In Pandora’s Q1 earnings call yesterday, some of the most interesting remarks came during the investor Q&A, as usual. Two key subjects investors brought to the discussion were Pandora’s acquisition of ad-tech company AdsWizz, and the future of podcasting in Pandora’s content catalog. Extensive quotes and context. Continue Reading
Yesterday Pandora delivered one of its happiest quarterly reports in a couple of years, revealing forecast-beating annual growth in revenue and monetization efficiency. Pandora stock was rocketing up an eye-popping 25% in afternoon trading today. “We’re entering a new era… Continue Reading
Joel Sucherman has been promoted to the newly created role of Vice President, New Platform Partnerships at NPR. For nearly 10 years Sucherman developed the network’s digital portfolio as Senior Director, Digital Products. Continue Reading
audioBoom is contributing to “Better Hearing Month” (May) by launching the Listen-In Campaign in collaboration with the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Starkey provides hearing aids and healthcare to people with hearing impairment in 100 countries. The podcast company has enlisted at least 16 podcasts it represents to participate in the fundraising. Continue Reading
Satcaster Sirius XM reported its Q1 financials yesterday. subscriptions up 330,000 to over 33-million. Revenue climbed 6% to 1.4-billion. Full-year guidance unchanged. CEO James E. Meyer commented on Pandora & iHeartMedia situations. Continue Reading
The Music Modernization Act (MMA) has convincingly passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The pending legislation benefits the creative class of the music industry — songwriters and composers, and enjoys a remarkable degree of across-the-aisle support, both politically and in the music industry. Continue Reading
We know from The Smart Audio Report conducted by Edison Research and NPR, that smart speakers have a special (and perhaps unpredicted) appeal to kids, and therefore to parents who are bringing Alexa devices into their homes. research summary. iHeartRadio is leaping into that space with an announcement today that it will be the default provider of live music content for the newly launched Echo Dot Kids Edition, and the FreeTime Unlimited skill in Alexa. Continue Reading
Veteran digital audio executive Billy Freund has joined PodcastOne as Co-COO, according to a news release sent by the L.A.-based podcast company. Freund steps into COO responsibilities alongside Greg Batusic, who operates in New York. Freund will work in the Beverly Hills headquarters. Continue Reading
Picking up from yesterday’s Part 1 of the conversation between Pacific Media’s Steve Pratt and Google’s Podcasts Product Manager Zack Reneau-Wedeen, today’s installment in the five-part series has Reneau-Wedeen evangelizing audio and planning its rise in Google information ecosystem. “There’s no good reason why audio isn’t a first-class citizen,” he said. Continue Reading
One of the most successful audio titles, Freakonomics Radio, is moving to Stitcher this summer, according to an announcement sent out this morning by Midroll Media, which controls Stitcher. Both Midroll and Stitcher are owned by E.W. Scripps. There’s an interesting strategy for show archives. Continue Reading
Google intends to double the podcast audience in a couple of years, and correct what it sees as an imbalance in Android’s share of delivery compared to iPhones. Some of Google’s podcast discovery and listening strategy is already implemented, and it shines a meaningful light on Google’s potential power to come from way behind Apple’s 13-year advantage in delivering podcasts to its iTunes and Podcasts app audiences. Continue Reading
Spotify is soon to join the quarterly routine of reporting its business to U.S. and global investors — the Q1 date is May 2. Meanwhile, an April 24 media news event in New York is tickling rumors of changes to the Spotify free service, and its app interface. Continue Reading