RAIN Notes: Monday, February 13
Jottings of Note
— How and When (Semafor)
— Glass Half Full (Signal Hill Insights)
— Dream Come True (The Podglomerate)
Triton Digital 2022 podcast report: Audience profile and much more
Triton’s year-end review could be called hybrid study — it is informed by server-side measurement of Triton’s Podcast Metrics service, and by the Demos+ project, a monthly survey of 12,000 podcast listeners in collaboration with Signal Hill Insights. Click through for demographics, key takeaways, and more. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Friday, February 10
Jottings of Note
— Black Podcast Listening (Edison Research)
— Subscriber Benefit (Wondery+)
— Dream Come True (The Podglomerate)
Sirius earnings: Bullish on podcasting despite cyclical softness
“The economics of podcasting got a little out of hand, to say the least.” So said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer of SiriusXM. Sirius noted that headwinds with economic and business uncertainties causing many major advertisers to be cautious in their marketing spend. Still podcasting grew 24% in full-year 2022, and represented 38% of total advertising business in the year. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Thursday, February 9
Jottings of Note
— Wisdom of a Certain Age (Lemonada Media)
— Infinity Measured (Edison Research)
— ChatGPT In Action (Ron Rivlin)
Podcast listeners are attentive and responsive to ads: Acast study
In the second study released by global podcast company Acast in 10 days, a survey of 600 frequent podcast listeners delivers a welcome finding to marketers: Listeners pay attention to ads, and take action on them. Click through for details and graphics. Continue Reading
Podcast downloads show gains (Podtrac) and RAIN Remix of January Top Publishers ranker
Podtrac’s Top Podcast Publishers monthly ranker for January tells a growth story. We learn that the U.S. monthly audience increased for 15 of the top 20 publishers. Also, average monthly audience was up month-over-month and 16% over January 2022. Click through for the results and the RAIN remix, which re-sorts the top publishers by average listeners and downloads per show. Continue Reading
Google reduces podcast involvement in surging AI focus
Google has withdrawn a key podcast listening product, signaling a trim of its podcast initiative. At the same time, Google appears to be rallying a counter initiative to the high-buzz ascendance of AI tool ChatGPT (owned by OpenAi). Recent Backstepping… Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan: Everyone hurts – the problem with ‘fixing’ streaming
by Mark Mulligan
This guest column from Mark Mulligan breaks down what mid-level success looks like from a musician’s viewpoint. “Streaming was built for yesterday’s music business,” Mark Mulligan asserts in this guest column. He breaks down what success looks like to midlevel artists, then doubles it … and it’s still not enough. Mulligan suggests two possible innovations in the existing royalty system.
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American Music Fairness Act reenters Congress, probably bound for stalemate
It has been in circulation since 2021, when the American Music Fairness Act was introduced to Congress.The proposed bill intends to rectify what musicians and their chief lobbying organization, SoundExchange, call a “decades-long injustice.” The argument is over a historical anamoly which has always exempted broadcast radio stations from paying creator royalties — songwriters for the most part. Continue Reading
Spotify earnings message: “Speed plus efficiency”
Spotify was ready for investor questions about the recent reorg. The company’s remarks emphasized a shift from previous spending to future operational efficiency. This core message was connected to every aspect of the product, with some emphasis on podcasting (thanks to relentless investor questioning about the podcast business) and especially the recent departure of Dawn Ostroff, who ran the podcast business. Click for quotes. Continue Reading
RAIN Notes: Friday, February 3
Jottings of Note
— Boiling Down the Artwork (True Native)
— 185 Nominees (Podcast Academy)
— A Healthy Sign (JAR Audio)