Taylor Swift became a podcast influencer

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I hope everyone on the East Coast had a pleasant nor'easter. This morning, the snow had stopped and by the time I went to take my baby outside for some winter fun, it was already covered in snow. He couldn't tell the difference, but I was disappointed.

Today we'll look at Meghan Markle's new podcast deal, layoffs at SiriusXM, and how the “Swift Effect” made Travis Kelce's podcast a Top 10 hit. Before we get into that, I'd like to share one more thing about the Hot Pod Summit program.

One of the things we continue to hear from our readers and attendees at Hot Pod Summit is a desire to understand what the heck is going on with podcast advertising. There's a lot to unravel, including declining CPMs, metrics challenges, and YouTube's growing dominance in this space.I'm excited to announce that kelly hurleyGlobal Head of Revenue Partnerships at SiriusXM; Thomas RodriguezThe Trade Desk's Senior Director of Audio Partnerships will be joining me on stage to discuss the current state of the advertising market. I have a lot of questions, and I'm sure you do too.

The Hot Pod Summit, an invitation-only event for podcast industry leaders, will be held on Wednesday, February 28th. This summit kicks off On Air Fest Brooklyn 2024, hosted in collaboration with our friends at work.

On Air Fest will be held from February 29th to March 1st. Malcolm Gladwell, Stephen Dubner, Norah Jones, Laurie Anderson, Seth Meyers, Nick Quar, Avery Trufelman, and more on Audible, Netflix, iHeart, WBUR, Vox Media Podcast Network, and more. Click here to purchase tickets for On Air Fest.

Thank you to AdsWizz and Simplecast for being the official lead sponsors of Hot Pod Summit 2024. AdsWizz operates a self-service advertising platform for creating and running audio ads. Simplecast provides podcast hosting, distribution, and analytics.

This is certainly as great a victory as winning the Super Bowl.Edison Research Releases List of Top His Podcasts in the Fourth Quarter, 'Taylor Swift Effect' Reaching new heights with Jason Kelsey and Travis Kelsey It's very real.

From October to December, new heights became the 6th most popular podcast, up from 67th place last quarter. It's worth remembering that Swift and Travis Kelsey went public with their relationship in October.

Although Edison's rankings are based on survey responses rather than live listening data, they are considered highly reliable. In 6th place, new heights more popular than blockbuster shows like this american life, smartlessand ben shapiro show.

Yesterday, SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witts announced further layoffs in a memo to staff. He said about 160 people, or about 3% of the company's staff, would be affected by the job cuts.

“To continue on our path to future subscriber growth and maintain our success in an evolving competitive environment, it is essential that we become even more efficient, agile and flexible.” Wits he writes. “From uniting teams and aligning efforts to investing in new technology to drive transformation, we are focused on driving efficiencies and reallocating resources to support the strategic priorities of the business. I'm leaving it there.”

I think the language here is interesting. Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kinkle recalled last week's announcement justifying the layoffs by saying it would increase the company's ability to focus on its core music business. Or Spotify's announcement last week that it would be retiring some of its own podcast creation tools in favor of Riverside so it could allocate resources elsewhere. (There were no layoffs as a result of this change.)

Last year, CEOs justified layoffs by citing macroeconomic factors and volatility in the advertising industry. However, the predicted recession never materialized. And the cuts are now being made not because of financial difficulties, but because they serve a long-term strategy. These words, which we will hear more of in the coming months, will come as cold comfort to the workers who have been cast adrift.

It wasn't entirely clear what the future had in store for Archewell's podcast division after its very public and messy breakup with Spotify, but eight months later Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's production The company has signed a new contract. Markle will host Lemonada's new show in partnership with famous women including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Samantha Bee and Sarah Silverman.

Markle's previous show, prototypewas a hit on Spotify, with around 1 million downloads per episode. However, Archewell and Spotify have struggled to develop additional series, with Prince Harry reportedly pitching the idea for a show that included interviewing President Vladimir Putin about his childhood. Their deal, which was terminated during Spotify's 2020 spending spree, reportedly cost $20 million.

The financial details of Markle's new deal with Lemonada have not been disclosed. Under the new arrangement, Lemonada will also be responsible for delivering: prototype across platforms.

“We are honored that Meghan has trusted us to help democratize access to Archetypes, and that the series will soon be accessible to even more people around the world. Meghan's talents as a presenter, creator and conversationalist are unparalleled, and we're thrilled to be collaborating with her on a new series that furthers her approach to creating art that matters.” said Lemonada CEO Jessica Cordova Kramer. deadline.

He wouldn't be the first. According to a report from semaphores, There is tension between Trevor Noah and Spotify executives over the direction of the show. Noah's team has reportedly discussed renegotiating his contract with the streamer.

Since its debut in November, Noah has had business leaders and celebrities as guests.but semaphores It has been reported that upper management is pushing for flashy celebrity interviews, but Noah is adamantly against this.

Spotify declined to comment on this report, but clarified that semaphores “We are happy with the show, but we have no news about any changes to share.”

That's all for today! We'll be back again Thursday for Insider. For the rest of you, see you next week!