RAIN Notes: January 16
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Author: Brad Hill
Spotify hikes price of Premium; provides broken info link
Some users call it “streamflation.” Some content owners feel they don’t benefit from it. The swirl is about a Spotify subscription price hike charged to the top tier of Premium subscribers, who will begin to pay a dollar more per month starting soon. Continue Reading
SiriusXM: The Great Podcast Debate
“What is a podcast?” A back-to-basics question if we ever heard one, it’s how SiriusXM opens its latest research study. We dive deep into the numbers and charts. From “What is…” to whether size matters … and much more. Click for the many high points and link to the source. Continue Reading
Streaming growth, vinyl dominance highlight Luminate 2025 report
Music analytics and measurement company Luminate has released its annual year-end music report. The 2025 edition highlights a record-breaking year for the global music industry, and documents the surging popularity of Latin music. We learn that of a new record… Continue Reading
iHeart preps annual Podcast Awards; nominees released
iHeartMedia has released the host and nominees for the 2026 iHeartPodcast Awards, which this year is co-produced with South by Southwest (SXSW). As last year, the ceremony will be staged at the Moody Theater in Austin, TX. The date of… Continue Reading
Podstock partners with PodX Group to provide audience and revenue insights
Analytics and management company Podstock is announcing a new partnership with Stockholm-based investment company PodX Group. The arrangement will bring audience and revenue insights into one centralized analytics hub to serve all of Podstock’s media brands, which include Blue Wire, Vox Media, Dear Media, Locked On, and Wave Sports.
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Billboard/Duetti index seeks to establish the value of music
Media brand Billboard, and financial tech (fintech) company Duetti, have joined forces to produce the Music Finance Index. The project seeks to establish benchmark values for music and identify catalog investment trends. Music valuations are upward-trending for investors, with even… Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: January 12
A win for podcast emails – Beehiv
Tease – Amy Poehler Continue Reading
The Podcast Academy: New leadership “at a pivotal moment”
The Podcast Academy has named an Executive Director: It is Ami Thakkar Raval. Thakker is known for her podcast, Tuckered Out with Ami Thakkar(HERE) ), which has been in production since 2017, and has served a broad spectrum of roles over across many sectors over a dozen years. Click for details. Continue Reading
December podcast production drops 28% to 12-month low (Listen Notes)
In the 12-month measurement at Listen Notes, new podcast production took a sizable step downward (28%) in December 2025 compared to November of last year. Further, the November measurement represents the lowest podcast production of the 12-month period. Click for more metrics. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: January 8
Award time – iHeartMedia
Podcasts before – Arielle Nissenblatt
Happy 10th – True Native Media Continue Reading
Spotify broadens its partner program, widening requirements
Spotify Partner Program, launched a year ago is widening its participation requirements, intending to bring in more podcasters. Three new criteria now define who can get in. Continue Reading