Show me the money!
Vol. 44 - The Canadian podcast sponsorship economy, missing Canadians from Triton's Podcast Ranker, discounts for upcoming podcast events.
Hihi!! Happy Pod the North Tuesday!
In this issue:
SCOOP: A look at the Canadian podcast sponsorship economy.
Missing Canadian podcasts on Triton Digital’s Podcast Ranker.
Canadian Indie: Culture and Context
True North Podcast Feature: Ancestral Science
Discounts for Podcast Powerup at Radiodays North America, and Soundwave Summit coming up in June!
There are currently 28 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 26 First Nations communities across Canada.
ICYMI: Show me the money!
Last night I posted a new “scoop” on Pod the North doing a deep dive into the Canadian podcast sponsorship economy, which I’ve got linked below!
READ IT:
But wait, there’s more!
Shortly after I published the piece, I heard from Canadian indie podcasting powerhouse, Kristi Lee, host and creator of Canadian True Crime, who shared a bit of a mindblowing gripe with me:
“That link to the Triton Digital Canadian Podcast Ranker... it has never included Acast podcasts and I don't know why.”
Wait, huh??
Kristi went on to explain to me that this is not a great reflection of who’s thriving in Canada, or making our uphill battle against American podcasts in the charts any easier.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don’t think I’ve ever seen many of the Canadian podcasts that I know are popular on this ranker (nation-wide and globally) — Canadian True Crime, Canadian Politics Is Boring, Canadian History Ehx to name a few.
Kristi pointed out that while there have certainly been CBC podcasts listed in the ranker, she noticed that quite a few other Canadian podcast networks were missing, including Canadaland and Frequency Podcast Network. So why aren’t other popular Canadian podcasts ranking on Triton?
According to the Triton Digital website’s fine-print, the ranker only measures “participating publishers”, so it turns out the ranker might not actually be the most accurate representation of the most popular podcasts in Canada!
So how does one become a participating publisher?
Digging into Triton’s website a little more, you’ll find a button to “join the podcast ranker”, but when you click it, it opens up an email draft to send to their “solutions” team. I didn’t get that far, but I’d be curious to hear from anyone who has! Given the requirement for “eligibility”, I’m willing to bet there are dollars involved.
Luckily, ranking in Triton’s top podcasts isn’t the only way to measure the success for your podcast — in fact it definitely shouldn’t be.
But if you’re successfully and independently producing a podcast, the optics of not showing up in a ranker that is commonly referenced by the industry is certainly a kick to the gut (sorry Kristi!).
Buy exclusive ad space on Pod the North!
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Check out this Canadian Indie: Culture and Context
Tristan Barrocks and Jodianne Beckford take you on an engaging exploration of culture and the intricate contexts that define it.
Insightful conversations on entrepreneurship as a creative journey, the boundless realms of creativity, valuable life lessons, and our take on the latest in current events and pop culture. Get ready for a dynamic blend of wisdom, wit, and cultural celebration with Tristan and Jodianne.
True North Podcast Feature: Ancestral Science
Exploring and sharing the depth of scientific knowledge within stories that humans have been gifted, from the star, land, and animal ancestors for thousands of years.
What’s going on in Canada’s podcast ecosystem:
New Releases:
May 6, 2024 — New True Crime podcast, White Devil, launches its first episode next week! The show tells the story of Jasmin Hartin, a Canadian woman partnered with the son of Belize's most powerful man, who is charged with killing a Belizean police superintendent.
May 14, 2024 — Pretendians, from Canadaland’s brand new slate of podcasts, joins Robert Jago and Angel Ellis as they reveal the dozens of cases of Indigenous identity fraud that we know about, why these so-called “Pretendians” do it, how they pull it off, and what happens when they are exposed.
You should know:
Hey, did you enter Canadaland’s Local Correspondent Audio Contest yet?? Do you like audio? Do you like storytelling? And most importantly, do you like fun? Great! Then you should absolutely submit an original 3-minute audio story to Canadaland’s Local Correspondent Audio Contest. They’re looking for funny, weird or interesting stories rooted in a sense of place. Non-fiction, fiction, English, multilingual — whatever! As long as you follow the guidelines, your story WILL be published on the Canadaland website!! Plus, up to 20 winning stories will get featured on one of their podcast feeds and receive $500. Submissions close on May 31st. For a full list of rules and to submit your story, visit: canadaland.com/audiocontest
Congratulations to the team at Kelly&Kelly on their recent Webby Award win, with Supreme: The Battle for Roe named Best Scripted Fiction Podcast and People’s Choice for Scripted Fiction Podcast!
CoHost has released its second annual State of Podcast Agencies report. Some key insights include stats around what discovery methods get the most customers for podcast agencies, with word-of-mouth and referals at the top of the list.
Why the Best Worst Depiction of Podcast Journalism Matters. Yezua Ho at the Review of Journlism recently wrote a piece about how video games and media are depicting podcast journlism — and it’s far from pretty. This is a fun read, check it out!
recently sat down with Curator of Audio Storytelling at Tribeca, Davy Gardner, to discuss what’s to come with the Tribeca Audio Storytelling Festival. Give it a read on
!
Events:
June 2-4, 2024 — Radiodays North America is coming to Toronto, including a full day of podcast programming called Podcast Powerup. The themes of the conference will include AI in the broadcasting space, podcasting, and diversity and inclusion. Notable speakers include James Cridland, Connie Walker, Laura Mayer, and yours truly, Kattie Laur! Get the early bird rate with $75 off your ticket until May 10th!
June 6, 2024 — The inaugural Soundwave Summit is coming to Toronto, a full days event showcasing everything Canadian indie podcasting. It is made up of two parts: a daytime portion, Soundwave Sessions, which offers panels, presentations and networking opportunities at Startwell. In the evening, catch the Soundwave Showcase, which includes a series of live podcast performances at Paradise Theatre. Get your ticket and check out the full lineup on the website. You can also use the code PODTHENORTH15 to get 15% off your ticket! (Full disclosure, I get a kickback from tickets sold with my code!)
For your pod:
How to Make Listener Donations and Memberships Easy for Your Podcast
Blubrry is offering 50% off their podcast hosting plan to Canadian students.
A final note:
My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who voted “end piece” on this poll. I hope you’re okay.
Just Joe(‘s feets)…
If you have thoughts or Canadian podcasting news, please share them with me! Leave a comment or reply to the newsletter email.
If you’re feeling generous there are a couple ways to financially support Pod the North at any budget: opt-in to pay for this Substack on a monthly or yearly basis, buy me a coffee, or buy an ad!
Thanks for supporting Pod the North, I’ll be back in your inbox in two weeks!
Kattie
@Podkatt (Twitter, Spotify, and Goodpods) | @PodtheNorth (Bluesky and Instagram)
