Bill Rosenblatt: The Axis Collision of Amazon Possibly Acquiring Wondery

by Bill Rosenblatt
Guest columnist Bill Rosenblatt speculates a podcast world in which Amazon has acquired Wondery, fulfilling that rumor. A certain bifurcation would become evident in that scenario, pitching an Amazon/Spotify axis pushing for exclusivity of content, and an iHeartRadio/NPR axis pushing for ad revenue. A must-read column. Continue Reading

Dan Misener: I analyzed 20 million Apple Podcasts star ratings. Here’s what I learned.

by Dan Misener
“Leave us a five-star review!” — the plea of podcasters everywhere. How well does that work? Pacific Content’s head of audience development offers another fascinating research project in which he dives deep into star ratings, breaking out where they are concentrated. You’ll be surprised. Click through. Continue Reading

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Steve Goldstein: How to improve podcast listening on 60 million smart speakers. A talk with Tom Webster.

by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein chats with Edison Research SVP and ubiquitous keynote speaker Tom Webster about the podcast experience through smart speakers. the conversation is informed by stats and charts from the Edison/NPR Smart Audio Report. Continue Reading

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Steve Goldstein: Music Finally Meets Podcasts

by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein discusses spotify’s new feature which allows music into podcasts, via the Anchor service. He recognizes the important (while noting some clunkiness in the end product), and also notes that broadcast radio has spent years decreasing the role of “the passionate musicologist DJ’s of FM radios early days.” Continue Reading

Sam Harris: Has the Pandemic Offered a Pathway to Kids’ Podcasts?

RAIN is delighted to introduce the first piece from guest columnist Sam Harris of Hook Research in the UK. In this inaugural column, Harris explores the state of the kids spoken word content market in the UK and contemplates the benefits for brands operating within it. Plenty of research and quotes here, plus an overview of the child-oriented podcast and audiobook markets. Continue Reading

Bryan Barletta: Programmatic Advertising is the Hero Podcast Publishers Are Looking For

The latest Sounds Profitable column by Bryan Barletta explores, demystifies, and evangelizes programmatic audio advertising. Along the way he offers a much-needed review of the VASt standard, and explains why audio publishers love programmatic. Continue Reading

Steve Goldstein: The host-read ad dominates podcasting, but ad tech is rapidly changing that

by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein interviews Bryan Barletta, author of the Sounds Profitable newsletter, which examines advertising technology. Click through for a discussion of data, privacy, geo-targeting, a forecast of podcast programmatic advertising … and much more. Continue Reading