Audioboom released its 2021 annual finance report this morning, containing ready-made headlines for promoting the company’s recent success. Click through for lots of numbers and 2022 forecasts. Continue Reading
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
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— Dream Destination (E.B. Moss)
— Robot Reveries (Shawn Cole)
— Sourcing Antiquity (PRX)
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— All About Production (Benztown)
— A New Role (Acast)
— Sounds of CES (Popsci)
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 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
The Jordan Harbinger Show joined Podtrac’s monthly Top 20 Podcasts ranker for December. The other 19 shows all appeared in the previous month. RAIN’s 6-month comparison illustrates the nearly-unchanging stability of this list. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— Big Distro (Audacy / Samsung)
— Not Entirely On Air (On Air Fest)
— Broadening (Higher Ground)
In a just-released set of survey results from podcast consulting service Improve Podcast, longevity and detailed preparation lead to better podcast monetization. The survey queried over a thousand podcasters on basic show metrics and income. Continue Reading
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
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
Only 6,868 new podcasts were launched in December, a 13-month low point. That marker continued a four-month slide as new-show production diminished toward the end of 2021. However, 2021 as a whole produced the second-highest number of new podcasts in 12 years (over 687,000 of them). Click for charts. Continue Reading