Spoken word has grown 40% in the last seven years, according to the 2021 Spoken Word Audio Report from Edison Research and NPR. The flip side is that we’re listening to less music than we used to, writes Edison SVP Tom Webster. Podcasts are winning our attention, but what’s happening on the other side of audio?
Between radio’s loss of influence and tragically low(ering) streaming royalty rates, the music business is a tough place to be: “People in podcasting talk so much about the difficulties with podcast discovery — at least your share is growing! Try being a new artist right now that is not named Taylor or Ed and building a career.”
In other news, Webster is developing a special webinar for podcasters with his wife, speaker and strategist Tamsen Webster. It’ll be designed to help make sure your show can be pitched successfully. The webinar will be free, but links to register will be available only to his email subscribers. Our recommendation: Do it.
“For every ‘Clubhouse is dying’ headline published, the app has — at least for now — stayed very much alive,” writes J. Clara Chan of The Hollywood Reporter. In mid-October, Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison admitted that the platform “grew way, way too fast.” Now, his team of nearly 90 is working backward to basics.
In the last eight months, updates have been “foundational,” including setting up a tipping feature in April, launching on Android in May, adding direct messaging and opening wide to the public in July, releasing recording and universal search in September, and rolling out support for 13 languages on Android in October.
As the app’s leadership focuses on steady, sustainable growth, celebrity appearances are still a major draw. Just last night, Hot Pod’s Ashley Carman spotted Oprah in a room set up to “obsess, discuss, and unpack” the recent interview with Adele. With celebrity status, Clubhouse hopes to reach “real company” status.
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