🔴 Audacy’s earnings report, Sephora launches music initiative, and what’s making waves









AC Aug 8 Issue


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Written and curated by Shreya Sharma

Hello there! In today's issue, we cover audio platform Audacy’s quarterly results, Digiday on why publishers are reducing podcasts to grow audio, a music initiative from Sephora, upcoming audio events, and a glance at what’s making waves.

 

Let's dive in, shall we?

🎧 Audio News

1

Audacy, Inc. reported a 6.6% decrease in year-over-year quarterly revenue in its Q2 2023 earnings report. 

Audacy is an audio hosting platform and advertising solutions provider.

  • In Q2 2022, the net quarterly revenue was $319.4 million while it was $298.5 million in Q2 2023. Overall, digital revenues were down by 4% compared to Q2 2022. 

  • Regarding podcast developments, the report shares that “expenses were impacted by $10.4 million in charges” as they ended a contract with one of their two “largest podcast agreements.” The report does not disclose the name of the partner the contract was terminated with. 

  • In the podcast advertising area, Audacy’s RPM (revenue-per-thousand downloads) increased 38% year-over-year. 

  • Total Listening Hours across the platform increased 12% over the quarter and 15% in June alone.

2

Digiday’s Sara Guaglione inquires why prominent publishers might be reducing their podcasts to “grow their audio businesses.”

Guaglione’s zoomed out view shares the past, present, and potential future for certain media houses in podcasts.

  • With Spotify, NPR, and Disney’s Marvel canceling some of their shows and refocusing audio strategy on flagship podcasts, it’s evident that they might be cutting costs to bet on growing revenue. 

  • An anonymous podcast executive shared with Guaglione that they do see value in “the franchises and core IP that have the potential to flourish.” 

  • However, The Economist, CNN, and Betches Media told Digiday that “they have an active pipeline” of podcasts for the rest of this year and are continuing to invest in audio. 

  • This is just a summary. Read the entire article here.

3

Sephora, the beauty retailer, announced a music program to boost underrepresented voices.

The program is called Sephora Sounds.

  • Sephora Sounds began earlier this year, with the goal of platforming diverse and emerging musicians. 

  • As per the announcement, over 55 artists “half of whom are BIPOC and women” have signed on. 

  • As a part of the program, musicians’ content will be featured on Sephora’s social media channels.

🎙️ Upcoming Audio Events

Upcoming events in the audio world include:

  • On August 16, the NYC Podcasters: Summer Session is happening in Queens. Tickets start at $65.

  • On August 16, the Black Women in Podcasting series will welcome DJ Tricey Trice at a session starting at 6:30 PM ET.

  • Reminder: the Afros & Audio Podcast Festival is happening on October 21-22, both virtually and in-person in Maryland, Baltimore.

💪 Resources for Brands

Every other week or so, we’ll be sharing a resource (either in-house or otherwise) for brands and stakeholders in the audio space.

This week, we’re sharing Sounder and Urban One’s white paper on AI/ML-driven brand safety and suitability, which specially considers the cultural nuances of Black creators. 

 

The white paper includes a comparison of Black and general podcasting content on a variety of sensitive topics, an analysis of legacy solutions, and transcription accuracy of Black English to assess the impact of these technologies on Black culture.

 

🌊 Making Waves
  • Alex Winter’s The YouTube Effect is a documentary on the influence and impact of YouTube in today’s media and culture. It premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and will be streaming today on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, and Vudu.
  • Transom’s Talia lists all the audio opportunities for August in the latest issue of All Hear. The opportunities include awards, grants, and jobs especially geared to diverse and independent audio creators.
  • TikTok’s users in Europe will soon have the option to turn off the ‘For You’ feed personalization. This is in compliance with the EU’s Digital Services Act, the platform shared.
  • ICYMI: Fiction-focused podcast network Realm acquired Pinna and Lipstick & Vinyl.

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