RAIN Notes: December 16
Humans outnumbered – David Cohen (IAB)
Having it all – Howard Stern Continue Reading
Author: Brad Hill
Music discovery: No clear leader (Bain & Co.)
Global management consulting firm Bain & Company has released a new piece of research: Music Discovery: “More Channels, More Problems.” Consumers discover new music via more sources than ever before, and these are detailed. “Industry leaders will have to invest in new capabilities and tools,” the company asserts. Continue Reading
Steve Goldstein: Podcasting 2026: Welcome to the Era of Liquid Content
Forget about asking “What’s a podcast?” That hisorical epoch is over, says Steve Goldstein. In this guest column, Steve defines four eras in the history of podcasting. (He brings spaghetti to this analysis.) Continue Reading
NYC Podcast Awards launched; 24 categories, deadlines & costs announced
Silver Sounds, a Manhattan production company, has launched the inaugural NYC Podcast Awards. The founding rationale is to bring light to under-recognized creators and creator communities. Click to see how it’s structured, and for the submission link. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: December 15
Global streaming service Deezer partnered with Ipsos to conduct a consumer survey to discover popular perceptions and attitudes toward AI-generated music. Nine thousand people in eight countries were questioned. Also, a concert violinist makes his own test. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: December 12
New year forecasting – MIDiA Research
Massive aggregation – AcastBest – NPR
Hot Smart Rich(er) – Steven Bartlett
For early-stagers – Podcast Creator Summit Continue Reading
Acast’s massive podcast aggregation
Global podcast giant Acast has upgraded its proposition to podcast clients with what the company calls an industry-first YouTube program. Also, an inventory partnership with digital production house Little Dot. Continue Reading
Podcast creators under the microscope in detailed Sounds Profitable research
Sounds Profitable has released The Creators: Understanding the Modern Podcast Creator. The study was fielded by Signal Hill Insights, and queried over 5,000 Americans 18 years and older. Click for partial coverage and link to the source deck. Continue Reading
Washington Post intros AI-driven personalized podcasts
The Washington Post has introduced podcasts personalized to each user’s preferences of length and topic, and reading history. The mechanism is driven by AI, and is co-created with the AI voicing company Eleven Labs Continue Reading
NAB exec testifies in Senate as radio royalty argument grinds on
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Board DirectorHenry Hinton will enter the long-running fray over the exemption of terrestrial radio from paying performance royalties for airplay of songs. Hinton will argue that stations should continue their statutory exemption. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: December 9
The main stream – Sounds Profitable
Client-first thinking – True Native Media
Best – NPR Continue Reading
Golden Globes: Podcasts added; nominees for “Best” revealed
The Golden Globes Awards, an accolades program founded to recognize excellence in movies and television, have added a “Best Podcast” category. This mainstream recognition of podcasting as a major media category should not be underestimated. It might seem late to the game, but adding the new category was prompted by metrics , via Golden Globes data partner Luminate. Continue Reading