RAIN Notes: Friday, February 3
Jottings of Note
— Boiling Down the Artwork (True Native)
— 185 Nominees (Podcast Academy)
— A Healthy Sign (JAR Audio)
Steve Goldstein: Podcasting is doing fine; thank you
by Steve Goldstein
In the latest guest column from Steve Goldstein, he observes the more things change, the more they remain the same. Contrary to shaded scenarios currently in vogue, podcasting is “a healthy, but maturing and evolving business,” according to Steve. Less spaghetti thrown against the wall, please, and more rigor. It’s a good read. Continue Reading
Spotify Q4: 489M users, 205M subs, 100M tracks, 5M podcasts, 300k audiobooks. (Oh, and financials)
“So, by the end of the year, we had more than 100 million tracks on our platform and more than 5 million podcasts and more than 300,000 audio books being enjoyed by almost 0.5 billion listeners.” –Daniel Ek, CEO, Spotify… Continue Reading
SoundStack grabs execs from Veritonic, AdsWizz, and Libsyn
SoundStack, the self-defined “audio-as-a-service” podcast tech company, blasted into February by announcing a triple executive raid. Three new executives join SoundStack’s marketing, finance, and product groups. Click for deets and pics. Continue Reading
Libsyn’s links with YouTube to flow data into the AdvertiseCast marketplace
Podcast host Libsyn is announcing a data integration partnership with YouTube. The result is that data about podcast consumption on YouTube will flow into the Libsyn-owned AdvertiseCast advertising marketplace. More announcements to come, Libsyn says. Continue Reading
Marketers bullish on podcast programmatic … but most selected marketers don’t know what programmatic is
In an exceptionally interesting report from global podcast behemoth Acast — “The Rise of Programmatic Podcast Ad Buying” — we learn about a generally bullish attitude among podcast marketers toward podcast programmatic. And there is an interesting detail about how the respondents were screened. Continue Reading
KPCC will rebrand as LAist, signalling comprehensive embrace of digital
Los Angeles Public Radio, KPCC, will be rebranded in the coming weeks as LAist, adopting the group name for an existing podcast production network, as well as existing news and social media enterprises. Continue Reading
We asked ChatGPT to answer questions about the audio business. It gets an F for programmatic.
The experience of a business meeting with ChatGPT ranges from bland to baffled silence. The headlined AI platform doesn’t seem to recognize programmatic advertising at all, and provided a weirdly uninformative list of popular podcasts. Other queries returned sensible, concise replies. Continue Reading
Steve Pratt — Awesome Over Time: Would Your Content Strategy Pass the Marshmallow Test?
In this guest column, Steve Pratt of The Creativity Business discusses the power of patience. “If your goal is to earn attention, build trust, and develop relationships, the strategy is obvious. You must pass the Content Marshmallow Test and delay gratification.” Click for this illustrated column. Continue Reading
Edison Research bookends the demographic range with new studies of Gen-Z and Boomers
Edison Research, the preeminent consumer survey organization for measuring audio consumption, is announcing two upcoming podcast studies that explore young (Gen Z) and senior (Boomer) listeners. Edison calls them “two major podcast thought leadership studies,” and says they will be released in Q1. Continue Reading
Jay Green joins Soundrise: “A more pivotal time than ever.”
Jay Green’s 10-year career on the business side of podcasting has taken a new turn, as the veteran executive joins sales and marketing firm Soundrise as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Operations. He offers thoughts to RAIN News. Continue Reading
Dawn Ostroff leaving Spotify as it simultaneously cuts 6% of its workforce today
Spotify, in an SEC filing today, announced that it was cutting about 500 jobs, or about 6% of its 9,800 employees — and that one of its most high-profile executives, Chief Content and Advertising Officer Dawn Ostroff, will also be… Continue Reading