Two announcements, both regarding football, saw strange social media pushback from the same type of person: The person unhappy with change, and low business acumen. I’ll cover the second story of this next week.

What's Below

• Bad Bunny Playing the Superbowl

• More AI Please.

• Paul Jacobs Joined Me On The Sound Off Podcast

• Best Thing I Listened To This Week

• I Get Around

• Voice Over Work

Bad Bunny Playing the Superbowl

When the announcement that Bad Bunny would be playing the Super Bowl was made, country music fans said Morgan Wallen would have been better, and rock fans were upset that Metallica was not going to get a Santa Clara homecoming. There were also repeated calls for Weird “Al” Yankovic to play the show. But that’s not what the Super Bowl Halftime Show has become. It is not for those who watch the Bills, Lions, Eagles, Ravens, Travis Kelce’s team, or Travis Kelce’s fiancée. Those people are already watching and likely to watch the second half. It is for those who would pass up the game altogether on a Sunday in early February.

Why is Bad Bunny Playing the Halftime Show? Let’s start with the title sponsor. Apple Music isn’t a passive sponsor—they’re the presenting sponsor of the Halftime Show. Their deal with the NFL reportedly runs multiple years and is estimated at about $50 million annually.

This is Apple staking a claim: the Halftime Show is no longer just about the game — it’s a music moment, a brand moment, a content moment. The show becomes part of Apple’s music ecosystem: streaming tie-ins, exclusive content, radio premieres, behind-the-scenes material, and global marketing.

In Apple’s own words, the Halftime Show allows them to elevate “Latin music to the centre of pop culture.” For a company competing in the streaming wars, this gives them a megaphone.

If you’ve travelled outside North America, you’ll know there are far fewer Apple devices elsewhere. And once you leave North America, Spotify is often the dominant streamer. Just look at the public podcast data from Op3 that Podnews published last year.

“Particularly in places like Spain, Mexico or Colombia, Spotify essentially is podcasting. People I’ve spoken to say that Spotify has spent years cultivating relationships with Spanish-language creators; and a recent visit to Mexico City showed a lot of advertising for Spotify around town.”

Let’s also remember that much of the marketing impact comes from social media sharing after the performance. Younger audiences who drive those clicks aren’t going to be posting clips of the opening bars of Kill ’Em All from Metallica.

So here’s my advice if you have no interest in this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show: Put on the 2006 Halftime Show with Prince—that was the best of all time. Or go make a Super Bowl snack: maybe a Philly cheesesteak, a pile of Buffalo wings with blue cheese, or some Kansas City barbecue. Because the Halftime Show is likely not for you… and that’s a good thing.

Here’s some additional reading about Bad Bunny for those who want to know a little more about the announcement.

More AI Please.

It was International Podcast Day last week and the Podcast Superfriends recorded a killer episode with Kendall Breitman from Riverside. They have this AI editing tool which a lot of creators will likely find useful for making edits to podcasts.

Paul Jacobs Joined Me On The Sound Off Podcast

Paul Jacobs is the VP/GM of Jacobs Media. He has the same advice he had in 2019 when he came on this show and said, "Stop Selling Radio." In 2025, it's stop selling radio and start selling solutions. With revenue trending flat to down, the radio must innovate or risk falling further behind digital platforms that promise instant results and granular analytics.

Paul and I explored how radio’s real strength lies in local content, strong communities, and brand reach. We talked about public radio navigating loss of traditional funding, and the need for new digital strategies. Paul urged programmers and managers to see mobile apps and newsletters as opportunities for deeper connection—not just boxes to tick. Despite industry challenges, both Paul and I are optimistic. If broadcasters double down on what makes radio great—engaging personalities, community focus, and the free, local experience—there’s a bright future ahead. Listen to the episode here.

Best Thing I Listened To This Week

I Get Around

I was a guest on the Say the Damn Score Podcast. The episode was titled: What To Do If Your Podcast Burns Down & You Have To Rebuild From Scratch?

As the first episode back after a house fire destroyed our home we talk about recreating the podcast from scratch with Matt Cundill, the host of The Sound Off Podcast. Topics of discussion include:

• What microphones and interfaces to use for the show.

• How to rebuild and treat a room designed for recording.

• How the content could potentially change.

• The importance of episode artwork.

• Using analytics differently than before.

• New tools that can make hosting a podcast easier.

• Adding a video component to an audio podcast.

• The importance of getting to juicy contact quickly!

• The most important analytic to track on your show.

Voiceover Info Here

Voiceover is undergoing some wild changes. I’m hoping to get an industry professional on to the show to update everyone on the challenges it is facing.