84M people listen to 2.2M podcasts on Spotify. More investments to come. Spotify targets radio.

Posted on by Brad Hill

Much, but not all, of the conversation in Spotify’s earnings call yesterday was about podcasting and the company’s investments. “We are very much still in the investment phase of Spotify,” Ek stated. He also explicitly targeted radio in the tradition of Pandora earning calls of the past: “The primary opportunity, as we think about the long-term is in the linear radio experience by moving online and into on-demand. That is the eye on the prize, the one that we are chasing.” Continue Reading →

Acast grows programmatic sales revenue 215% in 2020, expects 10% of revenue in 2021

Posted on by Brad Hill

Acast is sending around a brag-worthy announcement that its programmatic ad sales for podcasting grew 215% last year. This disclosure might be viewed as validation of programmatic in an industry where ad revenue has historically been based on bespoke performances of commercials by hosts while recording the show. The company projects 10% of 2021 revenue will derive from programmatic.
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Jeff Umbro: SiriusXM, Spotify, Amazon, and the New York Times Announce Earnings

Posted on by Jeff Umbro

by Jeff Umbro

In this week’s column, The Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro rounds up recent earnings reports from Spotify, SiriusXM, The New York Times, and Amazon. (With stock charts.) A nice grab-bag of industry updates rounds out the issue. Oh, also a podcast recommendation. Continue Reading →

RAIN Notes: Thursday Feb. 4

Posted on by Brad Hill

Jottings of note:

AIMP webinar today
Today at 5:30 ET: A webinar from AIMP — “TikTok to Record Deal: The Transition From Viral Fame to Recording Artist.” Register HERE.

Amazon podcasts >> Canada
Amazon launches podcasts to Canadian users of Amazon Music. Amazon launched podcasts in the UlSl in September. Read the RAIN review HERE.

Bill Clinton, podcaster
Bill Clinton is started a podcast for iHeartRadio called Why Am I Telling You This? With Bill Clinton.  The ex-President will chat with celebrities from many fields. The first guest is Wynton Marsalis. LISTEN HERE.

— Wednesday, February 4 Continue Reading →

Jim Pattison Broadcast Group chooses Triton Digital for stream measurement and podcast management

Posted on by Brad Hill

Triton Digital is announcing today that Canada’s largest private, western-based broadcast group, The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, has become a Triton client for management, measurement, and monetization of its AM/FM online streams. The Pattison Group operates 45 FM stations and three AMs, along with three conventional TV stations and 17 online new portals in 28 markets. In all that there is a growing portfolio of podcasts. Continue Reading →

Spotify earnings: User growth, revenue growth, negative net income, unhappy investors

Posted on by Brad Hill

Under the theme “Building the World’s #1 Audio Network,” Spotify released its Q4 2020 results today. The main public-facing presentation is a splashy infographic illustrating user growth and recent acquisitions and features, with not a single financial metric in view. Click through for a thorough rundown of main finance results and user metrics. Continue Reading →

SiriusXM earnings: A Pandora write-down + praise; Stitcher and the podcast biz. And the numbers.

Posted on by Brad Hill

SiriusXM, whose native and acquired assets address 150-million listeners, one of the largest audiences in American audio, reported Q4 earnings. Here, we recap the major financial points, then dive into key remarks pertaining to subsidiaries Pandora, Stitcher, and podcasting generally. Click through for illuminating quotes from the investor call. Continue Reading →

Podtrac Top Podcast Publishers for January, plus RAIN remix

Posted on by Brad Hill

Podtrac has released the January edition of the measurement company’s Top Podcast Publishers ranker. (See graphic below.) As always in this ranking, iHeartRadio (#1) and NPR (#2) reside at the top. We take an interest in remixing this ranker with an eye to the number of active shows for each publisher. The result reorders the list according to the average number of downloads per show, and average number of listeners per show. Click through for the original Podtrac table, and the RAIN remixes.
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The Podscape is revised, now includes overlays indicating acquisitions

Posted on by Brad Hill

The Podscape, a graphic representation of the podcast business landscape created by Magellan AI and Sounds Profitable, has been revised. Of special note in this new edition are colored overlays indicating companies which own podcast entities, often through acquisitions of the past three years. Click through to see the infographic, get the download link and the email address for submitting comments to the creators. Continue Reading →

Steve Goldstein: Why a Podcast Without a Strategy is Likely to Fail

Posted on by Steve Goldstein

by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein lays out some Reality with a capital R for new and would-be podcasters. “The truth is well-funded companies with tools, talent, and resources at their disposal often fall into a similar trap of introducing merely adequate content along with vanilla marketing.” Steve itemizes three critical strategic components. A must-read column.
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