The Jag Show
JAG (Jon Gay)
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Jon "JAG" Gay creates podcasts for businesses and nonprofits through his company, JAG in Detroit. A 15 year radio veteran, he brings a decade and a half of audio experience and perspective to the podcasting world. Once a week, this podcast will cover industry news and tips to make your show sound better.
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1 day ago
The End of Google Podcasts: What You Need to Know
Google podcasts going away in 2024- here's what you need to know
While Apple was the OG of the podcast space, podcasts were actually named after iPods, and Spotify was OVER aggressive, investing hundreds of millions, Google/YouTube have been more reactionary.
In fact, The company itself said at podcast movement that they've been more about responding to what podcasters are actually doing. Their new tools are a RESULT of podcasters putting their content on YouTube.
Earlier this year, Google began giving North Americans access to podcasts on their separate YouTube Music platform. They're gonna roll out YouTube music globally, and sunset the Google Podcasts app. It makes sense- they cite Edison research's study that says YouTube is the favorite podcasting platform for 23% of consumers, compared to 4% for Google Podcasts. Those numbers track for me- of 12,000 total downloads of THIS podcast, exactly 3.24% were on Google Podcasts.
So what does all this mean for creators and consumers? Google says they will have tools to let listeners migrate their favorite shows from Google to YouTube music. And without a subscription, you'll be able to consume the pods while using other apps on your phone.
For creators, we don't have an exact time line for when the app will go away. So continue to fish where the fish are. Keep putting your show on Google Podcasts, but also make sure it's on YouTube AND YouTube music. Make sure your show can be found anywhere your potential audience is looking for it .
More:
PodNews recap of this story: https://podnews.net/update/google-podcasts-to-close
Variety magazine: https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/google-podcasts-shutting-down-youtube-1235735517/
Google's announcement: https://support.google.com/youtubemusic/thread/236590252
From YouTube - Creating a Podcast on YouTube Music: https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/podcast-destination-on-youtube-music
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Sep 5, 2023
YouTube Podcast Strategy and Other Podcast Movement 2023 Takeways
Got my 2023 Podcast Movement Recap ready to roll, and of course, it all starts with YouTube.
The best session I attended was from Jay Nachlis of Coleman Insights and Steve Goldstein of Amplifi media- their Thursday keynote was _The New Rules of Podcasting on YouTube_.
Yes, a show on YouTube is a podcast. And you need to have a YouTube strategy, even if your show is audio only. Your content needs to be on the platform, or at least a teaser directing to your podcast. I'll explain. Folks are consuming podcasts on multiple platforms, and you can get them to open their podcast player if your content is good enough.
YouTube itself was at Podcast Movement, talking about ingesting shows via RSS feed. This seems like a giant step forward, but there are some important caveats.
Rob Walch's annual "That Marketing Advice for Your Podcast is BS" session yielded both some important info and stats, but also stirred the pot on some debates. He says your episodic podcasts on Apple should include episode numbers. We go deep on that.
AI was a big topic at Podcast Movement. Use it as a tool, not a replacement, and always check the work with a human.
Spotify was there, talking about video and how huge it's become. You can get your video podcast on Spotify, but only if they are your host. And that leads to a whole bunch of other issues.
Finally, what does a bonsai tree have to do with your podcast? Leave it to the great Tom Webster to explain.
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Jul 27, 2023
Goodbye Stitcher, Twitter Rebrands
I know it's been a minute, but we've got to talk about two things today - Stitcher and Twitter. For both, it comes down to the same old adage- fish where the fish are.
Stitcher, one of the original podcast listening apps, has decided to shut down. Now, for hardcore fans of the app, there's definitely going to be a "who moved my cheese" moment as they go elsewhere, likely to Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. Bottom line, those three places are where the vast majority of podcast consumption via app is happening. Apps like Stitcher, iHeart, Pandora, and others generally account for 2% or less each.
Now, Stitcher is owned by SiriusXM, which also owns Pandora, Stitcher Studios, and Simplecast, the platform I host podcasts on. They company's going to focus on the SiriusXM umbrella, largely on the production side. I doubt Stitcher users will go to the Sirius app to stream, but it will be an option. What does all this mean for you as a podcaster? While it doesn't hurt to be on all the apps, the holy trinity still remains Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. (And yes, you can put an audio-only podcast up on YouTube).
The other big news as of late involves world's richest man and troll-in-chief Elon Musk, who is trying to rebrand Twitter as "X." I don't know why he's throwing away the branding of one of the world's most important communication platforms. (Remember, when you're that rich, you're not "crazy," you're "mercurial.") But there's some question over copyright around X. Does Microsoft own it from XBox? Do Facebook/Meta/Instagram/Zuckerberg own it? And speaking of the latter, great move to let everyone on Instagram enroll in "Threads" with just two clicks. Privacy issues aside, you've now got a huge user base and an alternative to Twit...I mean, X. I'll be curious to see how it does in time.
But again, fish where the fish are. Where is your audience going online? Do they skew older and more on Facebook? Is it a more professional set who are on LinkedIn? Do they Tweet? Do they Thread? Do they do it all for The Gram? Now your podcast metrics aren't going to tell you this. How do you find out? ASK THEM. A quick listener survey, via Google Forms, is easy to set up. And if you need to provice some motivation, like a $50 Amazon Gift Card, that information is well worth the investment. Throw the link in your show notes and promote it in your podcast. Lata!
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Jun 14, 2023
What I Do
Often times, I meet people at networking events, and all they hear me say is the word "podcast," and they ask "what's your podcast about?" And I explain that, as you can see and hear, yes, I have my own podcast, but most of my work is focused on building branded podcasts for businesses and nonprofits.
Two thirds of the US population have listened to a podcast, and half of them listen every single week. That's 100 million potential podcast listeners that you can re-inforce your potential brand with.
I create podcasts, from the ground up, for organizations. The podcast is used as a branding tool to both market yourself to your existing customers and clients, and as a lead generation tool to find new ones.
For many clients, I leverage my skillset as a 15 year radio veteran to co-host the podcast with them. They are the subject matter experts, and I'm just there to ask questions and faciliate the conversation. For other clients, I'm _not_ on the mic - my role is as a live producer - to keep all the tech and content on track. And finally, for others, I'm simply an editor. They record their own podcast and send me the audio. I take out all the ums and uhs, enhance the audio, add intros, music, and more. The bottom line is, nobody knows your brand and story better than you - my job is simply to help you tell it.
And here's the biggest misconception I can clear up. You don't need a podcast studio to record. The technology has improved, especially since Covid. All you need is a $60 USB microphone at your desk, and when we're done, it will sound just like a professional studio recording.
The hardest part about a podcast is starting it, or AFDI. Actually (bleeping) Doing It. If it's something you've been thinking about, find me on social at JAG in Detroit, or shoot me an email JAG@JAGinDetroit.com.
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Jun 8, 2023
I Used AI To Create This Whole 3 Minute Podcast
I had artificial intelligence write and voice this entire 3 minute podcast (minus the intro and outro of course).
I used Descript to create a synthesized version of my voice. This required me reading 30 minutes of copy, taken, interestingly enough, from a Planet Earth II script. (Also, I had to read it twice because I had the wrong mic selected the first time - it happens to the best of us). Each time, it took Descript about 24 hours to send back the new AI version of my voice. I can type text, and it will be read in my own voice.
Next, I went to Chat GPT, and prompted it to write me a 3 minute podcast about the pros and cons of AI in podcasting. What you'll hear is their script, minus of course the podcast stereotype features, like the name of the show, and unnecesssary musical transitions. There are a couple moments where the audio hiccups, and it doesn't always get the inflection totally right. But overall, I find it quite impressive. Can you tell that it was AI and not me? Sure. But not by a lot. The script follows here.
Questions about podcasting, AI, or both? Email me. jag@jagindetroit.com.
_Script:_
Nearly everything in this podcast is AI generated. I used Descript to create a synthesized version of my voice, by reading a 30 minute script. Then I asked Chat GPT to write me a 3 minute podcast exploring the pros and cons of AI in podcasting. It’s only lightly edited. Enjoy.
Artificial intelligence has made significant advancements in recent years, and the podcast industry has not been left behind. Let's start by looking at the pros of AI in podcasting."
One of the most notable benefits of AI in podcasting is content creation. AI-powered tools can transcribe, summarize, and even edit audio recordings, saving podcasters a considerable amount of time and effort. These tools can automatically generate show notes, enabling hosts to focus more on creating compelling content rather than spending hours on administrative tasks.
Additionally, AI can enhance the listening experience for podcast audiences. With machine learning algorithms, AI can analyze listener behavior, preferences, and feedback. This data allows podcast platforms to offer personalized recommendations to their users. By suggesting relevant shows and episodes, AI helps listeners discover new content aligned with their interests, broadening their podcasting horizons.
Furthermore, AI can improve accessibility in podcasting. Through automatic transcription and closed captioning services, listeners with hearing impairments can engage with podcast content more easily. Transcripts also benefit non-native English speakers, those who prefer reading, or individuals in noisy environments where listening may be challenging.
Now, let's consider the cons of AI in the podcast industry.
One concern revolves around the potential loss of human touch and authenticity. While AI transcription and editing tools can expedite workflows, they may lack the nuanced understanding and emotional connection that human editors or producers bring. It's crucial for podcasters to strike a balance between AI automation and preserving the human touch that makes their shows special.
Another issue to consider is algorithmic bias. AI systems learn from vast amounts of data, and if that data contains biases, it can unintentionally perpetuate them. In podcasting, this could affect recommendations, leading to a lack of diversity or reinforcing existing inequalities. Careful attention must be given to the training data and the algorithms used to ensure fair and inclusive content recommendations.
Lastly, privacy concerns arise as AI collects and processes vast amounts of user data for personalization. It's essential for podcast platforms to be transparent about their data collection practices, provide clear privacy policies, and obtain informed consent from users before utilizing their data. Safeguarding listener privacy should be a top priority."
That concludes our exploration of how AI is shaping the podcast industry. Despite the challenges, AI offers exciting possibilities for content creation, enhanced listener experiences, and improved accessibility. As technology continues to evolve, it's crucial to strike a balance between the advantages of automation and the preservation of human connection.
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Jun 1, 2023
3 Ways To Make Your Podcast like Ted Lasso and Succession (Spoiler Alert)
Two of the best television shows in modern memory wrapped up this week - Succession and Ted Lasso. Today I'll tell you how some of the strategies they used can help your podcast. And oh, spoiler alert.
Strategy #1 - Know when to get out. Both shows left us at a place where they could have continued on. Part of me would have loved to see how the Roy siblings moved on, and what happened to Waystar Royco. And of course, how would AFC Richmond have fared with Roy Kent at the helm? But both shows erred on the side of ending too early, as opposed to too late. The last thing we would have wanted is a "How I Met Your Mother" situation, where the last season was awful. It seemed like the writers were testing our loyalty, daring us to give up. This idea holds true for both your podcast as a whole, and individual episodes. When it's done, it's done. Wrap it up, and as the cliche goes, "leave them wanting more."
Strategy #2 - Have characters that connect. Now, I'm not saying be somebody you're not. But as a host, or cohosts, what is it about you that makes your audience FEEL something? Roy Kent is one of my favorite television characters of all time, played by the hilarious comedian Brett Goldstein. Ted Lasso himself can be described the same way the show is - "relentless positivity." On the other end of the spectrum, you have Kendall, Roman, and Siovann Roy. They're all TERRIBLE people. But we connect with them in their moments of humanity - as they're all complex in their own way. Even if we may have been rooting for a meteor to hit them all in the end. What is it about you and your show that CONNECTS? Is it a personality trait? Is it humor? Or are you providing valuable information to your audience? If you want them to come back, they have to feel something - even if that _something_ is "smarter."
Strategy #3 - Set and meet your audience's expectations. Ted started in the early days of Covid, and it was one of those rare things that made us feel good. We came to expect to feel good after an episode. And of course, the other side of the coing. The Roys are all terrible people. It appealed to the lesser qualities of the human condition. Either you're an empath like me and felt terrible after each episode, or you are a sadist, looked at the Roy family, and said, "wow, I may have my issues, but at least I'm not them!" Establish what listeners will get out of your show. How will they feel? Will they learn something? What will resonate with them? You won't figure that out in Episode 1, but when you find that secret sauce, go with it.
We'll miss you, Ted Lasso and AFC Richmond. As for the Roys, you had it coming. As you say to each other in every episode, "Fuck off."
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May 24, 2023
Promote Your Show on Other Podcasts, But DON'T Make it Exclusive!
The Daily from the New York Times -one of the biggest, and in my opinion, best, podcasts out there is expanding. They're going to offer a daily 10 minute recap of the day's headlines. But in this week's rollout, they are doing something right, AND something wrong.
Here's what they're doing right - they are promoting the show on their flagship podcast. The best way to grow your show is by targeting other podcast listeners. It's the old "fish where the fish are" mentality. By doing a promo swap with another show in your space, you can grow both audiences. And also think about the actual user experience. It's much easier to find another podcast when you're already in a podcast app, like Apple or Spotify, then having to click over from Twitter, Facebook, or another social app.
But speaking of podcast apps, here's where The Times gets it wrong. While you can listen to "The Headlines" for free this week in the same feed as "The Daily," that will change next week, where the show will be available only in the new NYT Audio app. Clearly this is an attempt to drum up some revenue. But I don't know who's going to pay $6.99 a month (or $24.99 after the first year) to get the day's headlines in podcast form when you can just as easily get the same headlines from NPR, ABC News, or any other competitor, for free on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, etc. Now, "The Headline" and NYT audio will be great for anyone who already pays for a digitial subscription to read article, play the crossword and Wordle, and anything else. And maybe you can justify this by it maybe being the final piece that grabs someone on the fence about subscribing anyway. But this are the big mistakes that podcasters are making.
Just look at TV - do you really want to be paying for Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max (i'm sorry, Max), and Apple TV? No, that adds up. Yes, I keep Netflix for my parents, but I'll be dumping HBO when Succession ends and Apple TV when Ted Lasso finished up.
So with all these video services nickel and diming us, do you want to have to pay separate subscriptions for Apple, Spotify, and a bunch of other places for your podcasts? In my opinion, this is a short-sighted money grab on podcasters' part. And unless your show is SO good that people are willing to spend money on it (like Succession and Ted Lasso), it won't work in the long-term. Would I pay for the Daily? Maaaaaaybe, but probably not - as I don't listen when I get busy. Would I pay for 10 minutes of headlines I can get anywhere? Absolutely not.
Podcast revenue is up year over year, but you won't make money selling ads on your shows until you spend a good year, or even two or three, building your audience (unless you're uber famous to start with). So don't cannibalize yourself by limiting where your show is available.
As always, thanks for listening, and if you have any questions about podcasts, find me at JAG in Detroit.com. Lata!
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May 18, 2023
Why my Lululemon Pants are like finding a new podcast
Yes, I'm a 42 year old man and I'm recording this podcast while wearing a pair of my new Lululemon pants. And I found them the same way most people find podcasts.
Look, we all know the pandemic changed EVERYTHING. From food delivery to media consumption to...PANTS. As a recent New York Times Op Ed said - the best things to come out of Covid are "soft pants." I've been working from home since 2018, and my wife has since March 2020 - and we openly complain when we have to wear jeans, or so-called "hard pants." Denim's out, comfort is in.
So how did I start my pants journey? Much like podcast discovery, word of mouth. My wife's hair stylist told her that she bought a pair for _her_ husband, and he loves them. So I started looking online -and of course my Facebook feed was soon filled with ads for Lulu, Birddogs, Public Rec, and Fabletics. I also posted looking for recommendations, and was surprised by how many friends my age had suggestions! Social media and Google - more drivers of podcast discovery.
My wife is a fan of dressing "age appropriate," and I think she's on a secret mission to gradually purge all the sports logo'ed clothes from my 20's out of my closet. And yes, that includes sweatpants, which are being replaced by the more modern "joggers." At this point in time, me wearing a jersey to anything other than a game, well it makes about as much sense as sitting by the radio waiting for your favorite song to play.
So I bought three pairs, all online of course. The LuLus, a pair from the cheeky brand Bird Dogs, which might even be slightly more comfortable, and a pair from Fabletics. which I returned.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this new way of wearing pants. It makes more sense for my lifestyle. Just like podcast skeptics can often be won over by a show that entertains or informs them.
I gotta admit, I stereotyped Lululemon - thinking it was a brand for wealthy suburban moms and sorority girls. But I was wrong. Just like every SNL sketch you've ever seen stereotypes podcasts and podcasters. Gone are the days of poor audio made in Mom's basement. Now, every company needs a podcast as part of their brand strategy. And podcasting consumption has hit an all time high. 83% of American adults are familiar with it, 64% have listened to one, and almost 100 million people tune in every week.
Now that I'm wearing comfy pants every day, I won't go back to jeans, except for those rare occasions when necessary. I hope you can find a podcast that feels as good on your ears as these pants do on my....legs. Lata!
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Apr 27, 2023
What If Your Guest Wants To Add Something?
We've all been there as podcasters. We finish our interview, we sign off, and the guest sends us an email and says, "oh, can I add something?"
What's important to remember in podcasting is that, in most cases, this isn't hard-hitting "gotcha journalism." We aren't out to GET our guests or catch them with their pants down. Usually, we are highlighting them, or something interesting and relatable about their story. In fact, getting your guests to share the episode to their network is a great way to grow your show. So why NOT accommodate them? Yes, it can be more time out of your limited production schedule But it's important to be kind. Podcasting, like all things in life, is about relationships and how you treat people. The better an experience your guest has before, during, and after your show, the more likely they'll be to recommend both your show, and you as a host and person.
Now here's a hack for you. When it's time to edit, if you haven't already done the cuts on the main episode, edit the inserted content FIRST. That way, you'll know how it sounds, in its edited form, and have a better idea of where it can fit in the context and flow of your main episode.
Of course, there will be times where a production schedule doesn't allow for changes, or you may have a guest who has an unreasonable request. There are exceptions to every rule. But if you need some perspective, try being a guest on someone else's podcast. That's a lot more nerve-wracking, at least for me, than hosting. As a host, you have full control, both before and after. But as a guest, you're at the mercy of the interviewer. So, if possible, show a little kindness, and it can go a long way.
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Apr 21, 2023
Why Your Podcast Needs YouTube and An Email List
Two things that will be central to growing your podcast in 2023 are a YouTube channel and an email list.
First, YouTube. Now don't be scurred. If you're camera shy, this _doesn't_ mean you need to shoot video of your podcast. There are tools like Headliner and others that will take the AUDIO of your show, and either your show or episode artwork or an image of your choice, add one of those moving waveforms and boom, it's a video file that you can either download or just connect the app to your YouTube page. You can even automate it to go to YouTube whenever an episode publishes. Example: https://make.headliner.app/download/e3a68b01-b965-4641-b345-af942d00ab37
Why is YouTube so important? Because YouTube is now a top 3 platform for both podcast _discovery_ AND podcast consumption. You may have noticed that Google, who owns YouTube, is eliminating the Google Podcasts app, and they are folding it into the YouTube music platform. In fact, as a creator, if you have a playlist on YouTube, you can now designate it as a podcast. Podcast consumers are viewing, and even just listening, to podcasts on YouTube. Sometimes the audio just plays in the background while they are driving, or working on their TPS reports, or however they're going about their day. YouTube and Google's search engine can't be beat - so it's an easy way to find and consume content.
The only downside is that your YouTube views and podcast downloads are counted separately, because YouTube doesn't _yet_ use an RSS feed. But because of the exponential growth of podcasts, and the fact that Google is now all in, my prediction is that this problem will be solved by late 2023 or early 2024. So get on YouTube now and don't be late to the party.
The other key to your podcast is an email list. It's easy to set up with a service like MailChimp or Constant Contact, or AWeber, which is what I use because it's got a template for podcasts. To quote my friend and colleague Tiffany from Twiz Creative, by using an email list, you are creating _your own algorithm_. You aren't relying on Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk to display your content to your followers. Sure, post your stuff on social. It can't hurt. But an email list guarantees your listeners will see that you've posted a new episode. In fact, if you'd like to subscribe to the email list for THIS podcast, you can at JAGinDetroit.com/subscribe.
Thanks for listening, and for following and subscribing. Lata!
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Apr 6, 2023
What Podcasting Can Learn From Baseball
I grew up a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan. Every April, we thought, "this could be the year." Until it wasn't. But in honor of what _used to be_ our national pasttime, today I'm going to tell you what podcasting and baseball have in common.
When you start your show, it's April. You've got big dreams. You're going to be the next Serial, or the next Joe Rogan. You're going to get millions of downloads, and sell enough ads to quit your job and buy your own private island. Hope springs eternal, right?
Then you get into the season, and you realize that this is a LOT harder that it looks - and sounds. You need to be consistent. And you need to spend a lot more time practicing - or prepping - than you do actually playing (or recording). And even if you're a knock-it-out-of-the-park type player, you can't do it without teammates. That could be cohosts, guest, virtual assistants or VAs, editors, and more. It sure is fun to start, but it's a grind. And while everyone wants to win - would you be happy with a .500 record? Making the playoffs? Winning the pennant? What does that mean for you in terms of downloads and either sales leads or ad revenue?
Here's one more comparison. Baseball interest has plummeted in recent years. Why? As our attention spans wane, the game has gotten slower. Time between balls in play has gone from 3 to 4 minutes, which added up over a whole game is a lot. And the longer your content, the more compelling it needs to be. News flash: you're not Sarah Koenig or Joe Rogan with a full staff behind you. Chances are, your show can be more compelling if you keep it under 30 minutes. And lose the fluff. If it doesn't interest your audience, leave it on the cutting room floor.
If you follow baseball, you'll know this year has brought - forgive the pun - a seismic....shift. For reasons too long to list here, baseball has gotten away from putting the ball in play, and just going for the home run. New rules have gone into place for the 2023 season to encourage more singles, doubles, triples, and steals - to keep the action and momentum going. Similarly, podcasting has swung for the fences - look at the hundreds of millions of dollars Spotify and others have thrown around over the last few years. It wasn't sustainable. And now, like many other industries, the podcasting world has started to contract - with cuts at many bloated companies. As Vanity Fair put it, "The Dumb Money is Gone." Or, as Steve Goldstein of Amplifi Media says, "Belt Tightening will be good for podcasting."
More and more folks are listening to podcasts. After a brief dip in 2021-2022 as we came out of the pandemic, podcast consumption has once again grown this year, to another all time high, according to Edison Research's Annual Infinite Dial Survey. Four out of 10 Americans age 12-54 have listened to a podcast this week, and weekly podcast listeners average 9 shows _per week. _
Chances are, your show is not the next Serial, Smartless, or Stuff You Should Know. Those shows are home runs. Your show might be a single, double, or triple. Heck, maybe it's a steal. Baseball is learning that those plays are key to keeping the game exciting. And that's why your show is important to podcasting.
If you have any questions at all about podcasting, you can find me online at JAGinDetroit.com, where I have a new guide to all the equipment you'll need to get started: https://jagindetroit.com/podcast-equipment-recommendations/
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Mar 28, 2023
YouTube Podcasts and More March Podcasting News
To paraphrase a great philosopher of the early 2000's.....FINALLY.....The Jag Show....has come back....to podcasting.
First, apologies for the hiatus. I've spent much of the last six months on a passion project - the WJPZ at 50 podcast - interviewing alumni from a half century of my college radio station. Look for a case study on that show soon in this space.
Also, on Tuesday, April 4, I'll be co-presenting "How to Launch a Podcast," with my client Angela Buccellato of The Resume Rescue. I'll be talking about how to get started, and Angela will talk about how she's used _her _show, That's Business, as a marketing and lead generation tool. If you're local, the event will be at Bamboo in Royal Oak, Michigan. If you're not local, you can watch virtually. https://bit.ly/startapodcastwithjag
Now, onto March's podcasting news. The biggest news is the integration of podcasts into YouTube. YouTube is one of the top discovery methods of podcasts, and I've long said that even if your show is…
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Jan 5, 2023
2023 Podcast Predictions
What's better than one podcast producer's 2023 predictions? How about 5? I moderate this month's roundtable with Matt Cundill of The Sound Off Media Company, Catherine O'Brien of Branch Out Programs, Johnny Podcasts of Straight Up Podcasts, and David Yas of Pod 617. We agree on some ideas, and have pleasantly divergent opinions on some others.
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Jan 2, 2023
Happy 2023, Podcasters!
Hey everyone, it's been a minute. Gonna break down the last month or so of podcast news and look forward to 2023.
First, a programming note. Yes, I've "pod faded" with this show a bit. That's largely because I've been dedicating a lot of time to a passion project, a show called WJPZ at 50. It celebrates 50 years of the radio station at my alma mater, Syracuse University. We are releasing interviews with alumni every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through the beginning of March and our annual reunion banquet. After that, the show will slow to a once-a-week cadence, and I'll be able to re-focus on this show and other areas of my podcast production business. Thank you by the way, PodNews and Podcast Business Journal for the mentions. OK, onto the news....
What about video podcasts? I'm asked this all the time. A new study from Cumulus/Westwood One and Signal Hill Insights show that 28% of podcast listeners want to watch video of their podcast, and 29% want video playing in the background.…
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Nov 16, 2022
10-ish Podcasting News Stories From The Last Month
It's been awhile since we did a recap of news in the podcasting world - so I'm gonna share some headlines that have grabbed my attention over the last month or so:
The biggest story is Edison Research's Spoken Word Audio report, released at the end of October, and surveying Americans ages 13 and up. Some of the key takeaways: 131 million Americans listen to Spoken Word Audio daily, that's up 25% since 2014. Also, 29% of all audio consumption is now spoken word. That's up 1.5x from eight years ago. And Gen Z specifically, their consumption of spoken word audio has nearly tripled. And that's not just because today's pop music sucks. Also, it's too loud and GET OFF MY LAWN! Here's a link to the takeaways and the study: https://www.edisonresearch.com/the-spoken-word-audio-report-2022-from-npr-and-edison-research
Podcast host Buzzsprout has gone viral with their video on how to be a podcast guest. It's a classic 90's instructional video throwback - complete with a rapping PSA. Link: https…
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Nov 7, 2022
Bonus: WJPZ at 50 Podcast Trailer
A great way to promote your podcast is in other podcasts. It's what's known as a "Feed drop." If you can work out a trade with a similar podcaster, you can promote each other's shows. The old adage is "fish where the fish are." It's a lot easier to land a podcast listener from another podcast than it is from a social media channel. They're already on their podcast app!
With that in mind, here's a demonstration of how that works. I'm working on another project - a podcast commemorating the 50th anniversary of my college radio station in Syracuse, WJPZ. Episode 1 of the podcast debuted today, with interviews of our longtime faculty advisor, Dr. Rick Wright. I've taken the artwork and audio from _that_ podcast's trailer, and added it to my feed for my followers to see and hear. And it's up now, classified as a "Bonus" episode. Maybe you'll be interested and follow _that_ show after hearing it here. Enjoy.
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Nov 2, 2022
8 Things Disney World Can Teach You About Your Podcast
My wife and I are back from a week in Disney World with some friends, and a lot of the things they do there can apply to you and your podcast.
Now I realize Disney has about a 90 year head start on you, and 50 for Disney World specifically. Nor do you have a multi-billion dollar marketing machine and 4 generations of super fans at your disposal. But here are 8 takeaways from the Mouse House that you can scale down to your podcast.
* Exceptional customer service.
* Don't be afraid to change - AND to change back.
* Upcharges had _better _be worth it.
* Be recommendable.
* Ties to emotion.
* Where and how are you advertising?
* Branding
* Finally, Be Inclusive.
To talk more about podcasts and how I can help you, find me online at jagindetroit.com.
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Oct 20, 2022
Are Podcasts Coming to TikTok?
TikTok continues to out-innovate (and out-grow) other social media apps. And podcasting could be their next feature.
PodNews, via AudioMeans, reports that there is a new "bot scraping our feeds." Or, in English, another party is starting to look at our podcasts. And it traces back to TikTok servers. Details are scant so far, but this makes total sense. TikTok has been rapidly gaining on other social media apps, so it only makes sense they'd want a bite of the podcast pie as well. What I find REALLY interesting is, will they work out deals with record labels so you can include commercial music in your podcast like you can on TikTok? We're probably a long way out from the answer on that - but definitely something to keep an eye on.
Speaking of big names in podcasting, YouTube is continuing to increase their efforts in the space. You can now purchases ads in YouTube podcasts through Google Ads. If you haven't seen what YouTube's podcasting space looks like, you can go to https://www.yo…
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Oct 13, 2022
How Spotify's Greed Cost People Their Jobs
The big news in podcasting this week was Spotify canceling 10 shows from its Parcast and Gimlet studios, leading to a layoff of just under 5% of its workforce. And it's all because of...greed.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/spotify-cancel-podcasts-parcast-gimlet-1235234758/
These shows are Spotify exclusives. While it's true Spotify is one of the biggest players in podcasting, they are far from the only game in town. When you keep a product off of certain distribution channels, that content had better be an absolute home run, and worth the price of admission to Spotify.
Another bad look for Spotify - and a reminder that you need to be crystal clear who owns your show's content. Their show "Sex, Lies, and DM Slides" was created in September 2020. The hosts parted ways, and now the show is being made without them - same name and everything. Spotify says they own the intellectual property of the name. More from PodNews: https://podnews.net/update/old-show-new-hosts…
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Oct 7, 2022
Audacy's Problems Spread to Radio and Podcasting
I really don't want this to be a podcast where I talk about radio, an industry I left in 2017 after almost 20 years. But for the second straight week, we've got a radio company who's trying to break podcasting.
Last week it was iHeartRadio, and their sketchy practice of buying podcast downloads as ads in video games. How sketchy was that? Well depends on who you ask. This week, it's Audacy, formerly Entercom, and CBS Radio before that. They're the company that saw how badly ClearChannel and iHeart screwed up the radio business, and said, effectively, "Hold my beer."
Most radio companies have invested heavily in the digital space, specifically in podcasting. Audacy is no exception, having purchased Cadence13, and Pineapple Street Media, two leading podcast studios. Well flash forward to late 2022, and Audacy's stock price is in the crapper, below $1, and facing de-listing from the New York Stock Exchange. So in a desperate move, they're selling off...you guessed it, Cadence13. It's th…
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Sep 29, 2022
Is iHeart Scamming the Podcasting Industry?
Is iHeart scamming the podcasting industry? That's the implication of an article this week that was widely discussed in the podcasting world.
The story is from Bloomberg and written by Ashley Carman, one of the most respected reporters in our industry. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-27/inside-podcasters-explosive-audience-growth
Advertising buys in podcasting are based on audience size - downloads and streams. According to Carman, publishers are buying ads inside mobile games. The publisher can claim a dubious download, as WELL as an ad impression for a commercial that may not be heard.
Are they gaming the system? Well, opinions are all over the map on that. For a deeper dive, you can check out this week's Podcast SuperFriends Roundtable where I discuss it with four of my colleagues. https://www.soundoff.network/show/the-podcast-super-friends/podcast-married/
Tanner Campbell suggests in his Good Morning Podcasters newsletter that iHeart isn't doing anything wrong h…
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Sep 23, 2022
When Should I Release My Podcast?
Yesterday, I went to the North American International Auto Show, known to locals here as the Detroit Auto Show, or just the Auto Show. And it reminded me of a common question I get from podcasters - when should I release my new episodes?
Now, whether you release, weekly, biweekly, monthly, whatever, the key to growing your show is _consistency_. As your show grows, your listeners will learn when to expect new content - whether that's the 2nd and 4th Tuesday each month, or every Wednesday morning, whatever. We are creatures of habit.
The Detroit Auto Show was always in mid-January, usually when it was about 0 degrees here in Michigan. It sucked, but we were used to it. In 2019, they decided to move it to the summer or fall, where it could become a hybrid indoor-outdoor event. Seemed like a good idea. But then the pandemic happened, and this week's auto show ended up being the first since January 2019.
I checked it out with some friends yesterday, and it was pretty meh. Was it cool to…
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Sep 15, 2022
What Shane Hawkins Can Teach Us About Podcasting
Did you see 16 year old Shane Hawkins pay tribute to his dad at the recent Foo Fighters tribute to Taylor Hawkins? Well, turns out how you heard about it and how you watched and reacted to it - can teach us a lot about podcasting.
How did you hear about it? For me, it was a combination of social media post after social media post, and hearing friends talk about it. Was it the same for you? Did you run to YouTube to see it? Or did you actually pull up the Paramount Plus app to watch the one hour highlight reel?
There are so many lessons here when it comes to podcast discoverability. As we heard over and over at Podcast Movement, make your show SHAREABLE. Have _some_ kind of hook. Have content that folks will want to tell others about. Make is so they'll post about it, and tell their friends.
Also, and I mentioned this last week. Getting folks to change platforms is hard. When I watched this show, it was probably the second time in months I've used the Paramount app. The first was to…
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Sep 8, 2022
Lessons from Podcast Movement 2022
Welcome to Season 4 of the Jag Show. We're going to start with what I learned this year at Podcast Movement, and how you can improve your show.
The first thing you should know about is video. Your show _needs_ to be on YouTube. According to Edison Research, 48% of the podcast audience has consumed a show on YouTube. So even if your show is audio only, put a graphic, or an audiogram with a moving waveform up, and upload that audio to YouTube.
OK, what about short-form video? One of my big curiosities this year was around the world of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and now YouTube shorts. The goal of _every_ social media platform is to keep users on that platform. It's not going to be easy to "STOP THE SCROLL" and get someone to switch apps. The bar is _very _high. So unless your highlight is absolute gold and will get someone to want to hear more, consider a different approach.
So how _do_ you grow your podcast? Well, the easiest ways are to "fish where the fish are." Two ways to do this a…
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Jun 28, 2022
Podfade Happened To Me Too
You may have noticed that it's been awhile since I've come out with a new episode of this podcast. And for that, I apologize. I've often talked about "PodFade" in this show - it's when after a certain number of episodes, a podcast falls down your priority list. Well, it happened to me. Today, I'm going to tell you how it happened, and what I'm doing about it.
My wife and I are doing a lot of traveling this year - call it pent up wanderlust from COVID, scratching an itch, whatever. Well, as a small business owner, you're never really fully "on vacation." So I would work a lot of long nights and weekends prior to and just after a trip. I thought I had a plan for this podcast - I had created some bonus content and planned on releasing that weekly. Well, that worked in April. But as we turned the calendar to May, June, and soon July, the work kept piling up, and the further away I got from creating new content, the less of a priority it became. Now don't get me wrong, I have some amazing…
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May 24, 2022
How Matt Got to Episode 300 (Podcast Superfriends)
In our May 2022 livestream, the 5 "Podcast Superfriends" assembled to talk about how Matt Cundill pushed through the usual podcast obstacles to get to the 300th episode of The Sound Off Podcast.
We cover lessons learned, and how they can apply to our clients. What's changed since the show started? Should you "batch record" or do one episode at a time? What about live vs recorded?
The five podcast "Superfriends" are:
Johnny "Podcasts" Peterson of Straight Up Podcasts in Fort Worth: https://straightuppodcasts.com
Catherine O'Brien of Branch Our Programs in Baton Rouge: https://www.branchoutprograms.com/
David Yas of Pod 617 in Boston: https://www.pod617.com/
Matt Cundill of the Sound Off Media Company in Winnipeg: https://www.soundoff.network/
And Jon "JAG" Gay of JAG in Detroit Podcasts: https://jagindetroit.com/
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May 4, 2022
JAG on The ROCC Pod - Royal Oak Chamber
For over a year now, three co-hosts and I have been working on a podcast for the Royal Oak Michigan Chamber of Commerce. We interview various members of the Chamber about themselves and their businesses. Once a quarter, we turn the tables on one of our co-hosts. This week, it's yours truly in the hot seat.
Show Notes:
Today, we turn the tables on our co-host, Jon Gay of JAG in Detroit Podcasts, and put him in the hot seat. We talk about his radio-turned-podcasting career and get some insight into his personal backstory too!
Jon left radio in 2017 after a 15-year career in the industry. While he saw radio on the decline, he saw podcasting blowing up. So he started JAG in Detroit Podcasts, creating broadcast-quality podcasts for businesses and non-profits, in 2018.
We talk about what a podcast is -and isn't - and some stats showing how big the industry has become.
Jon explains the different levels of service he offers his clients, from basic editing to co-hosting shows with them. We…
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Apr 28, 2022
What Can Elon Musk and Twitter Do For Podcasting?
To watch this podcast as a video, you can do so here: https://youtu.be/hp4JmAZhTPE
Elon Musk is buying Twitter for $44 billion. And while much has been discussed about the political and free speech ramifications of this move, the podcasting piece has largely been overlooked. Earlier this week, I asked, via Twitter of course, what this move would mean for podcasting. My good friend, colleague, and collaborator Johnny Peterson suggested we have a conversation about it. That's what you'll find here.
Johnny joins me to explore different ways Twitter could help podcasting. We start shrinking the "funnel" of having to tweet a link to a podcast, hope the algorithm doesn't penalize you, having someone click the link, then click play on your podcast. There are a number of ways that Elon and his team could streamline this.
We also talk about live audio - specifically Twitter Spaces, which effectively ended Clubhouse's relevancy. Could Twitter re-boot its Periscope platform? Johnny's got a gre…
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Apr 22, 2022
Repurposing Webinars as Podcasts
I joined Brenda Meller of Meller Marketing on Tuesday for a presentation on how to repurpose LinkedIn Live videos as podcasts. While Brenda works mostly with LinkedIn, the tips here are applicable to video webinars of all kinds.
After a brief intro on how important podcasts have become and the power of audio, we broke the presentation down into three key areas:
* Before You Present
* During Your Presentation
* After Your Presentation
We talked about microphones and equipment, recording environment, recording software, and how to handle visuals in your presentation to be compatible with an audio-only version.
From there, we talked about the power of editing the audio, and how to create, publish, and promote your podcast.
For more info:
Full video webinar: https://youtu.be/r3DuVu9C7x8
Download a PDF of the slides here: https://bit.ly/LinkedInLivesToPodcasts
Find Brenda Meller and Meller Marketing Here: https://www.mellermarketing.com/
JAG in Detroit Website: https://jagind…
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Apr 15, 2022
iHeart, Podcasting, and NFT's
iHeart has launched a podcasting network for NFT's. More on that later.
Here are this week's podcasting headlines:
Wanna know which advertisers are investing in the top 5,000 podcasts? Podchaser has a new tool to track that. https://features.podchaser.com/api/?
There's a new service to rate podcasts for kids - it's from Common Sense media and will let you rate shows for audiences 17 and under: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/podcast-reviews
Old school journalists will remember the "inverted pyramid" approach to telling a story. Where the deeper you go, the less important the information. This was great in the days of newspaper editors needing to make cuts. See, a newspaper was this thing that you held up at the kitchen table....ah, nevermind. Well NPR has a storytelling guide that's relevant to podcasts. They suggest more of a trapezoid. There's no hard stop in a podcast - keep bringing in good info to keep your audience engaged. https://training.npr.org/2020/08/20/for-digital-flat…
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Apr 8, 2022
New Podcasting Stats and Tools
Some hand wringing over Infinite Dial 2022 - a slight dropoff in podcasting. Monthly listeners went from 41% of the population to 38%. My take: it's nothing to worry about. The pandemic turbo-charged podcasting growth, and people are settling back in to routines. 109 million Americans still listen to shows every month, and that's more than pre-pandemic. Further, podcasting awareness continues to grow - now up to 226 million, or 79% of US Adutls.
Deep Dive from Tom Webster:https://tomwebster.media/what-to-do-when-the-line-stops-going-up/
Infinite Dial 2022: https://www.edisonresearch.com/podcastings-key-statistics-for-2022/
Spotify hopes to make a profit off of podcasting investments "soon." You can preview Spotify's new "Tik Tok" esque interface here:: spotify:internal:podcastclips
Other New Tools:
Podcast host Blubrry updates PowerPress plugin for Wordpress websites. Don't need to host your show on Blubrry to use it.
Substack and ACast are getting into podcast hosting. ACast is…
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Mar 30, 2022
I'm a Radio DJ Again...Sort Of
I've decided to try being a music radio DJ again - except in the podcast world.
I read about Amazon's new "Amp" project that lets you create audio shows with music from Amazon's library. But when I tried it, I couldn't play music until I had live viewers/listeners. Not an easy ask for a program that's still in beta.
Then I remembered that Anchor allows you to create shows using Spotify's music library. This is content that's available _on demand_ as a podcast. So I decided to create the Jag Throwback Show, telling stories from my 20 year radio career, and counting down my 5 favorite songs each year from 1998-2017. You can check the show out here:
https://anchor.fm/jagindetroit
Just before we "went to press" this morning, James Cridland broke some pretty significant news in PodNews. YouTube is working on a podcast strategy, that will include pulling data from podcast RSS feeds, even for audio-only shows. This is a game changer. If YouTube can pull from your feed, your podcast host w…
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Mar 22, 2022
Find Out How Many Followers Your Show Has
One of the biggest frustrations for podcasters has always been NOT knowing how many people follow, or subscribe to, their show. Finally, that's about to change...
James Cridland broke this in PodNews this morning. Next month, Apple will begin to add follower counts to your Apple Podcasts Connect Dashboard. (Remember, podcasting switched from "subscribers" to "followers" because susbscriptions often cost money.) Previously you had to guess at your number of followers, based on how many downloads when you first released an episode. This will be extremely helpful to podcasters who want to know how many people are actively following their show. Since Spotify already does this, you'll now be able to add the two numbers and see how many followers you have on the world's two biggest podcast platforms. Hopefully that means the smaller ones follow suit. And ideally, maybe your podcast HOST can aggregate all the numbers together at some point in the future.
My other main topic today - when you…
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Mar 17, 2022
Being Good Beats Being a Celebrity
Being good at your craft is better than being a big name celebrity. This was confirmed to us by no less than Beata Murphy, Program Director of KIIS Los Angeles. She keynoted our WJPZ Syracuse Alumni Banquet earlier this month and offered fantastic insight.
A programming note: a student at the conference told me TikTok is allowing you to upload videos longer than 3 minutes. So this podcast may get a little bit longer, but not by too much.
Amazon is rolling out an App called "Amp" that will let you mix your voice with music - and essentially turn you into a radio DJ. I'm hoping to check it out soon and report back.
UC San Diego released a study showing how much more headphone listening sticks more than speaker listening. https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/a-voice-inside-my-head-the-persuasive-power-headphones-have-over-speakers
Twitter working on podcasts tab - Facebook has 0.5% of podcast listening in a short period of time, so you know Twitter wants a piece of that pie.
YouTub…
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Mar 1, 2022
Can I Find Your Podcast?
Jag: Can I find your podcast?
First off happy Mardi Gras to everybody in Louisiana, I may be a native of Massachusetts and an adopted Michigander. But I really do miss y'all around this time of year. Laissez le bon temps rouler!
Okay. Back to my main point of today's podcast. Can your podcast be found? Now what the word podcast is, can be different things to different people. For the OG crowd that's been in a podcasting for 10, 15 years they may feel that it has to technically be a podcast, meaning it has to have an enclosed RSS feed, fed by a URL, to make it a podcast. And that might technically be true. But what those folks think doesn't matter! What matters is what the consumers think is a podcast.
The two big podcast apps are still Apple and Spotify. So if you tell me you've got a podcast, those are the two places that I'm going to go to first. However, YouTube is becoming a major third player in this realm. So while it might not technically be a podcast, if it's on YouTube, peo…
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Feb 15, 2022
Should My podcast Have A QR Code?
Do I need a QR Code for my podcast? Yes, it's a great idea to promote your show.
For example, did you see the "bouncing QR code" commercial during the Super Bowl? It was for Coinbase, the Cryptocurrency exchange. The ad was a huge success - in fact, the website crashed when I tried to sign up.
The pandemic has resurrected QR codes, which were dead before 2019. Now it's how you read a restaurant menu, it's how I host bar trivia, and there are a number of other applications. Today, I explain how to set one up for your podcast and what destination(s) to point that QR code to.
We also take a look at the top 5 podcasts of 2021, in terms of weekly listeners, as ranked by Edison Research.
Need help with your podcast? Find me on social @JAGinDetroit or on my website at www.jagindetroit.com.
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Feb 8, 2022
Can I Use Commercial Music in My Podcast? (2022)
Can you use commercial music in your podcast? Or movie clips? Or other snippets that are commercially licensed?
No. You can't, and you shouldn't.
This is a question I'm frequently asked by clients and potential clients. And I've heard every excuse in the book. Oh, it's only a few seconds, so it falls under "fair use." Oh come on, are Guns N Roses really gonna sue me? Well, remember when Metallica did sue Napster back in the day.?
So let's dive a little deeper. The bottom line is, when it comes to podcasting, the law hasn't caught up to the technology. I think there's a day coming when you'll be able to pay a small fee to use a big artist's music in your show. But that day isn't here yet. Do I know people who have pulled it off? Sure. But I don't think it's a risk you want to take. We'll start with music.
Music artists, to me, fall into three categories. Big names, smaller names that have a record label deal, and independent artists. The first group, the big name A-listers, have the…
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Jan 31, 2022
Spotify's Biggest Problem Isn't Joe Rogan
Spotify has been all over the news in the last week because of Joe Rogan, but Rogan is a symptom of a much bigger problem.
If you haven't heard, the Joe Rogan Experience, one of the biggest podcasts in the world, has come under heavy scrutiny for promoting COVID misinformation. Several artists, led by Neil Young, have pulled, or are in the process of trying to pull, their music off of Spotify. And while we still don't have hard numbers, the hashtag "Delete Spotify" has been trending. The response from Spotify was....lukewarm at best. The usual talk about free speech but not wanting to promote dangerous misinformation, blah blah blah. Oh, and they're going to put a warning label in front of podcasts that discuss COVID. No idea what criteria will have to be met to get the warning. After all, ubiquitous warnings have worked SO well for Facebook...
The bigger issue here is Spotify's desire to be a closed ecosystem - a sort of podcast and music monopoly if you will. They've invested hundr…
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Jan 14, 2022
How to Start a Podcast in 2022
On Thursday, January 13th, I was thrilled to present a podcasting "Professional Edge Workshop" to the Birmingham Bloomfield (Michigan) Chamber of Commerce. It was supposed to be an in-person workshop, but you know, Omicron. The good news is, we recorded it, and I'm presenting the audio here. If you'd like to watch the video of the presentation or download my PowerPoint slides as a PDF, you can do so here:https://jagindetroit.com/how-to-start-a-podcast-in-2022/
We covered three main topics:
* Why a podcast can be a great marketing tool for your business
* Current podcasting stats, aka how big the medium has become
* Best practices and equipment recommendations for starting a podcast.
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Jan 3, 2022
Start Your Podcast for Under $100
As I ate healthy breakfast and got on my exercise bike today, I thought about resolutions.
You may have a 2022 New Year's Resolution to start - or even restart- a podcast. Today I'll tell you how to start your podcast for under $100.
The first thing you need to do is plan. Plan out a limited number of episodes. If you don't have a goal in mind, you'll do a bunch, then fall off - same as going to the gym or losing weight. Your process has to have an _end point_. Whenever I bring on a new podcast client, we start with one season, then decide how many episodes that one season will have.
Next, plan out your episodes. Doing a podcast is like driving a racecar. Do all your work in the pit, so when the race starts, all you have to do is drive. Knowing where you want to go will not only cut down on ums and uhs, but it will also prevent you from going on a tangent about your holiday travels. Random tangents will get you away from your topic, and cause listeners to turn out. The other big rea…
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Dec 1, 2021
How to Use a Blue Yeti - If You're Stuck with One
For years, I've railed against the Blue Yeti microphone. As a radio mentor once taught me, "the worst thing for a bad product is good marketing."
When I consult a podcast from the jump, I always recommend solo podcasters get the Samson Q2U or ATR 2100x microphones - they're actually about the same cost as the Yeti. But occasionally I consult clients who have already bought the Yeti, and they may not be able to return it, or are on a tight budget and can't swing a 100 plus dollar mistake. ThePodcastHost.com has a great review of the Blue Yeti - and it echoes may of the things I've been saying. Plus, if you click the link in the show notes, you'll hear the fantastic accent of the author, Matthew McClean. Essentially, if you have a Blue Yeti, it's best for solo podcasts - the settings to record multiple guests aren't ideal. And most importantly, position the Yeti so you're talking into the SIDE of it, not the TOP. And if you're not sure, plug in headphones and listen to yourself. Most pe…
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Nov 23, 2021
Do Podcast Ratings and Reviews Matter
Link to this episode:https://jagindetroit.com/ratingsandreviews
It seems almost every podcast you listen to - the host asks you at the beginning - or end - or both - to rate and review the show. But do ratings and reviews actually matter?
Before COVID, my wife and I really got into cruising. Rather than pay extra for excursions through the cruise line, she'd find the local businesses on trip advisor and look at the reviews. Same is true for restaurants. Whether we were local or travelling, Yelp became a trusted source. Heck, even Amazon purchases - how many stars do the products have?
Well, I'm here to tell you that those same reviews_ do not matter_ when it comes to your podcast. First of all, the only major platform that lets you rate and review is Apple. Spotify and Google do not. But more importantly, your podcast is _not _a restaurant. People _don't_ find you by reviews. The top 3 methods of podcast discovery are, in order, 1) Google Search, 2) Recommendations of Friends and Fa…
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Nov 18, 2021
The Rise of Spoken Word Audio, By The Numbers
Earlier this month, Edison Research and National Public Radio released their annual survey of spoken word audio consumption. The numbers were eye popping.
Bear with me as I'm going to hit you with a lot of numbers today, but I'll try to keep this moving with some context and key points.
For the purpose of the survey, "spoken word audio" is everything from news to sports to talk to audiobooks. And yes, that includes podcasts. The survey's been around since 2014.
In the past month, 75% of US adults listened to spoken word audio. 3 out of every 4 people. And 45% of US adults, almost half, listen to spoken word audio every single day. By the way, that's 22 million more daily listeners than 7 years ago.
Back in 2014, spoken word only accounted for 20% of all audio consumption. Today, it's 28% - that's a huge jump of 40%, and 8% in just the last year. There have been even bigger jumps among 18-34 year olds, and persons of color - two demographics that are very attractive to advertisers.…
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Nov 12, 2021
It Shouldn't Hurt to Be a Child
Audio is an incredible powerful medium to tell a story.
Typically I use this show to give you industry trends and podcast tips. But I want to share with you a project that I was honored to be part of, and really shows the power of audio and podcasting.
Recently, I teamed up with my colleagues at Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications, to create a podcast for their client, CARE House of Oakland County. CARE House is a CAC, or Child Advocacy Center, providing resources to victims of child abuse.
I gotta admit, I was a little nervous about this project, especially when we decided I would be the one interviewing survivors of some pretty awful stuff. I wanted to be sure I could conduct these interviews with the appropriate level of professionalism, and, well, CARE. Turns out, I learned a lot.
First, I learned how amazing these individuals are. I was able to talk to several women, their parents, and even an adult male who had been abused. They had two things in common. One, they were a…
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Nov 3, 2021
Apple vs Spotify Redux
Who's bigger? Spotify or Apple? Well, both....
Welcome in to episode 100 of this season of the Jag Show Podcast. Spotify says it's now bigger than Apple in terms of users. That's from their Q3 numbers. As always, Tom Webster from Edison Research has a great explainer on this. (Full disclosure: Spotify and Apple are both Edison clients). Webster says that more _users _prefer Spotify, but Apple still leads the pack in total downloads.
https://tomwebster.media/the-crux-of-the-kurfuffle/
Bottom line, use whichever one you like. I tried going back to Apple after they worked out their bugs, but found I personally liked Spotify's user interface better. Your mileage may vary.
Another battle in podcasting that's heating up is automated transcriptions. As Amazon makes a big push into the space, they've begun transcribing some of their bigger shows. If that gets rolled out to all shows, that could make Amazon a bigger player in the podcasting space. Here's their press release, via PodNews: h…
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Oct 28, 2021
Will Amazon Change The Audio Landscape?
Amazon has changed the way we read, and the way we shop. Could they change the way we consume audio?
Respected podcast journalist Ashley Carman reported in the Verge this week about an Amazon plan called "Project Mic." The idea is to combine elements of Clubhouse, traditional radio and more, to turn anyone into a DJ - with the ability to create content with music. These programs can be then streamed over Audible, Amazon Music, Twitch, and Alexa-equipped devices. You can read Carman's scoop here: https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/26/22744585/amazon-project-mic-launch-live-audio-app
I wonder what affect that could have on podcasting, as Amazon is already diving into the space. And they've already shown they have the power to disrupt industries. Also, what affect could that have on radio? Will it take someone from outside the industry to revolutionize it? Great piece on this from Fred Jacobs of Jacobs media this week. https://jacobsmedia.com/if-radio-wont-reinvent-itself-maybe-someone-el…
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Oct 21, 2021
There Are No Podcasting Cheat Codes
If you have a podcast, you probably get spammed daily with promises of more downloads and boosting you to the top of the charts. Don't fall for it.
There was a podcasting company called Ozy Media. They claimed “to vault you ahead of the curve – and spark change.” Then, to stand out in an overcrowded space, they faked audience metrics and even a Goldman Sachs fundraising call. And, eventually, like all supposed podcast "hacks," the house of cards came tumbling down. Steve Goldstein of Amplifi Media had a nice write up on this. https://www.amplifimedia.com/blogstein/the-one-part-of-the-ozy-story-podcasters-cant-afford-to-ignore
Alex Cooper, who hosts the hugely popular Call Her Daddy podcast, told the BBC that any podcaster should have a plan, and be authentic. She's done both well - Spotify gave her $60 million bucks. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-58719364
I still maintain that if you're going to hustle with your podcast, it's not a good idea to be on only on platform. Sure…
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Oct 14, 2021
Why I Stopped Doing Video for My Podcast
So I've decided I'm no longer going to shoot and edit video for my podcast.
So for a few months, I recorded video down here in the JAG in Detroit studio. There are some podcasts who love doing video. My podcasting collaborator Johnny Peterson has really had the video side of his business take off. But for me, I had to know what I don't know. I worked in radio for 15 years. I'm an audio specialist. I am _not_ a professional video editor. And the time I was spending editing the video for just this 3-5 minute podcast was resulting in diminishing returns. Yes, you'll still be able to get this show on Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok as a video. I'll just be using the Headliner app to create a video with a static image and transcription of the show. It still lives in the same ecosystems as video, just without some bells and whistles.
In Rob Walch's presentation at Podcast Movement this summer, he looked at the top 200 podcast in Apple. How many of them were video? Zero. That's right.…
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Oct 6, 2021
The Many Fails of Facebook
It's been a really bad week for Facebook - including on the podcasting side.
Apologies for not getting a podcast episode out last week. With Facebook rolling out podcasts for business and fan pages, I was ready to do a how-to episode on that. After all, with podcasts hitting Facebook, we can get more ears on your show, and podcasting in general. Well, turns out the Facebook podcasts process is far from perfect, and there's no rhyme or reason as to whether your podcast will actually show up on your page.
Of course, add to that the drama around Facebook being down Monday, and their whistleblower appearing before Congress Tuesday. I don't think podcasts are Mr. Zuckerberg's top priority at the moment. But there IS a lesson here - and thanks to JAG Show listener Andrew for this point. Don't put your eggs in one basket. You should be promoting your podcast in as many places as possible. Sure, Facebook and Instagram are huge. But don't forget LinkedIn, Twitter, an email list, maybe even Ti…
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Sep 22, 2021
Why You Can't Trust Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan is here to entertain you, not to be a trusted source of information. There's a difference.
Last night, a friend of mine posted a meme that said "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." On one side was a baseball fan, at a game, with a COVID-vaccinated QR code on a bracelet. On the other side - a tattoo from a concentration camp. Needless to say, I was offended, particularly as a Jewish man. But before I chimed in, I read the other comments. My friend, as it turned out, had heard on Joe Rogan's podcast that in Australia, the unvaccinated were being banished to certain areas. I looked into this, and there's NO evidence that's the case. I stated as such, and politely told my friend I was offended by the meme. He messaged me this morning, told me he took the meme down, appreciated my feedback, and gave me permission to tell the story on today's show. I should mention, the meme itself didn't come from Joe, but when my friend posted it, he saw it through the…
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Sep 14, 2021
What Should I Charge for Ads on My Podcast
What Should I Charge for Ads on My Podcast?
How much should you charge advertiser in your podcast? Libsyn and AdvertiseCast have crunched the numbers, and average CPM for a one minute ad is $23.57. That means podcasters are charging $23.57 for every thousand listeners to their podcast. So if you want a statistic, there it is. But here's the thing - every podcast is different, and your listeners are valuable to advertisers in your space. So I say, charge whatever you think you can get. But if you want a number, it's $23.57. More from PodNews: https://podnews.net/press-release/libsyn-advertisecast-adrates-pr
How Do I Prioritize My Podcast?
A podcast, like most endeavors, can only be successful if you commit the necessary time and resources to it. But that's much easier said than done. You've got Zoom meetings, personal commitments, and activities that bring in revenue for your business. The only way to succeed at a podcast is to be consistent - how the heck are you going to do that?…
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Sep 8, 2021
How Ted Lasso Can Help Your Podcast
Book a podcast discovery call with Jag here: https://jagindetroit.com/calendar
After countless recommendations, I subscribed to Apple TV and started watching Ted Lasso.
I'm just into Season 2 of Ted Lasso, and I figured out why it's so popular. In a world of political divisiveness, climate disasters, and general ugliness, Ted Lasso is a show of, as my friend put it, _relentless positivity_. Now I'm not saying your podcast needs to be all sunshine, rainbow, and homemade biscuits, but Ted Lasso is a runaway hit because it offers something unique. And if you want your podcast to be successful, _it also _needs to be unique. Of the 300,000 active podcasts out there, what sets you apart? If someone asks, "Oh, why should I listen to _your_ podcast," you'd better have an answer ready. And for the love of Roy Kent, please don't let that answer be "Because my friends think I'm funny."
Podcast Ad Spending in the first five months of 2021 is up 24% over the same period last year. That's signifi…
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Sep 1, 2021
Are Show Notes Important?
Website Link: https://jagindetroit.com/shownotes
Are Show Notes Important? YES! Your show notes are important to the success of your podcast.
Why Show Notes Are Important:
Google Search is still one of the top ways people find podcasts. And, at least for now, Google can't search audio - it can only search text. So if you write show notes with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in mind, you can get help your ranking in Google Search. Think about your title, and how that relates to questions, ideas, or guests that your potential audience is Googling. There are a number of SEO tools out there (some free, some paid) that can help you with all of this.
I have to take a moment and credit Steve Stewart and Mark Deal for putting on the Podcast Show Notes summit this past Saturday. They had eight incredible panelists explaining all things show notes in detail. You can watch the replay for $99 at http://shownotessummit.com/
Also a tip from Rob Walch of Libsyn: if your show notes are on the lo…
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Aug 25, 2021
Is Apple Finally Getting Its Act Together?
Turns out, Apple Podcasts may finally be getting it's act together.
I have not been shy in recent weeks about sharing my dismay at Apple Podcasts' new updates. Starting in May, shows weren't updating, new shows were taking forever to be approved, and people who make money off of their podcasts were getting hit hard. Well, there's good news. James Cridland of PodNews says Apple seems to have fixed their bugs by the end of July, and numbers are coming back up.
Here's what I've seen. The most recent podcast I created, Crazy Radio Stories, was approved the day I submitted it, and new episodes seem to be appearing in Apple Podcasts very quickly. And for podcast listeners, the most prominent button is "Latest Episode."
Then, this week, I started getting notifications about dead podcasts being removed from Apple. Turns out for clients that stopped podcasting, and even cancelled their podcast hosting service, the shows were still sitting there in Apple Podcasts. Seems a purge is happening.…
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Aug 18, 2021
Your Podcast Needs To Be Everywhere
Your podcast needs to be everywhere - or at least in as many places as it can be.
In 2007, I was working for a radio station in Vermont, where (fun fact) billboards are illegal. I was trying to convince my boss that the station needed a page on this new thing called Facebook. "Ben," I asked him, "if you could have a billboard in South Burlington in Interstate 89 with your morning show on it, would you do it?"
"Of course," he said.
"That's why we need to be on Facebook," I said. "We need to be where our listeners are."
14 years later, the same is true of podcasts. Be everywhere your listeners are, so more people can find you. I told you last week about Tom Webster of Edison Research talking about YouTube. Among weekly podcast listeners, 18 percent said YouTube is their primary destination for listening to shows - behind only Spotify and Apple. Do you really want to miss out on nearly 1 in 5 weekly podcast listeners?
Also, Apple is still having issues. Yes, the recent iOS update was…
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Aug 12, 2021
What I Learned At Podcast Movement
As always, I learned a lot at this year's Podcast Movement convention, and I'm going to share it with you today.
(NEW OPEN)
Welcome in, I'm Jon Gay. You'll notice I shortened the intro. I talked to some listeners at Podcast Movement, and the consensus was that while a bunch of artists saying my name sounds cool, it has nothing to do with podcast news. It was great for my ego, but that's about it. Also, after a week of networking and socializing, my voice isn't 100%, but here goes.
Podcast Movement started out with Kate Erickson of the successful podcast Entrepreneur On Fire. She talked about podcast workflow in four steps. 1) Idea, 2) Commitment 3) Support 4) Plan. She also discussed tools such as an application form for guests, an online scheduler, Google Alerts, and more. My big takeaway was the Google Alerts. If you find yourself coming up short on topic ideas, use Google Alerts for the topic of your show. Link to Kate's workflow: https://www.eofire.com/podcastworkflow
The keyno…
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Aug 5, 2021
Podcast Movement 2021 Day 1 Recap
Hello from my hotel room at Nashville's Opryland Resort, where the first full day of Podcast Movement wrapped up. Some highlights from sessions I attended today.
The first keynote was from Kate Erickson of Entrepreneur on Fire - she spoke to the importance of systems, workflows, plans, and accountability. Another nugget: if you're out of ideas for episodes, set up Google Alerts for keywords in your niche. Here's a link to her slides: https://www.eofire.com/podcastworkflow
The star of the day is no surprise to anyone who's attended this conference - and that's Tom Webster of Edison Research. As always, he came armed with the latest and greatest podcast data.
Podcast discovery comes from, in order:
* Recommendations
* Internet Search
* Social Media
Podcasters often ask, _"How can I grow my audience?"_ In reality, they should be asking _"Why did my audience stop growing?" _And the answer is almost always: _"Because people stopped recommending it." _So how do you solve this "rec…
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Jul 29, 2021
Is Your Content Worth Paying For?
Have you seen Ted Lasso? Well, I haven't, but everyone I know keeps telling me I need to. But I'm not a soccer fan. You'll still love it. I don't have Apple TV. Get it! So I finally decided yesterday to drop the five dollars a month so I can watch it, plus The Morning Show, and some other stuff.
I really didn't want to add another monthly bill - even $5 - on top of Netflix, Disney Plus, and YouTube TV. In fact, I just decided to drop an extra $10 a month so I can get 4K channels. I figure I have a 4K TV, may as well watch the Olympics in 4K. Not gonna lie, it's pretty sweet. Can't wait for football season.
What does all of this have to do with podcasts? Well, it appears a number of large media companies are offering premium (meaning paid) content through Apple, Spotify, or other means. But there's more of them than you can count. Which ones do you choose? For me, it took a TON of peer pressure to cave on Apple TV, and it took something brand new and cutting edge (sports in 4K) to up…
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Jul 22, 2021
More Steps Forward - and Back - For Radio
I've long said the only way for music radio to survive is by bringing personality back and differentiating itself from Spotify, Pandora, and other streaming services. We've actually seen some movement on this front, with some stations going back to two-person afternoon shows. Even SiriusXM seems to be adding more DJ's to their Pop2K, Pop Rocks, and other channels. Sadly, Audacy, the second biggest radio company in the country, seems to be doing the opposite. They eliminated a boat-load of CHR, or pop, radio DJ's at the end of last week - this after doing the same previously with country and alternative. Now, a handful of DJ's will be on double-digit stations across the country.
A disclaimer. Middays for much of the country will be done by Julia, who is a friend of mine. I worked with her at Amp Radio here in Detroit and consider her to be one of the most creative people I worked with in my 15 year radio career. So if you're Julia, and they say hey, we want to syndicate you nationally,…
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Jul 15, 2021
Is Your Audacity App Spyware?
Audacy vs Audacity.. Audacity is a free audio editing software with 100 million users worldwide, according to the BBC. Recently, they were purchased by a company called Muse, headquartered in Cyprus. A future software update will have users connect to the web, and as a result, they've had to put out a statement confirming to European and other privacy laws. They are going to collect your IP address, but it's unclear what else. No don't freak out - almost every site you visit collects your IP address. But the agreement also states some of your information can be shared with Muse's infrastructure...in Russia. Now I'm not going to get political - but with the 2016 election interference and recent ransomware attacks, the Russia part is a little concerning.
I've got several articles linked in today's show notes about this, including a FANTASTIC video from Jeni Wren Strottup of Gritty Birds podcasting. Here are the key takeaways. The current version of Audacity, up to 3.0.2 does NOT connect…
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Jul 1, 2021
How to Record Your Podcast Over Zoom - If You Have To
The last 18 months has taught all of us how to use Zoom. It's great if you need to do a face to face meeting with someone who may not be great with technology, as most people have learned it by now. Up until recently, however, I told my podcast clients to avoid it. It can be glitchy over a bad internet connection, causing you to lose words and phrases, and if two people talk at the same time, it can be a nightmare. While those things are still technically true, Zoom HAS addressed its biggest audio issue, which is the fact that it only records part of of the frequencies in the human voice. Previously, Zoom had figured out which frequencies in the human voice we needed to hear in order to understand each other. To save data and bandwidth, it chopped out everything else.
Recently, Zoom added a setting on their app called "Enable Original Sound." With the advent of podcasting, Zoom realized they needed an option to make people sound like...well...people. Now it's not QUITE as good as othe…
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Jun 24, 2021
Facebook Launches Podcasts - Sort of?
Editor's note: No video this week due to me breaking my foot and my studio not being super accessible. More on that later.
The big news in podcasting this week was the launch of Facebook's new podcasting feature. Problem is, it's only available in the US, and by invite only. So to learn more about this new Facebook feature, I went to - you guessed it- Twitter. Buzzsprout's Head of Marketing, Alban Brooke, has a great Twitter thread about the features of Facebook Podcasts.
https://twitter.com/AlbanBrooke/status/1407066754476646405?s=20
But don't worry if you haven't seen it yet. I just gotta remember to check the old AOL email I use for Facebook notifications.
Last week I mentioned hating the new Apple Podcasts app, and this week I finally made the switch. I'm now listening to shows on Spotify. I'm on the free plan, it's much easier to find episodes of my favorite shows, and I have more control over playback speed. It's a much better user experience. And I wouldn't have known about…
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Jun 17, 2021
A Lesson from Wheel of Fortune
Welcome in, I'm Jon Gay. We start with a great point from Amplifi Media's Steve Goldstein. Watch any episode of Wheel of Fortune, and the game starts within the first FORTY FIVE SECONDS of the show. Take that approach with your podcast. Lose excessively long intros, and endless banter, and hit the ground running. I'll try to do that here. (Link: https://www.amplifimedia.com/blogstein/what-every-podcaster-can-learn-from-wheel-of-fortune-and-jeopardy)
Apple Podcasts released their subscriptions and channels on Tuesday. Channels might be good to aggregate content, but I'm still not sold on subscriptions. As I've said before, if you're asking someone to spend money every month on top of Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc - you'd better a) have some KILLER content and b) it can't be available anywhere else.
Meanwhile, Apple's latest iOS update has a totally revamped Apple Podcasts app. Personally, I hate it. I find it hard to navigate, but then again, this is what we said whenever Facebook change…
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Jun 9, 2021
The 7 Deadly Sins of Podcasting
Editor's note: This podcast was recorded just before Apple emailed all podcast creators about the launch of subscriptions. 99% of podcasts should not charge a subscription, so in most cases this won't affect you. Just be sure to say "follow" my podcast as opposed to "subscribe" to avoid any confusion.
There are many "sins" of podcasting. Some you can get away with, but there are 7 that will sink your show and turn listeners away before you even get going. We examine them today.
* Bad Audio (echo, inconsistent levels)
* Overly chatty and going on unrelated tangents, especially at the start of your show
* Being overly "sales"-y, trying to sell your listeners something.
* Copyright infringement - still a grey area, but best to play it safe.
* Not being on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify
* Talking about upcoming events without context for when you're recording it
* Analysis Paralysis - not just actually doing your podcast.
Thanks to many of you connected with me on social or…
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Jun 3, 2021
Will Celebrities Ruin Podcasting?
Are celebrities ruining podcasting? The great Tom Webster says no. In fact, celebrities (and their social media followings) will help get eyes and ears on the industry. But the proverbial cream will rise to the top, and only well executed podcasts will stick around. Celebrities have long failed at hosting TV shows (and radio shows I might add). It's nice to get people's attention, but in the end - good content will win out. Here's the link to Tom's piece: https://tomwebster.media/archive/the-celebrity-podcast-neither-fish-nor-fowl/
There's a long standing tradition in the news, politics, and business worlds known as a "Friday News Dump." When there's negative information to release about yourself, conventional wisdom is to do it on a Friday afternoon or evening, when nobody is paying attention.
Well Apple must have some news types in their PR department, because they FINALLY acknowledged the issues around Apple Podcasts. And when did they blast an email out to all podcast creators? 5…
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May 27, 2021
Don't Be A Jerk
For this week's advice, I'm shipping up to my home town of Boston, Massachusetts. Matt Siegel, aka Matty In the Morning, has been the morning show host at Kiss 108 since January 1981. He's literally been doing the show since I was ONE MONTH old. Generations of Bostonians grew up with him and love him. Many folks have aged out of pop radio but still listen to him - he pulls in ratings and revenue like crazy. Full disclosure he's never been my cup of tea, but I know many folks that have enjoyed his sarcasm and snark for decades.
Last week, Matty ended up in some hot water over comments he made around Demi Lovato's announcement of being "non-binary" and wanting to be referred to as not "he" or "she," but rather "they." And the brass at iHeartMedia told Matty not to talk about it. Now I'm not going to delve into any culture wars here - there are strong opinions on all sides. For me, the more cut-and-dry issue is what happened Thursday. Here's the audio, as posted to Twitter. And I'll warn…
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May 19, 2021
Your Podcast Isn't About You
My advice to you this week is that if you want your podcast to grow, it's NOT ABOUT YOU. Many people start a podcast because they feel it's the "in" thing to do, or "my friends say I'm funny," or a myriad of other reasons. But if you want people to listen to your podcast, if you want to grow your audience, if you even want to MONETIZE your show...it has to be about your listeners. What is a LISTENER getting out of your show? Are they informed, entertained, or educated? Have you been able to connect with them on an emotional level? People aren't going to listen to your podcast just because they like you and you asked them to. Too much other content exists to compete for their attention. You've got to stand out from that crowd.
Incidentally, that's a lesson that baby radio DJ's have to learn. When we first crack the mic, the world is our oyster. But to succeed as an entertainer, you have to make the content about the listener. Memo to college senior Jag: No pop radio listeners in Syracu…
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May 13, 2021
Make Changes To Your Podcast - It's Not Too Late!
Welcome in, I'm Jon Gay. There are typically two types of people that start a podcast Some throw caution to the wind and just go for it. Others meticulously plan every detail before they start. Now, there's probably a happy medium between those two extremes. But too often, folks think once they start the show, it has to stay the same format. So my advice to you this week is that it's ok to make changes to your podcast. For example, take the two biggest podcasts I listen to. The Daily from the New York Times used to run a 2 minute list of credits at the end of every Friday show. I doubt a ton of people stuck around for that. Now, they do 30 seconds at the end of each episode thanking the behind the scenes staff. And Pod Save America used to be 2 segments with the hosts, followed by a guest. Over the last few weeks, they've played with having the guest as the middle segment and moving them around, probably because they are looking at their listening stats and what causes tune out (which…
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May 6, 2021
Apple Podcasts Drama Continues
Welcome in, I'm Jon Gay. I try not to cover the same topic in consecutive weeks, but I had to start with an update on the biggest story in podcasting right now - the disastrous rollout of the changes to Apple Podcasts. And just to check....yup.... you can STILL hear Steve Jobs rolling over in his grave.
Personally, I've had no issues with the Apple Podcasts Connect dashboard - under either of the two accounts I use it with. But I think I'm one of the lucky ones - every podcast newsletter I get is _littered_ with horror stories of folks who can't get in, can't add new shows, or can't get new episodes to show up. Also, according to PodNews, Apple Podcasts is no longer taking your info straight from your RSS feed. Instead, they are crawling your show, the way Google does with a website. But while other podcast apps check every few minutes, it appears Apple only crawls every two hours or so, which has resulted in a delay of new episodes showing up, even for subscribers. Just to be safe, I…
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Apr 29, 2021
Will Apple Podcasts Changes Affect Me?
Back from vacation last week, but as I tell all my clients, that's the kind of stuff to save for the END of your podcast, so more on that later. Naturally, the biggest podcast news of the year came while I was away, so let's get to it. Apple is revamping their Podcasts platform. As always, James Cridland of PodNews did an excellent job of breaking it down: https://podnews.net/update/apple-podcast-subscriptions-hello
Here are the key takeaways. For podcast listeners, you'll be able to "group" shows, and the new "smart play" button will know which episode to start you with on a show - for example, the first episode of Serial vs the last episode of The Daily.
The big changes are for podcast creators. Apple will be rolling out a subscription model that will allow you to charge users for your podcast. Apple will take a 30% commission of whatever you charge in year one, then 15% after that. Yikes. They are supposedly also improving the Apple Podcasts Connect Dashboard. So if you haven't lo…
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Apr 15, 2021
Beware Bad Content
Sometimes, it's a slog to produce a podcast. Coming up with new content is hard. And most studies say consistency is key - listeners should know when to expect new content. But today I'm going to give you a different angle.
Don't.
People have such limited attention spans - don't ask them to spend time with content that, as a creator, even YOU aren't confident in. Case in point - yesterday's press conference from Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer. The CDC was pressuring her to shut the state back down, since we lead the nation in COVID numbers right now. Governor Whitmer, who, full disclosure, I'm a fan of, initially refused but called a presser yesterday afternoon. Rumors swirled about the announcement of a 45 day lockdown and more.
What did the Governor do? Nothing. She emphasized the importance of vaccines, and new COVID treatments, but she changed nothing. I was expecting news, and I got none. Just more jokes about governments having meetings to decide to have a meeting. When…
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Apr 8, 2021
Stop Asking for Podcast Ratings and Reviews!
Thank you to all of you who commented on last week's special episode, _The Death of Music Radio_. I was worried about coming across as bitter toward radio, but most folks in those circles found my commentary maybe a little harsh, but fact-based and fair. Here's a link to last week's episode. https://bit.ly/jagshow040221
Twitter _almost _bought Clubhouse. Business Insider says they were in talks to buy the platform for $4 billion, but those talks fizzled out. As far as this week's _actual_ acquisitions, Spotify bought Locker Room, sports version of Clubhouse. and Libsyn bought Advertise Cast.
Speaking of Spotify, have they overtaken Apple? Looks like we're going to get some competing data for awhile. Podcast host Buzzsprout says they had more downloads on Spotify than Apple Podcasts in March. As far as podcast hosts, they appear to be on their own with this claim. Other hosts still say Apple is number one, but we could be seeing the beginnings of a sea change.
At the other end of the…
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Apr 2, 2021
The Death of Music Radio
Welcome in, I'm Jon Gay. As you hear in my intro, I'm a radio guy turned podcaster.
When in radio, I rolled eyes at those "bitter old radio guys" who said "back in my day." This is not me being bitter about being out of radio. Professionally, I'm really happy. But what upsets me is what's happened to an industry that I loved.
Radio has been around for over 100 years, and traditionally, rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated. But there's been a perfect storm of threats to music radio over the last 25 years. Music and personality have been music radio's two unique selling points, and now it has neither.
Today, I'll tell you how we got here - through corporate consolidation, voice tracking, and an overreaction to a new rating system. I'll also tell you how the two biggest radio owners in the country are running away from that very word, "radio." First it was iHeart, now it's Entercom, with their rebrand to "Audacy" and abandoning of all things radio dot com.
Finally, I exp…
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Mar 25, 2021
There Are Now 2 Million Podcasts
The number of total podcasts online has now hit the 2 million mark - after just passing ONE million last year. Only a third have put out content in the last 90 days. Wanna stand out? Good audio, good content, get to the point.
Nielsen says podcast audiences are getting diverse and there could be some great advertising opportunities in the space: https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/report/2021/podcasting-today/
BetterHelp still #1 at $4.3 million spent on podcasts in February.
That's good because another study says people aren't ready to pay for podcasts - so revenue would have to come from advertisers: https://variety.com/vip/most-podcast-listeners-still-lukewarm-on-paying-for-podcasts-data-suggests-1234934767/
New group measures how polarizing podcasts are. Just because you CAN say it doesn't mean you SHOULD! :) https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/podcasting-advertising-media-roundtable-1234932495/
Spotify tweaking its interface to help you find podcasts based on previous listeni…
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Mar 18, 2021
Why Your Recording Environment Matters
It's no secret that _where_ you record your podcast is almost as important as _how_ you record it. Generally speaking, you want to avoid rooms with high ceilings and hard, flat, "echo-ey" surfaces. It's why a living room, bedroom, closet, or even your car are much better places than say, a kitchen or a bathroom.
But mindset is also important too. I recorded last week's pod in my office, because I was also doing video and the lighting was better. But when I went back and watched the video, my energy was down. I was in an "office" type of mindset - the same room I take conference calls in. And oh by the way, my wife is on a lot of conference calls for her job a few rooms away. So this week, I'm back in my studio, with sound padding on the walls, where I can project and have a little more energy. And hopefully the lighting is better thanks to this Logitech Brio webcam and ring light.
OK on to this week's podcasting news:
Remote recording apps are adding versatility. Squadcast now has a…
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Mar 12, 2021
2021 Podcasting Numbers
Apple is changing its podcast phrasing from Subscribe to Follow. - Tom Webster of Edison Research says 47% of non-podcast listeners think it costs money to subscribe. It's a barrier to entry. So follow, like Twitter or other social media, is a better word. I've said "subscribe for free" in many of my podcasts, but I think follow is better going forward.
If you're watching this on video, I bought a new webcam- the Logitech Brio. It's got multiple angles and zooms, with great definition. If you want to do video professionally, that's the one to get. I still think video is better for shorter podcasts, but YouTube can be useful as discovery engine.
On Thursday, Edison Research unveiled its 2021 Infinite Dial Survey, which for my money, is the gold standard in podcasting data. Now the study of US Adults covers everything from smart devices to social media to in-car listening, to even video games, but the podcasting data is what I'm drawn to every year.
Weekly time spent listening to all…
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Mar 4, 2021
Let's Get Intimate
Does your brand have an "audio strategy?" Yes, everyone loves video. But how burnt out are you on the Brady Bunch squares of Zoom? And picture your audience listening to a podcast - in a pair of Air Pods as they walk the dog. Or alone in a car. Audio has intimacy that video doesn't - don't forget that. Great article on audio brand strategy from JAR Audio that I picked up at Podfest this week. https://www.jaraudio.com/blog/audio-strategy
In my presentations, I always talk about podcast listeners. Statistically, they are more educated and earn more money than your average American. It's an audience that my clients want to reach. Well, one more stat to add - podcast listeners are more _diverse_ than the rest of the population. According to Nielsen, the US is 67% white, but American podcast listeners are only 59% Caucasian, with Black, LatinX, and Asian Americans all better represented among podcast listeners. https://www.warc.com/content/paywall/article/warc-datapoints/podcast-listeners-…
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Feb 25, 2021
First Impressions of Clubhouse
First, my tip of the week - make sure your podcast isn't only on the web. It NEEDS to be, at a minimum, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. I've talked to several very smart people lately who were either never told this or just couldn't figure out how. To submit, you need an RSS feed, and your show needs to have a logo and at least one episode or trailer. Then use your accounts for each of these corresponding apps - links below:
Apple: https://itunesconnect.apple.com/login
Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/
Google Podcasts: https://podcastsmanager.google.com/
OK, today's main topic: My first impressions of the Clubhouse App. Yes, it's only available on iOS at this point, not Android. Sorry guys. At first, I wasn't going to join - after all, my newly-turned-40-year-old self had decided I was too old for TikTok, and my Snapchat account has been dormant since the end of my radio career 3 1/2 years ago. I didn't want to deal with another app. But my client Melissa Jo…
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Feb 5, 2021
Spotify's Terrifying New Patent
Last week, Squadcast debuted their video recording in their latest upgrade, which puts them on par with StreamYard and Riverside. Squadcast users had been pining for this for awhile, and now it's here. If you'd like to try Squadcast, here's my referral link: http://bit.ly/squadcastjag
Also in the last week, Adam Corolla went on Fox Business with Robert Ellin, the CEO of a company called LiveXLive. They said podcast video will drive the industry's growth over the next 5-7 years, to somewhere between $5 and $10 billion annually. Look, I get it, podcasters want to be on video. And as a radio purist, I've always been against it. But I started offering my clients video recording, because 1) they were asking for it and 2) it would be foolish for me, as a business owner, to turn away a potential revenue stream. So there is an upside.
However, I will say - don't turn your back on pure audio. There will always be a place for it - for example, I listen to podcasts when walking my dog or drivin…
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Jan 29, 2021
Ad Based or Subscription Based?
I've been having neck issues for a few years now, and it stems largely from being in car accidents in December 2016, March 2017, and July 2019. Now that I'm 40, I really need to start taking better care of myself. This week I saw a neck therapist and this month I've returned to physical therapy. Now, I've ordered an ergonomic desk chair that will keep me sitting upright while recording and editing, and I've download an app that reminds me to stand up every 30 minutes. Take care of yourself - you only get one body.
Apple still subscription model for podcasts within Apple Plus. Meanwhile on the video side, NBC's new Peacock platform has made the conscious decision to roll out the platform with a focus on Advertiser Supported Video On Demand (AVOD) vs Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD). If you really want to go ad-free, you can drop $5 a month (if you're not with Comcast), but ads will be less than 5 minutes an hour (compared to 15 on broadcast and 8 on Hulu). There are also caps to mak…
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Jan 22, 2021
Jan 22
Apple considering a podcast subscription in Apple One? I hate the idea...and feel like I'd just listen in Spotify or elsewhere. But the carrot might be that Apple could pay podcast creators for their content if they make it exclusive. I'm skeptical -I'm only paying for something if it's REALLY worth it. For example, I already pay for YouTube TV, Netflix, and more...I'm not likely to drop another $10 or $15 a month on another subscription. Meanwhile, Apple has announced they will Spotlight more independent podcasters, good news from those worried about corporate behemouths taking over the space. Here's a nice roundup from James Cridland of PodNews. https://podnews.net/update/apple-podcast-subscriptions
Apple is also beginning to test versions of Apple Podcasts and Apple Music on Windows. That would be nice, to not have to use iTunes on my HP laptop. https://9to5mac.com/2021/01/14/apple-working-to-release-music-and-podcasts-apps-on-microsoft-store
Some former Conde Nast Audio employee…
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Jan 15, 2021
What Mike Tirico and Tony Romo Can Tell You About Your Podcast
Last Saturday and Sunday were the NFL's new expanded "Super Wild Card Weekend," featuring (much to the chagrin of my wife) THREE games on each day. While the NFL has had to adapt during COVID, so have the the television networks. Due to Coronavirus concerns, NBC's Mike Tirico did the play-by-play of Saturday's Tampa Bay-Washington game from home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Then, on Sunday afternoon, CBS's Tony Romo did the color commentary side from _his _home in Dallas. In both of these cases, you had announcer teams in separate locations, describing very fast action simultaneously. And I don't know about you, but I don't think either broadcast missed a beat. If they hadn't announced these setups in the pregame, I wouldn't have even known.
What does this have to do with your podcast? If two broadcast partners can describe a football game from remote locations, you can easily do a high quality podcast the same way. You may not have a national television network's budget, but there are now…
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Jan 7, 2021
Amazon is ALL IN on Podcasting
In my 2020 recap, I mentioned that we need to keep an eye on the big podcasting behemoths - Apple, Spotify, Google, and now Amazon. In the time between when I recorded the show and when it was published, Amazon announced they are buying Podcast studio Wondery for $300 million. According to James Cridland of PodNews, Wondery has had international success where many other studios haven't. And they also have 11 of 2020's Top 25 podcast. And could Amazon Prime's need for content be a good fit for Wondery? Here's a link to Cridland's analysis: https://podnews.net/update/amazon-buys-wondery
Also getting into the podcast/audio world - Twitter. Podcast app Breaker is folding after 3 years, and joining Twitter. Now Breaker had positioned itself as social media for podcasts, but by joining Twitter, that's going to expand Twitter's audio only tweet capabilities. If you use Breaker as your podcast listening app or host, they've posted instructions on how to move elsewhere: https://blog.breaker.au…
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Dec 30, 2020
2021 Podcast Industry Outlook
Podcasting is getting bigger - monthly podcast listening went over 100 million Americans this year, _before pandemic._
Overall/Technology:
Pandemic paused things, we all scattered but came back. Desktop listening ticked up, overall listening shifted later in day as we got up later and didn't get in our cars, but new routines formed. Another pandemic affect - technology. Grandparents are now on Zoom, Facetime, and more. Which means more people listening. It also means more people creating. We went over a million podcasts in 2020, and at our current pace, we could hit 2 million in 2021. The key will be quality - anybody can create a show with mediocre content or audio quality. But if you can excel at both, the cream will rise to the top.
Nick Hilton in Medium, tech more accessible: https://medium.com/pod-culture/podcasting-in-2020-the-audit-9b5d495a4b3a
Also, look at shorter shows - increasingly on demand world, with more online content competing for our attention. Better too short t…
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Dec 24, 2020
Are Podcasts Taking a Bite Out of Music Streaming?
Merry Christmas from your friendly neighborhood Jew. While I don't celebrate the religious aspect of the holiday, I do enjoy the holiday spirit. And in 2020, whatever brings you joy - do it.
My tip of the week - using your smartphone as a webcam. Now again, I'm more focused on the audio side of things, but there will always be some folks who want a video component. So I've been working with Abel Grunfeld and the folks at Riverside FM to begin offering this to my clients. When I started, I wasn't wild about my new HP laptop's built in webcam, nor the USB one that I got on Amazon. Well, turns out, the best camera I own is my iPhone Xs. And there are apps that will allow you to sync your smartphone to your laptop and use that as a camera. I've done some testing, and now my video quality can match the audio quality in my studio. Abel recommended Camo for Mac users. For Windows, I like an app called iVCam. There's a free version, but the high end version was a one time cost of only about 2…
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Dec 18, 2020
Tell Listeners Your Holiday Plans
What's your podcast doing over Christmas? You have options, especially this year. You could re-publish a great episode or interview from earlier in the year. You could do a year-end recap. Or, you could take a week off. Whatever you decide, today's piece of advice comes from my colleague Johnny Peterson of Straight Up Podcasts and the Pod Logic podcast. TELL your audience what you're going to do - you want to manage their expectations. For example, every Friday before a long weekend, on The Daily, Michael Barabaro says "See you on Tuesday, after the holiday." If you tell your audience not to expect an episode until January, you won't leave them waiting for something that won't show up. Of course, this year is different from all other years, in that many of us won't be travelling over the holiday. And while that may mean less time in cars and waiting at airports, it may mean more free time around the house between December 24th and January 1st. So, make a decision, and tell your audienc…
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Dec 11, 2020
How a New TV Can Help Your Podcast
As an early 40th birthday present, my wife bought me (us) a new TV for our living room. It's gorgeous - it's a Samsung 55" QLED Q8DT 2020 model (the Costco version). Our previous TV was an 8-year-old Vizio that she bought when she moved into the house. And it was fine. In fact, as a sports fan, I'm a little embarrassed to say that SHE noticed the old TV's age before I did. But when we got this new television mounted on the wall, the difference was JAW DROPPING. We wish we had watched the _first_ 200 episodes of Hawaii Five-O on this new screen. I watched a special about the volcanos of Iceland - the visuals were spectacular. And the built in surround sound was so good - when there was a thunderstorm on Grey's Anatomy, our dog ran to the basement.
Why do I bring this up? It's easy to think your podcast sounds fine - until you are presented with a much nicer alternative. Your sound can be better. Your content can be better. Your music can be better. And by _you,_ I mean all of us. If yo…
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Dec 4, 2020
Please Don't Stop The Music
This weekend, I was caught up on all my subscribed podcasts and wanted something to listen to while walking the dog. So I actually opened my SiriusXM app and found the week's "Pop2Kountdown" - a snapshot of the Top 30 songs this week during a specific year in the 2000's. It's hosted by my former Syracuse classmate and all around good guy Rich Davis, who does a phenomenal job. For me, the sentimental value is off the charts. I graduated college in 2002, and started full-time in radio in 2004. So if there's a song from that time, I can generally tell you which radio station I played it at, and there's usually a funny story too. My point is this. I listen to a LOT of people talking - podcasts about the news, politics, sports, you name it. And it can burn you out. And with us spending less time in cars, we may not listen to music as much. Throw something on once in awhile, and escape.
OK, this is a podcast about podcasts, so let's get caught up. Apple still has the lion's share of in-app…
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Dec 3, 2020
Interview: Stick and The Woodward Sports Network
I've been saying this for a decade now. For local media to survive and thrive, the corporate giants need to leave the space, and local talent needs to be free to cultivate their personalities and relationships within the community.
That's exactly what happened here in Detroit with Woodward Sports, the brainchild of former Detroit radio personality Sam "Stick" Day. Stick takes us through the personal tragedy in his life that spurred him to finally start this passion project, his partners, and the personalities that left traditional radio to join the enterprise.
What started as an idea for a podcast blossomed into a full blown network, thanks to a partnership with Chad Johnson of Lady Jane's, a men's salon chain. Woodward Sports currently boasts a three-person morning show, the aptly named "Morning Wood," broadcast digitally every day from 8-10am. Stick hosts with Joey Namou and Krissy T. Soon, Detroit sports talk veteran Sean Baligian will team up with former Detroit Lion Joique Bell…
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Nov 25, 2020
Be Selfish...By Giving Thanks
No Friday episode today with the holiday, so here's a "5 Minute Wednesday."
As 2019 ended, my wife and I were trying to maximize our time with our first dog Brady. He'd had a leg amputated and was dying of cancer. We were extremely lucky to have him as long as we did, and he wasn't suffering. But as the months wore on, this cloud hung over our head. We always wondered, "will today be the day he decides he's ready to leave?" That's how we spent the last quarter of 2019, with New Year's Eve fireworks being the moment that he decided to give up the fight. New Year's Day, we had the whole family over to say goodbye, and that's what we did the morning of January 2nd. My wife and I looked at each other and said, "we're gonna chalk this up to 2019, the worst year ever. 2020 will be better, and it starts now."
Famous last words, right?
You don't need me to tell you how bad 2020 has been. We've been isolated, we've lost friends and relatives, jobs, and more. And as we approach the holiday to…
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Nov 20, 2020
Superserve Your Clients and Contacts
No matter what business you're in, it's crucial to superserve your clients. I'm told there are two ways to build a business - the Amazon model (scale) and the Ben & Jerry's model (do one thing really well, then build on it). I'm a Ben & Jerry's guy, and it has nothing to do with Phish Food or the fact that I lived in Vermont for 7 years.
Something I pride myself on is above-and-beyond customer service. This relationship building has allowed me to build my business organically, without paid marketing or ads. I was reminded of this twice in the last few weeks. First, I had a non-profit client who's been with me since the beginning. She never had much money, but I helped her out wherever I could. Well, she got a grant for 2021 and is now going to pay me above my normal rate to produce a series of shows for her. Turns out the time I invested in her was well spent.
This week, one of my clients told me she was giving me a raise. I had been on the fence about raising my rates with her, but…
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Nov 13, 2020
Make Time For The Hard Things
My tip this week - now, more than ever, force yourself to do the hard things. For me, it's working on my business. The only way I'm going to do it, is to block some time, sit down, and do it. What does that mean for you?
Riverside.FM has officially launched, as a remote video recording platform. Plans go from $20 to $50 a month, depending on if you want video and how much. I haven't tried it yet - but it's getting good reviews, including from Hillary Clinton.https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/09/rverside-fm/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-11-12
Spotify has its biggest acquisition yet - buying podcast host Megaphone for $235 million. Spotify has already bought The Ringer, Anchor, Gimlet and more. Reaction to the deal is mixed. It really seems Spotify is, to paraphrase Pinky and the Brain, _trying to take over the world_.
Also this week, Spotify seemed to float the idea of a subscription model - surveying its listeners to see if they'd pay anywhere f…
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Nov 10, 2020
Behind the Scenes of Jeopardy!
This episode is a repurposing of audio from a podcast I previously hosted, "The Quizzo Cast," which was put out my bar trivia company Quizzo. I've worked with then for three years.
One of our hosts, Jason Idalski, is a game show master. He went on Jeopardy, and won two days in a row. He joined hosts Tom Whittaker and myself to talk about the experience behind the scenes, including his interactions with the late, great Alex Trebek.
This seemed an appropriate time to re-share this audio. Enjoy.
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Nov 6, 2020
iHeart Continues to Sacrifice Radio For Podcasting's Sake
It's been a long week. It started with two familiar foes in conflict with each other. If only they could work together, the sky would be the limit, but one side is so obsessed with the other, that they seem to have lost their own way. Of course I'm talking about radio and podcasting.
On Monday, iHeartMedia laid off another bucket of local radio employees. (Edit: More came Thursday.) It's no secret that the radio industry has been hard-hit by the pandemic, and radio revenue is way down. In a vacuum, you can understand the tough decision to have layoffs. In 2020, that's not unique to radio. But consider this. Last week I told you that iHeart just bought Voxnest - rumors have the price tag around $55 million. Voxnest is big in podcast analytics, and also owns the Spreaker platform. Once iHeart filed bankruptcy in the face of its $22 billion debt, it freed them up to re-work their business ventures.
Radio's strength has always been its personality -the ability to connect to listeners. An…
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Oct 30, 2020
Find Your Escape, and more from Podcast Movement
My tip this week doesn't explicitly related to podcasting - We are all stressed. Find your escape, and lean into it - especially over the next week or so.
I'm recording this on Thursday, the final day of Podcast Movement virtual. While it's impossible to duplicate the in-person excitement of an event like this, the organizers did a great job under the circumstances. A couple additional takeaways:
Shante Holley did a nice session, _The Gift of Transparency: Fostering Connections with Your Listeners._ She talked about being real with your audience when life throws difficulties at you. This will create a bond with your listeners. I can attest to this - when my best friend was killed by a drunk driver in 2006, I went on the radio and talked about it. People called in all night. Be real. It's what made radio great, and why podcasting can be so powerful.
Late last week, Rob Walch from Libsyn echoed my sentiments that your podcast _doesn't need video_. According to Rob, ONLY 14 of the top…
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Oct 23, 2020
Podcast Movement Week 1
For years, I've been singing the praises of Podcast Movement - the convention that got me into this space full time. This year, as with all other things, they've gone virtual. And I really like the format - the seminars and panels were Tuesday/Thursday this week and next. Staggering them out allows me to run my business during the off days, and more importantly, avoids the dreaded "Brady Bunch Square Zoom Fatigue." I watch what I can live. When I hit my saturation point, I can go back and watch recordings for an hour or two on the off days. Brilliantly put together. I'll mention two panels from week 1.
1) The always brilliant Tom Webster of Edison Research (Tuesday keynote):
* 43% of the US population listen to spoken word audio daily
* In Q2 of 2020, Podcast Listening at home was up to 73% of total listening.
* 58% of monthly podcast listeners spend time listening to podcasts with others. The pandemic has shifted the podcasting mentality from "intimate" to "sense of community.…
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Oct 16, 2020
Notes or a Script? Prepping Your Podcast
This week's podcasting tip involves prepping your show (which you should always do). Some folks prefer to have the entire episode scripted out. Others would rather go off of bullet points. We explore the difference.
If you think your podcast is award-worthy, submissions are open for two of them - The Ambies through the Podcast Academy https://www.thepodcastacademy.com/general/custom.asp?page=Awards
and the Webbie awards, which award the best of the web:https://www.webbyawards.com/
Google Podcasts are going to start showing analytics on when your podcast shows up in Google Search Results: https://podcastsmanager.google.com/about
She Podcasts, which is a 20,000 member community for female podcasters, has launched a virtual membership: https://supersquad.shepodcasts.com/
Amazon has bought the domain Podcast.com - James Cridland of PodNews says the asking price may have been $2 million. So far, the website just points to Audible.
Edison Research's Tom Webster says, when naming your p…
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Oct 9, 2020
How To Start Podcasting for About $100
I stepped out of my studio this week and recorded today's podcast on my "backup equipment," which is a Shure SM48 Microphone ($48) plugged into a Focusrite Scarlett Solo interface ($116.59). And I recorded it upstairs in my office. Truthfully, the sound will be similar to buying a quality USB mic like the Samson Q2U or Audio Technica ATR 2100x, which plugs directly into your USB without an interface.
If you see a small drop in download numbers this week, it's because Apple Watch downloads no longer count. Those metrics have been pulled because they sometimes result in double downloads. Podcast guru James Cridland explains: https://adtech.podnews.net/update/apple-watch-os-downloads?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-10-06
Joe Rogan says Spotify has _not_ talked to him about censoring his content: https://heavy.com/news/joe-rogan-podcast-censorship/
The _trough of disillusionmen_t is something that happens after you lose your initial "head of steam"…
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Oct 8, 2020
Remembering Bill Leaf on his 40th Birthday
My best friend Bill Leaf would have turned 40 this weekend. Every year I post the story of what happened to him, and the eulogy I gave at his funeral. This year, I thought I would turn it into a podcast, and add in some thoughts from those that knew Bill very well. Happy Birthday Buddy.
(00:12) Meet Bill
(00:32) The Story
(19:19) My Eulogy for Bill
(25:52) Jay Kivela
(26:49) Julie Leaf
(28:16) Brian Drake
(32:10) Bill's Shoutout from his favorite artist Bret Michaels
(33:36) Matt DelSignore
(35:00) Professor John Nicholson
(35:47) Maria Leaf
(40:08) Final Words from Bill himself
(41:16) Closing Thoughts
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Oct 2, 2020
The Power of the Mute Button
Editor's Note: Today's show was recorded Thursday afternoon, before news broke that President and Mrs. Trump tested positive for COVID-19.
“That was a hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck."
_CNN's Jake Tapper recapping Tuesday's Presidential Debate_
The sh*tshow that was Tuesday night's debate may have finally gotten us to the change that I've been crying for since at least 2016. A mute button. If, in my radio days, I could manage to stop talking after 14 seconds when Katy Perry started singing, a person running for political office should be able to shut it after two full minutes. It sounds, as of this recording, that the Commission on Presidential Debates may finally give moderators that power. Nothing was accomplished Tuesday night, and for any undecided voters that still want to cast a ballot on issues, they are no closer to an answer now than they were at the beginning of the week. If you give each candidate an opportunity to talk, you might learn something.…
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Sep 25, 2020
Why You SHOULDN'T Shoot Video For Your Podcast
Earlier this month, I shot a couple of my "5 Minute Friday" podcasts on video. I wanted to see if "the juice was worth the squeeze." Long story short, it wasn't. Yes, I got a few views on YouTube, and a handful on IGTV, but as a small business owner and soloprenuer, it just wasn't worth it. Now, if you have the budget for a multi-camera full production team, absolutely go for it. Having a video component can't hurt you. But when you have to make decisions about time and resources, I don't think podcast video is worth it.
First of all, video editing is much harder, more time consuming, and less forgiving than audio editing. If you've only got one camera, you can't edit out flubs - you either have to leave them in, have an awkward looking "jump cut," or "cover" your video with a graphic or something. And this takes time - time you probably don't have. So you're dealing with more time, larger files, and possibly a less professional looking product.
Also, in our COVID world, we are all s…
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Sep 18, 2020
Loudness And Volume Matter
This week's tip is to make sure your volume is consistent - throughout and between your episodes. I start by explaining why. Here's an explanation of LUFS. https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what-is-lufs-and-why-should-i-care/
Podcasting is Pandemic Proof, and Spotify is closing the gap with Apple, via Westwood One and PBJ: https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/westwood-reveals-more-great-news-for-podcasting/
Speaking of Spotify, they believe podcast listening doesn't take away from music listening, since they have access to data on both: https://research.atspotify.com/do-podcasts-and-music-compete-with-one-another-understanding-music-and-podcast-listening-habits-do-podcasts-and-music-compete-with-one-another-understanding-music-and-podcast-listening-habits/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-09-14
Anchor claims they are cracking down on stolen podcasts: https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/14/21436713/anchor-copycat-podcasts-mike-mignano-spotify-upload
Am…
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Sep 11, 2020
Use Your Network
This week, I talked to two different friends, in two different fields, who were unhappy and looking for a career change. And I was able to connect each of them with someone who had been in a similar situation and made a leap to improve their situation. I mention this not because I'm the world's greatest networker, but because it's easier than you think.
The adverse events of 2020 have stressed all of us out in different ways. And while each of us is struggling with unique challenges, everywhere you look, our senses of humanity and empathy are coming through. Neighbors and co-workers are helping each other. And that means virtually too. If you need help, ask. And you'd be surprised who you might know through just one degree of separation. The joy of helping someone is something we could all use right around now. Onto podcasting news....
A new Westwood One and Cumulus media survey shows how much more likely advertisers are to consider podcasts than just five years ago. TWO THIRDS of br…
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Sep 4, 2020
Patience and Grace
My tip of the week: As we all navigate new technologies, be patient with people. It's served me well with clients, and I really appreciated being on the other side of it when hosting trivia last week.
Forget the inverted pyramid, try the inverted trapezoid (via NPR): https://training.npr.org/2020/08/20/for-digital-flatten-the-pyramid-and-embrace-the-trapezoid/
How much has the pandemic changed listening? Well, in some ways yes, others no. Great insight as always from Edison Research and Tom Webster https://www.edisonresearch.com/listening-during-quarantine-a-share-of-ear-report/?
Spotify lists their Michelle Obama podcast as tops in the world, and they appear to have added her friends Harry and Megan - yes, _that_ Harry and Megan. But some controversy for the company this week. Joe Budden is leaving the platform after saying they treated him horribly. https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/joe-budden-podcast-spotify-deal-exclusive-exit-1234750199/
And Joe Rogan's show has finally de…
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Aug 26, 2020
Taking Time Off to Hone Your Craft
Last week, I blocked my calendar and was hoping for a summer getaway with my wife and dog. Well, Rona made that less appealing, and my wife ended up having some work commitments anyway. So I decided to turn the week into a "staycation." Yes, I made Costco runs and other miscellaneous house stuff, but I really set out to spend some time looking "under the hood" of podcasting and honing my craft. I did two things. I watched a bunch of videos from this month's Podfest Global Summit - turns out buying the ticket to have all the recordings on demand was money well spent. I also joined the Podcast Editor Academy - the new venture from the Podcast Editors Club Facebook community I'm in. There's a wealth of current and archived knowledge there. And I also took a class on the high-end editing software I use, Izotope RX 7, from YaYa Podcasting. Huge thanks to people like Steve Stewart, Chris Curran, Mark Deal, Chris Krimitsos, and Carrie Caufield Arick.
Side note for audio geeks - I bought seve…
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Aug 14, 2020
An Update
It's been 10 days since our last episode, and life's been busy - with some large projects and other things that have come up. Just checking in to give you a quick update - I'll be out of the studio all next week, and hope to come back refreshed and maybe with some show tweaks - perhaps less interviews and more quick industry updates. In the meantime, here's a look at this week's podcasting headlines:
Amazon adding podcasts soon to Audible and Amazon Music. But there may be some questions around content restrictions in its terms of service. https://podnews.net/article/podcast-hosts-tos?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-08-13
I counsel clients to not use Anchor, for many reasons. James Cridland of Podnews takes an impartial look at it: https://podnews.net/article/anchor-host-differences?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-08-04
Edison Research has the Top 30 podcasts in a comprehensive ranking: https://www.edisonres…
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Aug 4, 2020
Chris Krimitsos Previews Podfest Global Summit
The Podfest Global Summit runs August 10-15, with a preview underway this week. Chief Creative Officer Chris Krimitsos was able to take 15 minutes with us to preview the event - which is on pace to break a Guinness World Record.
After a brief history lesson on Podfest, Chris shares how the in-person event was just barely able to happen before COVID-19 took over earlier this year. From there, the team was full-speed ahead in planning the online conference this month.
The event will feature multiple tracks covering different areas of podcasting, but will also have tracks in Mandarin, Chinese, and more.
Chris explains the laborious process of finding various podcasting experts, vetting them, and meeting with each of them individually to ensure excellent content for the summit. Beyond that, Podfest will encourage socialization between attendees on the Whova app- this isn't just another Zoom call. (Am I muted? Can you see my screen?)
Podfest is one of the premiere events in the podcasti…
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Jul 31, 2020
Reviewing Michelle Obama
Yesterday, I listened to the Michelle Obama Podcast, a Spotify exclusive. Full disclosure, I love the Obamas (and miss them). Overall, I thought Episode 1 was good. I think a few more ums could have been deleted, but that's a matter of personal preference (and hot debate), and the two interrupted each other for a bit, and there were a few times I wasn't sure who was interviewing who. But in a good marriage, you finish each other's sentences. I'm sure it would be similar if I did a show with my wife - if I could ever get her near a microphone.
In the larger picture, the show featured music from Stevie Wonder, and if I'm not mistaken, a Beyonce beat was in the trailer. I'd be curious to see if this was a function of Spotify, the Obamas, or both. It would be nice to get to a point where that was available for more content creators.
In terms of substance, I did enjoy the interview. Obviously, if you're Michelle Obama, your first guest is probably a no-brainer. I find Barack and Michelle…
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Jul 28, 2020
Stacey Simms on Making Money Podcasting
Stacey Simms is all about connections and community. We met through the alumni association of our college radio station, and since her son's diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes, she has formed an incredible community of patients and caregivers around this disease. This includes her podcast, _Diabetes Connections_, and her book _The World's Worst Diabetes Mom_.
We spend a couple minutes on diabetes itself, including Stacey explaining some common misconceptions about the disease.
Her podcast has connected her with everyone from diabetic celebrities to major drug companies, and she tells a great story of asking the head of Eli Lily, on a conference call, to drop the price of insulin.
As a dyed-in-the-wool reporter, Stacey knew she needed an angle and focus for her podcast - and that's why she spends a lot of time focusing on diabetes news, even if that's not how the first few episodes went.
Then, we delve into how Stacey started selling ads on her podcast. She stresses the importance of sell…
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Jul 24, 2020
Times Buys Serial, PM20 Finally Cancelled
My piece of advice this week - do not use copyrighted music in your podcast. In a recent Facebook post in a Podcast Movement Group, Todd Cochrane of Blubrry posted the following on Thursday in the Podcast Movement Facebook group:
_At Blubrry Podcasting we have seen more RIAA takedown notices over the past week than we have seen in the past 2 years combined. Music owners are waking up to the fact that unscrupulous podcasters have been putting full tracks of music in there shows as if they where a radio station. Some of the takedowns are against indie podcasters! Some are actual radio stations that have not taken music out of their podcast that they broadcast over the air. You can be sure the RIAA will start accessing penalties on podcasters as they have in the past. While I am not allowed to say exactly how much Podcasters have already settled with labels for in excess of 100k for copyright violations._
Speaking of Podcast Movement, they finally decided to scrap this year's in person…
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Jul 21, 2020
Rob Greenlee of the Podcast Academy
Today I'm joined by podcast industry royalty - Mr. Rob Greenlee. He's incredibly well known for his work in the space, and he now chairs The Podcast Academy.
We start by taking stock of the podcast industry as a whole. Rob shares his perspective on where the podcast industry was and where it has come. Also, the bloom is off the rose for social media, which creates an opportunity for podcasting.
We also talk about using video in podcasting. We recorded the interview over Squadcast, so we could see each other, but the video wasn't recorded.
What about radio's relationship with podcasting? There's a difference between repurposing a morning show and creating unique content. And with so many large companies (radio and otherwise) jumping in to podcasting, is there still room for the independent podcaster? Maybe so, as 50% of podcast listening is to independent shows.
Rob and I explore the different revenue models of podcasting and what they may look like going forward, and finally we dis…
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Jul 17, 2020
Why Your Podcast Is a Racecar
Ben Hamilton, one of my early mentors in radio, taught me that doing a show is like driving a racecar. Do all your work in the pit. Once the race starts, all you have to do is drive.
Youtube listening is down, though Youtube Music will replace Google Play Music to compete with Spotify: https://www.edisonresearch.com/youtube-listening-decreases-in-2020/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-07-10
Podthon 20 is this weekend, a virtual summit for podcasters: https://podthon.com/
IAB: Podcast advertising revenue up to a surprising $700m in 2019, but won't not $1 billion as expected in 2020 due to Covid. https://www.iab.com/insights/iab-u-s-podcast-advertising-revenue-study-fy-2019-2020-covid-19-impact/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-07-14
The deal SiriusXM to buy Stitcher is done - $325m was the final price tag.
Anti-Semitic Podcast comments cost Nick Cannon his gig: https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/podcast-comme…
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Jul 14, 2020
Fantasy Football Podcaster Brian Drake
Brian Drake is quickly making a name for himself as the host of the Fantasy Football Hustle podcast and writer for Fighting Chance Fantasy.
Today we cover his journey into podcasting, from "the worst job in America" (radio sales) to pairing up with his co-host, Dwain McFarland. We talk about networking and connecting through Twitter, and Brian's "Hustle" moment that made all the difference.
Brian talks about joining a podcast network and what that's meant to the show, and why he finds the podcast space so much more hospitable than the current radio landscape.
Specific to 2020, I ask Brian about the challenges of doing a Fantasy Football podcast when there's so much uncertainty around the upcoming season, and he explains the idea of a "Covid IR spot" on team rosters in home leagues. And I'd be remiss if I didn't ask him to make some NFL predictions, you know, assuming there's a season (which he believes there will be).
What's a Scott Fish Bowl? Turns out it's an exclusive invite-onl…
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Jul 10, 2020
Sirius buys Stitcher, and The Great Microphone Shortage
Today's tip: Give yourself plenty of lead time to get your podcast mic - there's a SHORTAGE!
For starters, I recommend a dynamic mic with a USB connection, like:
Samson Q2U: http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/usb-microphones/q2u/
Audio Technica ATR-2100x https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/55eee3e0b0d5a960/index.html
If you strike out on Amazon, check out
Sweetwater: https://www.sweetwater.com/
B&H: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/
TV Owner E.W. Scripps has a buyer for Stitcher - it's SiriusXM (who recently bought Simplecast) - looks like we might have another big player in the space. https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/siriusxm-to-purchase-stitcher-for-300-million/
Omnicom Media Group will invest $20 million in Spotify advertising. It's a drop in the bucket compared to their overall ad budget, but it shows people are taking Spotify as an advertising venue seriously. https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/spotify-announces-20-million-ad-partnership-with-omn…
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Jul 7, 2020
Podcast Consultant and Editor Britany Felix
I first came across the name Britany Felix in the Podcast Editors Club Facebook group. Britany was someone who always had a thoughtful answer for questions posed to the group. We actually met in person last summer in Orlando at Podcast Movement and have interacted much more lately on social media. I'm thrilled to have her as today's guest.
Britany takes me through a journey I know all too well -getting tired of a corporate job and discovering podcasting, podcast consulting, and podcast editing. And she doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to discussing her transition.
As her business grew, Britany learned that there were certain types of people - and personalities - she worked best with. This led her to carving out a niche for herself in creating podcasts for various coaches.
We take a deep dive into the tough moments and decisions that often need to be made when owning your own podcasting business - including when you have to turn money away. (Spoiler: its never easy.)
We al…
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Jul 3, 2020
Don't Overcomplicate It
Just because you have the tools in front of you doesn't mean you need to use them - a TV example reminded me of this. I start by explaining. Related Family Guy Clip:
Court TV is back- makes sense they'd do a true crime companion podcast - this one focuses on the Menendez brothers - out on Tuesdays (Via Podcast Business Journal): https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/court-tv-joins-the-podcasting-ranks/
Zoom offering encryption to ALL users, not just paid ones. Still, don't use them for your podcast. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/06/victory-zoom-will-offer-end-end-encryption-all-its-users?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-06-25
A deeper explanation on what Zoom does to podcast audio in this past Tuesday's episode with Tom Kelly: https://link.chtbl.com/jagtomkelly
EW Scripps is trying to sell Stitcher (via Podnews): https://www.theinformation.com/articles/scripps-exploring-sale-of-podcast-service-stitcher?shared=0c91d9a9f6b26eb1&utm_source=podnew…
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Jun 30, 2020
Audio Guru Tom Kelly of Clean Cut Audio
Tom Kelly owns Clean Cut Audio, where he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help podcasters and bands alike create the best sound possible.
In today's episode we covered a wide range of topics and listener questions about all things audio.
We started by talking about the podcasting mecca that Denver has become, then we got into some basic production knowledge that podcasters should be aware of, including "addition by subtraction" when it comes to equalizing your track.
We also hit on why Zoom is a great collaboration tool, but terrible for podcasts. This led into a very basic discussion on the different frequencies in the human voice, and why each is important.
Tom answers some questions about LUFS, condenser vs dynamic microphones, and third party AI tools, including Levelator, Auphonic, and Izotope's suite of products.
Finally, Tom talks about why he's all about giving out free advice to podcasters, and why it's so important to him.
Resources:
Clean Cut Audio Websi…
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Jun 26, 2020
Take A Break
My lesson learned this week is to take a break. It's OK. That's why I'm recording this on Wednesday instead of Thursday. My wife and I are taking a personal day on Thursday.
Podcast Academy opens. Membership is $50 and requires two letters of recommendation: https://www.thepodcastacademy.com/news/513734/The-Podcast-Academy-Membership-Opens.htm?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-06-22
Pandora with analytics. I tried. No luck on one I submitted in September, but I'll keep you posted.https://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-for-podcasters-introduces-new-podcast-analytics-features-for-creators/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-06-19
Upcoming iOS 14 includes Apple Podcast profiles, suggestions, and ability to see what your friends are listening to: https://9to5mac.com/2020/06/18/exclusive-ios-14-to-include-overhauled-podcasts-app-with-for-you-bonus-content-more/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews…
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Jun 23, 2020
Podcast Editor In Chief Steve Stewart
Steve Stewart runs the "Podcast Editors Club" Facebook group, with over 5,000 members.
Steve joins me today to talk about how he got into podcast editing, and finding a niche in the financial sector, turning podcasting into a full time gig in just six months.
I asked him to provide advice for novice podcast editors as well as more experienced ones, and some common themes emerged.
We also talked about knowing your worth and not being afraid to charge accordingly, provided you super-serve your clients.
Steve talked about his partnership with Mark Deal, to create the first ever Podcast Editors Conference ahead of Podfest in Orlando this year. Now, they are launching the Podcast Editors Academy.
Oh yeah, we talk a little bit about editing podcasts, too.
Resources:
Podcast Editors' Club on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/podcasteditors/
Podcast Editors Academy: https://www.podcasteditoracademy.com/
Podcast Editors' Conference (from earlier in 2020): https://podcasteditors…
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Jun 19, 2020
When To Break Format
Usually my Tuesday episodes are 30 minute interviews. This week's was an hour. I explain my thought process here.
Black podcasting awards: https://blackpodawards.com/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=podnews.net%3A2020-06-15
Don Lemon's new podcast about the racial divide in America is called "Silence is not an option."
Spotify's venture into podcasting, as featured on CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/15/media/spotify-podcasts-risk-takers/index.html
Don't neglect TuneIn, as their download numbers may be 8 times higher than you thought, says PodNews: https://podnews.net/article/eight-times-bigger-podcast-user-agents?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-06-16
Here's a link to add your podcast if you haven't yet. https://help.tunein.com/contact/add-podcast-S19TR3Sdf
Reuters, the wire service, has a new platform that gives podcasters access to half a million of their news clips to use in their show. Here's the press release: https://…
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Jun 16, 2020
Mistress Carrie on WAAF, being embedded with troops, and moving her brand to podcasting
For decades, Mistress Carrie entertained - and bonded with - the masses on legendary Boston rock station WAAF. Earlier this year, the station was sold, ending its 50 year run on the air. Carrie takes us behind the scenes of WAAF - the planned relaunch that never happened - and her journey leveraging her iconic brand as the "Baddest Bitch in Boston" to pivot to podcasting.
We talk about the advent of radio's "Portable People Meter" and how it skewed ratings away from rock stations, moving eventually to the final days of WAAF. Carrie talks about how grateful she is to have been able to send the station off and say goodbye, unlike so many other radio folks who don't get the chance.
In the interim between her radio and podcasting careers, Mistress Carrie started a series of Facebook live videos, called "Cocktails in the War Room." It was hugely successful, allowed her to keep her brand top of mind, and even generated a significant amount of money (via t-shirts) to feed local veterans dur…
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Jun 12, 2020
Don't Let The Robots Take Over
James Cridland of Podnews had a great write-up yesterday on the debate around podcast transcripts: https://podnews.net/article/podcast-transcripts-why-and-when?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-06-11
A new subscription service called Podhero lets you pay then divvy up the money among podcasts you listen to: https://medium.com/podhero/meet-podhero-the-easiest-way-to-support-podcast-creators-5f17f536e7d8
Here's how to claim your show: https://podhero.com/dashboard/signup/?next=/dashboard/claim/search/%3Futm_source%3Dpodnews.net%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dpodnews.net%3A2020-06-05
Zoom stock is through the roof: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/zoom-video-earnings-and-sales-blow-away-expectations-stock-rises-toward-more-records-2020-06-02?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-06-05
Podcasts can be a break from screen time: https://musebycl.io/musings/value-podcasts-era-zoom-fatigue?utm_source=podnews.net&ut…
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Jun 9, 2020
Melissa's Journey to 400 Thousand Downloads
Registered Dietitian Melissa Joy Dobbins is _The Guilt Free RD_ and her podcast Sound Bites just went over 400,000 total downloads. Today, she explains how she started, how she got there, and the conventional podcast wisdom she took -and ignored.
Much of her background is in traditional media, including television experience in her home market of Chicago. As she delved deeper into podcasting, she realized that while she could rely on some of her media instincts, but had to revamp her style in other areas.
We cover a number of podcast topics including:
* Interview Prep (including a Guest Intake Form)
* Show frequency
* Show length
* Pain points on the technical side
* Leveraging your professional network to grow the show
* Using the podcast, to then, in turn, grow your network
* Monetizing the show
Resources:
Sound Bites Podcast Website: https://www.soundbitesrd.com/
Melissa on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelissaJoyRD
Melissa on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/M…
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Jun 5, 2020
Get Comfortable and Know Your Audience
This week has me thinking about two important aspects of creating a podcast.
* Be comfortable - my setup and neck taught me this the hard way.
* Know your audience, and the difference between a private and public conversation.
IMDB is now listing audio podcasts: https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topics/policy-update-audio-only-podcasts-can-now-be-listed-on-imdb?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-06-01
New features and integrations from Descript: https://blog.descript.com/descript-36-new-features/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-06-01
Should Apple Podcasts have a donate button? Interesting piece in 9to5 mac, originally reported in Podcast Business Journal: https://9to5mac.com/2020/05/31/apple-podcasts-should-allow-patreon-style-donation-options/
Daniel J Lewis of My Podcast Reviews reports that Apple broke another record in may, with 90,000 new podcasts created: https://mypodcastreviews.com/podcast-industry…
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Jun 2, 2020
Johnny Peterson - Straight Up Podcasts
I first met Johnny Peterson from Straight Up Podcasts at _Podcast Movement_ in Orlando last summer - you know, in the old days when we could travel. Since then, we've both joined a podcast editors' discussion group, where we have a monthly conference call to share ideas. I called down to Fort Worth, Texas, to learn more about Johnny's podcast and business journey.
In this episode we cover:
* How a few fortuitous moments at TCU led Johnny to podcasting
* The importance of your recording environment
* Johnny's $700 boo-boo
* My epic fail attempting to interview Ryan Seacrest
* Particulars of editing a good podcast
* Johnny's biggest podcast pet peeves
* The power of short (under 5 minute) podcasts
* What each of us has learned, and where we hope to take our similar, yet different, businesses.
Resources:
Johnny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnny3terson
Straight Up Podcasts on Twitter: https://twitter.com/straightuppods
Straight Up Podcasts Website: https://straig…
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May 30, 2020
My 2014 Ryan Seacrest Interview
In my upcoming (June 2) episode of The Jag Show Podcast, I tell Johnny Peterson about my worst audio mistake ever, blowing an entire interview with Ryan Seacrest. Ryan was gracious enough to let me come back to the second day of American Idol auditions in New Orleans and take a second, abbreviated, crack at it. Here is that two minute interview.
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May 29, 2020
Don't Sweat The Downloads
Joe Rogan feels "gross." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/opinion/joe-rogan-spotify-podcast.html?login=email&auth=login-email
James Cridland - podcast was never an open ecosystem to begin with! https://medium.com/@JamesCridland/with-spotify-and-joe-rogan-what-now-for-podcastings-open-ecosystem-19c2032c17ee
Call Her Daddy back with Alex Cooper, no Sofia Franklin.
Google Podcasts Manager: https://podcastsmanager.google.com/
Amazon getting into podcasts- will Amazon Music replace TuneIn as default for Alexa?
86 year old Larry King - "The Millionth Question."
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May 26, 2020
Why Social Isn't Enough To Promote Your Podcast
Earlier this month, Tim O'Brien of O'Brien Communications in Pittsburgh wrote a great piece in Podcast Business Journal, "Social Media Alone Is Not The Way To Grow An Audience." Link: https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/social-media-alone-is-not-the-way-to-grow-an-audience/
I cited this article in a previous "Five Minute Friday" episode of The Jag Show, and Tim and I connected on Twitter. Within a couple days, he agreed to come on my show and expand on his thoughts from the article.
People who interact with your brand on social media aren't necessarily the same people who will listen to a podcast. Social is a passive experience, as opposed to the active listening that happens when listening to your show. Think about how many times you've liked a post without even reading it.
Tim and I share the pitfalls of podcasters getting distracted by "shiny objects" like video, social media and more. Your audio quality and content must remain paramount. Without that, it doesn't matter how you ma…
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May 22, 2020
Podcast Listening Rebounds, Joe Rogan to Spotify, and Call Her Daddy Drama
Three big stories in podcasting this week...
The folks at Podtrac say that for the 4th and 5th weeks, podcast download and audience growth is up for the 4th and 5th straight weeks, respectively. This seems to be driven by both folks settling in to the (overused cliche alert) "New Normal" but also some states opening back up and commuting on the rise. https://analytics.podtrac.com/blog/2020/5/18/weekly-podcast-data-amid-the-coronavirus-crisis-update-through-may-17-2020?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-05-19
The biggest podcasting story this week, is Joe Rogan's new deal to go to Spotify exclusively for audio and video. The deal is worth over $100 million, and it raises lots of questions. Many industry experts say it's no longer a podcast if it's not on an open RSS feed available anywhere. But will other successful shows follow the same exclusivity path? Joe's the biggest fish out there - who's next? One thing that's not in question, Spotify has dee…
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May 19, 2020
Boston Pod Guru David Yas
Really enjoyed chatting with the guy who does what I do - but in the town I grew up in. David Yas runs Pod617, the Boston Podcast Network. We begin with his eclectic background as a lawyer, in the newspaper business, and more - and how he got into podcasting.
In forming the Boston Podcast Network, David really cultivated an eclectic group of talent, including radio veterans, comedians, and other local personalities.
David shares the story of one of his favorite interviews, when Whitey Bulger's attorney, Jay Carney, told him all kinds of stories about Whitey's past. This leads to a discussion of the art of interviewing - and letting your guest talk, as opposed to sticking to the script.
We also get into how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected David and his business - how he's pivoted to working with clients remotely. We look at how that might affect podcasting in the future in terms of in-person vs remote recordings, and how other emerging technologies could impact the industry.
D…
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May 18, 2020
Bonus: My 2014 Interview With Mick Foley
Tomorrow (May 19th), I'll be releasing my interview with David Yas, of Pod617 and The Boston Podcast network. We discussed the art of interviewing, and I referenced the one interview I did where I just shut up and let the other person do all the talking - when I interviewed Mick Foley before Wrestlemania XXX in New Orleans.
If you followed WWE in the 90's and 2000's, Mick will have you hanging on his every word. I know I was.
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May 15, 2020
Why Downloads Shouldn't Be Your Priority
I find myself often falling into that trap of judging myself on my download numbers, as most podcasters do, and I have to remind myself that downloads aren't the priority of my podcast. I had clear goals for Season 3 of The Jag Show, including
Doing interviews to expand my network in the podcasting space
Establishing myself as an authority and leader in podcasting
Giving myself the reps of creating content so that I can continuously relate to the issues my clients have.
I'm doing all of those things, and loving it. In my old radio days, I'd be counting web hits and Facebook likes. But podcasts aren't "broadcasts" - they are "narrow-casts." And the content and interaction are more important than the downloads. If you're doing a podcast "about everything for everyone," chances are you just like hearing yourself talk. As Dave Jackson says, your podcast should not be Neapolitan Ice Cream - nobody likes it. https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/nobody-likes-nopoletin-ice-cream/
Podcast Mo…
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May 12, 2020
YaYa Podcasting's Carrie Caufield Arick
I was thrilled to talk with Carrie Caufield Arick, one of the first podcast editors and coaches I met in the space. You name it, she does it - editing, coaching, consulting, workshops, helping run a Facebook group for female podcast editors, and more.
Carrie told me how she got into the space, first as a podcast listener, and then a creator and coach. We compared notes about getting started and growing our businesses.
We got into editing philosophy - both in terms of content and a little technical geekery. Her advice: "PUSH ALL THE BUTTONS."
This led us into a discussion of how men and women hear - and process - audio differently. And we don't just mean on the technical side. It also comes down to nuances in language - what we say and what we hear. And for women, it's sometimes a fine line between being _aggressive _and being considered a....well, you know what.
These ideas led Carrie and some others to create the Just Busters Facebook Group - a place for only female editors to con…
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May 8, 2020
New Podcast Tools
Google is continuing to play catch-up with Apple and Spotify - now launching their own podcast manager to give you detailed analytics on your shows. Super easy to set up - you just need a Google account and access to the email address associated with your show. https://podcastsmanager.google.com/
Apple and Spotify continue to be 1 and 2 in the space respectively though.And Spotify is making serious in-roads. They beat Apple in many foreign countries, lead the state of New Jersey, and momentarily took the lead in California and New York, according to Q1 data from Voxnest. https://blog.voxnest.com/apple-spotify-podcast-listeners-q1/?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2020-05-01
Rob Walch of Libsyn says downloads were down 15% in April. https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/downloads-down-due-to-coronavirus/
This American Life has won the first Pulitzer Prize for Audio Journalism- for their episode "The Out Crowd" about Mexican immigration. https://www.thisam…
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May 5, 2020
From The Vault: How Don Found His Birth Family at Age 58
Today, I'm going into the vault to bring you my first podcast interview - with former coworker Don Banks, of iHeartMedia in New Orleans. Don, through Ancestry DNA, found his birth family, at age 58. It's an amazing, touching, heartwarming story, and one we could use these days.
From a podcast perspective, I think it's important to look back at your first episode. Most podcasters will hate what they hear. For me, I've definitely learned a lot since then. And while my production skills could have been better when I started, the content is worth it. It also helps that Don has a professional radio setup in his home. As for me, I was using Zoom at my kitchen table. A hard lesson learned.
Technical jargon aside, this is an amazing story. I hope you enjoy.
JAG in Detroit Website: https://jagindetroit.com/
Email Address: JAG@JAGinDetroit.com
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May 1, 2020
Its Gonna Be May
Matty Staudt says your intro matters. And he's right.
Which podcast advertisers are spending more in the age of Coronavirus? Magellan is out with a list of their Top 10, as published on Medium.
5 - furniture, 4 online entertainment, 3 -hobbies and lifestyle, 2- home goods. 1- alcohol
This American Life is now on Spotify, and it's not alone. Spotify has joined Apple with having a million shows. 150,000 podcast uploads happened in March, up 69% month over month, according to the Swedish company.
One more piece of Spotify news - their platform Anchor can now turn your video call into a podcast.
James Cridland, editor PodNews, and a thought leader in the space, chronicled an amusing exchange with one of these folks.
Podnews has a nice sheet to see if your host is IAB certified.
Should you avoid COVID-19 talk in your podcast? A new Mindshare study says 51% of Americans are limiting their media consumption due to Coronavirus fatigue.
FInally, smart speaker usage is up in the age of…
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Apr 28, 2020
Podcast OG Evo Terra Consumed Only Beer and Sausages For A Month
And he lost weight doing it! We'll get to that later.
Evo Terra is an OG in the world of podcasting. While Apple has just gone over a million shows, Evo is credited with having the 40th podcast...ever. In a recent episode and blog of Podcast Pontifications, he wrote, "Stay out of our Podcasting Lanes, Broadcasters." Since this is a subject near and dear to my heart, I reached out.
Evo explained why he believes broadcasters, especially in television, are not taking the easy steps to sound and look good - even though podcasters figured this stuff out years ago. From there, we took a deeper dive into the complicated relationship between broadcasting and podcasting.
We've seen so much data on the effects of Coronavirus on podcasting, much of it conflicting. I asked Evo how he feels the pandemic has affected the space. He drew on his relationships with podcast hosting platforms to really dig into the data.
Here's what we know. Some genres are down; some are up. Listening has drastically…
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Apr 24, 2020
Adventures in Remote Recording
There are now 1,000,000 podcasts in Apple.
Rob Walch of Libsyn says desktop listening is up a point to 12%
I've discovered in remote recording that Apple Airpods only sound good - when paired with an Apple device.
Need to check your microphone quality? Try this website: Mic Check dot me
Medium has a nice article on How to deal with a Lazy Podcast Host
Podcast Movement has a good read on Staying Sane
Edison Research and NPR Smart Audio report webinar Thurs 4/30 2pm
I'm thrilled to have launched a new podcast series in partnership with my partners Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications. It's called Michigan Motors Forward, and it features Metro Detroit business leaders who have adapted their operations and helped their community during these difficult times.
As always, if I can help you with launching your podcast, or with any podcast questions in general, you can always find me on social media at @JAGinDetroit - or send me an email - jag@jagindetroit.com
Stay Home and Stay Sa…
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Apr 20, 2020
Behind The Scenes of ESPN Podcasts
ESPN has more podcasts than you can count, and the man in charge is Peter Gianesini. I asked him how ESPN came into podcasting, and the evolution of it - from repackaged audio to original content.
How does ESPN Digital evaluate who can become a podcast host? And do personalities approach them, or vice versa? Pete gave me a few examples.
What about content? What does a sports network do when there are no games?
How has listener consumption shifted for ESPN's shows?
Pete also explained how the network was able to work ahead before the world changed; making sure hosts and producers could secure the equipment needed to work remotely. How forgiving - or patient - has the audience been as they work out the audio kinks?
We of course discussed the decision to release the Michael Jordan documentary ahead of schedule, and the massive reaction the first night garnered on social media. (Note: it aired Sunday night and we taped this podcast Monday afternoon.)
Fun Fact: Pete and his family are…
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Apr 17, 2020
Podcast vs Broadcast Continues
As a former radio guy, I've spent a lot of time covering the often converging lanes of broadcast and podcast. For many in podcasting, the fear is that large radio corporations will "elbow" their way into our space. For me, I worry that these large corporations - iHeartMedia, Entercom, and others - are going to do what they did to radio. That is, put profits ahead of product and make the product watered down and often unlistenable.
For example, iheart has furloughed most "non-essential" employees, but hey, they launched a new podcast! It's got commencement speeches for the class of 2020 from celebrities, including Chelsea Handler, Eli Manning, Hillary Clinton and Jimmy Fallon.
Entercom put out a press release bragging about their podcasting numbers being up. Wonder how that hit morning and midday hosts Chuck Edwards and Cadillac Jack, both recently laid off from their country station WYCD here in Detroit. Or Mistress Carrie and Mike Hsu formerly of heritage rocker WAAF Boston, sold o…
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Apr 14, 2020
Callin Baton Rouge - With Catherine OBrien
Catherine O'Brien owns Branch Out Programs, an end-to-end podcasting production company out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We spoke about our shared experience of acclimating to the Pelican State, as well as her journey into podcast creation.
Catherine has also started Red Stick Strong, a podcast showcasing local Baton Rouge businesses and how they are adjusting in an era of stay-at-home orders and social distancing. She spoke about the opportunity to give back to the community that has welcomed her in.
For more, you can find Catherine on Twitter and Instagram. Red Stick Strong is on Instagram as well.
Find JAG in Detroit Podcasts on Facebook Twitter and Instagram or on the web at www.jagindetroit.com. Or Email me: JAG@JAGinDetroit.com
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Apr 10, 2020
Debating the Biden Pod, Squadcast Improves, and Stern Talks To Brady
Joe Biden's new podcast brings to light one of the biggest dilemmas a podcast editor faces - how much do I cut? We start by delving into the uniqueness of this situation. There was an article in Intelligencer just eviscerating the pod, but I'll focus on the editing piece.
The other big news this week came from Squadcast (full disclosure: I'm a referral partner) - about enhancements to their already outstanding system. They've actually partnered with Dolby, the surround sound people, on tweaks to really make it feel like you and your guest are in the same room. You can watch the replay of their webinar for details here.
An analyis from Podtrac says that while podcast listening dipped at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, it seems to be leveling off. This fits with the analogy Matt Cundill made in Tuesday's episode of the Jag Show, about someone firing a gun in the air of a crowded room. Everyone scattered, but eventually, all will find their way back.
A couple points about st…
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Apr 7, 2020
Marketing and Monetizing Your Podcast with Matt Cundill
After many years as a radio personality and programmer in Canadian radio, Matt Cundill began consulting audio creators. This eventually led to a career in podcasting and more as part of The Sound Off media company. He also hosts the The Sound Off Podcast, "the podcast about broadcast" which is a must listen for any current or former broadcasters. And I don't just say that because I'm a former guest.
I wanted to pick Matt's brain on all things podcasting, as he brings a data-driven programmer's approach to his clients. He started by taking us through his radio journey and how it led him to podcasting. Then we dove in to how he helps clients market their podcasts and best practices for both content and sharing it. Matt explained _dynamic ad insertion_, a way to get current advertising into past episodes. And I asked him how and when podcasters can start selling ads.
Finally, we looked at the (early) data on how Coronavirus is affecting podcast consumption.
And yes, there was a _little…
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Apr 3, 2020
The Tinder of Podcasts
In today's 5 minute Friday, we look at how the Coronavirus and "Social Distancing" have affecting the podcasting industry. It's still early, and a number of studies have shown conflicting data, but here are some interesting takeways:
* Podcast downloading is shifting later in the day
* Listening on embedded web players is up
* Overall podcast advertising revenue down 20%, compared to 90% OOH
* 18% of Adults say they are listening more, with the biggest jump among Generation Z.
* News podcasts are up, and sports podcasts are down.
More brands are seizing the opportunity to launch pods, including Joe Biden, Andrew Yang, and The Washington Wizards NBA team, who want to stay top of mind during the NBA stoppage.
An article from Spotify suggests incorporating listener interaction to improve your show's numbers.
The Rodecaster Pro studio has a beta firmware update, which includes reverb, more control over processing, and an MP3 export. They also have a new mic preset for the RE-…
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Mar 30, 2020
From Radio to Podcasting with Michelle ODell
I'm joined today by a blast from the past - Michelle O'Dell, whom I worked with in Burlington Vermont from 2007-2011. She's beginning on the path I set out on a little while back - moving from radio to podcasting. We talk about the transition, how other radio folks can do it, and we reminisce a little bit about our time at WXXX-FM - 95 Triple X.
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Mar 26, 2020
Google Podcasts Finally Comes to iOS
A quick recap of what's happened in podcasting this week.
The big news: Google Podcasts is finally available on iPhone and iPad iOS operating systems. It appears the podcast rush in this time of "social distancing" may have finally lit a fire under Google, which has been lagging behind in the space. However, there may be some hiccups, as James Cridland explains in Thursday's issue of Podnews - a daily newsletter and podcast that you should subscribe to if you have any interest in podcasting.
As we explore the effects of COVID-19 on podcasting, it appears that some advertisers are increasing their spend, and some are decreasing it. For example, VPN providers, household products, and alcohol advertising is up. Not surprisingly, travel, live entertainment, and gambling is down. You can read more in this piece from Medium.
With regard to podcasts themselves- news and health related podcasts (especially the recent surge in Coronavirus-related shows) are of course up. However, before you…
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Mar 25, 2020
Remote Recording Tips
Since the recommendations to limit non-essential travel and requests for social distancing, I have temporarily stopped recording on site with clients. And while I'd love to be in the same room with someone when I record a podcast, it's simply not feasible at this time. Today I want to provide some recommendations on equipment and strategy for recording a podcast remotely.
_Microphones (most expensive first):_
Electro Voice RE20 XLR Mic
Shure SM7B XLR Mic
Samson Q2U XLR/USB Mic
ATR 2100 XLR/USB Mic
_Adapter:_
Scarelett Focusrite XLR to USB Adapter
_DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) Software (most expensive first):_
Pro Tools
Logic Pro (Apple iOS only)
Adobe Audition
Hindenburg
Auphonic
Audacity
Affiliate Links:
Squadcast Remote Recording Referral Link
Simplecast Hosting Referral Link
Contact JAG:
313-757-2524
Email: JAG@JAGinDetroit.com
Website: JAGinDetroit.com
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Mar 20, 2020
Work Work Working From Home
Today, we open with Edison Research's Infinite Dial Survey, released yesterday, with big numbers for podcasting:
* 212 million Americans (75%) are now familiar with the term “podcasting.”
* 155 million (55%) have listened to a podcast.
* 104 million (37%) are monthly podcast listeners.
* 68 million (24%) are weekly podcast listeners.
* On average, weekly podcast listening is up to 6 hours, 39 minutes.
* Weekly podcast listeners consume, on average, 6 podcasts per week.
* Monthly podcast consumers have grown 16% year over year, cresting 100 million Americans for the first time.
You can view the entire survey (with slides) HERE.
Next, some stories of our first full week working from home - my wife and I, in our little house that has become a shared workspace. While I realize the COVID-19 is dire for many people, we are trying to find humorous moments to keep our sanity. I share a few.
Finally, it's easy, and almost reflexive, to cast aspersions on young people who a…
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Mar 13, 2020
Is Coronavirus the big moment for podcasts?
In the US, we've finally hit a tipping point with regard to Coronavirus concern. And among all the talk of staying home, avoiding large gathering, cancelled sporting events, and working remotely - could this be podcasting's watershed moment?
Now, I don't want to seem insensitive to the millions that have been and will be affected by this global pandemic. However, the ability to record, fine tune, and publish valuable, timely information will be crucial in the weeks to come. If there were ever a time to get started, it's now.
Resources:
Samson Q2U microphone - with XLR and USB connections - $60
Edison Research Infinite Dial Survey, out Thursday 3/19 at 1pm.
Presentation: So You Wanna Launch A Podcast
Referral partner links:
Simplecast for podcast hosting - http://bit.ly/simplecastjag
Squadcast for broadcast quality remote interviews - http://bit.ly/squadcastjag
Contact Info:
Social Media: @JAGinDetroit
Email: jag@jagindetroit.com
Website: www.jagindetroit.com
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Mar 12, 2020
How WJPZ Brought This Show Back
Over the weekend, at a college reunion, my buddy Rob asked me when I was going to do another podcast. He was waiting!
It was this encounter that reminded me I need to get back into doing my show. So in this trailer for season 3, I recap the conversation and give credit to where everything started - WJPZ Syracuse.
Follow me on the social platform of your choice @JAGinDetroit
Email me: JAG@JAGinDetroit.com
Learn about podcasting on my website: www.JAGinDetroit.com
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Jan 17, 2020
Detroit Podcasters Roundtable Discussion
Find all of us online:
Jon Gay - JAG in Detroit Podcasts
Shannon Cason - Shannon Cason Website
Robin Kinnie - Motor City Woman
Becky Scarcello - The D Brief
Joe Saul-Sehy - Stacking Benjamins
Zak Rosen - Local 4 Detroit and Shattered Podcast
The Detroit Writing Room
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Nov 26, 2019
So You Wanna Launch A Podcast (Seminar)
In September, I hosted an A-Z Seminar at the Detroit Writing Room on how to launch a podcast, covering statistics, best practices, and software/equipment recommendations. I recorded the audio, for release as this podcast.
If you'd like to see the full presentation, with slides, you can view it here.
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Aug 9, 2019
What the 90210 Reboot Can Teach Us About Podcasting
Wednesday night's reboot of Beverly Hills 90210 reminded me of two cardinal rules. Know your audience, and keep it simple. The show excelled at one, and failed at the other.
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Aug 2, 2019
Selling The Sizzle
This week I brought my beautiful RodeCaster Pro studio to 2 different potential clients. The sleekness of this box really impressed both of them, and the buzz around podcasting did the rest.
People's "BS" meters run high, and they are very skeptical of hyperbole. But when something is genuinely buzzworthy, it's time to take advantage.
Mentioned in this week's episode:
RodeCaster Pro studio
Podcast Movement 2019
The Bacon Bar at my Jewish Wedding
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Jul 26, 2019
New Apple Categories Live | TiVo Guilt Comes to Podcasts
Apples new podcast categories are live - don't freak out, but here's what you need to do. Also, that feeling of guilt when you have too much on your DVR? Now that's coming to the podcasting world.
Additional Resources:
Dave Jackson Video on How to Update Your Categories
2008 CNN Article on TiVo Guilt
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Jul 19, 2019
NY Times Hits, Apple Hits Back, and the Podcast World Comes to Detroit
You wouldn't think that the New York Times, producer of one of the world's most successful podcasts, would question the industry as whole? But they did, in an embarrassing way, and the podcast world stood up and took notice.
Also Thursday, it was reported that Apple is starting to reach out to media companies about producing content exclusively for Apple. This may have applications for the Apple TV+. More importantly, some of these shows could be Apple Podcasts specific, which then gets into business model and larger industry questions.
Finally, bigwigs from every major podcast production house came to the historic GEM theater here in Detroit this week. Find out why.
Additional resources:
New York Times Podcasting Article
Ed Ryan's Response
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Jul 2, 2019
How Radio Opened The Door for Podcasting
For a full transcription of this episode, visit this episode on my website:
https://jagindetroit.com/radiotopodcasting
More show resources:
Final Loren and Wally Show (Podcast) - Loren's thank you begins at 11:05.
Video of Bret Michaels dedicating "Something to Believe In" to my buddy Bill Leaf.
Meeting my "Holy Trinity" of celebrities (Pic)
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Feb 27, 2019
Podcasting 101
As I've started my own podcasting company, Jag in Detroit, I decided it would be best to focus The Jag Show podcast on the field - and business - of podcasting.
In the first episode of season 2, I cover the basics of starting a podcast. Who should do a podcast? Why should you do one? What's a host? Do you need an editor? What are the different schools of thoughts on all of these?
For more info on my company, check out Jag in Detroit.
I mention Simplecast in my episode. Full disclosure, I am a referral partner with them - you can sign up for an account here. My referral code is
If you have questions about podcasting, feel free to send me an email.
And of course, you can continue the conversation with me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
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Feb 21, 2019
Season 1 Bonus / Podcast Imaging Demo
Season 2 of the The Jag Show Podcast is coming soon, where we will keep tabs on all topics related to the podcast industry. For now, here's a sample of the imaging/production I've done for other podcasts.
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