jan 22, 2026 • 7min
The WHY and WHO of Podcasting, Ambies 2026 Noms, & More
Today in the business of podcasting: what would you do if you really loved podcasting, Ambies 2026 nominees announced, Netflix is rebuilding their app for vertical video scrolling, and Oxford Road takes a look at Health & Fitness podcast advertising data. Click here for all the links covered today! You can also find an archive of everything covered on this show by heading to The Download's section of SoundsProfitable.com
Jan 21, 2026 • 7min
SXSW 2026 Podcasting Lineup, Video Isn't Killing the Podcast Star, & More
Today in the business of podcasting: more added to the SXSW 2026, On Air Fest expands their February lineup, a reaction to "podcasts are dead," and Netflix doubled their ad revenue last year.Click here for all the links covered today! You can also find an archive of everything covered on this show by heading to The Download's section of SoundsProfitable.com
Jan 21, 2026 • 11min
What Would You Do If You Actually Loved Podcasting?
The WHO and WHY of podcasting are important, but you have to get them in the correct order.Written by Tom WebsterEdited by Bryan Barletta and Gavin GaddisAudio narration and editing by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here on Sounds Profitable.
Jan 20, 2026 • 8min
Podcasting's 'Liquid Content Era', A Creator Bill of Rights, & More
Today in the business of podcasting: a Congressman just pitched a "creator bill of rights," Goalhanger crossed 250k paid subscribers, podcasting's 'liquid content era,' what's ahead for streaming TV in 2026, and the CBC's submission period is coming up fast. Click here for all the links covered today! You can also find an archive of everything covered on this show by heading to The Download's section of SoundsProfitable.com
Jan 14, 2026 • 9min
How Audio Can Leverage PR in AI Discovery Era
Chatbots are changing PR’s place in the media ecosystem, let’s talk why. Written by Molly DeMellierEdited by Bryan Barletta and Gavin GaddisAudio narration and editing by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here on Sounds Profitable.
Jan 13, 2026 • 5min
SuperAwesome Acquires Starglow, Deloitte's Podcasting Predictions, & More
This week in the business of podcasting: Deloitte's 2026 predictions for podcasting, seeking syndication with content creators, and SuperAwesome acquires Starglow Media. Find links to every article covered by heading to the Download section of SoundsProfitable.com, or by clicking here to go directly to today's installment.
Jan 12, 2026 • 5min
The First Golden Globe-Winning Podcast, Spotify's 2026 Trends, & More
This week in the business of podcasting: The Golden Globes debuted Best Podcast as a category, Spotify is looking out for podcasters, and iHeartRadio embraces open RSS with their new video ingestion protocol using Podcasting 2.0 framework. Find links to every article covered by heading to the Download section of SoundsProfitable.com, or by clicking here to go directly to today's installment.
Jan 9, 2026 • 8min
Remember Who You Are
Experimentation is healthy, but expansion at all costs includes the cost of ignoring the audience that built everything in the first place. Written and narrated by Tom WebsterEdited by Bryan Barletta and Gavin GaddisAudio editing by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here on Sounds Profitable.
