Maple Media buys the indie Castro app

From Podnews Daily - podcast industry news Podnews LLC

Sponsored by SoundStack. Your new revenue opportunity lives in existing podcast content. Rediscover, repurpose, and monetize more of the audio and video you already have with SoundStack AI. Learn more

Exclusive: The Castro podcast app has been bought by Maple Media, according to its Apple App Store listing. Maple Media is a company that buys apps, and acquired Player FM in April 2020; acquired Podkicker in July 2020; and acquired Breaker in Feb 2022. Castro was acquired by Dustin Bluck in Jan 2024 from its previous owners, a VC company called Tiny. We've reached out to him for comment, but on a company blog, Bluck recently posted a reflective piece about independent podcast apps, which are - in his words - "dying".
- Indie podcast apps are part of what makes podcasting great; but they do appear to be in decline. For a keynote at The Podcast Show London, Podnews analysed downloads in the UK for the last three years. In 2024, 38% of downloads were to independent podcast apps; by 2025 that had fallen to 36%; and in 2026, just 31% were to indie podcast apps. A cut of podcast ad revenue in return for better analytics might help - otherwise, the only differentiator for an indie app might just be ad-skipping.
It's emerged that Apple acqui-hired some of the team behind Huxe, an AI "podcast" app, in June. Huxe has closed, but its website is still visible - the service made "podcasts" from your email, calendar and anything else you wanted, and you could ask it to generate you a personal "podcast" about anything. If you think it sounds similar to Google's NotebookLM, you'd be right: Huxe was founded by former Google developers who worked on that project. Apple's deal lets them make job offers to specific employees, and allows them a licence to use the technology.
Former Guardian journalist Marina Hyde has partnered with Goalhanger's Goalhanger X division to launch a new platform called Always On. She will host a YouTube show, and will write on Substack. While she will continue to host The Rest is Entertainment, the release doesn't mention podcasting, other than suggesting that there may be "further audio formats" in the future. It's the first launch from Goalhanger X, which describes itself as "building creator-led media businesses around distinctive personalities - spanning publishing, video, social, audio, membership, live and IP, rather than being tied to a single platform."

Classifieds - your job or ad here

📈 FREE Skool community for podcast growth. — Podcasting Business School is now on Skool! This FREE community is for podcasters who have goals like hitting 1,000+ downloads per episode & earning meaningful income. Live training, tools, & support!
🚨 Final Chance to Book October Podcast Campaigns — Only 4 days left to lock in self-serve campaigns running 10/16-10/31 on Player FM! Boost downloads, grow your audience, and get your show discovered. Don’t wait!
Podcasting for Business Conference — Why your business needs a podcast. Transform your podcast into a powerful business asset with the top voices in podcasting, November 16-17, 2026. Check out the agenda and join us. It's at no charge!

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Beehiiv, Podbean, The $100 MBA, The Podglomerate, Cloud10, Magid, Libsyn, audioBoom, RedCircle, Sounds Profitable, Podscribe, PAVE Studios, Cohost, Simplecast, The Content Creator's Accountant, Audiohook, Scicomm Media, Jar Podcast Solutions, Awesound,