MUMBAI: Music is an integral part of podcasts, and as podcasting takes off as a format, knowing what music happens where will be increasingly important for rights holders. That’s why Pex has added podcasts to the dozens of online audio and video platforms and services it already scans for its clients.

As of today, Pex will be able to find musical works and audio snippets as short as a half second in all podcasts uploaded to Apple Podcasts. With an estimated 750,000 podcasts out there and an audience of 62 million weekly podcast listeners in the US alone, podcasts are a vital piece of music rights holders’ asset management puzzle, one Pex can help them track.

Pex uses its powerful fingerprinting technology to detect its clients’ audio files, tracking billions of pieces of content across the internet. It can find a match even when the copy is distorted or very short. It allows rights holders to see exactly how and where music is being used, and thus to address any uses that are not adequately licenced or fair use.

Pex already finds and flags audio and video assets on several dozen social apps and video platforms, from TikTok to YouTube. “As audio formats gain popularity thanks to new devices and offerings, Pex wants rights holders to be able to monitor these formats and make good decisions for their business,” says Pex’s COO Amadea Choplin. “Podcasts are increasingly professionalized, monetized, and ad-driven, and music rights holders should be part of the conversation when their assets are being used.”