News

Obama/Springsteen podcast, and other new Spotify exclusives

Posted on by Brad Hill

Many of the announcements in Spotify’s flood of news in yesterday’s “Stream On” presentation were about platform features for creators and advertisers. But new and exclusive podcast content was also featured. The biggest headline is certainly the launch of a Barack Obama / Bruce Springsteen conversational show called “Renegades: Born in the USA.” Also, DC Comics and Ava DuVernay. Click through for info, audio, and video Continue Reading →

Spotify links podcasting to blogging with text-to-speech WordPress/Anchor hook-up

Posted on by Brad Hill

In the slew of announcements during Spotify’s “Stream On” presentation Monday, the company seemed to recognize an affinity between podcasting and blogging. Spotify’s new agreement with WordPress.com, which leverages Spotify’s Anchor podcasting platform, bridges the two realms. The result is near-instant podcasts. We now await the reverse.

Continue Reading →

TED forms a podcast network, pitches solution to advertisers in “oversaturated market”

Posted on by Brad Hill

TED is a highly differentiated brand, and its TED Radio Hour (150 episodes; #1 in Apple Technology) and TED Talks Daily (160 episodes; #1 in Spotify Business) are steady category leaders. TED cites that its podcasts are downloaded an eye-popping 1.65-million times a day. It makes sense for TED to extend its brand patina outward, and that is what the company has done with TED Audio Collective. The pitch to advertisers: “Stand out from the pack in an oversaturated market.” Continue Reading →

RAIN Notes: Monday Feb. 22

Posted on by Brad Hill

Jottings of note:

— AIMP Webinar

“Live Streaming in the COVID Era,” an AIMP webinar, is on Thursday (2/23) at 5:30 ET. It’s about revenue and rights, moderated by Arthur Levin. Free to register.

— Thoughts on Timed  Audio

Dan Misener of Pacific Content posted a column about Apple’s “Time To Walk” audio feature. Dan expands the idea to music, and why activity-based audio could be important to brands.

— Podcast Discovery

Metronome, the Malaysia-based podcast landing page provider, has launched a new Episode Reminder feature to encourage listeners moving sideways in a podcast to hear other episodes.

— Partnership

Lori Lewis, well known social marketing exec in audio, and Rob Wagman’s Straight Path Media + Marketing have partnered. Not exactly a merger, each is still reachable: lori-at-lorilewismedia.com & straightpathmande-at-gmail.com

Monday, February 22 Continue Reading →

RAIN Notes: Friday Feb. 19

Posted on by Brad Hill

Jottings of note:

— Spotify webinar

Spotify is promoting its “Stream On” virtual event, Monday Feb. 22 at 11am ET. No registration necessary — just go to http://spotify.com/StreamOn

— Major league rep

Lemonada podcast network, famous for its “Last Day” podcast and others, signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

— Superstudy

Coleman Insights has announced its third annual “Contemporary Music Superstudy.” Results will be publicized in April.

Friday, February 19 Continue Reading →

Mechanical Licensing Collective receives $424M for unmatched royalties from streaming services

Posted on by Brad Hill

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) has received $424-million in royalties from Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google, Pandora, and 15 other streaming entities from Aspiro to Xandrie. With funds in hand, the MLC starts its US government mandate to accurately distribute payments to songwriters, composers, and music publishers. Click for the list streaming services by dollar amount. Continue Reading →

AdsWizz certified for “audibility” by IAB Tech Lab

Posted on by Brad Hill

AdsWizz, a leading global technology provider for digital audio advertising solutions, has been certified by the IAB Tech Lab as Open Measurement Software Development Kit (OM SDK) compliant. If that makes your eyes cross, think of it as “audibility.” This is the first time an audio ad-tech provider has had their SDK (Software Development Kit) certified for this compliance, enabling “audibility” verification of audio ads. The purpose of this standard is to give audio advertisers authentication that their ads are heard.  Continue Reading →