Zack Reneau-Wedeen leaves Google Podcasts on a high

• The founder of Google Podcasts, Zack Reneau-Wedeen, has left Google. He’s now working on cryptocurrency for investment platform Robinhood - though we understand he hadn’t been working on podcasts within the company for some time. Gabe Bender, Google Podcasts’ product lead, left in April. So who’s driving Google Podcasts today? Steve McLendon, a former co-founder of 60dB (which Google bought in 2017), describes himself on Twitter as “working on podcast stuff at Google”. The team is also working on a tech refresh of Feedburner.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Sep 6 2023

• What did Zack achieve? The Google Podcasts Android app hit 100m downloads in April; and in July, Buzzsprout reported that it was the world’s third largest podcast app, hitting 3% of all podcast plays. Podcasts are also highlighted within the main Google search; and a Google Podcasts link works on every single Android phone since the player is built into the always-present Google app, and the same link also works on iOS and desktop as well. Here’s where to get badges.

• The mass-market Android phone from Google, the Pixel 5a, launched last week, appears to have Google Podcasts as a suggested preinstalled app, according to this unboxing video - it was also preinstalled in the flagship Pixel 5 when that phone launched last year. The Android 12 setup also appears to suggest the app as standard. Google sold 7.2m Pixel phones in 2019, up more than 50% year-on-year, but Samsung sold 295m: and Apple sold a similar number. Pre-installed apps are mostly chosen by phone manufacturers and cellular operators.

• Amazon is reportedly building a Clubhouse/TwitterSpaces/Greenroom clone, focusing on live music.

  
  Sep 6 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Backtracks has has its analytics numbers certified by the IAB TechLab. The company’s certification for v2.1 of the guidelines covers download and listener numbers for shows hosted on the service, and join Acast as being certified for client-confirmed ad plays on the company’s own player.

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• The BBC has attracted criticism for signing Cheryl, a pop singer most famous for girl band Girls Aloud, to front a BBC Sounds exclusive show about R&B.

• In Paris, an event about Radio and Podcasts will take place on Sep 11.

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