Web VI streaming royalty rate-setting process begins; participants revealed

The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has released a participant list in “Web VI” — the petitioning and rate-setting process which will determine what streaming outlets must pay music owners in the 2026-2030 royalty period. This every-five-year exercise is conducted by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which sets the rates. Today we learn which streaming entities are participating in the two-year-long legal process. Continue Reading

James Cridland’s International Radio Trends: Spinoff stations grow overall reach

by James Cridland

In his latest guest column, James Cridland starts by looking at recent RAJAR statistics measuring UK radio listening. Interesting, he observes, that spinoff stations do not detract listening from their parent stations. Then he compares NPR’s Morning Edition U.S. radio program with the breakfast shows produced by BBC and Australia’s ABC. He is left “a bit cold.” Then he tried wake-up programming at LBC (a UK network) and RTE’s Radio Ireland. And much more. Continue Reading

Hit podcast SmartLess leaving Amazon for SiriusXM. And taking its 4 other shows.

It is a time of shaking loose from original network partnerships. Just as Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper are changing their exclusive relationships with Spotify, the hit podcast SmartLess is leaving its parent network Amazon Music and will be exclusively tied to SiriusXM for distribution and ad sales. Click for more. Continue Reading

Soon to stream everywhere: Rogan & Cooper. But Spotify still makes the money happen.

In a near-simultaneous news blast, podcast superstars Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper both negotiated new contracts with their distribution and advertising partner Spotify. Gone are the exclusive distribution aspects of both contracts. That means The Joe Rogan Experience and Call Her Daddy will be available for playback on any podcast app. Spotify is giving up an exclusivity play, switching to wide distribution and potentially bigger audience as it maintains its ad-rep roles. Continue Reading

98% of global DTC brand marketers say podcasts are effective (Acast)

Global podcasting giant Acast sent us results of two surveys conducted in December, focused on the DTC (direct to consumers) segment. One survey queried 450 marketing pros who specifically work in DTC, and the other questioned 900 consumers who typically shop online directly from a company’s website. Survey results include interesting angles of favorability for DTC podcast marketing. Continue Reading

What’s the internet worth? Consumers say $38,000 a year. And they like ads. (IAB)

Yesterday we provided initial coverage of the IAB’s newly released study, “The Free and Open Ad-Supported Internet: Consumers, Content, and Assessing the Data Value Exchange.” We take a second tour through the richly informative 30-page PDF today, with an emphasis on metrics and the IAB’s narrative running through the presentation. Click for deep coverage and graphs. Continue Reading