Podcast hosting/tech company Libsyn today released plans for illuminating and amplifying the voices of women in podcasting, as part of Women’s History Month. The company calls its initiative a social movement. It’s a three-part grassroots effort to shine spotlights on women in the field. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— Programmatic Need (Heather Osgood)
— Q&A (Francis Currie)
— New Drops (CNN)
Macmillan, the only Big 5 book publisher with its own podcast networks, will partner with kids podcast company Pinna to publish books based on the Pinna original podcast Quentin & Alfie’s ABC Adventures. This interesting partnership leverages Macmillan’s crossover expertise between books and podcasts. Also interesting inasmuch as the deal represents a rare directional crossover of podcast to book. Continue Reading
Triton Digital released a demonstration of its new Demo+ service, releasing a brief study of what podcasts are favored by female listeners (18+ in the U.S.). The study is doubly interesting, not just for the results but also for the methodology. Click for details. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— DAnxIety (Digiday)
— Celebration (iHeartRadio)
— Deep Identity (CMO)
Amazon has launched Amp, a social audio platform with an interesting focus on building music shows. While early reports compare Amp to Clubhouse, Amazon’s promotional emphasis is on building interactive music shows, something like live, interactive radio. It also takes a stab at Spotify Shows. Continue Reading
Digital media outlet BuzzFeed wants a footprint in podcasting, and is partnering with Acast to get it done. The project will live in the BuzzFeed Studios imprint, and the plan is to lift off with six initial shows. Acast will launch and distribute the shows, and provide production assistance. Acast is even pre-credited for “creative direction,” interestingly. Continue Reading
In Podtrac’s Top Podcast Publishers monthly ranker for February we learn that podcast audience growth has enjoyed a strong upswing, as represented by Podtrac’s top 20 publishers. (Podtrac measures its clients.) Click through for the results, and RAIN’s remix, which re-sorts the top publishers by average listeners and plays per show. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— True Lyme (Eve Bishop)
— Withdrawal Symptoms (Podshape)
— The Entirety (Conal Byrne)
Audioboom launched its creative division, Audioboom Studios, last October. Recently three shows were added to its production schedule — two in the True Crime category, and one which sounds like a crossover dating/cooking show. Details in the post. Continue Reading
RAIN News dropped in for the Veritonic Audio Intelligence Summit in Manhattan yesterday. In the “Second Story” space of the Kimpton Hotel Eventi, a Covid-vaxxed and tested audience of audio industry professionals gathered to attend a series of presentations which evangelized and explained how audio branding is made and tested, and how it can define brand identity. A key presentation was about sonic diversity. Then there was Tostitos. Continue Reading
Kathy Doyle, VP of Content Development at Macmillan Publishers, appeared on RAIN’s Podcast Business Lunch to discuss the business details of the only podcast network with a “Big 5” book publishers. This is the transcript. Continue Reading