The podcasting world is booming, however, one thing holds all players back – access to data and actionable insights. Sounder has announced a revolutionary step to unlock this potential: open APIs. This bold move democratizes audio intelligence, opening doors for developers and creators to reshape the entire industry. Stay tuned below for a deep dive into the implications of open APIs in the world of podcasting, and an exclusive Q&A and invite to attend a free webinar on Tuesday, January 30th, 2024, 2:30-3:00 pm EST and learn even more!
Why Does This Matter?
Imagine dissecting every word, sentiment, and engagement factor across podcasts. Imagine building tools that personalize listener experiences, optimize monetization, and fuel data-driven collaboration. Open APIs in the podcast space make this a reality.
What This Means for the Podcast Industry:
- Revolutionizing Discovery: Personalized recommendations, genre-bending AI companions, and dynamic content curation – the possibilities for content discovery are endless. Imagine a world where niche podcasts can be elevated based on the topics they are discussing, not just how much money was spent promoting them.
- Empowering Creators: Forget generic ads and sponsorships. Open APIs unlock hyper-targeted campaigns based on real audience data, maximizing revenue and attracting sponsors that perfectly align with your content.
- Building Collaborative Communities: Imagine developers crafting interactive experiences, AI-powered co-creation tools, and even collaborative podcasting platforms. Opening up APIs for the podcast industry is set to enable unprecedented collaboration between creators and tech minds, pushing the boundaries of what's possible.
- Fueling Innovation: The possibilities are limitless. Podcast analytics dashboards, automated transcription with multilingual support, and promotional AI for creators are just a glimpse into the future. Developers can now build on Sounder's foundation, propelling the entire industry forward.
- Ethical Development, Shared Responsibility: As data becomes more accessible, responsible use is paramount. Sounder is committed to industry-wide standards and open dialogue to ensure ethical development and protect both creators and listeners.
The Future of Podcasting Is Open
Open APIs are a catalyst for a vibrant, data-driven podcasting ecosystem. This is a call to action for developers, creators, and listeners alike. Dive in, build, experiment, and together, let's shape the future of audio storytelling.
Navigating the intricate landscape of open APIs and their anticipated influence on the podcast industry, insights from industry experts are invaluable. I am excited to engage in a meaningful dialogue with Bryan Barletta, Partner at Sounds Profitable. In this exclusive Q&A session, my questions aim not only to spotlight Sounder’s capabilities but also shed light on the broader implications for the podcasting ecosystem. Together with Bryan, we explore the extensive potential applications of open APIs and gain a deeper understanding of how they are poised to shape the future of podcasting.
Potential Applications
Ryan: In the broader podcast industry, how might developers and creators leverage open APIs to pioneer innovative tools or functionalities that could reshape the podcast experience?
Bryan: Any solution that enables creators to effectively start at Step Two, instead of reinventing yet another starting point, advances an entire industry. It also allows small teams with big ideas to hit the ground running, test out their theory, and get it live quickly or move on. This is a tough question, because solutions like this become a branching point for technology, but the first one that came to mind was exploring its uses in fraud detection, by comparing RSS metadata to transcripts along with comparing transcripts across multiple shows to enhance hosting platforms detection of bad actors.
Impact on Content Discovery
Ryan: Looking at the podcast industry as a whole, how will the enhanced accessibility to podcast data reshape the dynamics of content discovery, and how might listeners benefit from more personalized and relevant recommendations?
Bryan: We’re doing the bare minimum today in the major podcast apps when it comes to discovery. The difficulty in doing more is the lift to get that additional data needed to further contextualize each show and even episode listened to, to further filter personalized recommendations. Thinking outside of the apps, podcast growth is an incredibly hands-on aspect of our space with an ultimate goal of getting shows in front of more listeners. We talk a lot about using contextual data to target into podcasts for the most relevant ads, but that data also allows us to find listeners when they’re in other spaces and mediums, and present them with the opportunity to listen to a new show in a way that’s tailored to their interest in that moment.
Creator Empowerment and Monetization
Ryan: In the broader context of the podcasting landscape, how can podcasters, especially smaller creators, utilize Sounder's open APIs to create revenue streams and attract sponsorships, potentially leveling the playing field with established platforms?
Bryan: Lowest hanging fruit is Brand Safety and Suitability, which is built off contextual data. From there you can branch out into comparing your show contextually to shows the advertiser has already advertised on. Further, having a transcript of your show expands the accessibility (and ideally listenership) but also makes it easy to repurpose content for newsletters/blogs/etc... Utilizing tools like this can also help identify the most appealing pieces of content to make audio/video clips from, that not only aid in promotion, but for a number of creators, shortform content is a major advertising opportunity for them in Youtube and TikTok. And making it more accessible for all levels of podcasting means that all of these solutions aren’t one size fits all anymore.
Collaboration and Community Building
Ryan: How can the open APIs foster collaboration within the podcasting community? Could we see new forms of content creation or interactive experiences emerge through developer-creator partnerships?
Bryan: The more people empowered to utilize tools to challenge the norms, the more opportunity we create as an industry. We’re entering the age of low-code and no-code. Of AI driven development. I’ve spent a substantial part of my career as a product manager, but I couldn’t code my way out of a paper bag. But I do write, I do record podcasts, I do have ideas and thoughts on how to capture the attention of my ideal audience, so having access to solutions like this will encourage me to try my hand at solving my own problem or working with people who have the skill to get me my ideal solution vs buying something off the shelf.
Ethical Considerations and Industry Standards
Ryan: As podcast data becomes more readily available, how can we ensure ethical use of this information? What role should industry standards play in regulating the development of tools and applications built on [open] APIs?
Bryan: Innovation is stifled by repeating step one over and over and over again. IAB Podcast Certification is a great example of an incredibly intensive process collectively built to get us all sharing the same data, held to the same standards, even though we all went about it in different ways. I’d like 2024 to be the year where we take an objective look at what “step one’s” we need to move past by standardizing and making more accessible. Sounds Profitable is excited to be part of that conversation to make sure we accomplish that successfully as an industry.
LIVE WEBINAR Tuesday, January 30th: Join Sounder's Director of Product Ryan Coughlin and Sounds Profitable Partner Bryan Barletta for an in-depth discussion on Sounder's groundbreaking move towards open APIs. This livestream dives deep into the implications of open APIs for the podcasting industry. This livestream is a must-attend for anyone interested in the future of podcasting. Learn from industry experts, get your questions answered, and discover the endless possibilities of open APIs.Don't miss this exclusive event! Register now for the livestream HERE, which will take place on Tuesday, January 30th, 2024, at 2:30 pm EST.
