A look into the German podcasting market, with Maria Lorenz-Bokelberg 🇩🇪
Eurowaves #36 Interview
Maria Lorenz-Bokelberg is founder and co-CEO of the podcast studio Pool Artists, that had its 10th anniversary in 2025.
Maria has been working in front and behind microphones for many years and already produced podcasts when she still had to explain them. Aside of her production work, you can find her as a speaker at conferences as well as a consultant for all big and small companies, brands and people in the podcast field. Her company Pool Artists produces many well-known German podcasts, such as Verbrechen and Alles Gesagt for ZEIT ONLINE, Faking Hitler for STERN, Batman unter Toten for Spotify, but also inhouse productions like Die Nilz Bokelberg Erfahrung and Gästeliste Geisterbahn.
You can connect with Maria on LinkedIn here.
What’s your podcasting origin story?
In 2010, I was a student of American Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin. We regularly had speaker from the US coming over and teaching us, which was great! One time there was a person there working in news and politics and she spoke about a new medium which in the US quickly gained popularity and grew stronger and stronger. And that medium was podcasts. I had never heard of it. A couple of weeks later, my friend told me about a show she liked and just like that I was in love with the medium. Created my own show, bought equipment, helped friends, helped friends of friends, wrote my first invoice and suddenly it was my full time job. Today, I own a production company with 24 employees and still love the medium very much.
What do you think makes the German podcasting market stand out and have a high(er) potential of growth?
Germany has a long and diverse history of loving audio drama. We all grew up with it and cherish audio story telling very much. We are also a country that is interested in genres as crime, history, news, etc. which are all genres that fit to the podcast medium very well.
Germans are also a people of loyalty and once we decide to stick with a show, we will listen to it forever through thick and thin, which is great for advertisers.
What is one service you offer to podcasters through Pool Artists today which you never would have imagined needing in 2015?
I think one thing that we always talk about nowadays with clients, that we would have never thought would be such a core topic, is obviously video. I went into this industry fully thinking my work and life would circle around all things audio. Never would I have thought that something that makes podcasts much more expensive and production much more complex would be so dominant. I am not sure, if it will scale back a bit over the next years, but yeah. Video is a surprise.
You are also a co-founder of Sounds Good, a company focused on strategic and creative podcast advertising. How does your approach to partnerships stand out from traditional ad-buying?
Our approach at Sounds Good differs from the “classic” podcast sales model (if that’s even the right term) in two main ways: we operate independently in the market, and we build every partnership from scratch rather than following a template. We also work closely with the big established sales houses, and we come in when brands and podcasts need more than a standard placement. That’s why we bring everyone to the same table - brand, podcasters/creators and the sales partner - and develop a tailored audio strategy that truly fits the format. At the same time, we advise brands holistically on audio and think beyond one-off podcast bookings over a longer horizon: which partnerships make sense when, and why.
That’s how we make sure it improves the listening experience rather than disrupting it: the integration has to match the show’s DNA: its tone, its attitude, its community, and when it makes sense, we extend the idea beyond the podcast into other creator channels. Most importantly, if there isn’t a real fit, we tell our brand partners. Our 10+ years in the podcast business help us spot that fit early and get it right.
Based on your experience producing and supporting podcasters in monetizing, what’s your number one tip for audio creators in 2026?
Know and love what you’re talking about, think in long term, be consistent, be good at what you do and have fun with it. Listeners are smart, they will know.
Share with us 2-3 recommendations of underrated German podcasts you love.
I would recommend Scambit, a short podcast about a chess scandal, as well as Teurer Wohnen, a podcast about the sometimes weird, sometimes illegal, always outrageous ways the real estate business works in Berlin and other big cites. Hört Hört, a podcast about other podcasts featuring recommendations only, is always fun.
Thank you, Maria!