RAIN Notes: Thursday, August 17
Acast partners with Podscribe, rejecting Spotify attribution solutions — (with Spotify response)
Acast has selected Podscribe as its “preferred attribution partner” in all markets. It’s a meaningful and sweeping endorsement of Podscribe’s performance analytics in podcast advertising. The other half of that handshake appears to be a back-of-hand reference to Spotify’s Ad Analytics tool which launched just two months ago. Continue Reading
Spotify tops Edison podcast network ranker (Q2)
Edison Research released the Q2 edition of its U.S. Top Podcast Networks ranker. It sorts the 10-position list by reach of each network’s shows. Unlike server-side rankers which measure downloads, Edison’s output is based on thousands of survey interviews. Continue Reading
SoundExchange sues Sirius XM (again) for misrepresentation and underpayment of music royalties
SoundExchange, the U.S. government-appointed organization assigned to collect royalties for the use of music in internet streaming, has sued Sirius XM. The charge is misrepresentation and underpayment of royalties in Sirius’ internet streaming service. Sirius vigorously denies any wrongdoing in its accounting. It’s an echo of a 2018 confrontation. Continue Reading
Instreamatic launches near-instant contextualized audio variations for CTV ads
Google-backed AI marketing platform Instreamatic has introduced Contextual Video & CTV Ads — a product identifier which might at first glance camouflage this audio-centric innovation. This is about creating seemingly unlimited variations of the audio voiceover in video ads to accomplish seemingly unlimited contextualization. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Tuesday, August 15
— Podcast Finances (Libsyn)
— Groundbreaking + New Heights (Interview Valet)
— Upshift (Sirius XM)
Descript podcast editor acquires SquadCast recording platform
Descript, the text-based audio editing platform, has acquired SquadCast, the cloud-based conversation recording system. As of today, SquadCast becomes a free-to-use component of Descript. Descript describes the acquisition as making a “complete stack.” Continue Reading
Bridge Media Networks invests in media which has “forgotten” the basics
Bridge Media Networks, an investment company owned by 5-hour ENERGY founder Manoj Bhargava, has announced widespread investment in major media companies across the categories of magazine, TV, and radio. Two major radio groups are part of it. Dollar amounts are not mentioned. Continue Reading
Startup turns any webpage into a podcast, accelerating an AI trend
At a time when AI is facilitating content creation in audio and other media categories, an ingenious new startup called PodStash reduces creative friction to practically zero. Not a creative tool for turning original content into audio, the key purpose is to turn any Internet text page into audio. (Wikipedia is a good example.) We dig in, and chat with the founder. Continue Reading
Major labels sue Internet Archive over pre-1972 recordings
Universal Music Group (UMG), Capitol Records, Sony Music Entertainment, and Arista Music have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Internet Archive. The heart of this confrontation is a branded section of the Internet Archive’s Great 78 Project, a streaming database of 400,000 streaming, downloadable, and shareable recordings. Click through for the whole story. Continue Reading
Audience drop & revenue gain: Pew Research Public Broadcasting Fact Sheet
Pew Research released its annual Public Broadcasting Fact Sheet, offering data glimpses into key listening and finance metrics. We excerpt highlights, including reach, revenue, and app use. Continue Reading
Audacy splits from American Public Media partnership in costly separation
Audacy has separated from an ad-sales agreement with American Public Media, clarifying a remark made by Audacy CEO David Field in a recently published quarterly earning statement. No reason or explanation has yet emerged. But in Audacy’s Q2 earning statement, David Field referred to an unnamed break-up which he called “onerous.” Click for details. Continue Reading