Month: August 2017

Strange & Charmed Offers Diversity Scholarships

~ jen

Strange & Charmed is a school for audio storytellers, podcasters, and producers. It is located in the village of Wendover, which is 45 minutes from London by train. Strange & Charmed is offering some Diversity Scholarships.

A one-day workshop for beginners, introducing the basics of recording and editing for documentaries and podcasts. This course is only open to people who self-identify as belonging to a racial or ethnic community which is currently underrepresented in British radio and podcasting.

The course will cover basic recording, interviewing, and audio editing skills. Participants will need to bring a laptop pre-loaded with Reaper editing software. A sandwich lunch will be provided.

Six places are available at £20 (instead of the normal £99). Participants must pay for their own travel costs, plus a fee of $20. The deadline for entry is September 12, 2017. Those who are interested, and who fit the qualifications, can apply by filling out a form on the Strange & Charmed website.

Podlife – Podcaster’s Stories is on Kickstarter

~ jen ~ 1 Comment

Southgate Media Group started with a vision: to make podcasts that are interesting, entertaining, and informative. They have a Kickstarter for a book called Podlife. At the time I am writing this, the Kickstarter has 10 days to go.

The Southgates are a family of podcasters. Rob and Martha are parents of Molly, who is a 10-year-old who has done over 300 podcast episodes and live shows. Southgate Media Group is a network of roughly 100 podcasts, blogs, and video channels.

Podlive is a collection of essays by 30 different podcasters from varied backgrounds and at different experience levels. This is not a mere “how to start a podcast” manual, this is a book about the human experience peppered with practical advice. What we have gathered is a series of essays about the lives of people that make and love podcasts.

The Kickstarter has a list of the names of all the podcasters who contributed to the book. There is an implication that more names will be announced. All three members of the Southgate family contributed an essay. While I don’t happen to recognize any of the other names on the list, my best guess is that people who listen to Southgate Media Group podcasts might recognize some of them.

Under the Risks and Challenges section of the Kickstarter, it says: “No risks here. The book will publish no matter what. Having the funds will simply make the launch better. Every dime brought in from this Kickstarter will go toward improving the project.”

To me, a book filled with essays from podcasters sounds interesting. It’s definitely a different genre than the podcasting related books that instruct people about how to create, and monetize, a podcast. The Kickstarter much reach its goal of $800 by September 5, 2017, in order to be successful. If it fails, it sounds like the book is going to get published anyway.

Repurpose Automatically Publishes Your Podcasts

~ jen

Repurpose can automatically publish your podcasts and Facebook Lives to all major media platforms. This convenience could be great for busy podcasters.

Audio podcasts are automatically converted to engaging videos and uploaded to the largest video and social platforms, including YouTube and Facebook, making your content even more discoverable.

How Repurpose Works:

Connect Your Accounts: You can securely connect all your accounts including your Facebook, YouTube, Podcast Feed, and SoundCloud without having to provide Repurpose with your password.

Create Your Workflows: Decide which platform you want to publish from, what format (audio or video) and where you want to send that media to. You create an unlimited number of workflows.

Turn On and Auto Publish: Set it and forget it. Repurpose says “Sit back and watch your audience grow as our fully automated system uploads all your media to multiple platforms automagically.”

Repurpose Your Content Your Way:

  • Push your Audio Podcast to SoundCloud
  • Convert Facebook Lives to an Audio Podcast on iTunes
  • Upload Facebook Live Videos to Other Facebook Groups or Pages
  • Backup Audio and Videos to Google Drive and Dropbox
  • And more

Right now, Repurpose is offering Early Adopter Pricing – which is discounted for a limited time. They have plans for Podcasters, Content Marketers, and LiveStreamers. You can start a free trial. Visit the Repurpose website for more information.

ART19 Raised $7.5 Million in Funding to Develop Podcast Technology

~ jen

Podcasting technology company ART19 announced it has closed a $7.5 million Series A round led by Bertlesmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) and DCM Ventures. Other investors that participated in the round include United Talent Agency, Gallo Digital, Zach Coelius, and Array Ventures.

ART19, which has experienced exponential download growth since it launched into beta two years ago is expecting revenue to grow by 300 percent in 2017. The podcast hosting platform provides features, such as its proprietary WarpFeed technology for dynamic ad insertion, to help publishers increase revenues as well.

“There are now more people listening to podcasts in the US than using Twitter,” said Sean Carr, Founder and CEO of ART19. “Our mission is to offer content creators and advertisers tools that help monetization of the medium catch up with that scale. This capital will enable us to greatly accelerate product development and continue supporting revenue growth for our customers.”

“More than 50 percent of podcast listening now happens internationally,” added Carr. “ART19 will soon be expanding into foreign markets. Bertelsmann’s international footprint and DCM’s networks in Asia and elsewhere will open doors for us in many key markets. We’re very excited about our new partners. They’re bringing a lot more than money to the table.”

WordPress Announces RadioPublic Embeds

~ jen

WordPress logoWordPress announced that they have made a new partnership with RadioPublic. The result is that WordPress users can now embed podcasts into their WordPress website – or use RadioPublic to share and promote their own podcast!

We’ve partnered with RadioPublic, one of the leading podcast technology providers. They share our commitment to an open web, using open protocols to deliver free audio on demand, across all platforms – their founders have been innovating for years when it comes to the delivery of rich, immersive podcasts.

WordPress points out that RadioPublic’s technology makes sharing podcasts easier on all WordPress.com sites. This opens up a new world of opportunities for discovery, curation, and new voices.

What can you do with this new feature? Use RadioPublic embeds to create a top-ten list. “By embedding the shows right into your post, you make it easy for readers to sample, listen, and add the shows to their own listening list.” You can also add a relevant podcast episode to a blog about the same topic.

Start by going to search.radiopublic.com and finding a podcast. Click on the name of the show if you want to embed the show. Or, click the title of a specific episode if you want to embed just one episode of a particular podcast. The URL of that page is your embed link. You can copy-paste it right into your post editor, on its own line.

When you embed a show (rather than a specific episode) the player will automatically display and play the most recent episode. WordPress says “It’ll keep your site fresh without you having to lift a finger.”

Podrover Announces Twitter Snippets

~ jen

Podrover collects the reviews of your podcast from iTunes and Stitcher. They notify you of new reviews and automatically share your favorite ones on social media. Podrover has announced Twitter Snippets.

So far you have been using a canned text snippet to share your favorite reviews automatically. Not anymore! Now you can specify different snippets. At the moment there’s two, one for English and one for Spanish.

 

Podrover included this image to give you a look at the improvement they made to Twitter Snippets. You can now have Podrover send out a Tweet about your podcast either in English or in Spanish. I can see where this would be useful for podcasts that are done in Spanish, or for podcasts that are done in English but have a large audience in a country where most people speak Spanish.

Obviously, Twitter Snippets are only accessible to podcasters who not only are paying a subscription to Podrover, but also have plenty of fans on Twitter. At the time I am writing this blog, it does not appear that Podrover has a service similar to Twitter Snippets for Facebook or other forms of social media.

For those that are interested, Podrover has three levels of subscriptions. (Choose either monthly or yearly.)

All plans include:
* Email notifications
* Slack notifications
* Image cards
* Daily report
* Weekly report
* RSS feed health check
* Graphs by time and country
* Auto-share on social media
* Embeddable widget
* Cancel at any time
* Awesome support

Werk It 2017 Released a Schedule

~ jen

Werk It 2017 is the only all-woman podcast festival on the planet. Werk It presents workshops, demonstrations, mentoring sessions, and NSFW conversations about working in audio and digital media. It will take place on October 3-5, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. Werk It 2017 has released a schedule.

Keep in mind that the schedule is subject to change as more presenters are added. It is a good idea to check the Werk It 2017 website regularly for updates to the schedule.

October 3: Podcast Bootcamp

  • 9:30AM: Keynote: My Podcast Gives Me Joy (And Health Insurance)
  • 10:00 AM: Set It Up
  • 10:45 AM: Myth: All the Great Podcast Ideas are Taken
  • 11:05 AM: Talk With Your Voice
  • 11:45 AM: Lunch Break
  • 1:00 PM: Hot Tape
  • 1:45 PM: I have 100 hours of tape. Some of it’s hot. Now what?
  • 2:45 PM: Put Yourself In My Ears
  • 3:30 PM: They Won’t Come To You: How to Find, Hook and Bedazzle Your Audience
  • 4:00 PM: Start Your Clocks: 7 Things You Have to Do Before Your Launch
  • 4:30 PM: Pitching Like a Boss

October 4: Werk It Main Stage

  • 9:00 AM: Opening Remarks, Laura Walker, President and CEO, New York Public Radio
  • 9:15 AM: Keynote: Patricia De Stacy Harrison, President and CEO, Corporation for Public Broadcasting
  • 9:30 AM: What They Didn’t Tell Me About Podcasting
  • 10:15 AM: Scoring: How To Do It Well, And Legally
  • 11:10 AM: Creativity Doesn’t Just Happen
  • 11:45 AM: Lunch Break
  • 1:00 PM Live Taping of Recode/Decode with Kara Swisher + Guest Ilene Chaiken
  • 2:00 PM: The $1 Million Podcast
  • 3:00 PM: Make Your Ads As Good As Your Shows
  • 3:45 PM: Pitch Time!

October 4: Werk It Second Stage

  • 12:00 PM: Start-Up, With Lisa Chow
  • 1:00 PM: Another Round, with Tracy Clayton, Heben Nigatu and Eleanor Kagen
  • 2:00 PM: Stuff Mom Never Told You, with Emilie Aries and Bridget Todd
  • 3:00 PM: Making Oprah, With Jenn White and Tricia Bobeda
  • 4:00 PM: Accused, with Amber Hunt

October 5: Werk It Main Stage

  • 9:00 AM: Keynote: Nina Jacobson in Conversation with Erica Williams Simon
  • 9:30 AM: Creating Universes
  • 10:15 AM: Extreme Engagement
  • 11:00 AM: Don’t Point
  • 11:45 AM: Lunch Break
  • 1:00 PM: Embedded Live, with Kelly McEvers
  • 2:00 PM: Ask the Ethicist
  • 2:45 PM: Question Everything
  • 3:30 PM: The Future Of Love, Lust and Listening
  • 4:15 PM: This Is Not A Joke

October 5: Werk It Second Stage

  • 11:00 AM: Where Should We Begin?, with Esther Perel and Jesse Baker
  • 12:00 PM: Plz Advise, with Molly McAleer and Kristina Lopez
  • 1:00 PM: Terrible, Thanks For Asking, with Nora McInerny
  • 2:00 PM: Big Time Dicks, with Joanna Rothkopf and Prachi Gupta
  • 3:00 PM: There Goes The Neighborhood, with Rebecca Carroll and Anna Scott, and Celeste Wesson
  • 4:00 PM: Sleepover, with Veronica Simmonds

Spreaker and BlogTalkRadio Merge Forces

~ jen

Spreaker and BlogTalkRadio have announced that their respective Boards have approved a merger of the two companies that promises to create the leading technology platform for podcast creation and monetization.

The combined entity is compromised of more than 50,000 podcasts, millions of listeners globally, and a proprietary suite of creation and monetization technologies that enable podcasters to manage each step of the creation, distribution and commercialization process with an easy to use, all in one solution.

Frank Baschieri, co-founder and CEO of Spreaker, who will serve as the President of the combined company, said, “We’re combining Spreaker’s best-in-class mobile and web content management system and creation tools with BlogTalkRadio’s first-to-market monetization platform. The merged company operates at massive scale delivering unique value to independent hosts, podcast networks, and larger mainstream publishers alike.”

Baschieri added, “BlogTalkRadio recently released its ‘big data’ audience data solution, Cortex. Through the combination of this technology platform with Spreaker’s sophisticated mobile apps and creation tools, we can deliver the ‘holy grail’ to the podcasting industry – targeted buys enriched by analytics and audience data that provide extremely high accuracy and transparency to advertisers, while also providing rich feedback loops for content creators to improve their content. This tightly-coupled capability, supported by Spreaker’s existing promotional deals and distribution channels with the likes of iHeartRadio, iTunes and Sonos, and will make our company an instant leader in the space.”

In connection with the merger, shareholders from each of Spreaker and BlogTalkRadio will be making investments in support of the combined company’s growth plan, which will be rolled out over the next several months. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Podbean and Samson are Doing a Giveaway

~ jen ~ 1 Comment

Podbean has partnered with Samson for the purpose of holding a giveaway. Someone will win an awesome podcasting set up. They will be giving away a podcasting recording solution every month for 3 months, beginning in August of 2017.

Podbean is an easy and powerful tool for beginner to advanced podcasters, offering hosting and publishing services and an array of podcaster tools. It offers affordable, powerful media hosting and simple-to-use publishing tools. Additionally, Podbean integrates monetization services to help podcasters create income streams from their podcast.

Samson Technologies is an industry leader in both consumer and professional audio with three notable brands: Samson Audio, Samson Wireless, and Hartke. Samson introduced their first wireless microphone system in 1980.

The entry date for the Podbean and Samson giveaway begins on August 20, 2017, and will end on September 20, 2017. A new contest, with a new winner, will begin every three months. Only the entries received in a specific giveway period will qualify for the drawing. You can enter the contest on the Podbean and Samson giveway website by entering your name, email address, location, and podcast title. (It is also possible for people who are preparing to start a podcast to enter.)

Someone will win a Podcast Pro Studio System:

  • 2 x Q8x Dynamic Microphones
  • 2 x MBA28 Mic boom arm stands
  • 1 x MXP144FX USB Mixer
  • 1 x QH4 Headphone Amp
  • 2 x Z55 Headphones
  • 2 x TM10 XLR Cables
  • 2X T16 1/4” Cables

Constitutional – A Podcast from The Washington Post

~ jen

Constitutional is a new podcast from The Washington Post. The tagline for the Constitutional is “A podcast about the story of America”.

With the writing of the Constitution in 1787, the framers set out a young nation’s highest ideals. And ever since, we’ve been fighting over it – what is in it and what was left out. At the heart of these arguments is the story of America.

Constitutional is a follow-up to the popular Presidential podcast (which is also from The Washington Post.) Lillian Cunningham a Washington Post reporter, is the host of both podcasts. In this new series, she explores “the Constitution and the people who framed and reframed it – revolutionaries, abolitionists, suffragists, teetotalers, protesters, justices, presidents – in the ongoing struggle to form a more perfect union across a vast and diverse land.”

At the time I am writing this blog, Constitutional has an introductory episode called “The Preamble”, a short episode titled “We the people” and three full episodes. Episode 1 is titled: “Framers” and is about the framers of the Constitution.

Episode 2 is called “Ancestry”. It is about a case that came before a Nebraska courtroom in 1879, that asked the question “Are Native Americans considered human beings under the U.S. Constitution?” The third, and most recent episode, is titled “Nationality”. It asks the question “What makes someone American” The episode focuses on a landmark Supreme Court case in 1898 that involved a child born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents.