What we have learned making shows that publish every week: what things cost, what to record on, and how to get more out of every episode.
Spotify's paid tier becomes Memberships on 20 October, Patreon ends per-creation billing, Apple Podcasts has swapped country curation for an algorithm, and Edison found 66% of weekly listeners react badly to an AI host. Plus the edit desk on the guest who will not stop talking.
13 min readA cough, a stumble, a dog, a bad take: an edit absorbs all of those. Clipped audio, a guest outside the frame and a file nobody saved are simply gone. Here is where the line sits, and the pre-record check that keeps you on the right side of it.
13 min readYouTube will let creators test three cuts of a video, the biggest podcast ad buyers settled on engaged views, and Acast found 63% of listeners switch between audio and video mid-episode. Plus the edit desk on getting usable audio out of a bad room.
12 min readApple put a redesigned Podcasts app with video on Apple TV and added Search in Show, Amazon Music announced video podcasts for UK customers, and The Podcast Study 2026 found listeners come for the host. Plus the edit desk on asking a guest for what you need.
9 min readYouTube's redefined view count met its first podcast data and public numbers are about to swell, Spotify took a licensed awards finalist offline for ten weeks, and three UK audio veterans launched Everywhere. Plus the edit desk on the cold open.
12 min readClip pricing is unusually opaque for something so widely sold. Here are actual numbers, what separates a £35 clip from a £65 one, and the hours you are really trading if you cut them at your kitchen table.
7 min readThe comparison is usually framed as a choice between two formats. It is closer to a choice about one recording session, because the camera decides what you can publish later far more than it decides what people hear.
7 min readSpotify is testing an ad-skip button for Premium listeners on the same day it reported record margins, three hosts opened Apple Podcasts video to everyone, and a scary UK statistic needs unpicking. Plus the edit desk on the follow-up questions hosts never ask.
9 min readEvery show wants a number. The real answer is that the episode decides, not the target, and the fastest way to ruin a short-form feed is to insist on a quota the conversation cannot support.
7 min readNot sure what you need? Ask Matt. He'll tell you what's worth paying for and what isn't.
Price your show