AI To Revolutionise Podcast Advertising

In an Australian first, Artificial Intelligence (Ai) will transform content from Australia’s leading news website, news.com.au, into content marketing placements for inclusion in Acast’s content catalogue.

Acast, the world’s leading independent podcast company, hosts and distributes some of Australia’s popular podcasts across categories including Sport, Business, Lifestyle.

Listeners to the Acast network will receive real-time news headlines advertising news.com.au.

Aaron Matthews, Head of Creative at Creative Fix, said the technology will not only deliver new content to listeners in real time, but that news categories can be paired with relevant podcast.

“It also overcomes the traditional barriers faced by audio producers, with most audio ad production being time-consuming, making this ideal for productions with tight timelines.”

Gina McGrath, Head of Marketing for news.com.au., said the relationship allows readers to be on top of he latest news, wherever they are. “This activity embodies our brand promise to ‘be on it’, delivering the news that matters to our audience the way they want to consume it.”

The initiative is a collaboration between Acast, news.com.au., Creative Fix, and Audiostack, and will use Audiostack’s scalable AI audio production to convert news articles into audio while also augmenting the voiceover with music and sound design.

Dr. Timo P. Kunz, Co-founder and CEO of AudioStack.ai said: “We’re really excited about the massive innovation Creative Fix has brought to the audio advertising sector. Using news headlines is exactly the type of use case we built AudioStack for: creating audio fast and at scale.”

The news audio ads are delivered as 30-second news bulletins across Acast’s full network.

Visit Creative Fix for more.

Futuri Launches Futuri AudioAI

Futuri, the leader in AI-powered software solutions for the media industry, announced the launch of Futuri AudioAI, formerly known as RadioGPT.

The end-to-end content system, which combines automation system integration, Futuri’s TopicPulse story discovery AI, large language model (LLM) technology, and AI voice, has enhanced multiple features and added new capabilities. In response to industry demand, it’s also now accessible to television broadcasters, digital publishers, streaming stations, and others wanting to capture growth opportunities in live audio.

The new Futuri AudioAI integrates multiple LLMs – beyond the GPT-4 integration that was a component of Radio GPT – to develop content based on up-to-the-minute TopicPulse insights. Using multiple LLMs means the content Futuri AudioAI delivers is even stronger, and it better enables Futuri to improve the system continuously.

The enhancement also benefits Futuri AudioAI’s weather report capabilities, which enable stations to strengthen their live and local positioning by running sponsorable weather reports with live conditions around the clock – even overnights and weekends.

Futuri has also partnered with a network of powerhouse voice AI companies to augment its in-house AI voices, including ElevenLabs, PlayHT, and Resemble AI, to make voices from their portfolios available alongside those powered by in-house Future voice AI. These selections are all housed in Future’s Voice Choice Library, giving users access to a broad array of best-in-class options all in one place. Futuri AudioAI users can continue to clone their own talent to add to their own AI voice libraries.

“AI is evolving at warp speed, as are Futuri’s capabilities,” said Futuri CEO and Founder Daniel Anstangdig. “Futuri AudioAI takes the best of RadioGPT, which has received an extraordinary worldwide response, and makes its core features more powerful. Plus, adding these esteemed AI voice partners to our Voice Choice Library gives our users unparalleled options to differentiate their sound. Futuri is proud to lead the way in AI innovation for media companies and content creators.”

Anstandig and other members of the Futuri team have recently delivered keynote addresses on the power of AI at conferences in London, Zurich, Oslo, Toronto, Copenhagen, Kuala Lumpur, and more, and Anstangid recently led a discussion on AI capabilities at the NAB Show New York’s Radio Insights: Executive Seminar.

The launch of Futuri AudioAI follows the July launch of SpotOn, the state-of-the-art AI solution that delivers end-to-end production – original scripts, music, and voiceover – for radio and television broadcasters looking to streamline the production of promos, spec spots, and commercials. In its first three months, SpotOn has generated more than 150,000 different pieces of custom audio with original, never reused scripts for its partners.

 

Riverside Introduces Magic Clips

Riverside, a leading high-res content creation solution, has released a new feature offering users an effortless way to generate short-form clips from long-form content.

This new tool, Magic Clips, handles the clipping process from start to finish at the click of a button. With just a few more clicks, users can format these clips for different social platforms, add captions, customize them, and create more clips as they please.

If there was a time when viewers were willing to commit to an entire podcast or show without a first taste, that time is gone. Nowadays, the journey into new viewers’ playlists and watchlists starts with their social media feeds, where quick, vibrant, and easily digestible content is the name of the game.

And it doesn’t stop at capturing the audience’s attention. Our digital world is overflowing with countless podcasts, shows, and long-form content vying for viewership. You’ll need to continuously engage with your audience, or someone else will snatch them.

What all this means for curators is more work cut out for them (pun intended.)

Social clips? There’s AI for that.

That’s where Magic Clips steps in. This practical feature, powered by the most recent AI advancements, provides a hassle-free solution to transform lengthy recordings into captivating short clips. With a single click, AI identifies key moments in your recording and edits them as standalone clips, perfectly optimized for various social media platforms.

Effortless by automation

With Magic Clips, there’s now need to sift through recordings in search of compelling moments. Magic Clips handles the heavy lifting for you. Leveraging cutting-edge AI technology, the process becomes completely automated, picking out your best moments and editing them.

Time-saving

Magic Clips replaces hours of work with a single click. Not only that, but your clips will be ready chop-chop (pun intended, again). So, by the end of it, you’re all set to share your clips a lot quicker. Plus, you’re left with more time to focus on engaging with your audience and producing more creative endeavors.

Instantly-sharable

By supporting multiple sizes and layouts to choose from, your clips can be tailored to platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more. Click again to add captions, making your clips accessible to different audience needs and suited for various circumstances where audio can’t be played.

You’re in control

While Magic Clips takes care of the initial clip generation, creators retain complete control over the final product. Using an intuitive interface, you can add your personal touch, brand them, and make any necessary adjustments as you see fit. Of course, you can also create more clips.

How it works

Record

Wait for your guests to arrive (or not if your doing it solo), then hit the record button to start capturing and uploading your long-form studio-quality recording.

Clip 

When you finish recording, enter the editor and click on the Magic Clips button (you can’t miss it). Now, sit back and watch the magic happen.

Caption

Because Riverside transcribes all your recording by default, all you got to do is click to add them as captions to your clips and make them accessible and watchable by anyone, no matter when or where.

Customize 

Re-trim your clips as you see fit, select the right layout and size based on where you want to share them, change backgrounds, and finish off your clips.

Share

Download your work (you can select different file formats, yeah) and post it.

Get the most out of your content

With the introduction of Magic Clips, creators can quickly repurpose highlights from their content and share it with their audience on any platform. With the help of AI, Magic Clip automatically captures the very essence of long-form recordings and turns them into short clips that leave a lasting impression on audiences across social media. Embrace the possibilities, engage you followers, and elevate your content.

 

AMA Launches AI-Powered Features For Personalized Audio Advertising

AMA (A Million Ads), the global leader in dynamic creative and personalization for digital audio advertising, announced the launch of its innovative AI-powered product features, Studio.AI, designed to further enhance the speed and precision of the AMA dynamic decisioning engine. The new solution intelligently syncs audio files with script lines and selects relevant data triggers for highly-personalized ad experiences and is available for use across leading audio platforms, including Spotify, Pandora, Acast and iHeart.

The digital audio advertising market has skyrocketed, fueled by consumer adoption of premium content through music streaming services and podcasts, increased programmatic availability of inventory for advertisers, and advertiser interest in investing in privacy-safe channels. In 2023, digital audio ad investments are expected to surpass $10 billion, and within the next four years, will climb to nearly $13 billion. To continue to unlock growth, particularly form new and smaller brand advertisers, however, the production and targeting of campaigns must become more intelligently automated and data-driven.

“Brands, big and small should be equipped with creative capabilities enabling them to develop experiences that are scalable, performant and cost-effective,” said Steve Dunlop, Founder and CEO of AMA. “We are introducing AI that, makes it easier to build and launch campaigns that are tailored and high-performing, thereby reducing the barriers to entry for advertising on digital audio.”

Enter the Studio.AI product suite. Built into AMA’s flagship platform, AMA Studio, this suite activates AI to:

Effortless Audio-Script Synchronization

Studio.AI streamlines the creative process for producers by automatically matching the ideal audio voice elements to each script, ensuring a seamless and engaging listening experience for users. With this feature, producers can reduce time-to-live, bring ideas to life quicker, and reach audiences with the benefits of dynamic content faster than ever before.

Hyper-Personalization with Data Triggers

Studio.AI enables advertisers to deliver tailored and relevant audio ads to listeners by choosing the best data triggers such as location, day/time, weather, device type, events and ad rotation. This technology enhances ad engagement and effectiveness by ensuring each listener receives a unique and contextually relevant ad experience.

“The launch of these AI-powered features marks a significant milestone in digital audio advertising,” said Paul Kelly, CRO of AMA. “By harnessing the power of AI to support enhance and accelerate dynamic creative optimization, we are making incredible leaps in helping advertisers connect with listeners, delivering highly personalized and effective experiences and campaigns.”

In addition to these advanced features, AMA is exploring integrations with the powerful AI tools available including OpenAI’s ChatGPT to support creative development. This collaboration will further enable advertisers to craft highly engaging and personalized audio ads, amplifying their campaigns’ impact.

Studio.AI’s features are now available around the world for advertisers taking advantage of audio platforms like Spotify, Pandora, Acast and iHeart among others who are already partnered with AMA. Brands currently using the new AI-powered features include Target, Walmart, Google, and booking.com among others. 

Podchaser Develops AI-Powered Data Capabilities With Launch of Collections+

Podchaser – the podcast industry’s intelligence engine – announces the launch of a groundbreaking AI-powered capability to allow advertisers to expand their reach in podcasting and refine their targeting further than ever before. Podchaser’s Collections+ has been developed and tested with Acast, and is now being made available to any hosting provider, ad platform or marketplace in the industry looking to enhance its own targeting offering for advertisers.

With Collections+, data on podcasts and their audiences is pulled from the widest range of sources across podcasting – including the hosting platform’s own data, Podchaser’s first-party data, Apple Podcasts and Spotify category and chart data, IAB categories, surveys and transcriptions. 

The data is then synthesized using AI models, sorting podcasts into verticals based on all available data points. This creates the highest quality collections for advertisers to target against in the industry, replacing the traditional method, where podcasts are categorized manually into groups which advertisers then choose to buy against for their campaigns.

Bradley Davis, CEO at Podchaser said: “We’re turning what once was the art of podcast buying into a true science using everyone’s best friend, AI. By combining Podchaser’s position as the industry’s intelligence engine with Acast’s decade of deep experience in packaging podcasts to help advertisers reach valuable audiences, we’ve been able to create the highest-quality collections in the industry, which go beyond simple manual human classification.

“As audience-first buying becomes increasingly important, and more and more dollars flow into brand campaigns, we’re optimizing ad planning for everyone. Advertisers are empowered to plan smarter campaigns and we’re enabling more podcasters to earn more revenue. Most importantly, this data technique is being made available to the whole industry to use, to improve podcasting for all.”

Data shows that 44% of US podcast advertising investment lands with the top 500 shows. But these shows only account for 12% of monthly reach, which means advertisers are missing the opportunity to target nearly 88% of the addressable podcast audience. Collections+ benefits all parties in podcasting: for advertisers it brings more scale, increased longevity of creatives, better campaign diversity and increased effectiveness. For podcasters, it means greater discoverability amongst advertisers, increased chance of revenue and more shows monetized.

For example, a podcast may present itself as focusing on travel, but through Collections+ Podchaser can deduce that episodes veer heavily into discussions around, say, mental health as well as self-development, allowing that show to be included in more relevant sales verticals, making the podcast more discoverable to advertisers and attracting even more relevant advertising to engaged audiences than before.

At Acast, Collections+ has already seen uptake from a large number of brands including several Fortune 500 companies, and has enabled Acast to monetize 5% more shows in the first seven weeks of testing. For advertisers, buying through Acast, the capability is available in all markets at no additional cost – whether brought through Acast’s sales teams, programmatically or via Acast’s self-serve advertising program.

Collections+ is available now for any podcast hosting or ad platform – contact cole@podchaser.com for more information.