We learned from RadioToday that Jay Walkerden has left Australian radio group Nova, and has started a podcast production and consulting company call Podshape. The exit from nova was apparently not friendly, according to the write-up, but details are short. Anyway, Podshape is the new venture for the Brisbane executive, who ran the podcast division of Nova. Continue Reading
Tom Webster (SVP, Edison Research) and Joel Sucherman (VP, New Platform Partnerships, NPR) held forth in a Zoom webinar to present the Smart Audio Report 2020, a collaboration of the two companies. The report consisted of a wealth of metrics, including specialty survey questions relevant to Covid-19, and “qualitative research” — videos of users talking about how they use smart assistants. Click for details. Continue Reading
The Mechanical Licensing Collective announced several new hires for its leadership team. The organization was formed by the passage of the Music Modernization Act and is responsible for administering the new blacket compulsory mechanical license for digital music services. Continue Reading
In this week’s Q1 earnings call from parent company Sirius XM, we learned (and reported) that Pandora experienced a drop in monthly listeners to about 61-million, down from the year-ago Q1 report of 66-million. Sirius XM executives think they know exactly why. Continue Reading
Futuresource Consulting released a report with an outlook on how the coronavirus pandemic might impact music streaming. Given the uncertainty around how COVID-19 may continue to impact both individual listening habits and broader national economies, any sort of projections should be read with several grains of salt. But a surveys and forecasts can still help companies make their best guesses about where listening trends will go. Continue Reading
Anchor has been attracting users on its premise of easy, straightforward podcast creation. The platform’s latest update is an option for turning video files into audio shows. The system can work with several popular video chatting apps. Continue Reading
Sonos is making some content additions in recent months. On the back of the launch for its Sonos Radio, the speaker company announced an integration with OverDrive’s Libby app. This program helps libraries connect with patrons, giving them access to audiobooks and ebooks on their own devices. Continue Reading
Alphabet has released its first-quarter results, including figures and stats for YouTube. YouTube ads generated $4.04 billion in revenue. Continue Reading
There’s another leadership change happening at Merlin, the independent label group and digital rights management group. Charlie Lexton has been promoted to the newly created post of chief operating officer. Continue Reading
Voicebot.ai has released its latest report on U.S. smart speaker adoption. According to its most recent surveys, the U.S. smart speaker installed base has grown 32% to 87.7 million adults. Continue Reading
Spotify’s first quarter of 2020 included positive results on many important metrics, even as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold around the world. The company is even remaining positive about the rest of the year, not changing its outlook for most key performance indicators, although it acknowledged the uncertainty ahead. Continue Reading
Podcast technology platform Spreaker sent us an announcement of a new customer layer called the Spreaker Publisher Plan. That might sound generic, but is actually a precise layer of service that fits between the platform’s open sign-up service and its enterprise hosting capability which was launched last year. In our view, this product targets an increasingly thriving layer of indie podcast networks. Click to know more. Continue Reading