Blubrry Releases New Podcasting 2.0 Integration: Value4Value

If you’re not familiar with Podcast 2.0 features, we’re here to help. Not only will we help you understand the advancements underway in the podcast space, but we’re at the forefront of implementing these changes. We have added a whole host of new features, and today we are introducing the Value4Value feature to provide you with a new revenue stream.

Our Goal

Blubrry and other podcast companies are working relentlessly to expand podcasting by expanding the functionality of RSS. We aren’t here to overwhelm you with technical jargon, but we’re here to inform you of the benefits to you and your audience.

Many of these new features are easy to understand and implement. True, the V4V model is likely the most complicated and could cause you to scratch your head. That’s why we have made it as easily as humanly possible to implement with our partner, Alby.

Implementation is only the first step; we will continue to educate you on the best practices to make your audience understand the Value4Value model and how it can change the entire dynamic of your show.

What is Value4Value?

This is one of the most exciting new features yet and, as far as we are concerned, the most significant opportunity for podcasters to earn revenue for their show. We have placed this feature in as an Experimental tab in both the Blubrry Publisher and PowerPress. Our partner, Alby, makes it easier for you to get started.

The Value model means that you are able to accept online payments via your show. Value4Value uses the smallest unit of Bitcoin the (Satoshi), 100 millionth of Bitcoin, as a method to donate to a show. It can be in the form of supporting the show by the minute and episode or a show-level donation known as a boost with an accompanying listener comment – all with an extremely low transaction fee.

The Value4Value model can also accept donations in traditional currency; a great overview of the Value4Value model can be reviewed at Value4Value.info.  We will cover the funding feature in future blog post(s), right now we want you to start with the Value4Value feature.

Value4Value takes a little bit of time to wrap your head around. Our team, and over 11,000 other shows, are seeing success in shows earning a Boost, which is a donation with an accompanying comment that can be sent from within the supported apps at NewPodcastApps.com Another cool feature is that listeners can donate Satoshis by the minute as they listen to your show.

We highly recommend that you take a look at our documentation concerning Podcasting 2.0. and various new tags. We’ve already added some valuable features (tags) for our users and are excited to see where this leads.

Your next step is to try one of the new podcast apps to get familiar with what your users are going to see when you start recommending the utilization of these features.

Blubrry Podcasting Releases Media Material Mastering By Auphonic

Blubrry Podcasting has integrated with Auphonic for media mastering for Blubrry customers during the publishing process. Creators can automatically master their episodes, easier than ever before within Blubrry’s publishing systems (Podcaster Dashboard and their WordPress plugin, PowerPress).

Podcasters can easily master their episode files with automated audio processing by Auphonic available through the Blubrry publishing system.

Processing time is dependent on file size, however, users can expect a waiting period of about 10% of their file length (minutes) before it is fully processed and ready to be published.

Todd Cochrane, CEO of Blubrry Podcasting is especially excited to see this partnership come together. As a podcaster himself, he knows the importance of professional and efficient systems for a long-standing podcast. “Auphonic has been a staple in my publishing process since their inception and we’re excited to see that become a reality for our podcasters as well.”

Blubrry is offering a 30 day free trial for any hosting customer to try Media Mastering, starting January 19, 2023. After this trial it will be an additional monthly fee.

Not everyone can afford to have an editor to master their media. Auphonic a trusted name in audio processing allows Blubrry podcasters to get professional mastering as part of the publishing process.

About Us

A trusted distributor for podcasters around the world, Blubrry offers tools and services, including hosting, IAB podcast statistics, private podcasting, WordPress hosting, monetization, and the number one podcasting plugin for WordPress. This podcast pioneer provides the optimal podcasting experience so creators can Publish. Analyze. Grow. Contact Blubrry.

Blubrry Partners With Rev For Podcast Transcription and Captioning

Blubrry is introducing  a new web-based podcast player that uses transcription products integrated with Rev. This player will provide Blubrry podcasters with closed captioning and transcriptions, making every word actionable and accessible.

There’s more to a podcast than only audio. It’s content should be available for everyone in whatever formate they desire or require. We are excited to offer an accessible podcast audio player, a first in podcasting. Rev, our new transcription partner, is the #1 speech-to-text service in the world. All Blubrry Hosting customers will receive a free trial of this new integration until Sept. 15, 2022.

What Are the Advantages of a Podcast Transcript?

  • Accessibility for the hard of hearing, neurodivergent, and others
  • Repurposing such content such as books, speeches, and presentations
  • Editing, fact-checking, and quality control
  • SEO optimization to expand your reach and grow your audience

Almost all social media platforms offer closed captioning, including broadcast television and movies. Podcasting is long overdue for closed captioning, and Blubrry is proud to be a pioneer.

Getting Started

  1. Go to the Transcripts box in the “Create Episode” or “Create Post” on the dashboard or in WordPress.
  2. Use the pull-down to select “Generate Transcript”.
  3. Publish your episode.
  4. Your transcript will be automatically available within 3-5 minutes after publishing.
  5. Select the new modern audio player from the audio player selection menu.

Until Sept. 15, 2022, all Blubrry Hosting customers may try this for free. Podcasters can add the service for $10 a month with a translation limit equal to their media storage level.

Podcasters using third-party translation services can also upload SRT and VTT compatible transcripts. Those using Descript will have the transcript file automatically added to the transcript menu selection when they push their audio/transcript to Blubrry from Descript.

To learn more about Rev integration, visit our partner page. We’ll also demonstrate how to use it on our company show, Podcast Insider, so take a look and see it in action.

Get Advertising For Your Podcast Today

Podcasters looking for monetization opportunities look no further than Blubrry’s new programmatic advertising. Available to all Blubrry hosting customers today, regardless of your show’s size or how long you’ve been podcasting, you can monetize your show immediately.

You can easily set it, forget it, and earn revenue on every episode. Podcasters aren’t responsible for choosing the companies to advertise in their shows – it’s all programatic (automatic) and done with Blubrry’s ad partner SoundStack.

All you have to do is sign up. Most shows will begin receiving ad placements immediately, but volume will grow in the first 60 – 90 days as the advertising platform learns your posting patterns and matches your show’s episodes with the best advertisers.

Our partner, SoundStack, has been perfecting audio ad delivery since 2010, and is an expert in this unique technology. Blubrry started as an advertising agency for podcasters in 2005, before most people had even heard the term “podcast.” As we’ve evolved, so has the industry. Now, we’re excited to provide a simple but powerful advertising opportunity to help every podcaster put money in their pockets.

What to Expect

For Blubrry Publishers, users head to “Make Money” in the sidebar of the Podcaster Dashboard and accept the terms of service agreement. For PowerPress users, select “Make Money” from the PowerPress Settings tab. Don’t worry – we’ll only put ads in your show if you opt-in. You can always opt-out at any time.

    • Fill out the required information about your podcast(s).
    • Choose to enable your desired podcasts hosted by Blubrry.
    • WordPress/Powerpress users will want to Sync.
    • Companies can then bid on your episodes in real-time and deliver ads.
    • We expect earnings potential for CPMs to range from $5-$15. Those rates can vary from minute to minute

Programmatic Advertising Details

  • Learn more about how it all works before you dive in.
  • There are no download requirements.
  • There are no audience expectations.
  • It will typically take 60-90 days for your show to receive maximum fill rates.
  • Not every podcast listen will be monetized, as region, time, and inventory all play a part.
  • Payments are made monthly via PayPal, starting approximately 90 days from the time you begin after reaching a minimum commission.
  • The entire process is automated.

Excluded Categories

  • Politics
  • Gambling
  • Religion
  • Adult
  • Alcohol/Vaping/Cannabis

Note: Pro-hosting customers using our dynamic advertising insertion cannot simultaneously use programmatic advertising. Currently, only one tool works at a time, so please contact us for details.

All Blubrry hosting customers can start immediately. For those who are using PowerPress, we will update your media URLs through the sync function when you opt into programmatic advertising.

Are you interested in an example? Our company show, Podcast Insider, uses programmatic advertising. Tune in and hear a variety of ads, some of which might be geo-specific to the listener. Please contact our team on your website if you have further questions.

The Programmatic Ad Service page is available for review as well.

Blubrry Partners With Descript To Provide Easy Editing And Transcripts

Blubrry Podcasting has partnered with Descript, an all-in-one audio/video editing service, to allow customers to publish their edited podcasts directly to Blubrry’s publishing platform. Automated transcriptions provided by Descript are also delivered as part of the media payload.

The Descript app is an audio and video editing tool that makes your podcast as easy as editing a document. Audio and video files are automatically transcribed, and any edits made to the transcript are automatically carried over to the underlying audio and video. Remove filler words and awkward silences with a click; cut, copy, and paste your content as you would a document; and apply Studio Sound to improve the quality of your audio, no matter the recording conditions. Once you’re finished, publish your completed episode and transcript to Blubrry in one click.

To get the full experience, Descript is offering 30 days of its “Pro” plan to Blubrry customers. The offer is available to new Descript subscribers and can be redeemed until September 15.

What to Expect From Descript

Here is how to edit your podcast and transcript using Descript; then export your finished project to Blubrry.

1 Record and edit in Descript
2 Export your project to Blubrry
3 Your transcript file will be exported with your audio
4 Publish your podcast episode

Where to Find Descript

Blubrry users who already have a Descript subscription can access the Blubrry integration by clicking Share — > Export — > More — > Blubrry/

For new subscribers click here to get 30 days of Descript Pro. This offer is only available to new subscribers. Your free trial can start within “Growth and Resources” linked from the podcaster dashboard.

To learn more about Descript, please visit our partner page or contact support.

Blubrry Partners With PodRocket Academy To Provide Podcast Training

Are you looking for a reliable and trustworthy podcast expert? Our partner, PodRocket Academy, is here to help you learn about podcasting, including Blubrry services, and how to grow a loyal audience. Watch your podcast flourish as you participate in the new PodRocket Academy from the ProudMouth team.

Blubrry hosting customers can sign up for free podcast training.

PodRocket Academy makes it easier to grow your podcasts. Led by podcast producers and digital marketers, they’ll teach you best practices and guide you through the process of attracting loyal listeners. They firmly believe that you don’t need a digital marketing or tech degree to succeed and are dedicated to helping anyone become a self-assured creator.

The podcast academy is chockfull of on-demand courses by podcast producers and digital marketers who will make it easy to attract loyal listeners. They’ll walk you though several levels of podcast education and provide a lifetime discount of 20% off their annual intermediate and advanced memberships.

What to Expect from PodRocket Academy

  • Training levels for all, regardless of podcasting experience
  • Podcast growth strategies
  • Marketing tactics to gain a loyal following
  • On-demand videos, instruction and documentation, plus Q&As and feedback from instructors
  • The People Behind PodRocket Academy

We wouldn’t partner with just anyone. We’ve worked with the PodRocket team for many years and have watched their team expand their network of shows, assist new clients and gain a heightened focus on content creation. Here are some of the team members you can expect to meet in the academy:

Matt Halloran – Co-founder & chief relationship officer

Julie Ritchie – Academy coordinator

Kirk Lowe – Co-founder & CEO

Patrice Sikora – Podcast facilitator

Blubrry hosting customers can sign up via the dashboard’s “Growth & Resource” page linked on their dashboard. See our partner page if you’re interested in learning more about PodRocket.

Blubrry Podcasting Introduces Podcast Media Kits

Blubrry Podcasting has introduced Podcast Media Kits. Create your own podcast media kit in minutes.

Blubrry is introducing a podcasting industry first by providing all Blubrry paid customers a podcast media kit that updates daily with information you choose to include. The kit includes data you provide, podcast statistics and audience survey results.

Podcast Media Kits can be expensive and time-consuming to put together and are always out of date as soon as you publish them. Blubrry’s media kits are refreshed daily with the newest data.

Who To Share Your Podcast Media Kit With:

  • Advertisers
  • Sponsors
  • Media writers
  • Partnership deals
  • Future guests
  • Event and speaker coordinators

The data provided in the media kit listed below includes the ability to toggle specific data points on and off, under your discretion.

Podcast Data Points:

  • Podcast website link
  • Show start date
  • Average monthly episodes published
  • Audience survey results (minimum 10 responses)
  • Number of episodes published overall
  • Monthly episodes published
  • Host bio
  • Show description
  • Social media follower count
  • Contact information.

Once you’ve completed the media kit, a public URL will be provided in its dashboard. This URL is unique and complex for search engines to index, but it is possible, especially if it’s shared on social media. Automatic updates to the media kit will be done daily, but podcaster can change/update the media kit whenever they’d like. You can find the media kit within the podcast statistics section of the dashboard.

Take a look at the Podcast Insider media kit here. Blubrry has chosen to include all of the data points that are made available. As always, Blubrry wants your feedback. They came to this version after much debate about how fancy or bare bones to make these media kits, based on how they think they would benefit the most podcasters. Blubrry knows that podcasters are eager to point out ways Blubrry can improve. So let Blubrry’s team know here and if you love the final result, share it with your audience on social.

Get started to showcase your podcast in an accurate, creative way!

Blubrry Offers Annual Billing For Podcast Hosting

Blubrry notes that you are making an impact with your podcast. You’ve already decided that you’re sticking to your show and want to ensure you’ve made it as easy as possible to maintain the momentum. To make it even easier for podcasters to stay on track, Blubrry has introduced annual billing for hosting customers. Forget monthly payments and pay upfront to ensure there’s no interruption to your podcast hosting.

Save Money

Blubrry’s Standard and Advanced hosting plans are included in the annual option. On average, you’ll save about 10% a year, no matter the hosting plan, for choosing an annual subscription versus the monthly subscription. Save yourself some money, and a little bit of hassle too.

Annual Hosting Costs

  • Standard Hosting 125MB of storage: $120 billed annually ($10 month), save $24
  • Advanced Hosting 400MB of storage: $204 billed annually ($17 month), save $36
  • Check out additional hosting plan options on Blubrry’s website.

Make the commitment whenever it makes sense for you. You can sign up at any time.

Great Use Cases

Blubrry worked directly with many customers over the years to provide this on an individual basis, and have experienced a vast number of reasons why podcasters find it useful. Below are some examples of who would benefit from a one-time payment subscription.

  • Government organizations
  • Nonprofits
  • Educational organizations
  • Those with a strict budget
  • Churches
  • Teams with an annual budget
  • Company cards and finance teams that don’t want to manage monthly payments
  • Podcast season! I.e. you’re going to be releasing episodes for only one year or two
  • Retired shows. Bluberry’s standard hosting plan is the least expensive option for those that aren’t actively publishing, but want to keep their show online.

Annual billing is available to people just signing up for a podcast hosting plan or those adjusting the play they are currently relying on. New plans can sign up on the blubrry.com homepage; and adjusting your current hosting level can be done in the Billing section of the Blubrry dashboard while logged into your new account. At the end of your subscription, you’ll be able to automatically renew.

Blubrry Introduces New Account Sharing for Podcasters

Blubrry Podcasting introduces account sharing. One of their most requested features is now available: allowing for additional users and permissions for each show. The ability to share publishing or stats access with other team members, co-hosts, and sponsors is now live. This new feature is handy to podcasters, and now anyone with a Blubrry account and podcast can ad additional users to their show.

In the past, Blubrry recommended using a shared email account for the Blubrry login, but they are happy to have remedied that situation with a more sophisticated solution.

Podcasters can share their podcast with anyone they’d like with a simple email invitation. For example, if you have a podcast editor that you want to allow to upload the finalized episodes, you can add Publishing permissions and exclude the statistics. On the other hand, if you have a sponsor who wants to be able to view the statistics regularly, but keep them away from the episode files, set them to Statistics only. There are easy-to-manage scenarios in which Blubrry’s three permissions settings can benefit you and your team.

Each user must create a Blubrry account but doesn’t need to sign up for any services. Once accepted, the shared podcast will be added to their account with permissions set by the podcast account owner.

You can find the account sharing in the sidebar when logged into the dashboard. Head to ‘Show’ and then ‘Sharing’ to manage your users and permissions. You can manage users and their permissions from the same menu.

Permissions include:

Publishing and Statistics: Full access. Users can publish your episode files and access the statistics, including exporting data.

Publishing: They can publish your episodes but not access the statistics section of the Blubrry dashboard.

Statistics: They can only access the statistics section of the Blubrry dashboard.

Invitations are sent via email and expire after 10 days; a new invite must be sent if expiration occurs. If the invitee does not yet have a Blubrry account, they’ll be prompted to create one (using the same email address as the invite). They can then follow the prompts to accept or decline the invitation.

If a user has declined, modifying the permissions will not send a new invitation. It’s best to remove them and send a new invitation. There is no need to send a new invite if you change permissions.

Professional hosting customers who have no limit on the number of users they can share per show or the overall network. All other account owners are capped at five additional uses per show.

Again, this is free and available to all Blubrry users. Even if your using Blubrry statistics, you can now share them with whomever you want.