In a spectacular data project, banking services company NetCredit has analyzed publically available Spotify play data to calculate highest-earning songs on the service, country by country. The result is a lot of data and a glorious array of detailed infographics. Click through for details. Continue Reading
Spotify notified us of a new venture and technology accomplishment — called “broadcast-to-podcast,” it enables radio broadcasters a specialized tool that makes it simple to turn their existing audio content into on-demand podcast content. This repurposing is accomplished with two of Spotify’s acquisitions: Australia-based Whooshkaa and U.S.-based Megaphone. Click for lots of detail. Continue Reading
“Good job I don’t write radio commercials any more,” observes guest columnist James Cridland, who has explored AI in that regard. The result? Synthetic commercial copy, read by a synthetic voice. Click through to hear it. Also: The world’s biggest broadcaster, statistics about Canadian radio, and more. Continue Reading
Edison Research has performed an interesting and ingenious calculation, likening podcast category success to baseball batting average metric. (See it HERE.) The result (in the graphic below) shows True Crime as the highest-hitting (as it were) podcast batting average. Click through for the rationale, an explanation of how it works, and the graphic list.
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NPR’s most recent content post on Twitter is dated April 4 — a piece of political news. After that post, Twitter CEO Elon Musk applied this identifying label to NPR’s account: “Government-funded media.” This morning we see a tweetstorm of NPR links to the network’s other social sites and public resources, as NPR quits Twitter and guides 8.8-million followers to other social sites. Continue Reading
In what is termed “the biggest governmental overhaul of broadcasting rules in 20 years,” makers of smart speakers must offer all licensed UK radio stations on all their platforms. Amazon (Alexa) and Google (Assistant) are the world’s two largest companies affected by the new requirement. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— New Home (Podcast Business Journal)
— Many Things (The Podglomerate)
— The Answer Is… (Vanity Fair)
iHeartPodcasts, Wondery, and NPR were the top 1, 2, and 3 podcast publishers in March, according to the Podtrac Top Publishers ranker. This monthly accounting tracks Podtrac measurement clients only. Click through for the entire report, plus the RAIN Remix which re-sorts the data for an average per-show view. Continue Reading
Audio-centric content delivery network SoundStack is announcing today the launch of automated royalty reporting for its member webcasters. This first iteration of the new feature is specifically for SoundExchange royalties — those are the statutory rates for the use of recordings. The reporting feature is built into SoundStack Insights, the platform’s general data center for customers. Continue Reading
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced the presentation lineup for the Spring 2023 Podcast Upfront. In doing so, we learn that the event will expand from its Covid-era online format to a hybrid in-person/streaming arrangement. The date is May 11, and the location is Quorum by Convene in Manhattan. Click through for the agenda. Continue Reading