Sounder and Urban One Collaborate to Revolutionise Black Content Creators' Access to Advertising

The results of a ground-breaking study on AI/ML-driven brand safety and suitability for podcasting were published today by Urban One, the largest diverse Black-owned media organisation in the United States, and Sounder, a leading AI-powered brand safety solution in podcasting.

In a statement, Sounder’s VP of platform operation Brittany Kandybowicz said, “When Sounder set out to create an innovative brand safety and suitability solution for podcasting, we knew our AI models had to support the diverse and talented creators we had been working with for years. In the process of poring through content, developing models, and evaluating our work countless times over, we knew it was critical to assess our product with the diverse creators we support.”

“We’re passionate about facilitating an open dialogue around equity and breaking down long-held misconceptions that uncomfortable conversations are uniformly unsafe or Black creator content is too risky. We know that legacy keyword blocklist solutions prohibit more than propel, but as with any data-driven team, we wanted to prove our hypothesis,” said Kandybowicz

In a ground-breaking partnership, Sounder and Urban One, the biggest, most diverse Black-owned media company in the US, carried out in-depth study to transform the advertising opportunities available to Black content creators.

The research, which was conducted in partnership with Radio One & Reach Media, Urban One's audio divisions, as well as the new Urban One Podcast Network, found that AI/ML-driven tools can accurately classify diverse content, leading to greater inclusivity, representation, and advertising opportunities for underrepresented voices.

This cooperation aims to address the underrepresentation of diverse voices in the advertising industry and give Black creators a platform to communicate their distinctive stories and viewpoints through cutting-edge AI/ML-driven technologies.

‍She said the number of Black Americans who listen to podcasts on a monthly basis has increased to 43%. Podcasting has become extremely popular within the Black community.

"This research is a significant step forward in ensuring equal monetization opportunities for diverse creators in podcasting," said Kal Amin, co-founder and CEO of Sounder. "By addressing concerns about AI/ML-driven brand safety and suitability models, Sounder's AI-based technology supports authentic and inclusive content representation."

The research found that traditional keyword-based approaches to brand safety and suitability are often inaccurate and can lead to the under-monetization of diverse content. For example, a keyword-based approach might flag a podcast episode that discusses race or social justice as unsafe, even if the episode features a well-produced, informative and educational conversation that is respectful of all viewpoints.

In contrast, Sounder's AI-based technology is able to understand the context of a podcast episode and accurately assess its suitability for advertising. This means that Black content creators who share their unique stories and perspectives can be confident that their content has the ability to be appropriately classified and monetized.

Additional findings include:

• When applying a standard keyword blocklist solution to Urban One's podcast content, an overwhelming 92% of all episodes are removed from available inventory.

• When applying a semantically and contextually focused AI/ML-based model to classify brand safety and suitability, only 10% of episodes are potentially unavailable for monetization.

• Transcription quality is important for accurately classifying content. If Black English (AAVE) is transcribed incorrectly, this can lead to misclassifications and further marginalization of Black creators.

"At Urban One, we are passionate about having real, authentic dialogue with our audience around topics that matter to them, while also creating equitable conversations with brands and agencies, ensuring that they can invest confidently in brand safe, relevant environments," said Josh Rahmani, CRO, Urban One, Audio Division. "This research is a step in the right direction to help advertisers see the bias that exists in legacy brand safety solutions which disproportionately impact Black-owned and Black-targeted media."

The research findings have implications for the entire podcasting industry. As podcasting continues to grow in popularity, it is essential that the industry finds ways to ensure that all voices are represented. By using AI/ML-driven tools that are designed without bias, the podcasting industry can create a more inclusive and equitable space for all creators.

The full research report is available on the Sounder website here: https://www.sounder.fm/urbanone-suitability-whitepaper

Despite the growing podcasting landscape, She said, Black creators face several challenges that hinder their equitable representation in advertising. One key issue is the lack of tools capable of capturing the cultural nuances present in their content. This results in under-monetization and a limited platform for advertisers to connect with these audiences.‍

She said Sounder and Urban One's research on AI-based brand safety and suitability models is a significant step forward in ensuring equal monetization opportunities for diverse creators in podcasting.

“ By addressing concerns about AI/ML-driven brand safety and suitability models, Sounder's technology supports authentic and inclusive content representation. The findings demonstrate that AI/ML-driven tools designed without bias can accurately classify diverse content, leading to greater inclusivity, representation, and advertising opportunities for underrepresented voices” She disclosed.

Read the full report here.

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