Podcasters who distribute on Spotify (the dominant podcast delivery system by far) are recipients of a substantial upgrade of tools for managing the Spotify portion of their businesses. The just-announced upgrade is in three parts, emphasizing presence, insights, and monetization. Click for details and screenshots. Continue Reading
From the beginning, podcasting used the open RSS system for distribution. RSS enables any audio app to present podcasts in any kind of directory system. It’s an open, unowned protocol. But when the most popular podcast in the U.S. (The Joe Rogan Experience, according to Edison Research) is purchased by one of the most popular listening apps in the world (Spotify), the door slams shut on RSS. Justin Jackson, a founder of Transistor.FM, posted a detailed advocacy for RSS. Continue Reading
In this week’s guest column, James reports that he has The Thing, after returning from Podcast Movement Evolutions — he speculates it was the trip, not the event, which gave it to him. Anyway, the temporary illness didn’t stop him from reporting a week of interesting news bits from around the world including Ukraine, A clever TalkTV-and-radio programming gambit, a BBC Radio show on Patreon, and (as the title promises) a radio set for people who have dementia.
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Brad Hill: Kerri, thank you for making time to do this. Kerri Hoffman: Thank you for your interest. Brad: You’re the head of PRX, a top 10 American podcast publisher, almost 100 shows. According to Podtrac in… Continue Reading
Kathy Doyle, VP of Content Development at Macmillan Publishers, appeared on RAIN’s Podcast Business Lunch to discuss the business details of the only podcast network with a “Big 5” book publishers. This is the transcript. Continue Reading
RAIN News attended the Hot Pod Summit at the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn yesterday, a Covid-vaccinated gathering which, to some attendees we spoke to, signaled a hopeful return to in-person business gatherings. In a charming urban-rustic setting at the Wythe, an estimated 200 attendees mostly represented the creative community of podcasting. At the same time we saw many industry pros from the network and technology sides. Click through for details. Continue Reading
Sirius XM-owned podcast company Stitcher released an array of year-end statistics. They include a surge of new listening, and a survey of how podcasts of different sizes make money. Click through for some detail and a link to the entire thing. Continue Reading
The much anticipated Black Podcast Listener Report, with support from Edison Research and Mindshare, was released today and presented in a webinar. Key survey points cover the size of the Black listening audience and how it compares with the total U.S. population, how that audience discovers podcasts, their receptivity to podcast ads, and much more. Click through for many data points and graphics. Continue Reading
In a landmark piece of bizdev for popular podcast Gastropod, the show is tying up with Eater, a Vox Media property. The Eater/Vox promotion and sales machinery will handle Gastropod‘s marketing, ad sales, and distribution. The announcement also promises “editorial collaborations and extensions.” It is not an acquisition; Gastropod remains independently owned. Continue Reading
It has been nearly two weeks since Facebook’s June 21 announcement that podcast listening was added to the platform. The plan was a limited roll-out with four selected podcasters. We check their pages excitedly to try Facebook’s first audio-specific platform experience. Crickets. Continue Reading
With podcast subscriptions a rising feature for creators, what benefit is important to listeners? We turn to the Cumulus Podcast Report 2021, produced with Signal Hill Insights, for an answer. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
In this guest column, Steve Goldstein presents a much-needed thought piece which examines where the value lies in podcast subscriptions — for creators, for audiences, and for the global ecosystem. “We don’t yet know the value between podcast content and someone’s wallet.” Essential reading. Continue Reading