In an announcement which highlights a collaboration of two leaders — the foremost AI company and a leading media content company — OpenAI and Vox Media are jointly announcing a hook-up which seeks to benefit both. Click for the details. Continue Reading
Workflow automation and audio ad management provider Frequency is partnering with Barometer, a specialist in brand suitability and contextual targeting solutions for podcasting. The key to this arrangement is combining Barometer’s Brand Suitability and Contextual Targeting to Frequency’s Audio Ad Management Platform. The companies promise that this solution gives advertisers “enhanced capabilities for curating the ideal context to reach listeners.” Click for details. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
In this latest guest column from podcast consultant and public speaker Steve Goldstein, Steve grapples with the problem of too much content competing for too few eyeballs and ears. The issue was highlighted in a recent investor call by Disney CEO Bob Iger, but is what Steve calls “a really huge issue in today’s media landscape.” In podcasting, only eight percent of shows have produced a new episode in the last 30 days. Small percentage, but it’s 345,000 shows. The result? “Choice Fatigue.” Steve offers a five-point recovery plan. Essential reading for creators at all levels. Continue Reading
“The state of podcasts” — that’s the title of the newest Audioscape study from Cumulus Media. In it, we learn that podcast audience growth is “on a tear,” and podcast audience demographics are favorable to advertisers. We learn about podcast listening hot spots in the U.S., view a timeline of advertiser perceptions of podcasts, and much more. Click through for a review with graphs and download links for the deck and video. Continue Reading
Pacific Content, a leading producer of branded podcasts, will be shuttered by parent company Rogers Sports & Media. The company provided a statement which, while not providing financial or other data particulars, described a basic belt-tightening and sharpened focus. Continue Reading
A proposed bill nicknamed the No Fakes Act (Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe) seeks to recording artists and performers in all fields of entertainment from unauthorized use of their voices and likenesses. The bill states the problem… Continue Reading
Spotify’s announced discontinuation of its Car Thing interface, a dedicated device for streaming Spotify in-car, has been met by owners with disappointment, bafflement, requests, and anger. We sample the disappointment and outrage. Continue Reading
— Q&A (Sounds Profitable)
— Blatant (Billboard)
— Up North Ranking (Triton Digital)
— Starbucks P1 (Jacobs Media)
Magellan AI’s accounting of podcast advertiser spending for April, for the top 15 spenders, shows a total spend down six percent from March. Ten of the top 15 are repeats from the previous months. Three companies are members of RAIN’s unofficial 12-of-12 club. Click for graphics. Continue Reading
Top-tier podcast ad company AdsWizz is announcing that hosting platform Simplecast is now “officially part of the AdsWizz family.” That’s acquisition language, but both companies are acquired subsidiaries of audio giant SiriusXM, so this appears to be an internal tie-up of the two technologies. Click for more. Continue Reading
It’s an “an affirmative, public declaration.” That’s how Sony Music characterizes its statement, released yesterday, declaring the giant music company’s entire catalog off-limits to all AI training systems. It is fierce, comprehensive, and bears a certain resemblance to the 1990s. Continue Reading
The weekly reach of radio listening in the UK is traditionally strong, and the Q1 RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) report shows a surge for the first quarter. Fifty million adults — 89% of the 15+ population, tuned in each week, for a total time-spent metric of 1.023 billion hours. Click for much more. Continue Reading