Author: Brad Hill

Edison Research Top 50 podcasts: Only three newcomers from previous list

Posted on by Brad Hill

Edison Research released the company’s quarterly report of top 50 podcasts, the result of an 8,000-person consumer survey, part of the company’s Podcast Consumer Tracking Report. Edison’s ranker is notable for its methodology. In this edition, as in previous releases, nearly all 50 shows carry over from the previous report. Click through for illustrations. Continue Reading →

Infinite Album wins Midem award for no-royalty AI gaming soundtrack

Posted on by Brad Hill

Infinite Album, a music/tech startup from entrepreneur, consultant, author, and RAIN Summit speaker Karen Allen, has won the 2021 Midemlab award in the Music Creation & Education category. Midemlab is part of the annual Midem music business conference in France. Infinite Album creates AI-generated music soundtracks for online gaming. Click for details and an illustrative video. Continue Reading →

Earned media agency Critical Mention signs Podchaser analytics

Posted on by Brad Hill

In a sign of podcasting’s influencer power, Critical Mention — an agency which tracks and measures earned media (unpaid publicity) — has announced a partnership with podcast database platform Podchaser. The arrangement will allow Critical Mention agency clients to track and measure brand mentions across podcasting, as Podchaser’s internal dataset is built internally into Critical Mention’s toolset. Continue Reading →

“Black Podcast Listener Report” reveals size and characteristics of the American Black audience

Posted on by Brad Hill

The much anticipated Black Podcast Listener Report, with support from Edison Research and Mindshare, was released today and presented in a webinar. Key survey points cover the size of the Black listening audience and how it compares with the total U.S. population, how that audience discovers podcasts, their receptivity to podcast ads, and much more. Click through for many data points and graphics. Continue Reading →

AccuRadio launches One Song Radio, making a Dallas bar happy

Posted on by Brad Hill

In response to the viral news story of a Dallas bar’s note on its jukebox that Mariah Carey’s hit song “All I Want for Christmas is You” is not to be played until December 1st — and then only once per evening — AccuRadio, as a public service, has launched a new channel called “One Song Radio: All I Want for Christmas is You,” featuring only the popular Carey/Afanasleff composition as performed by dozens of artists. Click for info. Continue Reading →

Spotify acquires Findaway for acceleration of audiobook involvement

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On the same day that Edison Research and NPR released The Spoken Word Audio Report for 2021 (RAIN coverage HERE), Spotify announced its acquisition of Findaway, the audiobook facilitator and distributor. Finances of the deal are undisclosed, and might not represent the potential long-term impact of the acquisition to Spotify and to spoken word listening. Continue Reading →

Spoken-word listening rapidly growing; music and AM/FM erode (Spoken Word Audio Report)

Posted on by Brad Hill

The 2021 edition of the annual Spoken Word Audio Report, a comprehensive survey study fielded by Edison Research with support from NPR, is out. Key findings include how all kinds of spoken word audio listening (podcasting, audiobooks, AM/FM talk radio) is quickly growing, and largely eating into AM/FM talk radio. Click through for many in-depth details, graphics, and the download link for full results and videos. Continue Reading →