Spotify’s Chartable starts sunset of advertiser tools to focus on podcast publishers, Megaphone

When Spotify acquired Chartable and Podsights last month, it was clearly stated that Chartable would be integrated with Spotify-owned hosting and monetization platform Megaphone. Today we learn of progress in that integration. Chartable is winding down its attribution work and throwing it over to former competitor Podsights. Continue Reading

Global acquires Captivate for heightened podcast exposure and monetization

UK-based radio group and worldwide media company Global has acquired podcast hosting/tech outfit Captivate. Global is the developer and holding company of DAX, the company’s international digital audio advertising exchange. Captivate will become part of Global Player, and will take advantage of DAX’s immense reach for monetization opportunities. Continue Reading

Spotify 2021 Wrapped: Launch, crash, technical elitism, and no solution for disappointed users

After weeks of anticipatory promotion, Spotify unleashed its annual “Wrapped” feature yesterday. Unfortunately, the package is available only in the mobile app, and the video presentation requires memory and operating system resources that are unavailable on some phones. The result is a wave of social media complaints that the Wrapped experience crashes quickly, and closes the Spotify app. We present Spotify’s tech requirements, without providing a universally accessible format. We also review the Wrapped personalized playlists, which are quite enjoyable and don’t have special requirements. Continue Reading

Earned media agency Critical Mention signs Podchaser analytics

In a sign of podcasting’s influencer power, Critical Mention — an agency which tracks and measures earned media (unpaid publicity) — has announced a partnership with podcast database platform Podchaser. The arrangement will allow Critical Mention agency clients to track and measure brand mentions across podcasting, as Podchaser’s internal dataset is built internally into Critical Mention’s toolset. Continue Reading

Veritonic adds brand lift measurement to its AI stack; podcast case study

Veritonic has sent around notice of an addition to the analytics company’s audio advertising effectiveness reporting — it is brand lift, the recollection and perception of a brand and its messaging. Launch partner Katz Digital Audio used the new technology in a podcast campaign purchased by a U.S. state to increase Covid vaccination favorability. Click through for the case study. Continue Reading