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MEDIA

Podcast Platforms Cash In

The newsletter-for-your-ears industry is having its busiest month since the exposé of Reply All's exposé:

• Last week, Apple announced its first foray into podcast subscriptions.
• Then yesterday, Spotify followed up with details on its new subscription features.

These announcements show a ballooning industry navigating the choppy seas of monetization and greater competition. They could also mean changes in how Shankar Vedantam's dulcet tones make their way to your AirPods.

About those subscriptions

In the same way that publishers have cloaked written digital content behind paywalls, many podcasts may soon become pay-to-play.

• Apple's plan: For $19.99/year, podcasters can access features to turn their shows into subscription offerings. Apple takes a 30% cut of revenues the first year and 15% the following years.
• Spotify's plan: a new ad marketplace that makes it easier for podcasters to find advertisers and the ability to distribute premium podcasts on other platforms. Spotify is also letting podcasters keep 100% of subscription revenues until 2023, when a 5% fee kicks in.

Big picture: Apple has always been the top platform for podcasts (the name is literally a portmanteau of "iPod" + "broadcast"), but its lack of innovation until now let Spotify catch up quick. The Swedish streamer now has 2.2+ million podcasts and is expected to pass Apple in US pod listeners this year. 

So will you pay? 

While some podcasts have paid memberships, most are free and openly distributed. Now that leading platforms are doubling down on subscriptions, listeners may need to get more accustomed to paying for their favorite shows.

• NPR just revealed paid subscriptions for ad-free podcasts, accessible through both Apple and Spotify. 

Zoom out: Despite the drop-off in commuting, podcasts became more popular during Covid. An estimated 41% of the American population over the age of 12 listens in, and this year annual advertising revenues are expected to top $1 billion in the US for the first time.

COVID

The Face Reveal We've All Been Waiting For

Yours! Time to practice smiling with your teeth again, because the CDC updated its mask-wearing guidance yesterday from "mostly always" to "mostly just inside." The agency said that fully vaccinated folks can do the following activities sans masks:

• Dine outside with non-roommates
• Go on walks, hikes, or bike rides alone or with household members
• Attend small, outdoor events, even if some attendees haven't been vaccinated yet

Why now? 29% of Americans are fully vaccinated, and almost 43% have received 1+ dose. Plus, researchers' understanding of Covid-19 has come a long way since every Amazon package was treated like an Area 51 special delivery, and public health experts say it's rare for the virus to spread outdoors.

Vaccines need a marketing refresh

The pace of vaccinations has slowed down in the US, and the Biden administration hopes that FOMO from seeing vaccinated friends tandem-biking (as friends do) will spur the un-jabbed to act. In the words of President Biden, "For those who haven't gotten their vaccine yet...this is another great reason to go get vaccinated now."

EARNINGS

Nice Quarter Ya Got There

In Q1 2020, economies were shutting down, workers left half-eaten PB&Js in the office refrigerator, and business leaders prepared for mass layoffs.  

Fast forward one year: The sandwich is now a thriving weevil colony and some companies are posting their best quarterly performances...ever.

Alphabet: Google's parent grew sales 34% to a record $55.3 billion and more than doubled profits. Alphabet, which owns a thriving digital ad business, YouTube, and a cloud service, was in a perfect position to benefit from more screentime. Its stock is up more than 50% since the DOJ sued it over monopolistic behavior last October. 

Microsoft: Microsoft also posted strong results that beat expectations, but shares dipped because it didn't beat them by enough. The tech company recorded its biggest quarterly jump in PC shipments in more than 20 years. 

Starbucks: US same-store sales have returned to pre-pandemic levels. While traffic is down by 10%, the average order has increased 21% (it's hard to resist that nitro cold brew). 

SPONSORED BY THE MOTLEY FOOL

So You’ve Got $1,000

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Learn why The Motley Fool thinks the next world-changing trend could be 5G. And while most discussions about 5G revolve around the big smartphone players, TMF may have found a small Pennsylvania company potentially poised to take advantage of this incredible inflection point.

And because this company isn’t some techno behemoth, your $1,000 bucks could go a long way to potentially making you a nice return in the long-term. 

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: Bud Light, the king of both watery beer and marketing, said it's giving away 100,000 free tickets to sporting events in the "biggest sports ticket giveaway in the history of mankind." The campaign, which is valued at $10 million, is intended to boost attendance at stadiums that sat mostly empty over the last year. Your move, Natty Light. 

Quote: 

Heck ya we're fired up, Jim. By "the gauntlet," we can only assume Cramer means a wave of important tech earnings, Jerome Powell's press conference this afternoon, Biden's joint speech to Congress tonight, and the Baked Alaska we're about to flambé.

Read: Who disrupts the disruptors? (Not Boring)

BANKING

Why YOLO When Teens Can FICO?

Teen allowance is being upgraded from cash wads to full-on banking apps. Yesterday, two such apps, Current and Step, announced new funding rounds of $220 million and $100 million, respectively. Now worth $2.2 billion, Current tripled its valuation in just five months.

Both apps let parents and teens make deposits and offer no-fee checking accounts, since in high school being a thousandaire feels like being London Tipton. 

How are Current and Step different?

• Current focuses on signing up parents, while Step focuses on recruiting teens. 
• Current has almost 3 million users. Step has 1.5 million, but has only been around for six months.
• Current's backed by traditional VC heavyweights like a16z. Step's investor lineup looks more like a red carpet: Charli D'Amelio, The Chainsmokers, and Will Smith, to name a few. And yesterday, it revealed Steph Curry was on board. 

Zoom out: It's never too early to start building a credit score, apparently. Greenlight and Till Financial, digital banking apps that extend services to younger kids, also raised new funding rounds recently.

EXPLAINER

Reader Q&A: Getting Real About Real Estate

Every Wednesday, we answer a reader-submitted question about business and the economy. Want clarification on something you read in the Brew? Click here and ask.

Q: "Will the housing market crash like it did in 2008?" —Jay in Salt Lake City

A: We can all agree the housing market is hotter than a Phoenix parking lot in July right now. Prices are exploding in both suburban and urban markets. The search terms “should I buy a house” and “sell my house” are at record-highs. It’s feeling very 2006 out there, and not just because very few people are using Facebook.

But experts say that while it may look like a bubble and feel like a bubble...the market’s fundamentals aren’t that bubbly. Yes, prices are rising at an astonishing pace, but there are good reasons for that: Housing inventory hit a record low this year, demand is so furious builders can’t keep up, and low mortgage rates are attracting new buyers into the marketplace.

Plus, lenders these days are far more strict than before the previous crash, which has resulted in more creditworthy homeowners. The typical credit score for mortgage borrowers in the second half of last year was 786, a record high. 

In conclusion, don’t expect a Big Short 2. But do expect an affordability crisis if we don’t build more homes.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• JPMorgan expects all US workers to be back in offices by early July on a "consistent rotational schedule."
• President Biden reportedly wants to give the IRS an extra $80 billion to crack down on tax evasion by the wealthy and large corporations.
• Biden also signed an executive order that increases the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15/hour. 
• Battle of the billionaires: Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin is challenging NASA's decision to award SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract for a lunar lander.  
• Justin Zhu says he was fired as CEO of the $2 billion marketing startup Iterable because he microdosed on LSD before a 2019 meeting.

SPONSORED BY THE MOTLEY FOOL

So this company has done $2.3 billion in sales in eight years. And they count many of the big tech behemoths (Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon) as customers. Yet they’re still small enough that The Motley Fool has issued a Double Down buy alert. Learn about this under-the-radar tech stock when you sign up for Motley Fool Stock Advisor.

BREW'S BETS

Marketing smarts: This Instagram ad will get you to swipe up—we won't say how. 

Food roundup: A microwaved mayonnaise omelette by José Andrés, 10 essential cake decorating supplies, TJ's grilled cheese contest winners, and this miso-mushroom pasta.

One notable snub, but otherwise a good list: Time's 100 most influential companies, plus a bonus video we made about it.

GAMES

Make Movies Great Again

Let's get the bad taste of the 2021 Oscars out of our mouths with a movie trivia palate cleanser. We'll give you an excerpt from a memorable movie review, and you have to guess the movie. The year the movie was released is in parentheses.

1. "I've had mosquito bites that were more passionate than this undead, unrequited, and altogether unfun pseudo-romantic riff on 'Romeo and Juliet.'"—Marc Salov (2008)

2. "This movie should have blown us out of the water. Instead, we catch ourselves occasionally thinking the unpardonable thought: 'OK, sink already.'"—Desson Howe (1997)

3. "We aren't going to quibble about the genius business. Time will take care of that and if Welles goes down in history as one well be happy to have been among those who enjoyed the results of his great talent."—Ida Belle Hicks (1941)

4. "The fact that a bouncy teenage sports comedy can even gesture toward serious matters of race and economic inequality is pretty impressive, as is the occasional snarl of genuine satire."—A.O. Scott (2000)

ANSWER

1. Twilight

2. Titanic 

3. Citizen Kane 

4. Bring It On