In the first online-only version of the annual IAB Podcast Upfront, the virtual format is allowing a greatly expanded version of the event. The 2020 edition of this podcast showcase to advertisers expands from one day to three days. While past years have spotlighted 12 podcast networks at most, this year will feature 20. The speaker list is loaded with celebrities. Click through for details. Continue Reading
Changes at Apple Music. The Beats 1 global live-streamed station undergoes a branding change, morphing into Apple Music Radio. More descriptive, if also more bland. Additionally, two new stations are created, forming a small ecosystem of streamed programming: Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country. All three stations are available in 165 countries. Zane Lowe remains as creative director. Continue Reading
Through its parent company AudioValley, Targetspot has announced the hiring of mario Cabanas as Chief Operating Officer. The notice comes with confident language around Targetspot’s resilience during and following COVID-19. Two other directorial hires accompany the announcement. Furthermore, AudioVally lists 15 open roles located in Europe on its jobs page. Continue Reading
Spotify has announced a new daily sports playlist, appropriately named Daily Sports. This new product triples down on mixed-media programming that combines spoken word and music. As such, the playlists are personalized to each user — at least so far as the music is chosen. Spotify has been down this road twice already, with Daily Wellness and Your Daily Drive. Mixing spoken word with music is part of the company’s effort to diversify listening, and shift usage time into low-cost non-music content. Continue Reading
Podtrac released its July edition of the Top 20 Podcasts, ranking Podtrac measurement clients. (See below.) The Daily retained its #1 slot in July, and in fact the top five shows all remained stable. Venerable podcast Serial leaped back into the ranker, soon after its acquisition by The New York Times. Click through for details. Continue Reading
In last week’s iHeartMedia (IHRT) earnings call, CEO Bob Pittman discussed podcast strategy, podcast strategy, and podcast strategy. And a bit of radio. The financials included the entire business, and the COVID effect. But the go-forward mission leans heavily into on-demand audio, both as a stand-alone advertising business, and a synergistic opportunity with the largest array of commercial radio stations in the U.S. Click through for quotes. Continue Reading
Veritone One is the latest podcast entity to subscribe to Nielsen’s Podcast Buying Power Service, Nielsen is announcing today. Nielsen’s subscription program ties listeners and their buying habits to podcast categories, to help advertisers (especially brand advertisers) plan more effective and targeted campaigns. The Podcast Buying Power Service launched in July of last year, with five major podcast publishers as charter subscribers. As a new subscriber Veritone One is an audio advertising agency. Continue Reading
The headline number is derived from the Q2 earnings report for E.W.Scripps, Stitcher’s parent company. Scripps has sold Stitcher to SiriusXM, in a deal planned for Q3 closing. Click through for details, quotes from the conference call, and our arithmetic. Continue Reading
ART19 sent us a note that the company has tightened its grip on South Korea podcasting, now providing hosting, distribution, and exclusive ad-repping to all major broadcasters. This follows a December announcement in which ART19 established a dominant footprint in S. Korea, and opened a business unit called ART19 Korea. Continue Reading
Townsquare Media’s COVID quarter tells a varied story in the company’s Q2 earnings release. Net income for the quarter was down year-over-year (a nearly universal Q2 earnings story), while digital revenue gained in share of total revenue. CEO and RAIN Summit keynoter Bill Wilson noted that sequential revenue (month-over-month within the quarter) rose, and that Townsquare Interactive, the company’s subscription service for digital marketing, earned nearly half of total net revenue. Continue Reading
Spotify’s newly launched playlist feature, track IDs, is based on this question: “Do you ever dance to your favorite DJ and wonder what track they’re mixing?” The answer is supplied by an array of 23 playlists curated by DJs and the Spotify editorial team. The volume of music is impressive. Continue Reading
Google Play Music will reportedly be shuttered. The timetable? September for Australia and New Zealand, October for everyone else. Users will have until end-of-year to retrieve their cloud-stored music. The existing YouTube Music will take over as Google’s on-demand streaming service. This shift is helpful to what has been Google’s audio-related miasma of branding. Continue Reading