The podcast industry is rapidly growing, so Sounder is making it easy for audio creators to stay on top of it all with a bi-weekly roundup of the most exciting podcasting news and tips. Made for experts and beginners alike, treat these creator-friendly posts like your podcasting handbook. Let’s see what’s on deck this week.
This week we cover
A new technology that can remove the “ums” and “uhs” from your podcast without hours of editing, which airline is stepping up their in-flight entertainment to include podcasts, resources for new podcasters, including a list of beginner regrets from seasoned creators, and which loved (and not at all satirical) news outlet is starting a podcast.
1. Easily edit out the “uhs”
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could edit out the “uhs” and “ums” from your podcast? Well, Project Sound Seek, a tech tool featured at the Adobe Max Sneaks 2019 event, can do just that. Justin Salamon (@justin_salamon on Twitter) began presenting Project Sound Seek by staggering through his speech, confessing how nervous he was. Then stopped to note, “how great it would be if we could take the audio recording of this session and edit out my ‘uhs’ to make me sound a little smoother.” That’s why Salamon and his small team created Project Sound Seek. “It’s like the Photoshop Magic Wand, but for sound,” he says.
Here’s how it works: select one “um” in your audio file, hit analyze, and the program learns the sound on the spot, highlighting it throughout the recording. Then you can delete or adjust. Sound too good to be true? Well, it may be. While this Adobe event is held twice a year showcasing “what’s brewing in Adobe Research,” writes Lauren Friedman, head of Adobe Global Social Business Enablement, it doesn’t quite mean these technologies will be live any time soon. “At best, some of these innovations actually make it into Adobe products,” writes Friedman. Fingers crossed!
If you want to read more. If you want to watch more.
2. We’re flying this airline from now on
For some, flying is stressful. For others, it’s simply another part of the workweek. But for all Jetblue travelers, it’ll be so much more entertaining thanks to the airline’s new deal with Spotify. Launching this month, podcast titles like Business of HYPE, Conspiracy Theories, Dope Labs, Heavyweight, The Horror of Dolores Roach, and Superwomen with Rebecca Minkoff will be available for free, 30,000 feet in the air. “…we are once again re-defining inflight entertainment by listening closely to our customers’ feedback and offering even more options to make the most of their time on board,” said Mariya Stoyanova, director of JetBlue product development.
If you want to read more.
3. America’s finest news source goes audio
This just in, The Onion, American’s favorite comedy, news, and satire brand is teaming up with Sony Music Entertainment to produce a daily podcast called “The Topical.” No, really, it’s true! This January, you can tune in to listen to that same satirical content you know and love.
The Onion will oversee all creative aspects of the podcast, including writing, producing, and recording. Jordan LaFlure, Executive Editor at The Onion, said, “A daily news podcast provides an opportunity for The Onion to access and inform billions of presumably illiterate people previously deprived of the finest reporting the world has ever known.”
If you want to read more.
4. Podcasters tell their biggest beginner regrets
Sometimes starting a podcast can be daunting, so this week, we’ve got some awesome resources to get you moving and grooving.
Up first, a brand new book titled Pod Life. Not so much a how-to guide, this book is instead a collection of motivating, funny, and insightful stories from a wide range of podcast hosts, like James Wylder (@arcbeatle on Twitter) host of Tales by the Blue Light, about what it’s like to run a podcast. We love hearing about how they juggle jobs, kids, and other hobbies with their audio career. It’s so real, we could cry.
Next, Google and PRX joined together in creating a friendly, comprehensive video series titled Podcasting 101 to support early-stage podcasters in everything from recording to scriptwriting to monetizing. It’s hosted by podcast hosts Luvvie Ajayi of the Rants & Randomness and Jesus & Jollof podcasts and Sean Rameswaram, host of Vox Media’s daily news podcast Today, Explained. One of the main goals of Podcasting 101 is “to fuel the growth of podcasting around the world by providing the next generation of audio-makers with the tools and training needed to succeed,’ says PRX CEO Kerri Hoffman. That’s why the series will be transcribed in Spanish, Hindi, French, Arabic, and Portuguese to reach podcasters everywhere.
And finally, beginners can take some comfort in listening to last week’s episode of School of Podcasting, where host David Jackson asks fellow podcaster’s their biggest regrets when starting a podcast, so maybe you don’t have to live them yourself. Coincidently, Jackson is also a contributor to Pod Life.
5. We can’t stop listening to this new podcast…
If you don’t already know, we love to cheerlead our awesome Souder audio creators. (Just one of the benefits of being part of this super supportive team!) So we started a campaign called #podlight, where we interview and feature a new podcast every week.
Stepping into the #Podlight this week is Krista and Amanda of Project Hundo Podcast! If you relate more to dank memes than motivational ones, this is the podcast for you. It’s about getting healthy with a sense of humor (and occasionally half-priced wings).
How it all began:
Krista and Amanda have been friends for approximately 335 years, give or take 300. They have loads in common — a love of being down the shore, a sense of humor that leans toward absurd, the ability to laugh at themselves, and a fondness of half-priced wings. Which brings us to another thing they have in common — decades-long struggles with weight and overall well being.
Instead of doing something run of the mill, these two hilarious women decided to throw the idea of dieting out the window, and just focus on building healthy habits instead. “Looking for inspiration in existing podcasts didn’t work,” says the pair. Turns out, they do not respond well to people who are overly upbeat and optimistic. “Where was the sarcasm? Why didn’t anyone admit some of what you have to do to get healthy just plain sucks? Why does everyone love kale so much?” questions Amanda of ProjectHundoPodcast.
Obviously, the only answer was to start their own podcast so they could invite everyone along on their journey and entertain others that need a relatable voice like theirs.
Welp, that’s all we have for you on this week’s Sounder roundup! We hope you learned something new or got to know one of the many creative minds mentioned.
