RAIN Notes: Monday, May 24
Jottings of note:
— Striking a Blow (Mark Mulligan)
— Apple vs Spotify (James Cridland)
— Another Podcast Event (Asian American Podcasters Association)
— Aclass (Acast)
Author: Brad Hill
BetterHelp atop podcast advertiser list; Samsung jumps in. (Magellan AI)
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
Cumulus flips WFAS-AM to all-digital (HD+online)
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
Podcast dominance unchanged as Triton Digital releases April U.S. Podcast Report
A remarkable stability is revealed in Triton Digital’s latest U.S. Podcast Report. Click through for details. Continue Reading
New CEO for Deezer as Hans-Holger Albrecht moves to board
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
RAIN Global Audio Revolution Summit offered fascinating studies of current and future trends in audio
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 collaborates with GroupM to benefit clients
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
Clubhouse users in Edison Research study: Male, young, white, educated, affluent, and more
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
iHeart resumes “Commencement” series: funny, wise, short, prerolls
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
New podcast network Hyphen Media launches with diversity mission
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
Veritone launches “Voice-as-a-Service” synthetic speech called MARVEL.ai — we unpack with president Ryan Steelberg
Veritone has launched a new service called MARVEL.ai, a synthetic voice product the company characterizes as a “Voice-as-a-Service” (VaaS) solution for media companies, brands, and celebrities. The product can mimic any person’s voice, given a sufficient sample, then make that synthetic voice say anything, read any script, or speak an entire audio program (such as podcasting) in another language using the original speaker’s voice. Veritone President Ryan Steelberg agreed to a knowledge-gathering chat, which ended with a compelling use case for podcasting. Continue Reading
Sounder acquires Podnods for “next generation of audio technology”
Sounder, a podcast hosting platform with data intelligence and monetization features, reveals this morning that it has acquired Podnods, an AI-based recommendation platform for listeners with audience growth support for podcasters. The deal marries two companies which each brings advanced technology to the legacy industry functions of hosting, recommending, and monetizing. Continue Reading