Acast targets audience segments with new advertising platform feature

Posted on by Brad Hill

Global podcast company Acast is announcing a new podcast audience targeting capability, enhancing the value of its self-serve ad platform. Called Audience Segments, the feature enables marketers to address audiences defined by characteristics such as Business Leaders, High Income Earners, Tech Enthusiasts, Travelers, Parents, and Pet Owners. Continue Reading →

Smart speakers and station apps fill in for disappearing in-home radios (Jacobs Media)

Posted on by Brad Hill

As radios continue a long-term trend of disappearing from homes, radio listeners lean into smart speakers tuned into radio station streams, and dedicated station mobile apps. The info comes from Jacobs Media, which will reveal its full TechSurvey results this week during the All Access Audio Summit. Click for the data graph. Continue Reading →

UMG tries to block AI-generated music in 25-year flashback

Posted on by Brad Hill

Major label Universal Music Group (UMG) has asked Spotify, Apple, and other streaming platforms to block AI-generated music. Based on reporting (HERE and HERE), this is not a legal action, but an urgent request. For now, the news is framed as a request from UMG to streaming services. That stage of protest is reminiscent of major-label protests of Napster and other file-sharing platforms in the late 1990s. That tumultuous period eventually led to label lawsuits against Napster users, meant to both punish individuals and demonstrate purposeful intent to everyone. We see a significant likeness harking back to the 1990s file-sharing epoch. Click through for key facts and RAIN’s speculation. Continue Reading →

Live365 makes licensing deal with entire Global Music Rights catalog for non-interactive streaming

Posted on by Brad Hill

From NAB Show: Live365, the webcasting platform within SoundStack, announces a deal with performance rights management company Global Music Rights, enabling webcasters to stream GMR music in a royalty-included plan. This means the webcasters are not liable for royalty payments to GMR-represented creators. GMR reps 142 songwriters in a catalog of 81,000 works which includes over 100 Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs. Click for more details. Continue Reading →

Boomers are a tough podcast demo, but worth winning (Edison Research / NPR)

Posted on by Brad Hill

In nearly every listening metric, the Boomer generation lags younger groups when it comes to involvement in online audio generally, and podcasting specifically. That’s the conclusion of an interesting and revealing collection of data from Edison Research and NPR. Boomers act differently from younger groups in key audio-related behaviors, making older listeners clearly identifiable and attractive. Click for takeaways and a link to the study. Continue Reading →