RAIN Notes: Friday, April 2
Jottings of note:
— Sounds like calisthenics (Univison)
— Segmenting the radio audience (Edison & NPR)
— Directing traffic (Spotify)
— The winner will be… (The Ambies)
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Spotify
Spotify acquires Betty Labs, creator of live social audio, elbowing into Clubhouse’s space
Spotify has announced its acquisition of Betty Labs, a tech startup which build Locker Room, a live audio conversation space for sports fans. The company says the grab will “accelerate Spotify’s entry into the live audio space.” Other remarks from Spotify sound like a plan to eat Clubhouse’s lunch. Continue Reading
Spotify vs. Netflix: User growth 2015 – 2020. Spotify wins total; Netflix wins subs.
Spotify has only 76% the number of monthly paid subscribers as Netflix, but 31% more total users than Netflix subscribers. Further, Spotify is growing monthly subscribers at a quicker rate than Netflix, closing the gap year-over-year since 2015, though at a decelerating pace. Click through for details and graphic. Continue Reading
Obama/Springsteen podcast, and other new Spotify exclusives
Many of the announcements in Spotify’s flood of news in yesterday’s “Stream On” presentation were about platform features for creators and advertisers. But new and exclusive podcast content was also featured. The biggest headline is certainly the launch of a Barack Obama / Bruce Springsteen conversational show called “Renegades: Born in the USA.” Also, DC Comics and Ava DuVernay. Click through for info, audio, and video Continue Reading
Spotify links podcasting to blogging with text-to-speech WordPress/Anchor hook-up
In the slew of announcements during Spotify’s “Stream On” presentation Monday, the company seemed to recognize an affinity between podcasting and blogging. Spotify’s new agreement with WordPress.com, which leverages Spotify’s Anchor podcasting platform, bridges the two realms. The result is near-instant podcasts. We now await the reverse.
Spotify’s new ad network promising “a new era for podcast advertising.”
Marketing it as a “first-of-its-kind audio advertising marketplace,” Spotify announced the Spotify Audience Network as part of its wide-ranging “Stream On” presentation. The promotional emphasis is on podcast advertising, but the marketplace itself includes music streamed to an audience of about 155-million listeners in Spotify Free. At the foundation of this initiative is the company’s Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI) tech. Continue Reading
Spotify “Stream On”: International expansion
While new features within Spotify and its Anchor subsidiary get most of the attention among the ream of announcements in the company’s “Stream On” presentation, the expansionary push into new regions around the world might be the most eye-opening, certainly is the most ear-obtaining, and could be described as the most imperialistic. Continue Reading
Mechanical Licensing Collective receives $424M for unmatched royalties from streaming services
The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) has received $424-million in royalties from Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google, Pandora, and 15 other streaming entities from Aspiro to Xandrie. With funds in hand, the MLC starts its US government mandate to accurately distribute payments to songwriters, composers, and music publishers. Click for the list streaming services by dollar amount. Continue Reading
Megaphone intros new metrics visualization for podcast hosting clients
Spotify subsidiary Megaphone has launched a new data visualization aid for its podcast hosting clients: the Unique Listener Performance Tool. It’s a graphic display for seeing downloads and other user behavior, and comparing the information across different time periods. Continue Reading
Jeff Umbro: SiriusXM, Spotify, Amazon, and the New York Times Announce Earnings
by Jeff Umbro
In this week’s column, The Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro rounds up recent earnings reports from Spotify, SiriusXM, The New York Times, and Amazon. (With stock charts.) A nice grab-bag of industry updates rounds out the issue. Oh, also a podcast recommendation. Continue Reading
Spotify earnings: User growth, revenue growth, negative net income, unhappy investors
Under the theme “Building the World’s #1 Audio Network,” Spotify released its Q4 2020 results today. The main public-facing presentation is a splashy infographic illustrating user growth and recent acquisitions and features, with not a single financial metric in view. Click through for a thorough rundown of main finance results and user metrics. Continue Reading
Jeff Umbro: Content Moderation: Twitter, YouTube, Podcasts?
by Jeff Umbro
In this week’s column, The Podglomerate CEO Jeff Umbro grapples with the often-overlooked, always-challenging topic of podcast content moderation. Should podcasting undergo the level of scrutiny that social networks do? Along with these ruminations, the column catches up with news from Spotify, Apple, and elsewhere. Continue Reading