News

Evergreen Podcasts partners with Sounder in latest AI collab for ad targeting

Posted on by Brad Hill

Production network Evergreen Podcasts is now partnering with AI-powered intelligence platform Sounder in a strategic partnership that prioritizes brand safety and contextual targeting. The partnership seems to climb aboard a quickly moving train in which AI is leveraged to give advertisers a more crystalline understanding of a podcast’s content, its level of safe language, and other attributes important to advertisers. Continue Reading →

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Songtradr acquires Bandcamp, promises continuity and new opportunities

Posted on by Brad Hill

Music distribution and licensing company Songtradr has acquired music marketplace and community platform Bandcamp. Bandcamp is owned by interactive entertainment company Epic Games. As announced on the Songtradr blog, it appears that Bandcamp — which provides track and album e-commerce for independent artists — will continue operating, and one important new licensing opportunity will be in play. Continue Reading →

Triton Digital Canada Podcast Ranker (August); 3 new entries; 1 new top-10

Posted on by Brad Hill

Triton Digital released its Canada Podcast Ranker for August, listing the top 100 shows operated by Triton client networks. It shows one new entry in the top 10: 48 Hours (Paramount), entering the list at #10. Interestingly, for the Canada report Triton observes English and French language podcasts, and breaks out the top-3 mini-ranking of both. Click for more and a link to the interactive report. Continue Reading →

Spotify gets more social with “Jam” group playlisting

Posted on by Brad Hill

Spotify is raising its social media game with the launch of a new collaborative function called Jam. It’s a group-playlisting feature that builds on the previously released Collaborative Playlist by putting the social activity in realtime, and giving it a phone-touching in-person aspect. Unlike many cautiously incremental launches, Jam is available globally now. Premium users start Jams, then any user can join. Continue Reading →

RIAA revenue second look: Not record-breaking when adjusted for inflation

Posted on by Brad Hill

Earlier this week we reported the mid-year update from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which tabulates revenue for the U.S. recorded music industry. That report broke new ground with the highest dollar amount in the span of the RIAA’s public reporting period (1973-2023). But a different reality emerges when we consider relative dollar value. Click for an illustrated comparison. Continue Reading →

Recorded music attains new revenue record; streaming grows from 75% to 84%

Posted on by Brad Hill

The recorded music industry reached an all-time high in total revenue for the first half of 2023 — $8.3-billion across all reported categories. Streaming accounted for $7.0-billion, 84% of the total. On average, there were 96-million music subscriptions in H1 2023. All this and more from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in its annual mid-year report. Continue Reading →