The many shades of podcast advertising (Ad Results Media)
Measurability of podcast advertising has been a hurdle for buyers and sellers across the entire life of the category. Despite many meaningful advances in campaign measurement across the decades of audience growth, efforts to educate and reassure buyers are often part of agency promotions. A new study from podcast advertising agency Ad Results Media is both informational and tutorial, per that company’s defining style. Click for details and the download link. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s International Radio Trends – Radio in the car: and bad software
by James Cridland
In his latest column, James Cridland buys a new car and reports on its audio features — especially the radio tuner. DAB is there, and FM, but no AM at all. Not a crisis, he observes, because AM is simulcast on DAB. But there is unfavorable UX in other ways, and the screen fail one usability test after another. All this while James is at the 14th Atelier Radiophonique Romand in Switzerland, listening to Tomas Granryd discuss the EBU’s Connected Car Playbook. Swinging over to a review of that document, James finds a mix of great ideas and self-serving ones. As always, an interesting read. Continue Reading
Podcasts paying off at Google/Alphabet, and Q4 earnings
In this week’s lengthy Q4 earnings call, the word “podcast” was mentioned six times: Three times each by Sudar Pichai (CEO, Google and Alphabet) and Philipp Schindler (Chief Business Officer, Google). Click for those details, and the financial rundown. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: February 6
— Continuing Self-Reinvention (Universal Music Group)
— The Enduring Top 3 (Edison Research)
— — Head First (Dane Cardiel)
Steve Goldstein: AI Slop is Everywhere – and it’s getting worse
Guest columnist Steve Goldstein concentrates his latest article on “AI slop” — low-quality, generic, or soulless AI-generated content that clutters the digital space. Many AI products and enhancements feel like solutions in search of a problem. Yes, “AI” moves markets, but at what cost? Steve dives deep in his analysis of AI content, consumer reaction to it, and — crucially — five types of damage from sonic slop. A must-read. Continue Reading
A high bar for growth, defying expectations, and more from Spotify to investors
In Spotify’s Q4 earnings call with investors, the word “podcast” was not spoken in the prepared remarks. Only when an investor asked about it in the Q&A portion did the company address its podcast business by name. In reply, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek numbered four ways in which value has been added to Spotify’s advertisers: “AI is one of those ways, video is obviously another one, podcasting is the third, audiobooks is the fourth.” Onekey point: Leaving the door open to charging for ad-supported listening. Click for key points and quotes from Spotify’s Q4 earnings call. Continue Reading
Spotify Q4 earnings and forecast: 1st-time full-year profit
Streaming audio juggernaut Spotify released Q4 earnings. “We ended 2024 with strong Q4 performance, as nearly all of our KPIs exceeded guidance and profitability reached record levels.” thecompany stated. Continued growth is expected for 2025.” Continue Reading
Time spent with Radio News/Talk lifted by streaming
The News/Talk format on U.S. radio received the largest share of time spent listening in the expansive 18+ age group. That finding fromĀ a new report released by Nielsen and Edison Research. Click for more. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: February 3
— Closing the (Audio)book, Spotify Prevails in Lawsuit Defense (Spotify)
— Nominations Welcome (Women’s Podcasters Awards)
— Onward and Upward (PQ Media) Continue Reading
SiriusXM 2024 financials: Slight revenue loss across the board
SiriusXM released its full-year finance comparisons, for the organization as a whole, and its Pandora streaming music subsidiary. The report offers both full-year and Q4 2024 numbers. Here, we focus on the full-year picture. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: January 31
— A Voice of Integrity (Sean Ross)
— Crowd Reaction (Barrett Media)
— Greatness Ranked (Great Pods) Continue Reading