Spotify usually has a slew of new features in testing at any given time. The latest to get a public appearance is called Stories, and it lets the user add some video recordings to their audio playlists. These can be a clip of the person or a snippet of the song with album art as the visual. Continue Reading
Pocket Casts is planning to roll out a content update to its podcast listening platform. Both the iOS and Android versions of its app will get curated playlists that aim to provide new discovery tools to listeners. Continue Reading
Global has partnered with MTV UK to help the broadcaster make its debut in podcasting. The deal will see the launch of five audio programs to complement MTV UK’s television shows. Global’s DAX digital ad exchange will be the advertising sales and distribution partner for the podcasts. Continue Reading
At the European Radio and Digital Audio Show in Paris, a three-day exhibition and presentation conference, one of the panels turned its focus to the future of radio in the next few years. A persistent and sometimes controversial point was whether to rebrand the radio industry to “audio.” Continue Reading
Canalys has released a new forecast for the smart tech sector in the coming years. The company projected that more than 3 billion smart devices would ship during 2023, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 6.5% from 2019. Continue Reading
Entercom announced a new effort that will provide marketing campaign measurement tools to podcasts and streaming audio. This stems from apartnership with marketing company Claritas, which offers an identity graph with proprietary data for more than 120 million households and more than 1 billion devices. Continue Reading
Rumors have been swirling for some time that Apple might turn to commissioning original podcasts. Most of the speculation hinted that exclusive titles would further entice listeners to the Apple Podcasts platform, but the latest insider information indicates a secondary goal for any original programming. Continue Reading
Mixcloud launched a new in-house brand consultancy called Loud. The new operation will have a multi-disciplinary team that helps companies to develop their ideas. Continue Reading
Merlin, the independent label network and rights organization, has signed a licensing deal with the short-form video platform TikTok. This multi-territory agreement will make Merlin’s repertoire of indie music available for legal use by any users of the social app. Continue Reading
A story in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reported that Serial Productions, maker of influential podcast Serial, is seeking acquisition. While a great deal of institutional money has flowed into podcasting in the last three years, an acquisition headline focused on a single show is unusual and striking. Continue Reading
Spotify’s assertive growth in podcasting (see yesterday’s report of the company’s growing distribution influence) was headlined in 2019 by acquisitions of Gimlet, Anchor, and Parcast. But outright acquisition isn’t the only way to gain content. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Podnews apparently inspired podcast analytics and attribution company Chartable to crunch some numbers defining the share of podcasting distribution among leaders in that space. The question derives from Spotify’s rapid growth in this field. Apple is still #1, but Spotify’s influence in this field is growing impressively. Continue Reading