The Economist’s early bet on podcasting paid off

Editor’s note: Hi there Medium readers! I’m Simon Owens and I’m a journalist who writes about the media industry and Creator Economy. Below is my weekly roundup of links to industry news. Enjoy!

The Economist’s early bet on podcasting paid off [Press Gazette]

The Economist’s podcasts are now being listened to by 3 million people per month. “The publication now employs approximately 30 staff exclusively on its podcast work”

Media companies are pivoting back to free content [Simon Owens]

Publishers are coming back around to the idea that there are benefits to making their content freely available and easy to share.

White noise podcasts are hugely popular [Bloomberg]

I’m someone who listens to 8 hours of rain noise a day on YouTube to drown out the sound of my wife’s work phone calls, so I certainly see why there’s a market for this.

Why David Kushner is serializing his next book on Substack [Simon Owens]

David Kushner’s Masters of Doom is considered one of the most influential books about the gaming industry, and now he’s using a Substack newsletter to publish its sequel.

But is there a viable business model for this type of serialized publishing?