Two New Episodes of "Listening": Libsyn Expands Into Canada & Germany; Lauren Passel's 11 Best Advice Podcasts

 Two New Episodes of the Listening podcast now available

Last week, Mailchimp Presents and Talkhouse launched Listening: a podcast where some of the most inventive and acclaimed musicians make sense of the world around them, by transforming their surroundings into brand-new compositions. Each of the 10 episodes creates an intimate portrait of a particular time and place in the featured artist's life, as they debut their piece, discuss its creation, and explore both the personal influence and collectively enriching power of deeper listening. 

Following the release of Episodes 1-4, which featured Jeff, Spencer and Sammy Tweedy, Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee, Mdou Moctar and Neko Case, the next two installments of Listening are available across all podcast platforms today. 

In Episode 5, composer, multi-instrumentalist and new age icon Laraaji premieres the piece he created exclusively for the series at home in Harlem, and talks about the importance of laughter, the transcendent abilities of sound, and more. For Episode 6, electronic music producer Jlin debuts her composition and demonstrates how intuition and patience play key roles in unlocking her creative practice, which melds elements of Chicago footwork, neo-classical and folk traditions from around the world, into a polyrhythmic sound that's completely her own. 

 

Subscribe to Listening here.

Equal parts podcast and concept album, Listening is hosted by Elia Einhorn and "very well might be the most ambitious music podcast series ever made," says Ian Wheeler, Founder of Talkhouse Creative Studio & Executive Producer of Listening.

"The last couple of years have blurred the lines of how we live, what's important and how we express ourselves," adds Julie Douglas, Senior Podcast Manager and Executive Producer of Mailchimp Studios. "And this podcast is a reflection of that, with amazing artists-musicians creating a kind of call and response to the world in the form of original compositions with companion commentary, and our friends and collaborators at Talkhouse acting as thoughtful translators and bringing these stories to life."

 

Libsyn launches podcast advertising service in Canada and buys largest German podcast advertising service

 

Is big always better? No, but Libsyn, the podcast hosting and advertising service giant, continues to expand globally in podcast services.

 

 Last week, Libsyn), announced it has launched podcast advertising services in Canada as part of the Company’s continued expansion. In addition, Libsyn has signed iconic Canadian Sportscaster Bob McCown's Podcast and Canada's largest independent comedy podcast company, The Sonar Network, to exclusive deals.

According to the Infinite Dial 2022 Canada, podcast listening in Canada continues its growth to its highest point in weekly and monthly habits, leading both the U.S. and Australia with 43 percent of Canadians 18+ listening monthly.

 

Then, Libsyn announced that it had acquired Julep Media  (“Julep”), Germany’s largest independent platform for podcast advertising. The combination of Julep and Libsyn subsidiary AdvertiseCast opens new international markets for Libsyn and represents only the first step in Libsyn’s expansion to become the global destination for creators looking to monetize and brands looking for exposure in the fast-growing podcast media market.

 

Founded in 2019, Julep has rapidly grown to serve the entire podcast ecosystem throughout Germany, including advertising, hosting, and content production. Julep monetizes over 500 podcasts and more than 50,000 episodes, distributes over 45 million downloads per month, and provides advertising solutions to more than 300 brands and agencies across diverse sectors of the German economy.

 

While the company's expansion is admirable, it must also maintain its organizational and financial coherence.  In May 2021, Libsyn stated that “the Company will correct the financial statements for 2018 and 2019 and the quarterly reports for 2020." 

 

Getting bigger and more global will only make it harder to accurately track financial numbers.

 

Eleven of the Best Advice Podcasts from Lauren Passell

 

At some time in our lives, we all need advice. Unfortunately, advice comes in two common forms -- bad and terrible. Good advice is about as rare as Elon Musk's displays of modesty.

 

So we need to be careful when accepting advice. I remember asking a trusted friend about the wisdom of buying Home Depot stock at $12 per share in 1981 in its Initial Public Offering (IPO). His answer: "You're wasting your money. Home Depot will be bankrupt in five years." 

So I listened to him. If I had invested $1,000 back then, my Home Depot stock would be worth over a million dollars today. 

There are plenty of podcasts itching to give you advice. You have the gold standard on financial advice from Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard. Then you have the famous people whose advice is about as solid as my friend's Home Depot investing warning.

Dr. Phil's voice is even more annoying on audio only. Dr. Drew? I'd rather listen to Frazier Crane (Kelsey Grammar). Dr. Oz? Sure, if you want to be told that chewing on a branch from a tree in Southeastern China will cure cancer. Go right ahead.

Last week, Tink Media founder and podcast journalist Lauren Passell wrote an article for Life Hacker titled, 11 of the Best Advice Podcasts to answer all your tough questions.

The article offers great advice about getting good advice. Passell recommends such podcasts as A Bintel Brief, a truly inspired Jewish lifestyle advice podcast, Yo, Is This Racist?, and Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel. Passell recommends eight other advice podcasts all worth some ear time so check out her article here.