News

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Amazon buys Wondery to join Amazon Music

Posted on by Brad Hill

The deal is not yet closed, but the agreement is. As rumored, Amazon will acquire Wondery, the last of the major creative networks in podcasting’s resurgent era to lose indie status. Amazon positions the company as joining Amazon Music, where Amazon’s podcast directory lives, but we see a future in Audible Originals for wondery’s creative production. Founder/CEO Hernan Lopez will step down to manage his new foundation; COO Jen Sargent will take over. Click through for quotes and context. Continue Reading →

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ASCAP and BMI jointly create Songview data platform for new level of music rights transparency

Posted on by Brad Hill

Leading performance rights organizations (PROs) ASCAP and BMI have jointly announced the launch of Songview, a searchable database of music ownership rights. Better organization and transparency in the tangled field of music ownership has long been needed, according to nearly all experts in the field, to more accurately and quickly direct royalty payments to the proper creators. Continue Reading →

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TikTok releases first-ever music report, indicating a powerful music discovery role

Posted on by Brad Hill

Over 176 different songs surpassed 1 billion video views on micro-video platform TikTok. That from the company’s first annual music report. Over 70 artists have broken on the platform, and landed major label deals. While major surveys put YouTube as a leading music discovery environment, TikTok seems determined to build recognition for its role in finding and sharing songs. Continue Reading →

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DAX lands exclusive U.S. sales representation for Audiomack streaming

Posted on by Brad Hill

Digital audio ad platform DAX has announced an agreement with Audiomack, a crowdsourced music streaming platform, to exclusively represent U.S. ad sales. Audiomack serves about 20-million monthly active listeners (MAUs). Adding that reach to DAX’s existing portfolio brings the number to 115-million MAUs that DAX can target for advertisers. At the same time, DAX notes, the Audiomack deal strengthens DAX’s base of Gen Z and Millennial audience. Continue Reading →

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Evergreen Podcasts enters morning news space with investment in Five Minute News

Posted on by Brad Hill

Evergreen Podcasts, which inhabits what we call the emergent network space, has announced a partial acquisition of Five Minute News, and is declaring an intent to grow other shows into the daily short-news space. The investment amount is not disclosed, but Evergreen will host, distribute, and support all marketing programs for the podcast. Continue Reading →

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RAIN Digital Britain dazzles with expertise and range from broadcast to podcast

Posted on by Brad Hill

RAIN Digital Britain, the virtual version of RAIN’s annual European Summit event previously produced in London, was held in Zoom today, featuring seven sessions and 21 speakers. Created as a deep dive into the thriving UK digital audio business environment, the sessions and conversations roamed through priorities, challenges, and solutions from radio to broadcasting, plus a session on the quickly growing gaming segment. Click through for quotes and pics. Continue Reading →