by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein reproduces a conversation with Joel Sucherman, NPR’s Vice President for New Platform Partnerships, about podcast subscriptions. Sucherman illuminates NPR’s basic strategy points, and reveals how local NPR radio stations are involved in that strategy. Continue Reading
Hi-Res audio (also called Hi-Def, HD, HiFi, and other nicknames) has been an added value feature in music streaming apps since Tidal charted that course with its 2x pricing model. Now that business model is at risk of being debunked. We test Amazon’s ULTRA HD. Continue Reading
Jottings of note:
— Striking a Blow (Mark Mulligan)
— Apple vs Spotify (James Cridland)
— Another Podcast Event (Asian American Podcasters Association)
— Aclass (Acast)
Podcast media planning platform Magellan AI is out with its monthly top 15 podcast advertisers, and the “Movers & Shakers” list of top increased spends. BetterHelp and Samsung grab headline spots. Webinar tomorrow. Continue Reading
WFAS-AM has moved from the analog band to HD radio while rebranding to AM1230Digital. Cumulus Media subsidiary Westwood One programs the station with News/Talk on weekdays and Sports on weekends. Continue Reading
A remarkable stability is revealed in Triton Digital’s latest U.S. Podcast Report. Click through for details. Continue Reading
Deezer announces its first CEO change since Hans-Holder Albrecth took the lead position in 2015. The new chief executive of the global streaming audio platform is Jeronimo Folgueira, who comes to Deezer from a CEO/Chair position at Spark Networks. Continue Reading
The RAIN global Audio Revolution Summit, an international Zoom event produced today, was designed to shine light on the current, and prospective future, states of radio, podcasting, and digital audio advertising. The event was presented by Targetspot and AllMediaDesk, with additional sponsorship support from AdsWizz and AccuRadio. Click for summaries and quotes. Continue Reading
Amazon Audio Ads, a division of Amazon Music, is working with GroupM to evangelize digital audio advertising and give the agency’s clients favorable access and terms. Click for details. Continue Reading
Edison Research has released Clubhouse users in America 2021, part of the company’s “The Social Habit” study. In it, we learn about social media tendencies of Clubhouse users contrasted with non-users. Click for details, charts, and the download link. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio has resumed its Commencement series of audio graduation speeches by celebrities. Started in 2020 as a remedy for cancelled ceremonies, the franchise picks up this year with a new slate of presenters. We hope it continues post-Covid, and also note the heavy load of pre-roll material. Continue Reading
Hyphen Media is a new audio-first network that tells stories by and about people of color. Founders Andrew Kuo and Kareem Rahma aim to make Hyphen a platform to help unrepresented voices grow exponentially in entertainment from podcasts to TV to film. Continue Reading