Following last week’s announcement by Sounder that it is “evolving” its business to focus on data, the company says it is sunsetting its podcast hosting platform and advertising solutions business in the coming months. CEO Kal Amin says it will allow the company to focus all of its efforts on data solutions, where it believes its biggest opportunity lies.
“What we’ve discovered through conversations with hundreds of industry stakeholders is that it’s a real challenge to have access to the data and insights required to make decisions and act,” he writes in a blog post. “In response, we’re going to be focusing our attention on the biggest opportunity in audio: building data solutions for audio. We are hyper-focused on continuing to build out the world’s leading brand safety, brand suitability, and contextual targeting solutions for audio content.”
The move means all of Sounder’s advertising solutions will stop operating on December 31. And then a month later, its podcasting hosting platform will shut down on January 31, 2023. Sounder says many of its creators are moving over to iHeartMedia’s Spreaker – a corporate cousin – although it is also working to help shows move to other hosting companies too.
Seeing an opportunity to grow its business, Libsyn has announced it will offer Sounder’s customers that jump to its platform six-months of free services. Podcasters with a current and active show will need to sign up for a hosting and advertising package valued at $20 per month or less and then contact Libsyn customer support to receive a full credit. “We will make the transition as seamless as possible for them — to have their hosting and advertising services up and running quickly,” VP Rich Romano said.