by Jeff Umbro
RAIN News welcomes Jeff Umbro in his first weekly appearance as guest columnist. In this edition, he offers in-depth analysis of siriusXM’s pending acquisition of Stitcher, and covers other podcasting news as well. Jeff is CEO of the Podglomerate podcast network. Click through for more details about Jeff, and of course to read the column. Continue Reading
Podcast content network Wondery has appointed DAX as its exclusive advertising partner in Canada, we are learning today. DAX will offer Canadian advertisers spot ads and host-read sponsorship messages. Wondery continues to be enterprisingly international. Although translation is probably not necessary for the Canadian market, wondery has been a pioneer in translating hit shows for non-English speaking audiences in other parts of the world. Continue Reading
Another legacy media brand dives deeper into podcasting. New York Magazine (a Vox company) hired its first editorial director of audio, Hanna Rosin. A Stanford University alumna, D.C.-based Rosin comes to New York Magazine from The Atlantic and Slate, according to her LinkedIn page, but is probably better known to many as co-host of NPR’s Invisibilia. Continue Reading
The enterprise podcast hosting and monetization company Megaphone announced a partnership with podcast advertising attribution company Podshights. In this arrangement, Megaphone will provide attribution metrics to all campaigns run through the Megaphone Targeted Marketplace. Continue Reading
In its latest app update, Pandora now offers offline listening to podcasts — in other words, downloading them. We had read that the feature was exclusive to subscribers, of which there are two tiers: Plus, and semi-interactive streaming service, and Premium, a fully interactive audio listening and collection service. We thought this limitation was unusual, and reached out to Pandora for confirmation, which we received. Click through for a perspective.
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by Steve Goldstein
A deep and interesting conversation with Scott Simonelli, CEO of Veritonic. Includes links to sonic identity examples. Continue Reading
After 48 hours of rumors, today we get … well, sort-of confirmation that SiriusXM will acquire Stitcher from E.W.Scripps. The confirmation part is from the Wall Street Journal. The sort-of part is the article’s first sentence: “Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is near a deal to buy E.W. Scripps Co.’s Stitcher.” There is no visible confirmation from Sirius, Stitcher, or Scripps. But, as of this morning, industry-wide assumption is that the deal is all but done … in a “poised to buy” sort of way. This acquisition adds a chapter in the corporate life of each company involved. Continue Reading
by Michael Robertson
This guest contribution by iconic digital audio entrepreneur Michael Robertson digs into the U.S. copyright code and finds a statute which might relate to, and potentially invalidate, Spotify’s exclusive distribution deal with Joe Rogan. Continue Reading
Podtrac has released the June edition of the measurement company’s Top Podcast Publishers ranker. Many publications make noise about NPR reclaiming the #1 spot from iHeartRadio (and we hereby note it dutifully), but these two podcast powerhouses are separated by a small fraction of the key metric, US Unique Monthly Audience, and they flip back and forth. Click through for the chart, and RAIN’s remix based on per-show averages. Continue Reading
Pod Drop features new and returning podcasts. Today: the harrowing and heartbreaking story from the old south, fascinating interviews with National Geographic celebs and showrunners, and daily doses of gratitude. (Remember: Pod Drop is a podcast too! Listen to the latest episodes in the sidebar.) >> Continue Reading
Voxnest released a mid-year interim report, part of its State of the Podcast Universe, which is an annual release at year-end. The report is divided into four main observational sections corresponding to podcast business trends: Business, Advertising, Listening, Content. We’ve raided the report for a few key points; click through for a link to the actual download. Continue Reading
“Spotify Keeps Apple Music at Arm’s Length” is the title of a new graph sent to us by Statista. The upshot is that Spotify appears to be reaching for a 2-to-1 subscriber advantage over Apple Music. Continue Reading