iHeartMedia becomes exclusive rep for Pushkin Industries; co-production in the works

Posted on by Brad Hill

iHeartMedia announces today that it has accomplished a partnership with Pushkin Industries, the audio production company founded by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg in 2018. The alliance makes iHeartMedia the exclusive sales partner for Pushkin podcasts. Beyond the sales effort, the two companies will co-produce new shows, with a project timeline stretching over the next two years. Two of those shows are sketched out in today’s announcement. Continue Reading →

Riverside.fm comes out of stealth with cash and mission to join audio and video podcasting

Posted on by Brad Hill

Riverside.fm is announcing its emergence from stealth mode with $2.5-million of seed investment from Oren Zeed. Riverside.fm is a video+audio recording and livestream platform for podcasters, with a specialty of hi-rez recording of audio and video in separate tracks. Riverside’s competitive strategy explicitly targets audio connection platform Zencastr, promising to “drink Zencastr’s milkshake.” Continue Reading →

Commercial or branded podcast? Dove and Pandora create a new thing

Posted on by Brad Hill

We got word that Dove was advertising on Pandora in an unusual way that seems to interestingly straddle categories. The bath care company (that’s Dove, not Pandora) worked with Studio Resonate, a division of Pandora that self-describes as “An audio-first creative consultancy […] at the crossroads of creative and data, science and sound.” The outcome is something between a music track and a podcast episode. Continue Reading →

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Google Play Music to close … soon. Google attempts to funnel users into YouTube Music.

Posted on by Brad Hill

The warning is clear, though without a timeline: “You will soon lose access to Google Play Music.” That’s what Android users see when they open the Google Play Music app — Google’s would-be direct competitor to Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. Users are advised to transfer their accounts to YouTube Music, where the subscriptions will continue. YouTube Music is a starkly different UEX environment and library proposition. Continue Reading →

Biden and Trump campaigns advertise(d) in podcasting, but differently (Magellan AI)

Posted on by Brad Hill

In one of its most imaginative studies to date, Magellan AI has released data showing how the two main party presidential campaigns have used podcast marketing. The quick summary is that both campaigns have advertised in podcasts, but on different schedules and in different ways. Click through for details and graphics. Continue Reading →