Last week Acast presented at the IAB UK Podcast Upfronts 2021 to reflect on the company’s achievements over the last year and set out its vision for open podcasting and a space for all voices to be heard.
Acast’s UK+ Managing Director, Georgie Holt and UK Director of Sales, Josh Woodhouse, discussed some of the key moments at Acast in the last twelve months which has seen the company sign such UK heavyweights as “Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast and Deborah Francis White, The Guilty feminist.
Georgie reiterated Acast’s commitments to the open podcasting ecosystem: “The open model and this whole approach is what made podcasting so loved in the first place: people can listen whenever they want, wherever they want and on whatever platform they want to listen to.
“It’s the best way for podcasters and advertisers alike to reach the most listeners, without shutting out any of the addressable market.“Through Acast being a creator first business Georgie highlights that Acast has paid out more than $100 million to creators since we were founded in 2014”.
In the second half of the session, Clarissa Pabi, Senior Content Development Manager at Acast was also joined by a panel of UK podcast talent, who are part of the Acast Creator Network, including Fearne Cotton and Love Island’s Anna Vakili and sister Mandi.
When speaking about how podcasting is driving a thriving creator economy Fearne Cotton commented: “We’re constantly looking for various touchpoints to reach our community. I want it to be available to everyone and it’s only free because we have brands in place and it’s a lovely eco-system allowing us to deliver beautiful, top-quality content.”
Mandi Vakili also touched on the authenticity available through podcasting in comparison to other social platforms she says: “Podcasts have a feel-good factor to them. You can come off of Instagram not feeling that great about yourself, but with podcasts, you feel like you can relate more.”
You can watch the full session here.
