Spotify has built a new piece of linkage between the streaming giant’s platform and Patreon, where many subscription podcasts are managed. The new connectivity allows Patreon subscribers to access their paid-for podcasts within the Spotify app. Continue Reading
Podcast content, hosting, and monetization platform Acast is announcing a partnership with Patreon, the crowdfunding platform used by many podcasters to support their ongoing projects. In this arrangement, Patreon podcasters can manage both their public feeds and private patron-only episodes in one place, and patronage listeners can hear public and private content in their favorite app. Continue Reading
Patreon, the patronage crowdfunding platform, is now valued over $1-billion, the threshold for “unicorn” status — a popular venture-capital term for companies which stand at a pinnacle in their niches. The milestone is publicized in the wake of a recent fundraising round which yielded $100-million based on a valuation of $1.2-billion. Click through for examples of high podcast earners in podcasting. Continue Reading
Podcast startups have been a hot space as the audio format continues to grow in popularity. One subset of this area has been attempts to create steady paying communities for shows. Supercast is one of these. The platform is currently in beta. Continue Reading
Crowdfunding platform Patreon has closed a series C funding round of $60 million, bringing its total raised to $107 million. The new financing will go toward hiring and scaling growth for the patronage-based platform for supporting creative projects by artists, musicians, performers, and, noteworthy for RAIN readers, podcasters. Continue Reading
Podcast distributor Satchel announced a collaboration with crowd-funding site Patreon. Satchel’s premise is connecting podcasts with local listeners; it first appeared on our radar in February. Now, its podcast player can be embedded with a call to action button that takes listeners to a Patreon page. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: When and why podcasts ads work; Patreon’s serious Series B round; Apple launches Music Memos recording app. Continue Reading
Patreon, a crowdfunding site based on the idea of classical patronage, has acquired Subbable, a fellow crowdfunding service. Subbable was founded by Hank and John Green, YouTube personalities known as the Vlogbrothers. While most financial terms of the deal were not revealed, Patreon will be matching migrating pledges up to $100,000. Continue Reading
One of this year’s emerging stories for the business side of music is a shift toward artist patronage. In Patreon’s first year, donations totaled just $259,000. This year, fans gave $10 million in support of a wide range of creative ventures, according to Polygon. Continue Reading
Podcasters who distribute on Spotify (the dominant podcast delivery system by far) are recipients of a substantial upgrade of tools for managing the Spotify portion of their businesses. The just-announced upgrade is in three parts, emphasizing presence, insights, and monetization. Click for details and screenshots. Continue Reading
From the beginning, podcasting used the open RSS system for distribution. RSS enables any audio app to present podcasts in any kind of directory system. It’s an open, unowned protocol. But when the most popular podcast in the U.S. (The Joe Rogan Experience, according to Edison Research) is purchased by one of the most popular listening apps in the world (Spotify), the door slams shut on RSS. Justin Jackson, a founder of Transistor.FM, posted a detailed advocacy for RSS. Continue Reading
In this week’s guest column, James reports that he has The Thing, after returning from Podcast Movement Evolutions — he speculates it was the trip, not the event, which gave it to him. Anyway, the temporary illness didn’t stop him from reporting a week of interesting news bits from around the world including Ukraine, A clever TalkTV-and-radio programming gambit, a BBC Radio show on Patreon, and (as the title promises) a radio set for people who have dementia.
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