Jottings of note:
Uh-oh
“Music streaming has a $2 billion fraud problem,” writes Ashley Carman in Bloomberg. Her reporting notes that “bogus tracks” might account for 10% of all streams. Some of this has nothing to do with AI. Carman focuses on two issues: Copycat uploads of popular music to streaming services, and creators intentionally mis-labeling their uploads to lure user to inadvertently play them. One estimate says ten percent of music streaming is fraudulent. “Nobody at the major services appeared to be doing anything effective to stop the spread of the knockoffs,” she writes — though she quotes a Spotify rep who voices concern. READ
Here, There, and Overall
The New York Times has published a company profile of Tenderfoot TV, which — despite the company name — is a notable podcast network. Mainly known for the Up and Vanished true crime title, which has been downloaded 300-million times, Tenderfoot owns a portfolio of high-charting and celebrity-driven shows. Staff has grown from nine to 17 people in the last year, and revenue is on track to exceed $10-million this year. “All the success we’ve had up to this point is the launching pad for what we’re about to do next,” says President and Co-Founder Donald Albright. “If we can win a little bit here and a little bit there, we win overall.” READ
Show Me the Money
SXM exec Allyson Marino has quantified how much a podcast can expect to earn from advertising, depending on the download count. Some assumptions apply: weekly publishing, three host reads and two dynamic insertions per show, and a sell-out of every episode. She assumes a $20 CPM across all variables. From this formula is derived monthly net revenue, which ranges from $143 to over $26,000. See her “Show Me the Money” slides HERE.
