RAIN News

What RAIN News does

RAIN News is a privately held B2B trade publication covering the digital audio industry, with editorial focus on podcasting, streaming music, internet radio, and online audio broadly. Founded in 2008 by Kurt Hanson and operating from Chicago, the company publishes daily articles on rainnews.com through its editor Brad Hill and runs the RAIN Daily Digest, a free email newsletter distributed to thousands of industry professionals. Content categories include News, Podcasting, Metrics & Research, Thought Leaders, and RAIN Summits, with reported coverage of mergers and acquisitions (e.g., Penske-Vox), regulatory developments (e.g., the dismissed class action against Spotify), and third-party research from Edison Research, Katz Radio, Triton Digital, and Oxford Road.

The company's product portfolio centers on three distribution vehicles: (i) the rainnews.com website as the primary editorial surface, (ii) the RAIN Daily Digest newsletter as the core subscription product delivered free of charge, and (iii) the RAIN Summits conference franchise anchored by RAIN Summit West in Las Vegas alongside the NAB Show, with additional events such as RAIN Digital Britain 2020 and a multi-event 2021 slate. A sub-brand called Podcast Business Lunch (PBL) extends the newsletter franchise into podcasting-specific coverage.

RAIN News monetizes primarily through advertising and sponsorship on its website and newsletter (AccuRadio is a visible sitewide sponsor) and through paid attendee registration and likely sponsorships for the RAIN Summits events. The freemium pricing of the newsletter means scale of audience — not paywalls — drives the advertising economics, while events add an episodic revenue stream tied to conference cadence. The operating team is small (11-50 employees), with Brad Hill as Editor handling editorial and advertising inquiries and Lee Cornell coordinating the RAIN Summits events.

Name

RAIN News

Legal name

RAIN News

Website

https://rainnews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RAIN News is a B2B trade publication covering podcasting, streaming music, and internet radio, delivering daily news, a free newsletter (RAIN Daily Digest), and industry conferences (RAIN Summits) to audio industry professionals and advertisers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trade Media Publishing (Audio/Online Radio Industry)

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Newsletters & Email-Based News Publishers (B2B/B2C) (MPAJADAJ)

Keywords

• Audio industry news
• Podcasting trade media
• Streaming radio coverage
• Digital audio advertising
• Music streaming reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Advertising and Sponsorship: RAIN News generates revenue through advertising on its website and newsletter, as well as sponsorship arrangements. The website explicitly invites visitors to 'Advertise on RAIN News' and features AccuRadio as a sponsor throughout the site.
2. RAIN Summits Events: The company organizes and produces industry conferences and summits (RAIN Summit West, RAIN 2021 Global Business Summit, etc.) which generate revenue through attendee registrations and likely sponsorships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

RAIN News operates an online news publication (rainnews.com) and a free daily email newsletter called the RAIN Daily Digest, providing curated news, original reporting, and primary-source links about podcasting, streaming music, internet radio, and digital audio advertising for industry professionals. It also organizes paid industry conferences (RAIN Summits) and operates a podcast-focused newsletter product (Podcast Business Lunch / PBL).

Product overview

RAIN News is a news publication covering the podcasting, streaming audio, and internet radio industries. The company offers a daily newsletter called the RAIN Daily Digest as its primary subscription product, delivering curated news roundups to professionals and industry observers. RAIN News also organizes the RAIN Summits, a series of knowledge and networking conferences for the online audio industry. The publication does not appear to offer a unified platform with modules; rather, it provides editorial content distribution through its newsletter and hosts industry events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Podcast Business Lunch (PBL): Podcast-focused newsletter/product from RAIN News

Products and services

• RAIN Daily Digest Free daily email newsletter providing curated news roundups about podcasting, streaming music, internet radio, and online audio with links to the day's most important stories, delivered to thousands of professionals, influencers, and industry observers.
• RAIN News Website (rainnews.com) Daily online news publication covering podcasting, streaming music, internet radio, digital audio advertising, and the broader online audio industry, with categorized sections (News, Podcasting, Metrics & Research, Thought Leaders, RAIN Summits) and a multi-year article archive.
• RAIN Summits (Industry Conferences) Recurring industry conferences (e.g., RAIN Summit West, RAIN 2021 Global Business Summit, RAIN 2021 Global Audio Evolution, RAIN Podcast Business Summit 2021, RAIN Digital Britain 2020) serving as paid knowledge-sharing and networking events for the online audio industry.
• Podcast Business Lunch (PBL) Podcast-focused newsletter and sub-brand from RAIN News that covers the business of podcasts.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of industry professionals subscribe to the RAIN Daily Digest newsletter

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AccuRadiominorGTM or Marketing PartnerAccuRadio appears as a sponsor throughout the RAIN News website, including banner advertisements and logo placements. AccuRadio is described as offering 'great online radio' and 'better radio for your workday.' This is a sponsorship/advertising relationship.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Podnews: Daily newsletter and website covering the podcast industry, founded by James Cridland. Most directly comparable to RAIN in format (free daily newsletter), audience (podcast/audio professionals), and editorial focus, though RAIN spans a broader audio remit including streaming and radio.
• Inside Radio: Long-running B2B trade publication for the US radio industry, covering ratings, advertising, and station operations. Directly comparable to RAIN's radio-industry coverage, with overlap in audience and advertiser base.
• Radio World: B2B trade publication focused on radio broadcasting technology, engineering, and operations. Comparable in B2B trade media model and overlapping audio-industry audience, with a stronger technology/engineering tilt than RAIN.
• Digital Music News: Trade news outlet covering the digital music business, streaming platforms, and audio industry deals. Closely comparable to RAIN's streaming-music and audio-advertising coverage, with broader consumer-music content.
• Music Ally: B2B digital music trade publication and newsletter covering streaming, labels, and music technology. Comparable in B2B newsletter/media model and overlapping coverage of streaming audio and digital audio advertising.

Broad incumbents

• Billboard: Major music-industry trade and consumer publication covering the business of music, including streaming and audio. A much larger incumbent that overlaps with RAIN's streaming-music coverage but does not focus on the podcast/internet-radio niche.
• Triton Digital: Audio ad-tech and measurement platform serving streaming publishers, podcasters, and radio. Adjacent to RAIN's coverage universe and a frequent subject of RAIN reporting; not a direct news peer but a major industry player.
• Variety: Large entertainment and media-business trade publication covering audio, streaming, and M&A. A broad incumbent that periodically covers the same companies and deals as RAIN, with a much larger audience and editor base.
• The Verge: Major consumer-facing digital media outlet covering technology and the business of media, including streaming audio and podcasting. A broad incumbent whose podcast and audio coverage overlaps with RAIN's beat but at a generalist rather than B2B-trade level.

Others

• Edison Research: Audio research firm whose Share of Ear and podcast research is regularly featured on RAIN. Not a direct peer, but a research supplier and ecosystem partner whose data RAIN curates and distributes to its audience.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/raintwitter
• Facebookfacebook.com/radioandinternetnewsletter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rain-enterprises

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RAIN News