After Ben Shapiro’s appearance at Podcast Movement prompted outcry, the company that handles his podcast sales is cutting ties with the event.
After Ben Shapiro’s appearance at Podcast Movement prompted outcry, the company that handles his podcast sales is cutting ties with the event.
Photo by Jason Kempin / Getty Images

I hope you had a nice day. It was a gift from the messy drama gods and I spent a lot of it on the social networking site. We saw what Chris Pine said we saw.

The brouhaha will not end. Get into it.

The radio station cut ties with the podcasting movement over the controversy surrounding the author.

Do you like getting news in your inbox after 4PM? It's not really. I appreciate that part of the story. The company decided not to participate in next year's conference after the organizers apologized for Ben Shapiro showing up at the conference.

We support conferences and trade events where differing political viewpoints can be expressed and appreciated. The company said in a statement that they were dismayed and disappointed by the way the reaction was handled by the company. After giving the leaders ofPodcast movement enough time to address their mistake, we are no longer associated with them.

If you haven't been following, the biggest conference in the industry was in Dallas two weeks ago. Most major audio companies were there, including Cumulus Media and The Daily Wire. Some people were angry and the organizers of the conference apologized for the harm done by his presence. The shitstorm started with it. The conference and its attendants were accused of being tolerant by right-wing media, while some conference attendees demanded more accountability.

On Friday, the podcast movement said that they were putting in place policies to guide their social media and events with respect for all. A journey is what it is. We will continue to listen and grow together.

If The Daily Wire were to be excluded from future events, it would be another consequence for which organizers were not prepared. There are three radio companies in the country. It is not as large as iHeartMedia, but it is not insignificant. The Daily Wire and other conservative shows are represented by the same company. It makes sense that the network would want to repair their relationship with the movement in order to show that there is a place for conservatives at the conference.

The company did not respond to a request for comment, so it's not clear what steps the company expected to take after the blow up. Something was in the works and it feels like it.

The podcasting movement quietly took down its apology on social media.

That is a strange one. I saw this when trying to link it to all of you, but the apology thread is gone. Thanks to the Wayback Machine, you can still check out the full thread.

The apology was posted on August 25th and said that the decision to accept money from The Daily Wire was not acceptable. snapshots on Wayback show the apology has been removed.

There was no response to a request for comment. I am curious to know why it was taken down after people already saw it, and if discussions with Cumulus had anything to do with it. If I hear something, I will keep you up to date.

Is it possible that the creator economy can be competed in by podcastsers?

I love a new list. A list of the top 50 creators was released yesterday by my former employer. Alex Cooper made the list. She was ranked third behind MrBeast and D-Amelio. The list shows that Cooper is the exception rather than the rule.

She isn't the only one on the list with a podcasts. Several of the people on the list do. The side hustle of thePodcast is more often than not a side hustle than the main show. Because they established themselves first through film and television, traditional celebrities like Dax Shepard, Joe Rogan, and Conrad O'Brien are missing from the list.

Cooper is the only one who rose to prominence solely through his work. She has gained a following among young women thanks to her use of video and social media. She has a combined 3.6 million followers across platforms, but the audience is nowhere near the level that creators get on YouTube and TikTok (she has a combined 3.6 million followers across platforms, but the audience is nowhere near the level that creators get on YouTube and TikTok).

Being one of the top stars in the podcasting industry has earned Cooper a $60 million deal with the streaming service. Since another creator who wasn't a celebrity or athlete has been able to break through, it has been a long time. The same problems that have yet to be solved by the industry are the ones that make it difficult to create a sustainable creator economy through podcasting alone.

Is there a limit to the amount of work that can be done by one person? There is more on that...

Is it doomed to become a video?

I hope not, but Michael Mignano makes a good point about why that might be the case. He wrote that video podcasts may be the best way to increase engagement.

Everyone has been waiting for podcasts to become a bigger business for a long time. He wrote that video may be the key. It may be a good thing for everyone involved ifPodcasts go the way of video.

He believes that the video market is bigger than the audio market and that videos are more popular than audio-only clips. Alex Cooper's success in tapping into the video market and taking advantage of social is supported by strong support.

Do we lose anything if podcasts becomedistinguishable from run-of-the-mill videos? I like audio so I am here. You love audio so you are reading this. It requires less of my eyeballs, which are fixed on my computer most days. I appreciate that, unlike with video, it all comes down to the story telling, conversation and aural engagement. I don't care if I don't know what the show I listen to looks like.

I am not naive about the fact that a lot of people in the industry will embrace video and that it will be key to the expansion of podcasting. Even if it never gets as big as video, I think there are enough audio-only consumers who will still enjoy traditional podcasts.

Today is long one. I will be back next week with the newest drama.

The audio industry is growing every Tuesday.