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Spotify released its quarter to 25 financial report.

Year on year, the company made 53% more income and 19% higher profit.

It now has 696 million monthly users, that numbers up 11%.

But Spotify's revenue from ads decreased by 1% to $523 million.

Daniel Ek tackled this head-on in his opening remarks.

The one area that hasn't yet met our expectations is our ads business.

We've simply been moving too slowly and it's taken longer than expected to see the improvements we initiated to take hold.

It's really an execution challenge, not a problem with the strategy.

And while I'm unhappy with where we are today, I remain confident in the ambitions we laid out for this business.

And we're working quickly to ensure we're on the right path.

It's emerged that Spotify's VP of global advertising, Lee Brown, is to leave the company by what's described as a mutual agreement.

How is video working on Spotify then?

Well, in December 2023, the company only had 100,000 video podcasts on its platform.

Now, according to Gustav Söderström,

There are now more than 430,000 video podcasts on Spotify.

And video continues to outperform, with consumption trending higher and higher, growing 20 times faster than audio-only consumption since 2024.

And more than 350 million users have streamed the video podcast on our platform.

And that's a 65% increase year over year.

Now, those figures look impressive, but Spotify only launched their big video push in November 2024.

And many larger video podcasters are quietly given $5,000 of advertising to kick things off, which might mean only a temporary uplift.

But later in the earnings call, Alex Nordström added that...

Users who watch a podcast consume 1.5x more than users who just listen.

Which is definitely a stat, isn't it?

Elsewhere, nominees for the 2025 Earworthy Awards have been announced, which recognises indie podcasts and podcasters.

Our editorial policy is that we don't single out specific podcasts who get nominations, which we're slightly regretting today.

At the end of June, the Times of London's Arts section had a cover story about an exciting new podcast about the downfall of EMI Records.

The article ended that Music, Money and Mayhem is on BBC Sounds from July the 7th.

We gather that the show is made by Novel in partnership with BBC Studios, but the BBC hasn't announced it at all, and the show has yet to appear more than three weeks later.

Novel hasn't responded for comment, but if it's made and it's been promoted and presumably paid for, we're curious where it is.

In People News, Alexander Damiano Ritchie is to leave his position as Chief Operating Officer of Europod, the Brussels-based podcast agency at the end of this month, after seven years.

And in podcast news, in the off-cuts drawer, successful writers share their best, worst ideas.

Laura Shavin, a voiceover and actor, interviews great writers about the stuff they never finished, had rejected, or can't quite find a home for, and get them performed.

This week, it's Dan Mayer, a comedy writer who's written for Charlie Brooker, Harry Hill, and The Big Breakfast, among others.

Game Changers Radio is for you if you like the science behind radio, hosted by three Aussie radio professionals.

It had been focusing on the Melbourne radio market, but has broadened its focus recently to all Australian radio and beyond.

And generative AI is not like other education technologies, which schools often invite into the classroom.

This one crashed the party, and then it started rearranging the furniture.

In a little over a year, the Teaching Systems Lab has talked to over 90 teachers and 30 students about the impact of generative AI, and kicks off a new season this week.

Teach Lab presents The Homework Machine, a mini-series exploring the impact of AI on K-12 education.

And this podcast is sponsored by Riverside.

It's the online podcast editor that cuts down listening time.

Riverside now offers separate track editing, audio enhancement, EQ, filler word removal, and music.

Riverside gives you everything you need to produce professional podcasts fast.

There's a link in the show notes for you to give it a try.

And that's the latest from our newsletter to read all the stories and subscribe for free.

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