Spotify has launched Prompted Playlist for Podcasts, meaning that users can now type in, “Build me a podcast playlist all about…” and see how the results match their taste. Podnews showed their experience with it. Talk about a cool drink of water, right?

Mark your calendars: Thursday, April 16, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Sounds Profitable Partner Tom Webster and RSS.com co-founder Alberto Betella will present Audio Primes: The People Who Listen to Podcasts. This new report, built from The Podcast Landscape 2025 data, focuses on Audio Primes, people who listen to at least 75% of their content as audio. Registration is open. Grab your virtual seat now.

What do you wish the biggest podcast platforms would do? The Podnews Report Card is Podnews’ annual research into what these platforms do for you, or don’t. This is your chance to tell Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube directly what you want them to do with your hard work.

Pop-Up News: Audible Story House is “a community hub and listening lounge where audio storytelling comes to life and imagination is unbound. Free to enter, free to listen, and open to the public.” Open through May, Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am-7 pm.

Our poll, "How can you tell it's AI?” could use a few more entries. Tell us what the tells are.

The Top: Be the main sponsor of an issue for $99 per week or $340 for four weeks.

The Middle: Purchase a Classified Ad for $28. These sit in the middle of the email and have no accompanying graphics.

The Bottom: Get your link and logo in our Supporter Gallery for $4.99 a month or $50 a year. ​

Today I learned about GTT Audio Lab, a tool that measures the noise floor of your recording environment. You may think your audio sounds clear, but what does your mic really pick up? Voice artist Billie Jo Konze says, “This is a tool I could have used ten years ago when I was trying to do VO in my closet, and it's still useful now for anyone trying to record at home and figure out how to get really good, clean audio.”

How the Brain Decides What to Listen To (and How Sound Designers Can Work With It) by Dr Iain McGregor for A Sound Effect. “Good sound design works with both the physics of the ear and the psychology of the listener. It is not about reproducing the entire world, it is about shaping the world the brain believes is there.”

What are your sources of inspiration for fiction podcast creation these days? Though the responses were few, they are all thoughtful and can help you draw on music, story, socializing, and current events to make meaningful, enduring audio experiences.

Tal Minear has published a book called How to Make Audio Drama: A Guide to Fiction Podcasting! Here's the blurb: "Interested in making an audio drama but have no idea where to start? Mid-production on your first show, but getting lost in the details? Just want to learn more about how audio drama works? This book is for you! How to Make Audio Drama explores the process from start to finish, full to the brim of advice from a producer of over 10 shows." The e-book is available on all platforms for just $7, and there are physical copies as well.

TuneIn has simplified adding your podcast to their directory. This puts your podcast on Sonos speakers, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo vehicles, Alexa, Roku, Samsung smart TVs, Xbox One and PlayStation, and many more devices.

All Hear for April is ready for you. As usual, the opportunities are journalism-centric, but the newsletter includes offers for residencies, grants, competitions, and call-outs for audio artists, audio drama, and fiction podcasters.

Casting Call: Seeking narrators for Weird Tales, a horror short stories podcast. "Weird Tales" was a 1920s magazine that published short horror stories, including the works of famous authors like H. P. Lovecraft. This podcast seeks to narrate and discuss the original 25 short stories from Issue One. Not paid.

The Cultural Foundation Schloss Wiepersdorf Residency Fellowships are 3-month residencies in Germany for sound artists, writers, composers, and researchers working in literature, fine arts, composition, or humanities and social sciences. Open to applicants from Germany and abroad who have completed relevant academic or artistic study or have an established professional practice with published or exhibited work. Deadline: 15th of April.

The City of Renton Arts and Culture Grants offer funding of between $500 and $10,000 for arts, cultural, and heritage projects that serve residents and visitors in Renton, Washington. They are looking for innovative projects that bridge cultural gaps and ignite fresh avenues of creative engagement, especially for underserved groups. Deadline: 17th April.

The Austin Film Festival Fiction Podcast Award is an international competition for independent fiction podcast scripts. Applications cost $45 for the late deadline and $50 for the final deadline. The winner receives $1000 and reimbursement of up to $500 for travel and accommodation to attend the festival in October. Late deadline: 24th of April. Final deadline: 27th of May.

The Lovies are the European sister to the international Webby Awards, recognizing excellence in digital media projects. Entrants can be based anywhere, but the content must have been produced for European audiences. Deadline: 8th of May.

Dad’s Anytime Stories is a fictional world of Wizards, magic, and a boy called Carter who embarks on epic adventures with his magical friends.

Spandex: An Audio Musical. Spandex, the show, is set to go up Off Broadway at Asylum this September, 2026, starring the 80s jean-jacketed teen queen, Tiffany!

Coming Soon: The Very Prudent Decisions of Hortlakçı Süleyman Hoca. From the valleys of Rumelia in the west to the mountains of Van in the east, Süleyman resolves the conundrums of demons and djinns, vila and vrykolakas - with the aid of his scrupulous manners, detailed attention to sharia law, and the various protective amulets given to him by his clever wife Nilüfer.

Dialed In-Wish You Were Here is a new standalone episode from 11th Hour Audio. Desperate to contact his Grandmother, Brent takes some extraordinary measures to stay in touch.

The Fracture of Ophelia. After the love of her life dies, saving her, Ophelia discovers that traveling the multiverse to ease her grief sparks a killing spree that fractures reality itself.