Jottings of note:
Spotify’s Hint
Alan Cross, writing in his Journal Of Musical Things speculates this: “Could Spotify finally launch their hi-res streams? Maybe.” Beginning his speculative piece with a sharp jab in the ribs, Cross asserts: “Spotify may be the biggest music streamer in the world, but they are objectively the worst-sounding.” Observing that Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, and Qobuz provide high resolution streams, which can provide greater fidelity than CDs, he bemoans Spotify’s “average audio.” We made a similar observation last November, and observed: “That lack is an unusual lag for a dominant consumer service which leads the industry with many other consumer innovations.” At that time we reported that Spotify might plug the hi-rez gap in 2025, based on last year’s Q3 earnings report. Alan Cross provides an under-the-hood observation that incoming high fidelity is implied in Spotify’s technical coding (based on reporting by Dylan Smith HERE). “Believe me,” Cross implores. “Once you go lossless, you will NEVER go back.”
Local Media’s Next Move
“Local is the next big opportunity in podcasting – local audio AND local video.” That’s Amplifi Media founder/CEO Steve Goldstein, promoting an upcoming webinar: Local Media’s Next Move: The Rise of Video Podcasts. He will be joined by Stephanie Chan (Strategic Partner Manager, Podcasting) and Gordon Borrell (CEO, Borrell Associates Inc.). The webinar is about the fast-moving joining of streaming audio and video. The session promises to address how the addition of video to local podcasting might be creating an entirely new offering at the local level. Mark the date: Thursday of this week, June 26, 2pm ET. It’s free; register HERE.
Another Notch
Long-time audio and podcast producer Jen Poyant has taken a new role in The New York Times, where she has been named Deputy Director for Audio. An announcement of this elevation was made by Paula Szuchman, Director of Audio at the Times. (In describing Poyant’s career, Szuchman quoted ChatGPT.) Poyant has been associated with recognized podcasts Hard Fork and Modern Love. She co-founded the epochal Stable Genius Productions with renowned radio personality Manoush Zomoradi, and was Executive Producer at WNYC Radio.
June 23, 2025
