by Bob Tinsley
Why should you as a visitor to TVWriter™ be interested in making audio fiction? Why should you be interested in making podcasts? Discoverability, that’s why.
The meaning of the word podcast is evolving to include any episodic, audio-only production whether nonfiction or fiction. Agents and major studios have started trawling through podcasts and their creators for new content and talent.
So here’s the latest news to help you and your podcast get discovered:
Music from https://filmmusic.io
“The Builder” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- I TOLD YOU SO.
Podcasts Make It To Broadway. (Or Close, Anyway.)
Midtown Direct Rep and Triple Birch Media staged two readings of the premiere episode of the fiction podcast, Novel: An Audio Drama Series, created by Aimee Parrott and William Bienes. The readings took place at The Woodland, 60 Woodland Rd, Maplewood, New Jersey, and at Sunlight Studios, 321 West 44th Street, New York, New York.
- I TOLD YOU SO, PART 2.
Ubisoft Announces Audio Drama Assassin’s Creed Gold.
Game company Ubisoft has partnered with Audible to produce a new audio drama called Assassin’s Creed Gold. The drama stars Riz Ahmed of Rogue One and Venom, and Anthony Head of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/ubisoft-announces-audio-drama-assassins-creed-gold
- MONETIZE IT.
Even Nobodies Have Fans Now. (For Better Or Worse.)
This long and rather disparagingly titled article in the New York Times Magazine does have a couple of good points to make. Podcasts often lead to one-way relationships where the listeners feel they know the podcasters while the podcasters have no idea who their listeners are. The most successful podcasters turn that into more of a give-and-take relationship through social media and, as one example, Patreon. Wyatt Jenkins, senior vice president for product at Patreon, says that podcasts are Patreon’s second largest category and the fastest growing. He says, “As a vertical [market], podcasting communities retain memberships very, very well. A lot higher than some other verticals. They release regular weekly content, and they create this incredibly strong bond.”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/13/magazine/internet-fandom-podcast.html
- MONETIZE IT, PART 2.
Podcast Live Events Will Bring In Over $55m This Year.
Amira Valliani, founder of Glow, a membership management service for podcasters, analyzes stats on ticket sales and Google Trends that point out the best places to hold your live events. In short the top five regions for successful live events are Oregon, Minnesota, California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts. The top five metropolitan areas are San Diego, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Austin TX, Portland, OR, and Hartford/New Haven, CT.
https://medium.com/glow-fm/podcast-live-events-will-bring-in-over-55m-this-year-e84032387fbe
- WE NEED MORE LISTENERS.
Spotify Adds Your Daily Podcasts.
Spotify has just added a new feature called Your Daily Podcasts, available to both free and premium users. If you have listened to at least four podcasts in the last 90 days the program will deliver an algorithmically-driven podcast discovery playlist in the “Your Top Podcasts” shelf on Home or in the “Made For You” hub on browse. Discovery, folks.
- IF YA WANNA WRITE, YA GOTTA LISTEN.
Boston Harbor Horror
This is the first of a series of new shows coming from Mike Gagne’s Asylum 94 Productions. Boston Harbor Horror follows the adventures of Coast Guard Petty Officer Alex Devereaux responding to a medical emergency on a small island in Boston Harbor. What he finds on that island is going to take him on a journey into depths he never imagined. The show draws on the Lovecraft Mythos without the purple prose. Worth a listen.
We’ll be back next week, same Pod-time, same Pod-channel. Meanwhile, keep listening and creating!