Tencent to pay a mountain of cash for Ximalaya
Sponsored by Magellan AI. Planning + insight = podcast growth. See how Boll & Branch did it. Discover what worked
- Chinese podcasting company Ximalaya is reportedly to be acquired by Tencent Music for $2.4bn, reports Bloomberg. (Spotify bought Anchor for just $140mn). Ximalaya, which claimed more than 303mn monthly active users in 2023, spent $100mn on a US expansion in 2019 (though it may not have done); the company tried to float on the NYSE, but didn’t, and was going to float in Hong Kong, but hasn’t.
- Himalaya’s highest-profile employee in the US was Peter Vincer, who made the headlines in Jun 2021 (though he denied the story); now called Notorious LLC, his company hasn’t posted on socials for the last five months (one of its last posts: a picture of Vincer dressed as Superman).
- Spotify quietly launched a trending podcasts chart a few weeks ago: “designed to spotlight the shows that are getting people talking right now.” Available in many different countries, you can see it at the Spotify Podcast Charts website, or in JSON form.
- It’s quite similar in intention to the Apple Podcast chart, which is also mostly based on trending information. And for bragging rights, it’ll be much better than the standard Spotify chart , since newly-launched shows should rocket to the top.
- Podlibre has been launched - the project is to build an all-in-one, open-source, privacy-first desktop app to help make podcasts. Run by Benjamin Bellamy’s Ad Aures, it has funding from NLnet.
> > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.
Classifieds - your job or ad here
- Podcast Growth & Monetization tips every Thursday! — Subscribe to the FREE Podcasting Business School newsletter and get fresh tips every Thursday for podcast growth, monetization, and online business strategies. Join over 4,000+ Pod Pals on this list.
- 🚀 AUDIENCELIFT = LISTENS + SUBSCRIBERS! — Audiencelift advertises your podcast to the right audience with links to listen, follow, and opt in for push notifications! It's perfect if you want to grow and engage your audience. Learn more!
- 🚨 Last Chance to Book Late June Podcast Ads — Only 3 days left to lock in self-serve campaigns running 6/16-6/30 on Player FM! Boost downloads, grow your audience, and get your show discovered. Don’t wait!
Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, Cloud10, Sounds Profitable, The Podglomerate, Audiohook, SALT, audioBoom, RedCircle, Steve Lack: Audio, Podscribe, Cohost, Resound, Simplecast, Riverside.fm, Jar Podcast Solutions, Podchaser, Awesound, Acast, Podpage websites, We Edit Podcasts, Knucklehead Media Group, Evergreen Podcasts, Disctopia
Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Gamut Podcast Network, Bumper, Goalhanger, Sounds Debatable, Magellan AI, Red Seat Ventures, Frequency, Podium , The Podcast Haven, Storyboard, The Roost, Tink Media, Ask Ralph Christian Finance, SoundStack, Ausha, Voxtopica, Gumball, Jonekiri, Huberman Lab, Truefans, Compliance Podcast Network, Gilded Audio, POW PR, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Castbox, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Diversion Podcasts, Castos, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Rhapsody Voices, Ossa Collective, Zvook, matchmaker.fm, Double Elvis Productions, Rephonic, Optimal Living Daily, Heartcast Media50, Transistor, Lemonada Media, Podcast Taxi, Jam Street Media, Headliner, Blubrry, Oxford Road, Wondery, Ad Results Media, Content10x, Podcast Partnership, Hear.Here.Singapore, StreamGuys, She Podcasts, Cleanfeed, Revolver Podcasts, Lower Street, Adopter Media, Sonix, School of Podcasting, Podigy, Podcast Movement, Signal Hill Insights, Edison Research
Our supporters pay for Podnews, so everyone can read it. Join them today.
Image: Simon Berger