RAIN Notes: Wednesday, February 14
— Royal Disagreement (Music LIcensing Collective)
— It’s A Lot (Sounds Profitable)
— YouTube Has Entered (Sound Off)
Author: Brad Hill
YouTube overtakes Spotify for podcast listening in new Cumulus / Signal Hill study
In a monumental 100-page report, Cumulus Podcast Network and Signal Hill Insights present findings from their Podcast Download — Fall 2023 Report. Click for our first round of coverage. Continue Reading
Efficiency is the clarion call as SiriusXM initiates second layoff in a year.
Audio giant SiriusXM will terminate the employment of 160 staffers, about two to three percent of the company. The action is occurring 10 months after a March, 2023 cutback of about eight percent. The news was delivered, as it so often is, by internal memo. Click for more. Continue Reading
Acast achieves first positive adjusted EBITDA in Q4.
Acast has released simultaneous reports for Q4 2023 and full year 2023. The headline news promoted by the company’s press release is that Q4 earned a positive adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). It is a self-congratulatory moment for one of the largest podcast and advertising networks in the world — “the global independent power source of podcasting” as the company frames it. Continue Reading
IAB/MRC formulates measurement guidelines for $1.2B augmented reality segment (AR)
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), with the Media Ratings Council (MRC) have created a set of guidelines “to effectively capture the impact of AR campaigns.” The document is open to public comment until March 9. Click for details. Continue Reading
92 downloads is good. 43,654 is better. Podcast benchmarking from Omny Studio
Sharon Taylor, Senior Vice President of Podcast Strategy at Triton Digital, has released the third edition of Podcast Benchmarking. The data comes from enterprise podcasting company Omny Studio. Downloads per episode is the governing metric informing the nine charts presented in this 2023 edition. Click graphs and a link. Continue Reading
Streaming music reaches 20% of all U.S. listening. Podcasts at 11%.
In the just-released Share of Ear report from Edison Research, streaming music claims 20% of U.S. consumer time spent listening (13+ years). It is a first-time milestone in the history of Edison’s quarterly report. AM/FM radio listening fell a bit. Click for details. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Thursday, February 8
— Milestones You Should Know (OmniCast Media)
— Input (Podnews)
— Priorities (Borrell Research)
Spotify Q1: Exceeding expectations
“We had our strongest Q1 since going public in 2018, with nearly all our KPIs surpassing expectations.” With an ebullient tone, Spotify released its Q1 earnings, flush with upward-moving numbers. Click for details, charts, and graphs. Continue Reading
BBC plans new stations via DAB digital delivery
The BBC has announced a plan to expand its radio offering with four new stations on the DAB (Digital Audtio Broadcasting) system. “The new extensions look to delve deeper into specific genres and periods of music with context, curation and storytelling done in a way only the BBC can do,” the organization states. Elaborate descriptions are provided. Continue Reading
Rephonic / PodMatch advice to most podpreneurs: “Stop. Start a business instead.”
Putting aside the “Ouch” factor, a new study offers realistic advice to would-be podcasters, and many existing podcasters. In a report posted on the PodPros website, podcast database Rephonic and podcast guest provider service Podmatch put up some statistics that should give pause to any prospective podcast entrepreneur. Click for results and graphs. Continue Reading
Web VI streaming royalty rate-setting process begins; participants revealed
The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has released a participant list in “Web VI” — the petitioning and rate-setting process which will determine what streaming outlets must pay music owners in the 2026-2030 royalty period. This every-five-year exercise is conducted by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which sets the rates. Today we learn which streaming entities are participating in the two-year-long legal process. Continue Reading