Acast is leaping into the podcast incubator realm with Acast Amplifier, a contest for UK would-be podcasters who haven’t yet started up. Money, free gear, creative support go to winners. An all-star panel of judges will make the decisions. Continue Reading
Infinite Album, a music/tech startup from entrepreneur, consultant, author, and RAIN Summit speaker Karen Allen, has won the 2021 Midemlab award in the Music Creation & Education category. Midemlab is part of the annual Midem music business conference in France. Infinite Album creates AI-generated music soundtracks for online gaming. Click for details and an illustrative video. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio has announced the continuation of the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards for 2022. The celebration and bestowal of honors will by on January 13, at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles. (See past coverage of 2019, 2020, and 2021.) Two new… Continue Reading
The 2021 edition of the annual People’s Choice Podcast Awards is out. This remarkable celebration of podcasting excellence is basically crowdsourced — listeners and podcasters select all the nominees and all the winners. Not only a meritocracy, but the results furnish a remarkable trove of discovery. Continue Reading
A new regional podcast awards program has opened — this one for New Zealand podcasters living anywhere. An open nominations process leads to expert judging and a “Listeners’ Choice” segment. Click for nominating link. Continue Reading
As we noted a few weeks ago, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) appears to be installing a twice-a-year podcast upfront schedule. Following the first-ever spring presentation in May, the full schedule for Podcast Upfront on September 9-10 has been released. Click for details. Continue Reading
Podcast Movement, the largest gathering of podcasting creatives and industry execs, returned to the physical realm in 2021 after an all-virtual installation of the series in 2020. This year’s gathering was at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville. The organizers hedged their bet with a co-produced virtual event. We went to Nashville. Continue Reading
In a very interesting Zoom event produced by RAIN today, digital audio advertising was discussed from perspectives of survey research, a comeback of contextual targeting, and the growth of programmatic advertising. Click for details, quotes, and images. Continue Reading
Audio industry advocacy group AIR (Association of Independents in Radio) is announcing today its 2021 group of “New Voices” — an annual award and career support program. Each of the 16 honorees will receive personal mentoring and networking opportunities over a five-month period, and a $1,000 stipend. Click for honoree profiles. Continue Reading
Last December the IAB announced that the annual Podcast Upfront showcase to advertisers was shifting to a spring event, to place it closer to the Video Upfronts. That rescheduled event did take place (virtually) in May, but now the IAB announces a fall podcast event as well, on September 9-10, timed with a new research report. Click through for details and confirmed presenters. Continue Reading
Twenty-eight 1st-place awards, and three times that many total awards, were bestowed over the weekend by the British Podcast Awards. VENT Documentaries won Podcast of the Year — a show in which investigative stories are told by young people from a single London borough. The winner list of nearly 90 shows provides great discovery browsing, especially for American audiences. Click for details and link. Continue Reading
The RAIN Global Audio Evolution Summit is set for Thursday, May 20. Click through for speakers, schedule, and free registration link. Continue Reading