A 97-paragraph UK Parliamentary committee has issued a dense report which analyzes the British music streaming industry, educating lawmakers about how it works and recommending a “complete reset.” Two main thrusts: Criticism of labels, and recommendation of collective licensing as in the U.S. Continue Reading
James Cridland returns with a richly informative newsletter about radio around the world. In this edition: Radiodays Africa, DAB+ in Belgium, dutch-language music, BBC podcasting, and much more. Continue Reading
Triton Digital released its latest U.S. Podcast Report, a four-week measurement. In the Top 15 Networks portion, Average Weekly Downloads dropped 11% from the previous four-week period. That doesn’t necessarily mean a drop in listening. Click for details and the list. Continue Reading
Automattic, parent company of WordPress has acquired podcast listening app Pocket Casts from NPR and a consortium of public stations. The idea is to integrate a respected audio platform with the world’s dominant blogging platform, which already has text-to-speech capability. Lots of potential and interest here.
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Jottings of Note
— Money for Nothing (U.S. Copyright Office)
— Platform of Champions (Acast)
— Hopeful Return (Sonos & PRX)
UTA has signed signed podcasting/YouTube stars Zane Hijazi and Heath Hussar for talent representation. Additionally, UTA will represent ad sales for the podcast. Continue Reading
The leading audio production trade group in the UK is petitioning the government to give tax relief to podcast production houses, following precedents in the movie, animation, children’s TV, videogames, theater, museum exhibition, and orchestra businesses. The idea is to reduce corporate taxes applied to podcast and audiobook production that meets certain criteria. Continue Reading
In an interesting piece of technology development, Audioboom introduced AdRip, a tool which removes host-read commercials from old episodes, creating a new ad break into which timely marketing can be inserted. The company says that 50% of downloads are from back catalogs. Continue Reading
Newsweek has formally launched its first podcast, a current events show called The Debate. This podcast actually dropped its first episode on April 20, with little or no publicity, in what the company’s PR describes as an experimental phase. The show springs from a magazine feature. Continue Reading
Over one-third of Australians 12 years and older own a smart speaker. And Google is the dominant operating system, with 24% of Australians owning a Google device, and only 3% owning an Amazon speaker. These metrics from The Smart Audio Report Australia, from Edison Research, CRA, and TalkVia. Click for much more and graphics. Continue Reading
In 2019, 335,000 new podcasts were created, according to Listen Notes. As of today, 513,000 podcasts have started in 2021, far surpassing 2019’s benchmark year which saw more new podcasts than any previous year. Where are they? What languages? How many episodes? Where are they hosted? Click through. Continue Reading
In a thick and newly released report called Culture Next 2021, Spotify delivers research results that focus on the Millennial and GenZ demos, and how their media consumption trends can appeal to advertisers. Podcasting represents one section, which seeks to promote the effectiveness of podcast advertising for marketers. Continue Reading