Publicly heralded, quietly postponed. Promised for May, now it’s June in an email to participants. Apple acknowledges problems and notes that thousands of creators and networks around the world submitted their plans for subscriptions and channels. Those business plans disrupted. Continue Reading
by Tom Webster
It’s not the first time Edison Research SVP Tom Webster has addressed this topic. In this guest column, he shares info from his company’s Podcast Consumer Tracker to investigate where listeners really find their podcasts. The answers shift around depending how the question is asked. But one platform always seems to rise to the top when survey respondents list all the apps they use. A must read.
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“Build a podcast app that users can’t put down.” That’s the pitch at podcast database and discovery service Podchaser, for the company’s newly launched API (Application Programming Interface). Podchaser is targeting the marketplace of apps servicing consumers who don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcast listening and discovery. Continue Reading
It makes sense: when employment undergoes a tectonic shift from in-office to in-home, listening trends will change. How much actually shifted during Covid? Continue Reading
This vital guest column by David Oxenford summarizes the royalty rate arguments put before the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) for a ruling expected by mid-June. In normal times that ruling would have been delivered before January 1, but this every-five-year cycle has been delayed by Covid. The outcome will chart the financial course for webcasters of all sizes in the 2021-2025 period.
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In an interview at this week’s J.P. Morgan Technology, Media & Communications Conference, CEO Jennifer Witz held forth about SiriusXM’s business strategies and accomplishments. She predicted revenue growth, noted that podcasting is still small, and promised an opportunistic approach to acquisitions. Continue Reading
TikTok Radio is a headline new channel coming to SiriusXM, expanding the reach of the shortform video platform’s influence on the music industry. SiriusXM calls the new channel “groundbreaking,” and promises other collaborations across the Sirius/Pandora audio offerings. Other extensions of TikTok music already appear on Sirius-owned Pandora. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio sent out an email blast headlining 150-million registered users of the audio app, and 3-billion app downloads. The company historically does not disclose monthly average users. Continue Reading
PRX is launching Radiotopia Presents, a podcast feed of several limited-run series, starting on June 2 with Blind Guy Travels. It could be called a relaunch, and rebranding, of an earlier presentation feed called Showcase, which ran from 2017 to 2019 and featured seven podcast series. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein reproduces a conversation with Joel Sucherman, NPR’s Vice President for New Platform Partnerships, about podcast subscriptions. Sucherman illuminates NPR’s basic strategy points, and reveals how local NPR radio stations are involved in that strategy. Continue Reading
Hi-Res audio (also called Hi-Def, HD, HiFi, and other nicknames) has been an added value feature in music streaming apps since Tidal charted that course with its 2x pricing model. Now that business model is at risk of being debunked. We test Amazon’s ULTRA HD. Continue Reading
Jottings of note:
— Striking a Blow (Mark Mulligan)
— Apple vs Spotify (James Cridland)
— Another Podcast Event (Asian American Podcasters Association)
— Aclass (Acast)