Podcast organizations Podcast Movement and Sounds Profitable have announced plans to merge.
Sounds Profitable was founded in 2020 and works with more than 200 audio and podcasting companies. It is being acquired by Podcast Movement, which hosts conferences centered on the podcast industry. The company’s latest conference began on Monday in Dallas.
As part of the new deal, Sounds Profitable partners Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster will remain shareholders and will also operate independently. Barletta will serve as the President of Podcast Movement, while co-founder Dan Franks will remain as the President of Event Movement, the separate production company behind the events.
“All I have wanted to do for the last 20 years is whatever I could to make podcasting a legitimate industry, a space where people could make a living and even a career,” Webster said in a post on social media. “I want podcasting to thrive, I want you to thrive, and I want to hear your show! Thanks to Dan and Bryan and our combined strengths, I still get to do that.”
“Podcasting is entering its next phase. The industry needs trusted research, clear goals with action, and well-run events that connect the right people,” Franks said. “Sounds Profitable will keep pushing with data and education. Podcast Movement will keep building the rooms and programs where work gets done. Together, we can move faster and support more creators, publishers, and partners.”
Podcast Movement was launched in 2014, which it notes preceded the heavy investments into the space by platforms like Spotify, iHeartMedia, Amazon, and Wondery, among others.
“We were there when it was just a bunch of podcasters in their closets,” Franks told Axios. “Some of them ended up doing well and then they were no longer podcasters in their closets.”
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, outside of language that shares it was a seven-figure deal.
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