Trout Stream Studios

03/11/2025

Most people in podcasting talk about content. Fewer talk about infrastructure.

But here’s the truth: behind every breakout show, there’s a stack — a system of tools, workflows, and tech decisions that quietly determine whether a podcast grows or stalls.

That’s why our latest feature dives deep with Jeff Umbro, CEO of The Podglomerate, one of the most sophisticated podcast production houses/networks operating today.

Jeff was extremely generous with his time and pulled back the curtain on how they run production, marketing, and monetization across dozens of shows and what the rest of us can learn from it.

A few standout takeaways:
💡 The tech stack has split: There’s “indie-friendly” and “enterprise-ready.” Knowing which one you’re building on changes everything about how you grow and monetize.
🎙️ Production is now part automation, part art: Learn what platform the Podglomerate pros use to record on, edit in, automate grunt work with from research to multicam editing.

The TL;DR takeaway here? you don’t need fewer tools you need smarter combinations.

Jeff summed it up best:

“The tech stack is one of the most important pieces of podcasting — and the thing a lot of people pay the least attention to.”

The full piece breaks down Podglomerate’s actual workflows, tools, and decision frameworks and what it all says about where the podcast industry is heading.

🔗 Read the full analysis on The Podcast Tech Stack: https://open.substack.com/pub/thepodcasttechstack/p/inside-podglomerates-podcast-stack?r=5bzrhx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Because understanding the infrastructure of podcasting is the only way to build something that lasts.

The Podcast Tech Stack caught up with Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro on how his company’s workflow reveals about the divide between indie and enterprise podcasting.

27/10/2025

We just ran a head-to-head test between CastMagic, Podium, Swell AI, and even the built-in show notes feature in Riverside and other recording platforms.

Here’s what we found 👇
> Podium — Saves about 60–70% of your time. Great structure, decent tone, but you’ll still spend a few minutes polishing.
> Castmagic — Saves 70–80% and gives you everything: show notes, timestamps, quotes, and even blog drafts. My top pick for creators or networks running multiple shows.
> Swell AI — About 50–60% savings. Solid summaries, but clunkier interface and slower turnaround.
> Recording Platforms (add-on) — Handy if you’re already recording there, but “good enough” quality at best. Think first draft, not final product. Although massive potential for investment here and definitely one to watch as consolidation/acquisition continues in podcasting.

Our Winner? Castmagic.

For most workflows, it’s the right balance of automation and quality enough to replace hours of post-production without sounding robotic.

The full breakdown (with how to test this in your own workflow if you want to replicate our test) just went live on The Podcast Tech Stack Substack.

If you’re still writing show notes from scratch, you’re burning time you could be using to grow your audience.

👉 Read the full comparison here: https://open.substack.com/pub/thepodcasttechstack/p/show-notes-generators-tested-which?r=5bzrhx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

13/10/2025

Most “hybrid” podcasts are really just studio shows with a Zoom call stapled on.
Latency, level drift, echo bleed — you name it. The tech exists to fix it, but few teams (or indie producers) are using it strategically.

In this week’s The Podcast Tech Stack, we break down how top producers are building hybrid workflows that feel live and sound cohesive, no matter where your guests are.

We cover:
🔀 Dual-path signal design
🎧 Mix-minus and delay sync
🤓 Guest tech prep and feed alignment
✅ Templates for mastering across sources

If you’re scaling a network or running a show with regular remote guests, this might be the upgrade you need before Q1.

👉 We unpack it here → https://open.substack.com/pub/thepodcasttechstack/p/the-hybrid-recording-model-mixing?r=5bzrhx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Curious minds inquire, what’s been your biggest hybrid pain point lately?
- Comment "latency" for latency
- Comment "mix drift" for mix drift
- Comment "guest quality" for guest quality

When “same room” audio meets global guest flexibility

09/10/2025

Step into Heritage of the Hunt and hear authentic voices from those who know what it means to hunt, conserve, and respect the wild. https://www.boone-crockett.org/boone-and-crockett-clubs-heritage-hunt-podcast

09/10/2025

The only thing this unseasonably warm weather is capable of is curing my hunting season FOMO.

06/10/2025

Podcasting has always been built on open RSS feeds. But that’s changing fast. Creators are increasingly turning to paywalled feeds and subscriber-only shows - ad-free versions, bonus episodes, and even full archives locked behind membership.

We just published a deep dive in The Podcast Tech Stack on the tech driving this shift - from private RSS feeds to Apple Podcasts Subscriptions—and the platforms making it possible (Supercast, Transistor, Castos, Captivate, Patreon, Substack, and more).

👉 What’s inside:
> WHY creators are moving toward paywalled content (and why you should consider mathing it out for your own show!)
> HOW private feeds and subscriber audio ACTUALLY function
> The tools and platforms that make it all happen (shoutout to our fave Supercast here
> The trade-offs with purely ad-supported shows (security, discoverability, listener friction, workflow challenges)
> Where (we think, at least) this trend is headed next

Private podcasting is no longer niche—it’s becoming a key monetization model for the industry.

Curiousity begs the question - have YOU experimented with private feeds for your podcast or network? What’s been your experience? Sound off in the comments:

🔗 https://open.substack.com/pub/thepodcasttechstack/p/the-rise-of-private-podcasting-tech?r=5bzrhx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Podcasting, long celebrated for its openness and RSS-driven universality, is increasingly adopting gated, subscriber-only models.

29/09/2025

Most podcasters hit publish and stop there. It's a travesty to waste your hard-earned content like that.

One recording can (and should) fuel an entire 36-degree content ecosystem! Consider:
- Video shorts for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube (Don't forget Spotify Clips!)
- Good quotes that didn't quite make "reel-level" repurposed for carousels & quotes for LinkedIn/X
- Newsletter digests for your owned audience (remember how we mentioned substack last week? Yea you can embed your audio right into that)
- 60-second trailers for ads (especially remarketing) and discoverability

The trick isn’t just repurposing — it’s knowing how to think about each channel:
👉 Newsletter = nurture your owned audience
👉 Social = discoverability, curiosity hooks and the engagement that keeps you memorable and relevant
👉 Trailers = conversion and ads

When you match the why with the what, you stop scattering and start scaling.

We broke down the workflows (with tool prompts + tests to try) in our latest The Podcast Tech Stack article:
🔗 https://open.substack.com/pub/thepodcasttechstack/p/from-audio-to-everywhere-repurposing?r=5bzrhx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Question for you:
Which repurposing workflow—video, newsletter, social, or trailers—has worked best for YOUR podcast growth?

Most podcasters stop after hitting “publish” on their RSS feed. The episode is live, the audio is great—but then what?

22/09/2025

🎙️ Podcasting in the Age of AI: What to Automate vs. What Still Needs You

AI has become the podcast producer’s favorite assistant. It can:
✅ Clean up audio
✅ Draft show notes
✅ Pull social clips

But here’s the catch → not everything should be automated.

Your listeners don’t come back because your “ums” got cut or your transcript is clean. They come back for:
👂 Storytelling that feels alive
🤝 Conversations that surprise
🔥 A voice and perspective they trust

The future of podcasting isn’t “AI vs. humans.” It’s hybrid.
👉 Let AI handle the repetitive tasks that drain your time.
👉 Keep the creative core—the moments that connect with people—human.

Automate the repetitive. Protect the creative.

Artificial intelligence has moved from novelty to necessity in podcasting. But there’s a growing question at the heart of this shift: what parts of podcast production can you safely hand to AI?

20/09/2025

September’s Outdoor Media Exchange digest is out!

This month we’re diving into some of the best podcasts, print, and video happening across the outdoor world:
🎧 Boone & Crockett’s brand-new Heritage of the Hunt podcast
🎧 Legends of the Wild by Field & Stream
📖 Fall outdoor magazine issues you’ll want on your coffee table
📺 Big video trends shaping hunting & fishing content
🔥 And—why MeatEater showing up on Theo Von’s show is a huge win for reaching new audiences

Check it out here and let us know what you’re watching, listening to, or reading this month:

Welcome back to The Outdoor Media Exchange, your monthly look at the best stories, shows, and trends shaping outdoor media.

17/09/2025

🚨 BIG news for podcasters & advertisers! 🚨

YouTube just dropped a game-changer: Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) is now part of its creator toolkit. Coupled with AI-powered editing, auto-shorts from long-form content, and enhanced live-streaming features, this marks a major shift in how podcast creators can monetize video content.

In today's breaking news drop - we cover

Why this matters:
> Podcasters can finally insert, remove, or swap sponsorship slots after publishing — regionally, based on campaign length, or when contracts end.
> More flexibility over time and your back catalogue.
> For brands: more unified strategy across audio + video platforms — one campaign, broader reach, more control.

💡 How this could translate into more revenue:
> A podcaster who already posts video versions of episodes can now monetize those with host-read sponsorships, not just YouTube ad inventory. They can resell slots and target different regions.
> An advertiser can run a single campaign across podcast platforms + YouTube, A/B test how their message performs in video vs audio, and make smarter spend decisions.

Curious what a test might look like?

We cover the bones of a structured test on a 4-week joint campaign to test pricing & fill.

If you’re a creator, producer, or ad buyer — now is the moment to explore this. Let us know if you want to brainstorm how to launch your first DAI-enabled campaign.

https://open.substack.com/pub/thepodcasttechstack/p/breaking-youtube-rolls-out-dynamic-57e?r=5bzrhx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

This isn’t just a new checkbox; it has the potential to shift revenue models, sponsor relationships, and how podcasts are produced and distributed across platforms.

15/09/2025

Music can make or break a narrative podcast — but in 2025’s increasingly litigious world of music licensing, picking the wrong track can break your show in a very different way.

We sat down with Lindsay Graham — creator, composer, and founder of Thrumm Audio (and the force behind Airship productions like American History Tellers, American Scandal, and Business Movers for Wondery) — to talk about how podcasters of any size should approach music in their tech stack.

Lindsay’s system for Thrumm is a composer’s mindset packaged as a tool:
🎵 A library entirely in one key and tempo (everything snaps together)
📚 Story-driven albums scored to “fake podcast briefs”
✂️ Tracks with loop points, alternate mixes, and stems for endless flexibility
⚖️ Licensing designed for indie creators and big publishers — without long-term lock-in

We also get real about why “free” or “fair use” music isn’t worth the risk anymore (if it ever was), and how narrative podcasters can build a distinctive sonic identity without hiring a full-time composer.

Full article here on The Podcast Tech Stack: https://open.substack.com/pub/troutstreamstudios/p/building-a-better-podcast-score-how?r=5bzrhx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Lindsay Graham—narrative podcast creator and founder of Thrumm Audio—has built a production music library specifically for narrative and documentary podcasts, and it's a game changer.

08/09/2025

Honored to have had one of the most insightful conversations we've ever had about the future of branded podcasts with Harry Morton — easily one of the smartest people in podcasting —about how his team at Lower Street tackle branded podcast production.

We covered:
🎙 The tools and workflows that keep a white-glove production house running smoothly
📈 How to grow a branded show when “just post it everywhere” isn’t enough
🎥 Why the video-forward world demands thinking about audio and video as separate products
🤝 Why the most effective growth happens in-channel — meeting listeners while they’re already in podcast mode

If you work on a branded podcast — or want to — this is someone you should be listening to and learning from.

Harry, thanks for pulling back the curtain on how Lower Street approaches creativity, process, and platform strategy.

Full interview + article here 👉 https://open.substack.com/pub/troutstreamstudios/p/building-branded-podcasts-for-a-video?r=5bzrhx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

In a landscape where “two talking heads on Zoom” is no longer enough, branded podcasts face a unique challenge: how to produce compelling, high-production-value shows and still publish consistently.