Spotify posted several notable increases in its fourth-quarter earnings report. Revenue, subscribers, and podcast interest were all on the rise for the streaming service over the course of 2019. Continue Reading
Alphabet released its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, with an unusual amount of detail disclosed about YouTube. In the past periods, YouTube details have been bundled in with Google results, but the tech giant’s leadership has opted to provide specifics about the video platform this time. Continue Reading
Sirius XM has released its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2019. The company’s acquisition of Pandora in February 2019 had a notable impact on its earnings, including a boost to overall revenue, although higher costs in acquisition, refinancing, and other areas did bring down annual income. Continue Reading
Sony Music has forged a content development partnership with Somethin’ Else, an indie British podcast production company. The press release lists Sony’s contributions to be content expertise, marketing, and monetization. We don’t know whether Sony has taken an ownership stake in Somethin’ Else. We do know Sony is moving fast in podcasting. Continue Reading
Only the top five, making this an ultra-short list for Forbes. Still, interesting. If you’re guessing Joe Rogan for the top spot, you’re right, but #2 might surprise you. Continue Reading
A weekly column from the preeminent Radio Futurologist. THIS WEEK: Coverage of the European Radio Show, a podcast collection of Brexit radio clips, and much more. Continue Reading
Westwood One is running an open survey to gather data which will inform the company’s upcoming Podcast Executive Study. It is a B2B approach that any podcaster could take a run through, but is really intended for mainly professional ventures familiar with the advertising ecosystem of podcasting. Continue Reading
We got a note from Pocket Casts that two in-app discovery features we’ve been waiting for became active today. They are Guest List (favorite podcasts of a guest curator) and Network Highlight (a selection of one network’s catalog). We checked them out. Continue Reading
Trader Joe’s launched a high-profile podcast about itself in 2018. It just launched its third season, calibrated to the calendar year. Now, the grocery store podcast category has doubled in size (as far as we know), with the launch of Noshtalgia, a feel-good mix of family storytelling, recipes, and the values of grocery chain Kroger. Continue Reading
The classical music industry is rarely at the vanguard of technology in 21st-century digital music. But streaming service Idagio is taking a bold step. Partnering with Maxim Vengerov, on of the world’s top violinists, Idagio is exclusively releasing his albums… Continue Reading
The BBC has shared a few statistics about its BBC Sounds, one of very few peeks behind the scenes with its app effort. During the last quarter of 2019, the app attracted a peak weekly audience of 2.9 million, besting the record of 2.5 million in the third quarter. Continue Reading
Paradiso, a French podcast studio, is making the leap to the U.S. The company is planning to launch a slate of original podcasts and to adapt its existing formats for U.S. audiences and other English speakers. The company hired Emi Norris to head up its local efforts. Continue Reading