The Streets of Your Town

Back in 1988 I got my first whiff of a radio station. Stacks and stacks of records everywhere. Campus radio was my first taste of curating music for an audience. We also got to open up and listen to new music as it arrived. There was only one record player in the office so we all listened together. In those early days of September I enjoyed an album from an Austrailian Indie-Pop group called the Go-Betweens. The lead single was called “Streets of Your Town” and it seemed a fitting song for a place that I was going to live for the next 4 years.

The song is back in my head these days as I dispense podcast advice to anyone who is interested. With so many radio stations and newspapers thinning down their product, the big opportunity in podcasting is local. Yes… you can fill the void left behind from the cutbacks that have up-ended your local media. I was a guest host on the New Media Show a few weeks ago and Rob Greenlee and myself discussed the possibilities, as well as politicians making the rounds on podcasts.

As for the Go Betweens, they managed to have a bridge in their hometown named after them. The Go Between Bridge is pictured above. Sadly, Winnipeg can’t see itself through to name a piece of roadwork the Bachman Turner Overpass… but they are trying.

What's Below

• A Favour

• Live On The Internet

• Mary Anne Ivison: Three Years Later

• There’s an Election Coming

• New! From the Network!

• Voice Over Work

A Favour

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Live on the Internet

Today at 5pm Eastern, The Podcast Superfriends will be bringing their tricks and treats for Halloween 2024. Join Jon Gay, Catherine O’Brien, Johnny Podcasts, David Yas and myself as we serve up podcast tricks and treats. Join us here!

Mary Anne Ivison: Three Years Later

Mary Anne Ivison was laid off in 2021. Ivison discusses the difficult transition and mental health challenges she faced after losing her job, but how she eventually found success in voiceover work and launching her own podcast "Let's Take This Outside".

We covered the ups and downs of building a voiceover business, including the challenges of working with agents and the impact of AI on the industry. Ivison shares her perspective that while AI may take over some lower-end voiceover work, the level of direction and variation required for many commercial projects still requires human talent. We also touched on the state of the podcast industry, acknowledging the difficulties of monetization and the shift towards more VC-backed companies. However, they emphasize the importance of finding a niche and building a loyal audience, rather than chasing download numbers.

Mary Anne is candid about the mental toll of the freelance lifestyle and the need to manage expectations, and that entering these creative fields requires a realistic understanding of the hard work and persistence required for long-term success.

Another honest episode providing an insightful look at the realities of navigating a career transition and building a sustainable creative business in the modern media landscape. Listen here… or watch below.

There’s an Election Coming

One of my colleagues mentioned they were voting for Trump because Kamala just isn’t ready. That felt like reasonable reasoning in the moment, but I thought, “No one is ready for that job.” I don’t think there is a single president who hasn’t had to learn on the job. I also thought back to when I hired talent for radio. More often than not, I had better success hiring young and flourishing talent rather than established mediocrity. If you know exactly what you are going to get from a hire and its mediocre - find someone else.

For my friends in Florida, I have been working with the team at Writing Class Radio on a 7 part limited series called “Our Abortion Stories”. After editing and producing these stories, I was left SMH at how people’s lives have been turned upside down because of poorly thought out legislation. Please listen to these stories and then vote Yes on 4.

New! From the Network!

Voiceover Info Here

I did a voiceover for Management Solutions, a largely Spanish based company. Yes, very dire copy and I’m sure the world in going to end tomorrow … act accordingly. I’ve added this video to my webpage.