Facebook podcasts: Review

Posted on by Brad Hill

Facebook launched podcast listening in its mobile apps during the summer. We tested it this week to learn its features and functions. We were interested in how the experience might contribute to raising awareness of podcasting in Facebook’s billions of users around the world — or even just the 221-million Americans on the platform — and how the experience compares to stand-alone podcatchers. Continue Reading →

Vox Media acquires Criminal Productions, doubles staff, aims for bigger portfolio

Posted on by Brad Hill

Vox Media has bought Criminal Productions, whose best-known show is Criminal, which has appeared on several “Best Of” lists. Vox plans to double the unit’s staff, expand Criminal to a weekly show, and develop new ones. All this takes place within Vox’s podcast division, Vox Media Podcast Network. Vox also takes over ad sales. Continue Reading →

Film/TV powerhouse Bad Robot enters audio with Spotify-partnered podcast unit; raids Audible for exec

Posted on by Brad Hill

Bad Robot, the film/TV firm founded and run by J.J. Abrams, whose franchises include Star Trek and Cloverfield movies, has jumped into audio with the creation of a podcast unit. Abrams pulled Christina Choi away from Audible to head the venture. The whole thing is tied up with Spotify. Continue Reading →

Edison Research Top 50 podcasts: Only three newcomers from previous list

Posted on by Brad Hill

Edison Research released the company’s quarterly report of top 50 podcasts, the result of an 8,000-person consumer survey, part of the company’s Podcast Consumer Tracking Report. Edison’s ranker is notable for its methodology. In this edition, as in previous releases, nearly all 50 shows carry over from the previous report. Click through for illustrations. Continue Reading →

Infinite Album wins Midem award for no-royalty AI gaming soundtrack

Posted on by Brad Hill

Infinite Album, a music/tech startup from entrepreneur, consultant, author, and RAIN Summit speaker Karen Allen, has won the 2021 Midemlab award in the Music Creation & Education category. Midemlab is part of the annual Midem music business conference in France. Infinite Album creates AI-generated music soundtracks for online gaming. Click for details and an illustrative video. Continue Reading →

Earned media agency Critical Mention signs Podchaser analytics

Posted on by Brad Hill

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 →

“Black Podcast Listener Report” reveals size and characteristics of the American Black audience

Posted on by Brad Hill

The much anticipated Black Podcast Listener Report, with support from Edison Research and Mindshare, was released today and presented in a webinar. Key survey points cover the size of the Black listening audience and how it compares with the total U.S. population, how that audience discovers podcasts, their receptivity to podcast ads, and much more. Click through for many data points and graphics. Continue Reading →