AdsWizz is trumpeting a major get — Berlin-HQ’d global streamer SoundCloud has chosen the U.S.-HQ’d global ad-tech company AdsWizz to exclusively represent digital audio ad sales in significant European markets. This deal has an in-house feeling; AdsWizz is a subsidiary of Pandora, which is owned by Sirius XM, which also owns 30% of SoundCloud. Continue Reading
ASCAP sent us an open letter written jointly with BMI to Makan Delrahim, the Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice. The subject is a recently concluded DoJ review of consent decrees, the government regulated law which compels ASCAP and BMI to license creative musical works at a set royalty structure. ASCAP and BMI don’t like being compelled. Congress doesn’t like choking a pipeline of content availability to distributors. The latest result is that the 80-year-old law will continue without change for now … and there was an unexpected twist in the proceedings. Continue Reading
“Smart speaker ownership soars and brings AM/FM back into the home,” writes Pierre Bouvard in a new Westwood One blog post. A key statistic from the parent company backs this up: 24% of stream listening to Cumulus radio stations happens on smart speakers. Cumulus booked an interesting smart speaker preroll campaign with a consortium of Ford dealerships. Click through for more context, a chart, and link to more. Continue Reading
Evergreen Podcasts, a four-year-old network representing 64 shows that were downloaded over 4-million times in 2020, has acquired an undisclosed equity share of Ars Longa Media. Ars Longa is a preeminent podcast company serving the health, wellness, and medical education genres. The group owns 13 shows. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein describes high points of the recently concluded virtual CES from the audio business perspective. Podcasts, in-car audio, and autonomous cars are highlighted. Plenty of links to session video available to watch.
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A loose organization of 200 public media professionals, including some of NPR’s most illumined leaders, has been organized by public radio veteran Celeste Headlee. A months-long collaborative effort to remedy institutional racism is brought into public view today. It is a 6,500-word roadmap for structural corrections in public media related to diversity, equality, and the very conception of journalism. Continue Reading
by Jeff Umbro
In this week’s column, The Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro catches up after a mini vacation, rounding up the latest acquisitions, a prediction, a podcast recommendation, and other topical items. Continue Reading
That’s a lot of acronyms. To spell it out: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has given a $500,000 grant to Southern California Public Radio, to support SCPR’s LAist Studios division and its development of podcasts. Click through for details. Continue Reading
Descript gets a cash pile of $30-million to further its audio/video production business. The plan is to expand from a consumer service targeting amateur creators, adding a new focus on enterprise tools for the internal communication needs of companies. Currently, Descript markets to independent creators, amateur, semi-pro, and professional, with smart tools that record, transcribe and edit audio and video combined. Click through for details. Continue Reading
Podchaser, a podcast database company and social network of sorts for podcast listeners, announces today that it has raised $4-million from lead investor Greycroft, plus a slewe of additional investors and participating angels. The service plans to build gamification and discussion features into an environment that self-describes as “The IMDb of Pdcasting.” Continue Reading
AdLarge Media is announcing its agreement with TPX (Toronto-based The Podcast Exchange) for exclusive representation of AdLarge’s digital audio inventory. The cabana division of AdLarge is where that inventory resides, and is mostly podcasts. This initiative represents AdLarge’s first entry into a non-U.S. market. Continue Reading
by Jeff Vidler
Signal Hill Insights President Jeff Vidler says podcasting has key differences from broadcasting. “Podcasts and broadcast radio are vastly different. Yes, they’re both based on audio, so certain audio skills are transferable. But that’s about it.” He breaks out three important podcast characteristics that radio professionals could be aware of. Continue Reading