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Google loses patent suit vs Sonos, downgrades Nest features for speaker groups

Posted on by Brad Hill

A patent lawsuit pertained to Sonos controls of speaker groups, and Google lost all five counts of infringement that Sonos bought against the company’s Nest speaker technology — smart speakers which embody the Google Assistant artificial intelligence. Rather than pay royalties to Sonos, Google is downgrading a certain cluster of features in its smart speakers. Users aren’t thrilled. Click for details. Continue Reading →

Podcasters now have a large catalog of (very old) music to legally use

Posted on by Brad Hill

Before this year, no music recording has ever resided in the public domain under U.S. federal copyright law. As of January 1 the situation has changed: Any recording made before 1923 is in the public domain now, and can be freely used. Not much practical application for podcasters, admittedly. But 400,000 records released to free use is a blockbuster milestone in music copyright, and a fascinating trove. Click through for collections that anyone can explore. Continue Reading →

James Cridland’s International Radio Trends: Radio vs Spotify — some data

Posted on by Brad Hill

by James Cridland

James Cridland returns with the latest installment of his weekly column. In this edition, how Spotify is eating into AM/FM listening — data is from Morgan Stanley. Also: The BBC in the pandemic. AM radio declining in Europe. Collectors of radio station beers. And much more. Continue Reading →

Spotify intros interactive call-to-action cards for podcast advertisers, reducing reliance on discount codes

Posted on by Brad Hill

Spotify is hoping a new podcast advertiser product — call-to-action cards — will bring interactivity to podcast sponsorship, allow listeners to easily pursue advertised offers, and double the benefit of podcast advertising to companies which offer products directly to consumers. The cards exited a testing period into formal launch today. Continue Reading →

Downloads up, audience mixed (Podtrac) and RAIN Remix of December Top Publishers ranker

Posted on by Brad Hill

In the December Top Podcast Publishers list from Podtrac, U.S. Unique Monthly Audience increased for 4 of the Top 20 publishers in December over November. Total Global Downloads for the Top 20 were up 9% month-over-month and up 19% year-over-year. Click through for the entire list, plus RAIN’s remix which sorts top publishers by average audience size and downloads per show. Continue Reading →

Podcast CPMs reach for new highs at year’s end: AdvertiseCast

Posted on by Brad Hill

In a very interesting set of benchmarks, podcast ad marketplace AdvertiseCast (a subsidiary of Libsyn) released its internal CPM numbers. The metrics include average cost-per-thousand podcast ad impressions for 30-second and 60-second sponsorships, as well as rates for podcasts with different numbers of listeners. Click for two-year trendlines for podcasts addressing different audience sizes. Continue Reading →