RAIN Notes: Monday, November 13
Month: November 2023
Amazon joins cost-cutting trend with layoffs to Music division
In this year of cost-cutting staff reductions, Amazon Music has joined the trend. Bloomberg is reporting that the company is cutting some number of jobs from Amazon Music. This action will follow other staff tightening in the behemoth company this… Continue Reading
iHeartMedia Q3: Revenue up. Digital audio up. Podcasting way up.
iHeartMedia announced an upbeat Q3 earnings report this week. At the top line, the company might have wished it could splash a billion-dollar figure, but settled for $989-million — a seven percent year-over-year gain. Following the examples of recent quarters, the Digital Audio Group led the way directionally. Click for details. Continue Reading
Spotify opens audiobooks to its biggest market. (U.S.) Also, more books. And research.
Five weeks after launching its audiobook category, Spotify has opened it to Premium U.S. subscribers. The original plan limited the audiobook experience to U.K. and Australian listeners. Now these three territories are granted 15 hours a month for book listening. Spotify did some audiobook listening research, too. Continue Reading
Spoken word audio report (NPR / Edison Research): Record high consumption; podcast share growing; AM/FM unbeatable in the car
The fifth annual iteration of The Spoken Word Audio Report has been released by Edison Research and NPR. While the research continues to measure basic trend lines of listening to spoken word content, such as reach and time-of-day metrics, this year the two companies bring a special emphasis on listening locations. This post takes a fairly deep dive and provides a download link. Continue Reading
As others raise subscriptions rates, SiriusXM lowers cost, reboots app, and targets “next generation” of users
Days after releasing its Q3 earnings, in which revenue and income numbers showed stability, SiriusXM is hoping to expand its usage footprint by lowering the subscription cost for streaming and in-car listening. Click for an industry-wide subscription price comparison and other details. Continue Reading
Acast expands self-serve features with advertiser/podcaster campaign planning
Global podcast company Acast, which lately seems intent to remove all middle-layer interference in the advertiser/podcast planning relationship, has brought those two parties closer with an expansion of the company’s self-serve platform. A new collaboration feature saves time in the planning and booking stages, and also make it easier to distribute a marketing budget across multiple podcasts. Continue Reading
Following royalty adjustment, Deezer rebrands and seeks reinvention
Paris-based streaming music platform Deezer continues making news with a relaunched user experience, following a change in its royalty calculations. The rebrand includes a new logo (bold and simple) and what the company calls an “experience services platform.” Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Wednesday, November 8
Edison Research Top 50 U.S. podcasts: Rogan + two-year comparison
Edison Research Podcast Metrics has released its quarterly list of top podcasts — a 50-show ranking. We’ve done a bit of comparing. We are always interested in the flow of popularity over time, and we compared this edition of Edison’s Top 50 with the list from two years ago. Continue Reading
Acast “On track” to profitability in Q3 report
Stockholm-based global podcast company Acast released a Q3 financial report which also serves as an interim report covering January – September. Acast says that growth “was mainly attributable to North America where net sales increased by 55%.” Europe also delivered upward metrics (+25%) and all other markets averaged 24%. Click for more. Continue Reading
Spotify’s 2024 royalty scheme shifts payouts upward; significance is debated
Spotify has announced change to its royalty payout calculation, limiting royalty eligibility to tracks which exceed 1,000 streams per 12-month period. Whereas in the past, sub-1,000 tracks earned negligible royalties, now those tracks will be taken out of the calculation entirely. This change will create meaningful results. Continue Reading