The media sphere burbled over the weekend with late-Friday reporting that Spotify is “in talks” to acquire podcast powerhouse Gimlet Media, with a price tag above $200-million. If this happens, it will be the richest institutional dive into podcasting yet. click through for details, and a history of podcast acquisitions, full and partial. Continue Reading
Steve Pratt of Pacific Content shares his thoughts on podcast scaling: One group of podcast producers aren’t just creating value for themselves. They’re helping to grow a lot of new listeners for the entire industry. Continue Reading
Guest columnist Steve Pratt reflects on the podcast industry predictions experts made for Pacific Content last year. Overall, their forecasts were on point. Read on for a look back at what did (and didn’t) happen in 2018. Continue Reading
In a milestone that potentially moves the podcast measurement needle away from downloads and toward listens, NPR has formally launched RAD (Remote Audio Data). It has been in development for a year, supported by a broad consortium of podcast hosting and content companies. Continue Reading
Anchor has released data about how and where people are tuning in to podcasts created on its platform. Following several pivots, Anchor is now a service for free and fast podcast recording and distribution. Continue Reading
Ten years ago, when podcasting was relatively new, it was mainly downloaded content. Things have changed, thanks to high-speed mobile bandwidth, and consumer acceptance of streaming access as opposed to stored ownership. Why have some podcast apps failed to get with the times? A case study in frustration. Continue Reading
In this week’s exceptionally deep and thoughtful guest column, James puts a focus on the BBC Sounds media and radio app, which is scheduled to be discontinued outside of the UK today. Also covered: how BBC Sounds is performing inside the UK. (Preview: Slight gain; older listeners.) Moving on from the BBC, James reports on the biggest radio stations in the U.S., one great YouTube video, a retroactive look at “AI Ashley,” census data about radio listenership, visual advertising in radio, and James’ “universal radio” idea. Buckle in. Continue Reading
SoundExchange, the U.S. government-designated royalty collection and distribution agency for streaming music royalties, has sued AccuRadio, the Chicago-based streaming music platform. AccuRadio disputes the claims against it. Click for our coverage, plus both statements in full. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
In his latest guest column, Steve Goldstein gives the verbal stage to Steve Stockman, President of Custom Productions. He lays out a course of best practices for podcast videos. There is a difference between a podcast on YouTube and a YouTube podcast — and the difference lies in keeping the visual aspect interesting. “Video is a language.” This piece holds to high standards, but at low cost, and leans on the science of attention in visual presentations. An extraordinarily valuable and bracing interview. A must-read. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
In his latest guest column, Steve Goldstein takes a big view of podcasting from start to present, and he sees three evolutionary periods. Baked-in host endorsements, dynamic insertion, content experimentation, new platforms … it’s an ultra-concise history. Continue Reading