In a notice sent out today, Bauer Media Audio is announcing an agreement to acquire Mediatakojat OY. (OY is a Finnish abbreviation for a limited company.) With the acquisition, Mediatakoja’s radio licenses will be transferred to Bauer Media. The two companies have a history of cooperating, and collaboratively launched two stations last year. Continue Reading
Nine months ago the BG Ad Group in Marietta, Georgia approached a metro Atlanta newspaper with an idea to increase non-traditional revenue, digital downloads, and hyperlocal following. The idea? A hyperlocal podcast. The model has scaled to other newspapers in Georgia. Click for a case study in hyperlocal branded podcasts. Continue Reading
In a graphic summary of 2020 results, digital music distributor CD Baby shows that artists they distribute received 40% of total revenue from Spotify. That allocation exceeds Apple Music, Amazon, and Pandora combined. Click through for an infographic summarizing CD Baby’s revenue operation in 2020. Continue Reading
In February 2020, we called the Podtrac Top Podcasts ranker “business as usual.” The same characterization remains a year later. We compared Podtrac’s recently released Top 20 Podcasts list for February 2021 with the year-ago list. Fifteen of the shows remain the same, with four of the top five retaining their positions. Click through for a graphic illustration. Continue Reading
This masterful write-up summarizes several important announcements which were clustered into a single week. There are three connecting threads: 1. The (continued) astronomic rise of the independent artist; 2. The growth of creator tools; 3. Streaming’s growing pains. A must-read from a global leader in digital audio industry analysis.
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Two questions about digital audio programmatic advertising were addressed in Triton Digital’s presentation at the RAIN Podcast Business Summit yesterday: 1. Is programmatic advertising a “race to the bottom” in ad revenue? 2. What are actual CPM rates in podcasting? Triton SVP Stephanie Donovan answered both with a view of average CPM rates for podcast programmatic advertising. Continue Reading
The Podcast Academy has announced nominees for its inaugural Awards for Excellence in Audio — nicknamed The Ambies. The nominees were sent around this morning in a press release. They also appear HERE. Through a membership vote, 164 nominees have… Continue Reading
Financial services company Square is acquiring a majority ownership stake in the TIDAL music streaming service, as announced by Square founder/CEO Jack Dorsey on Twitter (which he also founded and runs). Dorsey made the announcement on Twitter, befittingly. Click through for his statement and rationale. Continue Reading
Jottings of note:
— Evergreen Podcasts awarded “Top Media Startup”
Evergreen Podcasts has been named a Top Startup in the Audio Content category by MDI Ventures. Evergreen CEO Michael DeAloia will speak at the Media Top Startups Summit, March 24-26. Free registration HERE
— Tyler Moody leaves Warner Media
Tyler Moody has left Warner/CNN. “I wore a lot of hats from CNN to Turner to WarnerMedia, but always worked on audio in some way.” Find him on LinkedIn to discuss the future.
— Entercom podcast hire: Brian Swarth
Entercom’s Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studio name Brian Swarth Head of Marketing, Podcasts, a newly created position. He was previously SVP at Showtime Networks.
— Thursday, March 4 Continue Reading
The fifth annual RAIN Podcast Business Summit played on Zoom to a large virtual audience today, presented by iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Triton Digital, and founding partner NPR. Other sponsors supporting this event were Megaphone, AdsWizz, WideOrbit, and AccuRadio. In a compact 3.5-hour schedule, 22 speakers held forth on the business side of podcasting. Click for lots of quotes. Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research published research showing a long tail of music providers which is gradually taking Spotify listening share from major labels and the mighty Merlin aggregate of indie labels. This cohort of providers, growing over three years, represents a “new independent.” Click through for a revealing graphic.
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Podcast creation and monetization web service Sounder has raised $2.1-million, a year following $1.8-million the young company scooped up in March 2020. Over 14 months, the company has attracted about 4-million of seed financing. Continue Reading