In a significant upgrade to its reporting features and production requirements, Apple Podcasts has released and defined new podcast metrics for subscription podcast owners, and audio guidelines for subscription podcast producers. Click for details and screenshot of the new metrics dashboard. Continue Reading
Presumably (but not explicitly) in honor of International Podcast Day, Apple released two podcast charts: Top Subscriptions, and Top Free Channels. This is the first ranking released by the company since those two programs started three months ago. Click for the details. Continue Reading
Apple has introduced two new sharing and personalization features for its podcast listening platform. Both target personalized discovery. Users can share recommendations, and the platform also can deliver personalized suggestions that go across podcast categories. Continue Reading
The global smart speaker market is surging to record levels, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, which frames its recent report as a “market recovery.” The data are from Q2 of this year, compared to Q2 2020, and represent the highest-ever Q2 growth. Click for an illustrative table which tells the whole story. Continue Reading
Good news for classical lovers in Apple Music, bad news for Primephonic subscribers: Apple has bought Primephonic and will shut it down a week from today. Primephonic subscribers get put into Apple Music. The company will make a new classical streaming experience from Primephonic assets. Continue Reading
“Why would I go back to a visual medium?” the 58-year-old Jon Stewart wonders aloud after being startled by his image in the dressing room mirror. “I could have done a podcast.” Turns out, it will be one. Click for a video and details. Continue Reading
Three of Spotify’s top five podcasts of the summer are exclusives to the platform. The other two are also top entries in Apple’s chart and Edison Research’s consumer survey. Continue Reading
In its quarterly report of smart speaker shipments, London-based research company Omdia reports that Google took the top spot from Amazon in the U.S. And interestingly, Apple’s HomePod increased its shipments from a year ago at a surprising rate. Click through for the chart. Continue Reading
After a delay to fix widely reported bugs, Apple announces today a firm launch of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, a platform for creators and networks to offer paid listening plans. In most cases, those plans will offer listeners and ad-free experience, and/or unique content not given to non-paying followers. (What will this do to the ongoing confusion of the word “Subscribe” in free podcasts?) Continue Reading
Starting today, Apple Music is streaming what it calls Spatial Audio, which is the Dolby Atmos format often called immersive audio. Dolby Atmos is not new, but its implementation by Apple is, announced yesterday at the company’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). The launch in Apple Music matches Amazon Music’s similar dive into the specialty high resolution music format. Both companies are refuting the once-standard model of charging more for HiRez listening. Continue Reading
Publicly heralded, quietly postponed. Promised for May, now it’s June in an email to participants. Apple acknowledges problems and notes that thousands of creators and networks around the world submitted their plans for subscriptions and channels. Those business plans disrupted. Continue Reading
In an announcement targeted mainly to podcast creators, Apple announced two upcoming features that will enable podcasters to earn subscription revenue, and organize channels of content to increase listening. While both those features widely exist elsewhere, SVP Eddie Cue calls it “the next chapter of podcasting.” New analytics are also in the offing. It all comes out in May. Continue Reading