Matt Cundill, Jon Gay, and Catherine O’Brien dig into the growing pile of tools, platforms, and metrics shaping podcast production today. The conversation starts with a key question for creators and clients: are downloads still the best measure of success, or is time spent listening becoming the more meaningful number? The group looks at the challenge of tracking audience behaviour across audio, video, Spotify, YouTube, and social platforms, where the old podcast measurement rules do not always apply. They also compare production tools including Riverside, Descript, Adobe, OneStream, and AI platforms, weighing features against cost, convenience, and workflow friction. Catherine highlights the importance of strong headlines and audience-first positioning, while Jon and Matt examine how subscription creep is forcing producers to rethink their software stack. It is a practical, candid episode about choosing tools that reduce hassle, improve output, and help podcasters focus on the work that actually matters.Both Johnny and David will be back next week.The Products we spoke about: Here’s a list of the products/services mentioned, with official links and approximate US prices (these change frequently)Riverside – from approx. $19/month (paid plans, annual discounts available)  StreamYard – https://streamyard.com – from approx. $25/month (Basic) and $49/month (Professional, annual billing)  OneStream Live – from approx. $10–$39/month depending on plan  Descript (incl. Rooms) – from approx. $15/month (Creator) and $30/month (Pro, annual billing)  Spotify for Podcasters – free hosting  Simplecast – from approx. $15/month (Basic)  ART19 – enterprise/network pricing (contact Roddy or Andy) - Matt can connect you.Libsyn – from approx. $7/month  Headliner – free tier; paid from approx. $8–$15/month  Adobe Audition – included in Adobe Creative Cloud (All Apps approx. $60–$70/month)  Adobe Premiere Pro – approx. $23–$35/month as a single app; also in All Apps  Adobe Podcast Enhance – limited free use; paid around $9.99/month or $99/year  iZotope RX – RX Elements often around $99; Standard/Advanced in the several‑hundred‑dollar range (frequent sales)  Levelator – free  ChatGPT Plus (OpenAI) – $20/month  Claude – free tier; Claude Pro around $20/month  Grok (via X) – included with some X Premium tiers; Premium/Premium+ roughly $8–$16/month  CoSchedule Headline Analyzer / Headline Studio – free tier; Pro/Headline Studio around $9–$20/month or about $100/year  Shure SM7B – street price around $399  Shure SM7dB – street price around $499  RØDE PodMic – https://rode.com – around $99  Focusrite Scarlett (e.g., 2i2) – common models around $130–$230  RØDECaster Duo – around $499  RØDECaster Pro II – around $699  Dropbox – personal plans from approx. $9.99–$11.99/month (annual billing)  Google Drive (Google One) – https://one.google.com – from $1.99/month (100 GB)  Starlink – hardware around $500+; service often $120–$150+/month depending on plan/region  X Premium (Twitter) – https://x.com/premium – roughly $8–$16/month depending on tier  Microsoft 365 – personal/family from approx. $6.99–$9.99/month (Copilot add‑ons extra)  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.