Month: December 2020

Amazon buys Wondery to join Amazon Music

Posted on by Brad Hill

The deal is not yet closed, but the agreement is. As rumored, Amazon will acquire Wondery, the last of the major creative networks in podcasting’s resurgent era to lose indie status. Amazon positions the company as joining Amazon Music, where Amazon’s podcast directory lives, but we see a future in Audible Originals for wondery’s creative production. Founder/CEO Hernan Lopez will step down to manage his new foundation; COO Jen Sargent will take over. Click through for quotes and context. Continue Reading →

Rumor Fact(ory): Jack Dorsey’s Square mulls Tidal acquisition

Posted on by Brad Hill

Talk about diversifying. In the most startling rumor of a streaming music acquisition, merchant payment enabler Square is reportedly considering an acquisition of HiRez, musician-owned Tidal. This Rumor Fact(ory) is based on the usual “unnamed sources” who spoke with Bloomberg. Click through for more context on Dorsey and Tidal. Continue Reading →

Bank of America, McDonald’s lead increased podcast spend in November (Magellan AI)

Posted on by Brad Hill

Podcast advertising intelligence company Magellan AI released its “Spenders, Movers & Shakers” list for November. Bank of America and McDonald’s take the #1 and #2 spots for increased podcast ad spending. Bank of America jumped from $128,000 in October to 1.9-million in November. Mcdonald’s jumped from $174,000 to $1.7-million. Click through for context and the full list. Continue Reading →

ASCAP and BMI jointly create Songview data platform for new level of music rights transparency

Posted on by Brad Hill

Leading performance rights organizations (PROs) ASCAP and BMI have jointly announced the launch of Songview, a searchable database of music ownership rights. Better organization and transparency in the tangled field of music ownership has long been needed, according to nearly all experts in the field, to more accurately and quickly direct royalty payments to the proper creators. Continue Reading →

TikTok releases first-ever music report, indicating a powerful music discovery role

Posted on by Brad Hill

Over 176 different songs surpassed 1 billion video views on micro-video platform TikTok. That from the company’s first annual music report. Over 70 artists have broken on the platform, and landed major label deals. While major surveys put YouTube as a leading music discovery environment, TikTok seems determined to build recognition for its role in finding and sharing songs. Continue Reading →

Jeff Umbro: Staring Down the Barrel of 2020 (Podcast Lists)

Posted on by Jeff Umbro

by Jeff Umbro

In this week’s column, Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro unleashes an epic list of lists — 32 media brands which released end-of-year “best podcasts of 2020” roundups. From Esquire to Vanity Fair. From Town & Country to Teen Vogue. Dive in now; thank Jeff later. (Or blame him; your choice.) Continue Reading →

Global Top-20 streaming +5% in October, and longterm U.S. streaming trend (Triton Digital Webcast Metrics

Posted on by Brad Hill

U.S. stream listening in September was steady as a month-over-month metric following August, according to Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker. While group leader Pandora dipped by about one percent, gains for iHeartRadio, RADIO.COM, and ESPN helped keep the overall ship on an even keel. Click through for RAIN’s long-term trend chart from 2009 to present. Continue Reading →

DAX lands exclusive U.S. sales representation for Audiomack streaming

Posted on by Brad Hill

Digital audio ad platform DAX has announced an agreement with Audiomack, a crowdsourced music streaming platform, to exclusively represent U.S. ad sales. Audiomack serves about 20-million monthly active listeners (MAUs). Adding that reach to DAX’s existing portfolio brings the number to 115-million MAUs that DAX can target for advertisers. At the same time, DAX notes, the Audiomack deal strengthens DAX’s base of Gen Z and Millennial audience. Continue Reading →

Spotify signs Meghan Markle & Prince Harry in exclusive podcast production

Posted on by Brad Hill

The Spotify podcast deal-making dreadnought sails on, now signing the ex-royal couple Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to an exclusive production arrangement. The model seems to be taken from the Spotify/Obamas deal which tied a new production company, Higher Ground, to Spotify (not an equity acquisition). Likewise, Harry and Meghan have fashioned a production company called Archewell Audio. Click through for details and a trailer. Continue Reading →