AdLarge’s cabana unit goes true crime, repping Crime Junkie
AdLarge’s podcast unit, cabana, is diving into the hugely successful category of true crime by taking in Crime Junkie, a show which started in December. Continue Reading
Author: Brad Hill
Podcast Industry Stalls After Entire Audience Acquires a Mattress and a Website (Fortune)
Not our headline. A good laugh before the holiday weekend. Continue Reading
Vevo will reduce brand distinction by shuttering apps, using YouTube exclusively
Music video publisher Vevo will shutter its branded apps and video website in the near future. YouTube will become Vevo’s main distribution platform. At the same time, the company’s statement leaves the door open to other distribution partnerships. Continue Reading
Indie label group Merlin celebrates its 10th birthday with hires and history
Merlin, the global digital rights agency for the independent label sector, is sending out a 10th-birthday notice. To mark the milestone, Merlin is announcing three hires. the agency started operating in May, 2008, with three people. It now employs 21 people across four offices on three continents, serving tens of thousands of indie labels. Continue Reading
audioBoom Studios announces summer lineup of original podcasts
Podcast company audioBoom has announced its summer slate of original programs, under its audioBoom Studios production arm. One new show is joined by three returning podcasts. Continue Reading
Gracenote develops Sonic Style, a new metadata category for classifying music
Venerable media metadata company Gracenote (a Nielsen subsidiary) today announced a new technology product called Sonic Style, which classifies tracks into micro-categories that more exactly match up to what consumers with to hear in playlists. The technology aspires to create smarter playlists in a voice-first world of smart speakers. Continue Reading
RadioPublic adds “Stations” for lean-back podcast discovery
RadioPublic has announced a new feature called Stations, which are RadioPublic podcast playlists ready-made for one-click listening across a topical range of programs. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia Q1: Steady finances and higher on-demand subscription revenue
While there is no earnings call for iHeartMedia scheduled during the media giant’s bankruptcy process, the normal regulatory filing (10-Q) was made. From that document, a few interesting points can be gleaned. Continue Reading
YouTube re-launches apps today; new Music service and subscription plans
As we noted last week, today is rollout day for a new YouTube Music app, and two new subscription plans for ad-free, downloadable YouTube use. Click through for plan details, a gloomy forecast (not from RAIN News), and quotes from Lyor Cohen. Continue Reading
Peter Gabriel albums land in Spotify, ending long holdout
Another streaming holdout has reversed course: Peter Gabriel has released most of his albums to Spotify, and possibly other services. In addition to other business considerations in releasing the music, there is the enduring value of back catalogs in streaming services. Continue Reading
Cadence13 and MarketSnacks launch daily business podcast; we speak with Chris Corcoran
Podcast company Cadence13 is partnering with business newsletter publisher MarketSnacks to start a daily business/tech podcast. It is called MarketSnacks Daily, and the first episode drops tomorrow, May 23. RAIN News Q&A with Chris Corcoran, Chief Content Officer at Cadence13. Continue Reading
RAJAR Q1: Digital listening to radio exceeds 50% in UK for first time
RAJAR released its Q1 report today, not to be confused with its much larger MIDAS survey that came out earlier this week. The Q1 headline: Digital share of all radio listening was over 50% digitally delivered for the first time (50.9%, up from 47.2% in Q1 2017).
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