RAIN Notes: Tuesday, December 7
Jottings of Note
— Just Don’t (James Cridland / Winslow Bright)
— Feelz of the Season (Deezer)
— Executive Layer (Spoken Layer)
Author: Brad Hill
NPR stakes $5,000 in college podcast contest
NPR is reviving its College Podcast Challenge, founded last year as an offshoot of the PR Student Podcast Challenge for grades five through eight. “All it takes is a smartphone, a laptop computer, and a good idea,” NPR states. “We… Continue Reading
Power listeners and advertiser value: Canadian Podcast Listener 2021
The Canadian Podcast Listener 2021, an annual consumer survey project produced by Signal Hill Insights, with support from TPX, has been released. In a broad sweep, the 2021 report portrays the Canadian podcast market as growing in listenership with advertiser-friendly consumers. Click through for metrics, graphics, and a download link. Continue Reading
Imagine Entertainment jumps into podcasts with iHeartMedia
Imagine Entertainment, founded by Brian Glazer and Ron Howard, has struck an exclusive co-production, distribution, and presumably monetization deal with iHeartMedia, bringing the TV/film company into podcasting. The partnership will collaborate to launch six new series over the next two years distributed through the iHeartPodcast Network. Continue Reading
Audience slightly up, downloads flat (Podtrac) and RAIN Remix of November ranker
In the November Top Podcast Publishers list from Podtrac, U.S. Unique Monthly Downloads were flat mon over month, and year over year. In the RAIN Remix we re-sort the ranker on an average per-show basis within each network. Click to the see info graphics. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Friday, December 3
Jottings of Note
— And the Winner Will Be… (Webby Awards)
— Fixing It (EFF)
— Fake Rogan (Tim Heidecker)
Spotify reports double-, triple- quadruple-digit podcast listening growth
A day after Spotify’s end-of-year Wrapped product, the company releases Wrapped for Publishers. It offers podcast listening metrics in 2021. It is stuffed with growth in double-, triple-, and even quadruple-digit percentage increases. Click through for details and a link to Spotify’s PDF. Continue Reading
IAB announces Podcast Upfront for May 2022 — virtual again
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released its event schedule for the first half of 2022. The slate includes the IAB Podcast Upfront and the IAB NewFronts. The organization has also added a new showcase. Click for details. Continue Reading
“WQXR Day” proclaimed by NYC mayor on 85th anniversary
Classical music radio/audio brand WQXR is honored today as “WQXR Day” in New York City, the recognition bestowed by mayor Bill De Blasio. This interesting and laudatory recognition honors the station’s 85th anniversary. WQXR operates a robust digital offering via its mobile app. Click for details and history. Continue Reading
UK beats US in online audio listening; loves Spotify and podcasts
United Kingdom residents beat the U.S. when it comes to consuming online audio, and especially enjoys Spotify. Those are two of the many comparative analytics revealed today by Edison Research in the company’s presentation of the first instance of its Infinite Dial consumer survey brand focused on the British Isles, Infinite Dial UK 2021. Click through for bunches of metrics, graphics, and a link to the entire study. Continue Reading
Spotify 2021 Wrapped: Launch, crash, technical elitism, and no solution for disappointed users
After weeks of anticipatory promotion, Spotify unleashed its annual “Wrapped” feature yesterday. Unfortunately, the package is available only in the mobile app, and the video presentation requires memory and operating system resources that are unavailable on some phones. The result is a wave of social media complaints that the Wrapped experience crashes quickly, and closes the Spotify app. We present Spotify’s tech requirements, without providing a universally accessible format. We also review the Wrapped personalized playlists, which are quite enjoyable and don’t have special requirements. Continue Reading
Spotify Premium gains 309% listening share over 5 years: Westwood One blog via Edison Research
In a new blog entry posted yesterday, Pierre Bouvard (Chief Insights Officer, Cumulus Media) presents a truckload of trends related to Spotify, Pandora, AM/FM radio, and podcasting. A rich bundle of charts, interpretations, questions from RAIN, and answers from the author. Click through for it all. Continue Reading