Month: September 2020

Hindenburg Offers Free Workshops for International Podcast Day 2020

~ jen

Hindenberg is offering free podcast-focused workshops on International Podcast Day 2020. They also are offering discounts all day on all Hindenburg home-user products.

What could be more relevant today than staying connected by sharing stories while we self-isolate and social distance?

Connect with storytellers from around the world for a day of free hands-on podcasting workshops and get 40% discounts all day on all Hindenberg home-user podcasts.


Hindenburg’s Free Workshops include:

  • The Art, Science and Technology of Podcasting – A short description of International Podcast Day events.
  • Webinar: Introduction to the language of podcasting – Experienced Hindenburg trainers will contextualize the concepts, formats, and processes behind recording, editing, and publishing a podcast to make each production challenge more meaningful and manageable for you.
  • Workshop 1: In a few words – framing your podcast – You’ve got great stories to tell, but don’t feel confident that you know enough about podcasting forms and workflows to get your message out? The process of creating, recording, editing, and publishing a podcast can seem daunting… but it doesn’t have to be! This hands-on workshop will provide a framework to understand the forms and tools of podcasting to help you get started.
  • Workshop 2: More than words – riveting audio! – High audio quality is key to keep listeners engaged! If you are ready to take the quality of your audio and production process to the next level, don’t miss out on this deep-dive workshop.

Visit the Hindenburg website to sign up for the Webinar or Workshops you are interested in. Each event will have limitations on how many people can actively participate on Zoom. After the maximum is reached, everyone can join in via Hindenburg’s Facebook page, where they will stream the full workshop and make downloads and activities available.

Australian Podcast Awards Announce 2020 Partners

~ jen

The Australian Podcast Awards (APAs) has announced its list of 2020 partners, showcasing the growing support for premium Australian on-demand content both locally and globally.

Supporting big and small, eight Gold Partners have joined this year’s event, including podcast industry leaders Acast, iHeart Podcast Network Australia. Nova Entertainment, Omny Studio from Triton Digital, PodacstOne Australia and Spotify; podcast production house Piccolo Podcasts; podcast marketing platform Podfollow and podcast industry news publication Podnews.

Matt Deegan, Director at the Australian Podcast Awards, said: “While it’s been a tough year for the creative industry, podcasting content and listen numbers continue to skyrocket. The overwhelming support shown by our Award partners is testament to the strength of the industry and its faith in Aussie-made content. We cannot wait for this year’s awards – an opportunity to celebrate some of the best and brightest local podcasting content and talent there is.”

The Australian Podcast Awards launched in 2016 as a way to showcase the amazing podcast talent and content Australia has to offer. Now in its fifth year, the awards continues to recognize the local industry’s most listened to, innovative, and emerging podcast content with over 20 award categories.

Submissions for the Australian Podcast Awards are now open. Nominees will be selected by a judging panel of industry experts before the category winners are announced at a virtual event in November.

Plosive Productions Announces Unmute Online Festival

~ jen

Plosive Productions are delighted to announce the initial line-up for their first ever online podcast festival, Unmute. The festival will take place from 20th – 24th October and will be streamed from the Unmute Podcast Festival official website. https://unmutepodcastfestival.com/ Tickets are available now on the Unmute Podcast Festival website.

During these Covid times, prepare to be swept away by a host of award-winning, hugely popular podcasts from some of the UK and Ireland’s most talented names in comedy and TV, all live from the comfort of your own home. The line-up consists of some of the highest charting podcasts in the UK including Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster, The Adam Buxton Podcast, Nobody Panic, Cuddle Club with Lou Sanders, Films to Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein, and The Blindboy Podcast. Further podcasts are set to be announced in the coming weeks.

Ben Williams, founder of Plosive Productions and Unmute, said: “Podcasts have been a source of comfort and company for many of us during this strange ol’ year with more people listening than ever. And with live performances only just starting up again, we wanted to give podcast fans a fun way to feel part of a live podcast experience again – so we’ve launched an Online Podcast Festival. We couldn’t be more chuffed with the line-up so far.”

Ed Gamble from Off Menu said: “We’re looking forward to bringing Off Menu live and uncut to the internet, mainly because it means that The Great Benito can’t edit out James’s Diet Coke story.”

Stevie Martin from Nobody Panic added: “We are so psyched about doing Nobody Panic live online. Not only does it give us an opportunity to get changed out of our pyjamas, but we will both be enjoying fine brandies throughout. Very excited to announce our super special guest too (it’s not the fine brandies) (or 90s pop situation Brandy).”

Stitcher Launches “More Sauce” Network Dedicated to Championing Black Voices

~ jen

As a part of its commitment to amplify diverse voices, podcast industry leader Stitcher has announced the launch of More Sauce, a podcast network created to empower Black voices to be completely authentic and unapologetic in their storytelling.

The network, which has been curating and developing popular shows like Imani State of Mind over the last year, officially launches today with a slate of new shows including The Salon and Porsha4Real.

T. Square, Stitcher’s executive producer of original programming, said the mission of More Sauce is to create and nurture a space for Black voices in podcasting to discuss everyday lifestyle topics. She said Black creatives can be overlooked and pigeonholed into conversations that are tied to race, but their experiences are all-encompassing and can speak to love, arts and culture, family, current events and more.

“More Sauce aims to create memorable content through the lens of Black experiences to help listeners have a community they can go to, to take a break from daily routines and the harsh realities society is facing today,” said Square.

More Sauce also will partner with Issa Rae’s audio platform Raedio [theraedio.com] to incorporate its curated music library featuring new and established artists, sound design and scores into future shows, beginning with The Salon and Portia4Real.

As the More Sauce network continues to expand, it will maintain a focus on working with other companies lifting Black voices as well as creators of color.

The slate of shows under More Sauce aims to provide advice and inspiration through each host’s life experiences. New shows debuting under the More Sauce network this fall include:

  • The Salon – Actress and social media influencer Lala Milan welcomes listeners into her “beauty salon” as she and a revolving door of guests share their perspectives on everything including sex, “situationships” and getting to the bag – nothing is off-limits at the salon. The Salon premieres on Oct. 5, 2020.
  • Porsha4Real – Media personality and TV host Porsha Williams gives listeners a taste of the “World of the Williams,” where she, her sister Lauren and mom Diane explore all facets of love, life and motherhood. Coming this fall.

“Stitcher is a great fit for me because they understood my vision. I wanted to bring a nostalgic feeling of the hair salon with a fearless new touch of radio to podcasts,” said Lala Milan, host of The Salon. “I didn’t want to be limited in my conversations nor guests. Stitcher understood my new approach and was open to it along with allowing me to keep my creative rights.”

Lala and Porsha join psychiatrist Dr. Imani Walker, whose show Imani State of Mind is currently under the More Sauce network. Imani State of Mind breaks down mental illness and mental health through pop culture and news and, in the process, normalizes what getting your mind right really looks like.

“Being a host of a podcast focusing on mental health has allowed me to reach more people than I normally would by treating patients,” said Dr. Imani. “During these trying times, I’m happy to know that I’ve helped my listeners to know that they’re not alone and that mental health is just as important as any other health-related issue. Being able to share my experience and expertise by breaking down pop culture shows has been fun and informative, and I’m glad that More Sauce has enabled me to have this platform.”

More Sauce joins a growing slate of Stitcher networks, including Earwolf, the largest comedy podcast network, Stitcher Premium Originals, and Witness Docs, an investigative podcast network with hit shows like Verified, which was produced in conjunction with the Scripps Washington Bureau.

Wondery Explores a Potential Sale

~ jen

Bloomberg reported that Wondery, the company behind Dr. Death and Dirty John, has hired financial advisers to explore a potential sale. According to Bloomberg, Wondery is expected to garner at least $200 million if it pursues a sale and could fetch a much as double that, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Bloomberg article stated that this matter has not yet gone public. Personally, I become a bit skeptical about news that is announced in this way. I’m not doubting that Bloomberg spoke to people that had inside information about the potential sale. My concern is that situations like this one, that are not yet made public, have the potential to fizzle.

Wondery was founded by Hernan Lopez in 2016. Previously, he was the former CEO of Fox International Channels. He left his job running 350 international TV channels for Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, Inc. in order to build a new podcast network. Wondery teamed up with ART19 to help with distribution and infrastructure and dynamic ad insertion across multiple podcasts.

In 2019, Wondery introduced Wondery + a subscription service that auto-renews monthly or annually. Subscribers get behind the scenes content, as well as brand new, unreleased, episodes. According to Bloomberg, Wondery+ enables Wondery to not be entirely dependent on ads for revenue. Wondery launched the Wondery Podcast App this year, which is free to download. Wondery+ is accessible through the Wondery Podcast App.

Bloomberg pointed out that one potential hurdle in a Wondery sale is a “legal issue”. CEO Hernan Lopez was indicted in a FIFA bribery case in April of 2020. Hernan Lopez has pleaded not guilty. Another problem is that, according to Bloomberg, Wondery doesn’t own the intellectual property for some of its shows.

Spotify and Chernin Entertainment Announce Multiyear First Look Partnership

~ jen

Spotify announced that they are partnering with Chernin Entertainment. The partnership will help accelerate the embracing of podcast content as foundational intellectual property (IP). The agreement will include access to more than 250 Spotify originals around the world.

Both Spotify and Chernin Entertainment are already in collaboration with Pineapple Street Media on the forthcoming adaptation of the acclaimed podcast series The Clearing.

“At Spotify, we believe that the extraordinary growth of audio will continue to attract the world’s great creators and make podcasts a premier destination for original IP,” said Spotify Chief Content and Advertising Business Officer Dawn Ostroff. “As we continue to expand our content ambitions, we are thrilled to collaborate with Peter Chernin, who, along with his exceptional team, are the perfect partners to help us share these stories with audiences across mediums and around the world. Together, we can usher in a new era for podcasts as source material.”

The partnership will build on the foundation of Spotify podcast adaptations to date including Homecoming for Amazon’s Prime Video and continue with a reimagining of The Two Princes for HBO Max and The Horror of Dolores Roach for Prime Video. With movie titles like Ford v Ferrari, The Planet of the Apes Trilogy, The Greatest Showman, and Hidden Figures, and TV series like New Girl, See, and Truth Be Told, Chernin Entertainment is well positioned to realize the extraordinary potential in adapting audio content for visual mediums.

“Audio is by far the fastest-growing medium in the entertainment business, and with over 250 originals and thousands of hours of content, Spotify has one of the largest libraries of unattached IP that exists in the world today—and that library is being added to daily,” says Chernin Entertainment Chairman and CEO Peter Chernin. “This treasure trove of content plus the acceleration of new voices and stories provides an enormous opportunity to transform these addictive stories and IP into content for the screen.”

September 30, 2020, is International Podcast Day

~ jen

Have you listened to a podcast today? Have you perhaps recorded an episode yourself? If so, you’d be one of millions of people who have downloaded, listened to, or recorded a podcast today.

As podcasting becomes a more integral aspect of entertainment, education, and self expression, the public needs to be more aware of the power of podcasts. This is where International Podcast Day comes in.

“September 30th will be a day to celebrate podcast producers, a day to celebrate podcast listeners,” says Steve Lee, co-founder of International Podcast Day, an event featuring podcasters from around the world. “The podcast community deserves a day to celebrate the art and impact of serialized audio.”

International Podcast Day seeks to celebrate the expansive power of podcasts through a free livestream event featuring 60 podcasters from 26 countries, showcasing their voices, talents, and messages. Podcast enthusiasts around the world are also finding unique ways to observe the day by hosting virtual meetups, live broadcasting across social media, conducting podcast workshops, and releasing special episodes.

Dave Lee, the other co-founder of International Podcast Day, believes that podcasting has a particular community-building power: “Podcasts expose us to people, ideas, and parts of the world we never thought we’d meet. It naturally creates international communities. Words have tremendous power to heal, persuade, damage, bring meaning, bridge understanding, mend, and educate. Words have power. Podcasting allows us to use them for good.”

The podcast, a downloadable and streamable digital audio file, continues to grow in popularity and continues to present itself as a powerful format in the media industry. Tens of thousands of independent content producers are creating new podcasts and releasing episodes by the week.

Commuters now own vehicles with fully integrated entertainment systems that stream podcasts. Airlines have stocked their in-flight entertainment options with various podcasts flyers can listen to at 34,000 feet. Even universities and colleges have created courses and material focused on podcast and audio production.

And with just about everyone carrying a smartphone or behind a computer screen, listening to podcasts and producing podcasts has never been easier. Consumers now can listen to shows while working out, driving to work (or working from home), cooking in the kitchen, or doing chores.

The Lees want all podcasters, podcast listeners, and audio enthusiasts to spread the word about the power of podcasts. Get ready to celebrate on September 30th.

Amanda Palmer Launched Art of Asking Everything Pocast

~ jen

Amanda Palmer announced The Art of Asking Everything podcast. At the time I am writing this blog post, it appears that a trailer has been released. Amanda Palmer says the podcast will have no branding or advertisements because it is 100% patron-sponsored.

Do you know that I love to talk to people? About hard and uncomfortable things? For this podcast, I sit down with (or occasionally, phone) guests from all walks of life: doctors sex workers, musicians, writers, teachers, painters, parents, activists, TED speakers, friends…basically anyone who wants to have a deep and honest conversation with me about The Big Stuff…

The description of The Art of Asking Everything podcast on Simplecast provides a description for those who are unfamiliar with Amanda Palmer.

Amanda Palmer is a rock star, best-selling author, TED speaker and community leader who does everything on her own terms simply by asking. Now, she turns the tables on her colleagues and heroes to find out how they create art, love difficult people, work for change, and survive the worst moments of the lives. From porn stars to empathy researchers, and cartoonists to climate scientists, no topic is out of bounds.

NME reported that guests will include KT Turnstall, Tim Minchin, Lenny Henry, Laura Jane Grace, and Susan Cain.

The Sarah Awards and PodTales have Combined

~ jen

The Sarah Awards announced that is has combined with PodTales for 2020. Their original idea was to gather in person at Sarah Lawrence College this fall and “see everyone’s gorgeous faces in person” at the college’s new Barbara Walters Campus Center. The pandemic put an end to those plans.

So we got to work organizing this year’s Sarah Awards ceremony and PodTales online audio fiction festival. It’s an exciting program that will launch in November and have three weekends worth of incredible programming and celebrations. Discover everything PodTales here. The three weekends will all lead up to this year’s The Sarah Awards Ceremony where we will awards to the best audio fiction from around the world.

This year’s Sarah Awards will award a combined $3,750 in prize money for the First ($2,000), Second ($1,000), Third ($500), and Best New Artist ($250). Submission is free and you can enter as many pieces as you would like.

Those interested in entering should take a look at The Sarah Awards 2020 Entry information.

Here are some key points from it:

  • Entries must have been produced between March 2018 and October 2020.
  • Entries must be between 3 minutes and 60 minutes in length.
  • Each entry will be judged individually.
  • Entries of all languages are admissible. However, if your works are not in English, you must provide a transcript in English.
  • All works must be fiction – no documentaries will be accepted.
  • Each entry should consist of one audio file (MP3).
  • All entries must be uploaded by Friday, October 23rd, 2020 at 5 p.m. EST.

Podpage has Added Voicemail

~ jen

Podpage had added Voicemail. It is a way for podcasters to connect with their audience on a deeper level. Podpage announced that every single Podpage (free and paid) gives listeners the ability to leave you voicemails! There is no extra cost for this, it comes with your Podpage membership.

One of the main reasons we built Podpage was to strengthen the podcaster/listener relationship. And the best way to do that is to make it a two-way relationship. To help with that, we’ve previously added commenting, contact forms, email collection. Today, we’re adding Voicemails.

Here are some more details about Voicemails:

  • Podcasters can go to their website to see a small microphone icon in the lower right. Click it!
  • Voicemails can be up to 30 seconds in length (120 seconds for Pro users).
  • You will get an email every time someone leaves a voicemail. It will also be available in your inbox, which is in a new Ping Voicemail section on the dashboard.
  • If you’d like to customize the text and colors, or turn this feature off, log into Podpage and click Voicemail on the left. Then go to the Widget Settings.
  • All voicemails can be downloaded and included in your podcast. Some podcasters are using this feature to ask users to leave their opinion, and they play them on the following episode.

Personally, I can see some good things about this voicemail feature. It sounds like adding a listener’s voicemail into your next episode can be easily done. This would help podcasters make connections with listeners who send voicemail, especially if the audio becomes part of a public conversation.

My concern is that the voicemail feature could be abused by people who use it to threaten or harass podcasters they don’t like. Allowing podcasters to turn off voicemail is a good start. It would be better if Podpage set up a system where podcasters could report harassing voicemails to Podpage.