RAIN Notes: May 5

"Acquisitive Digital Music News (DMN) speculates that the music acquisition industry is on track to make a record quarter, driven by full-catalog deals. Preceding this observation is the fact of Q1, which delivered nearly five billion dollars in music industry funding. April got the second quarter started with $2.8 billion in publicly disclosed funding. All this is powered by DMN's Music Industry Fund Tracker (HERE, but for DMN subscribers only)."

"Best of the New Podchaser 25 is the monthly ranking of the 25 most successful and fastest-growing new podcasts released within the last 90 days, created by global podcast search engine Podchaser. The distinguishing aspect is the measurement of young shows, started within the past 90 days. . In the newly released ranker, representing April releases, we see The Book Club, published by Goalhanger and released by Megaphone, a history and culture podcast ranked #1. Five of the top 10 ranked shows represent the True Crime category, not surprisingly. Society/Culture shows also excel in this ranker."

"Back in the fray High end audio equipment maker Bose has launched a new line of home speakers, while repurposing the company's "Lifestyle" branding. The new line includes Lifestyle Ultra, Soundbar, and Subwoofer models. The physical design is intended to create a cozier look. The launch signifies a reentry in the home speaker space, and revival of "Lifestyle" products which first entered the market in 1990. (The Lifestyle brand was discontinued in 2022.) Interestingly, the new speaker integrates with Amazon Alexa smart speakers, allowing users to ask Alexa to play music through the speakers (bypassing the Alexa speaker). Bluetooth is supported."

Music acquisition activity is projected to reach a record quarter, supported by full-catalog deals. Nearly five billion dollars in music industry funding arrived in Q1, and April began Q2 with 2.8 billion dollars in publicly disclosed funding. Podcast performance is tracked through a ranking of the 25 most successful and fastest-growing new shows released within the last 90 days. In the April releases, The Book Club ranks #1, and true crime shows account for five of the top 10. Society and culture podcasts also perform strongly. Bose launched a new home speaker line under the revived “Lifestyle” branding, integrating Amazon Alexa support and Bluetooth.

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