James Cridland returns with a richly informative newsletter about radio around the world. In this week’s edition: Discussion of BBC World Service’s new five-year review: listener reach, digital growth, and more. Also, the demolition of a radio tower. And some dinky doo, too. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— Adaptation (AIMP)
— Punk Legacy (Double Elvis)
— Up the Ladder (Audacy)
Audioboom announces the launch of Audioboom Studios as of October 1, reminding us of a previous Audioboom Studios which we reported on in 2018. Whether revived, continued, or reinvented, Brendan Regan will run it — he is formerly Executive Vice President, Global Content & Production, and he picks up a new C-level title: Chief Content Officer. Continue Reading
by Tom Webster
This edition of Tom Webster’s once-in-a-while column is about greyhounds. And greyhound moms. Not really — but those dog moms do make a point connected to social media, and knowing oneself honestly. Read it.
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To promote an upcoming webinar next Tuesday, October 12, Borrell Associates has released projections of advertising recovery across 17 media categories. In it, radio is projected to experience negative growth, while streaming audio is predicted to grow ad revenue positively. Click for an explanatory graphic. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— Quest (Curbed)
— Audio Spice (Frontiers in Psychology)
— Recovery Stats (Borrell Associates)
Cell provider AT&T is dropping Spotify from its service bundles. Competing streamer Pandora also bundles into AT&T plans, and that deal appears to be remaining intact. No reason appears evident for the decision. Continue Reading
APM announced two new appointments: Joanne Griffith as Chief Content Officer, and Thomas De Napoli as Chief Strategy Officer. Griffith returns after a previous stint at NPM; she will be head of podcasts. De Napoli was already in APM; this is a promotion for him. Continue Reading
Global audio streaming service Deezer has developed and launched a fresh take on the mood-based music playlist genre. It’s called Flow Moods. It is an infinite playlist of the user’s favorite tracks, adjusted with a new Flow Moods wheel in the Deezer app. The company refers to this UX feature an Emotional Jukebox. Continue Reading
In Podtrac’s Top Podcast Publishers monthly ranker for September, out this week, we learn that average audience was down month-over-month, and average downloads were up. We present the Podtrac ranker, and the RAIN Remix — which re-sorts the list by average number of plays, and listeners, per show for each publisher. Click through for details and charts. Continue Reading
Podcast measurement company Podtrac released its Top 20 Podcasts ranker for September, based on unique U.S. monthly audience. As in past months, there is little change in the roster or audience. Only one new show entered the list from the previous month. Click for graphic illustration. Continue Reading
In a multi-faceted, wide-ranging announcement, Spotify is expanding its audience network to Anchor podcasts, and plans other moves intended to benefit creators and advertisers. The overall thrust is to broaden the range of podcasts and advertisers, and facilitate how those groups do business on the platform. Spotify is also the first company to join a presitigious consortium focused on digital media safety. Continue Reading