The headline is that YouTube has its first home-built podcast, but the deeper story is that it’s a bottoms-up collaboration with National Public Media (NPM), the sponsorship sales division of NPR. Click for details. Continue Reading
In a reflection of what it calls its “flywheel business model,” the company formerly known as LiveXLive will change its corporate identity to LiveOne, mimicking its acquired subsidiary PodcastOne. A similarly modeled rebrand is being applied to all its business units. Click for deets. Continue Reading
The global smart speaker market is surging to record levels, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, which frames its recent report as a “market recovery.” The data are from Q2 of this year, compared to Q2 2020, and represent the highest-ever Q2 growth. Click for an illustrative table which tells the whole story. Continue Reading
Green Roll Media, LLC, a sports betting podcast network and an audio production and distribution company, and SuperBook Sports, a leading sportsbook and standard-bearer in sports oddsmaking founded in 1993, announced today they have partnered to create multiple podcasts for Green Roll Media’s sports betting podcast network. Continue Reading
SXM Media, the ad-sales division of SiriusXM’s combined digital audio assets — Pandora, Stitcher, Simplecast, and AdsWizz — launched SXM Podcast Universe, a few weeks ago. It’s a spacey interactive display of podcasts in the SXM network, and their audience characteristics. Today we test-drove it, and found it to be spacey, informative, and fun. Click for details, link, and screnshots. Continue Reading
American Public Media has introduced APM Studios with a dedicated website which represents the organization’s podcast production division, and its portfolio. There’s a collaboration with Audacy-owned Cadence13. Continue Reading
Triton Digital has released the August edition of the Australian Podcast Ranker. We observe that it is reformatted from previous reports, and now delivers audience and download numbers for top 100 podcasts — a terrific bounty of information that helps quantify the Aussie podcast market. Continue Reading
We spotted SXM Media’s new Podcast Ad Glossary, and took it for a spin. It’s a free document which offers to “expand your podcabulary.” It contains 35 main terms and several more bundled into them. Also promotional sidebars for SXM Media services. Continue Reading
Serial entrepreneur Brad Smith, who founded podcast hosting platform Simplecast, has been named Head of Podcast Products for SiriusXM, effective immediately, the company tells RAIN. Smith will manage a team responsible for SiriusXM’s podcast product strategy across all of its owned platforms – including SiriusXM, Pandora, and Stitcher. Continue Reading
James Cridland returns with a richly informative newsletter about radio around the world. In this meaty edition, the CRA (Commercial Radio Australia) is featured for several recent accomplishments — it’s “quite a force to be reckoned with.” Plus a rich selection of links to audio business news around the world. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— An Awaited Return (RAJAR)
— Fresh Hire (Fresh Air Production)
— Between the Charts (Chartable)
Tim Dadson, who joined SoundExchange in 2012 as Assistant General Counsel, and was made Deputy General Counsel in 2017, has been promoted to General Counsel. He will report directly to President and CEO Michael Huppe. Continue Reading