The Sound Off Podcast

Over a year after Matt recorded a Summer of Discontent - he looks back on a second summer of discontent which feature more radio stations closures on AM, small FM size stations and one FM station in Canada's #4 market. Also layoffs in Kingston and London, and across iHeart in the USA. Matt also wonders why no one in radio seems to talk much about the audience... Matt reaffirms that the Sound Off Podcast is about audience building and teases a few episodes in the works with Steve Pratt, Valerie Geller, and others. Sign up for Matt's Newsletter called Sounding Off Books mentioned: Tom Webster's Book - The Audience is Listening. Steve Pratt's Earn It. Valerie Geller's new book is coming soon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeff Umbro, is the founder of The Podglomerate, an award-winning podcast services firm specialized in production, marketing, and monetization of outstanding content.In this episode, we discussed his transition from book publicist to podcasting, highlighting the company's evolution since 2017. He emphasized the importance of podcast promotion, noting that cross-promos are effective but should not be the sole strategy. Jeff also shared his insights on video's role in podcasting, noting its potential for discovery and engagement. He also addressed the complexities of monetizing podcasts, including the challenges of dynamic ad insertion and the need for fair CPMs. Our conversation concludes with Jeff's plans to develop a dashboard for better data tracking and his ongoing client projects, including "Master Plan" and "A Fine Mess."Rather unintentional, but we discussed a promo swap we did back in 2019 between the Podglomerate's Storybound and Sound Off's Writing Class Radio, and what the ROI was.A Transcript and video version of the episode is available on the network page.Jeff also has a podcast called "Podcasting Perspectives" which goes even deeper into podcasting than this one does. And yes - he does video on Spotify and YouTube. Please sign up for the SOUNDING OFF Newsletter. Full of all the verbal diarrhea you never knew what you were missing in your life.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.Thanks to the following organizations for supporting the show:Nlogic - TV & Radio Audience Data SolutionsMary Anne Ivison at Ivison Voice. - Make her the female voice of your radio station.Matt Fogarty Voiceovers - It's great to have Matt back for 2024 supporting our show. Make him the imaging voice for your radio station by contacting him through his website.Megatrax - Licensed Music for your radio station or podcast production company.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sharon Taylor, Senior Vice President of Podcast Strategy and Product Operations at Triton, discusses her career journey from hospitality management to podcasting. She joined Omny Studio in 2016, initially on a contract basis, and later becoming CEO. Sharon highlights the evolution of Omny Studio from a radio tool to a comprehensive podcast platform, and its acquisition by Triton. She emphasizes the importance of brand safety and suitability in podcast advertising, and introduces Sounder, a tool developed by Triton to enhance contextual analysis and ad targeting. Sharon also touches on the challenges and opportunities for Canadian podcasters, noting the need for a unified approach and diverse revenue streams.We also spent some time discussing the power of mobility; she has moved on multiple occasions across numerous time zones. She's currently living in my hometown of Montreal where the food is the best in Canada. Her favourite restaurant? Nyk's Bistro on Bleury. (Not to be confused with the landmark Chez Nick's on Greene Avenue in Westmount) Take a date to Nyk's, take your mother to Nick's) Thanks to the following organizations for supporting the show:Nlogic - TV & Radio Audience Data SolutionsMary Anne Ivison at Ivison Voice. - Make her the female voice of your radio station.Matt Fogarty Voiceovers - It's great to have Matt back for 2024 supporting our show. Make him the imaging voice for your radio station by contacting him through his website.Megatrax - Licensed Music for your radio station or podcast production company.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Blubrry's CEO Todd Cochrane is back once again this week, and this time he's got a new toy he's eager to share: The Thrive bundle, Blubrry's first major foray into AI integration for podcasters. We begin by going over what exactly the Thrive bundle offers its users, including various AI-powered tools to help podcasters with tasks like episode planning, production, social media clips, and email.For those who fear AI will run the world someday, worry not. Anyone who's used the current suite of online AI tools certainly knows they're not a replacement for human input by any means, and the Thrive bundle isn't trying to be. Todd explains that the AI tools are simply designed to streamline the podcast production workflow, giving users a jumping-off point to help create show notes, descriptions, and other metadata quickly. We do, however, touch on the valid concern that people may attempt to create fully AI-generated podcasts using voice data, or replace sections of their podcasts with AI voiceover and pretend they didn't. The Thrive bundle doesn't provide these tools to begin with, but Todd also emphasizes the importance of full disclosure to the audience whenever AI tools are integrated in any form, a sentiment we at The Sound Off Media Company fully agree with.We also discuss Blubrry's competition in the AI field, and what makes the Thrive bundle stand apart in a sea of rushed-to-market AI tools, from its price to its comprehensive toolkit. If you, like me, are growing tired of paying for 6 different AI assistants and using maybe 20% of each one, the Thrive bundle may be the option for you.We take a slightly different direction in the latter half of the episode, moving to the topic of podcast discovery. Google's AI integration for its search engine is already making it trickier to find correct information quickly (see the "put glue on your pizza" incident), and Todd believes having a rich suite of metadata and SEO skills will continue to grow ever more important as time goes on.PROTIP: One of the podcasts Todd listens to on a regular basis to stay on top of AI is The Artificial Intelligence Show. A Transcript and video version of the episode is available on the network page.Please sign up for the SOUNDING OFF Newsletter. Full of all the verbal diarrhea you never knew what you were missing in your life.Thanks to the following organizations for supporting the show:Nlogic - TV & Radio Audience Data SolutionsMary Anne Ivison at Ivison Voice. - Make her the female voice of your radio station.Matt Fogarty Voiceovers - It's great to have Matt back for 2024 supporting our show. Make him the imaging voice for your radio station by contacting him through his website.Megatrax - Licensed Music for your radio station or podcast production company.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You likely know Dan Misener for his work in Podcasting - but I managed to trace his roots back to radio. Specifically, to CBC and shows like DNTO (Definitely Not the Opera) and Spark with Nora Young. His radio days actually stretch back a little further than that to campus radio at Dalhousie's CKDU in Halifax. But it was his time at Pacific Content where Dan began to explore audience development in the podcast space. Yes, he could have continued on making great sounding shows at places like the CBC, but what's the point if you aren't getting everyone to listen, right?In this episode we will discuss those early radio days and the natural transition to podcasting, the experimenting at the CBC with Spark, and the creation of a feedback loop for the show. We also spoke about the importance of the packaging of your podcast and how it appears in podcast catalogues and on a dashboard display in a vehicle. We also talked about some of the cool blogs that Dan has written, the very helpful Podcast XRay that was released earlier this year which helps you find out things about show's like release days, enclosure tags and the brand new analytics Dashboard from Bumper presents another look at podcast metrics focusing in consumption and verified listens to a show. Yes downloads are cool but have you ever appreciated the Time Spent Listening (TSL) to your show?Dan has given us a look into new Bumper Dashboard for their clients and we make a few observations about the Sound Off Podcast. Some we knew; some we did not.We also touched on some other lingering podcast questions like, does it matter what day of the week you release an episode, and what's the role in video for your show. The answer to both is... YES!I did not ask Dan about his feelings about Rogers (mis)handling the attempted shuttling of Pacific Content, nor the ensuing sale to Lower Street... there were podcast marketing strategies to pursue after all.A Transcript and video version of the episode is available on the network page.Please sign up for the SOUNDING OFF Newsletter. Full of all the verbal diarrhea you never knew what you were missing in your life.Thanks to the following organizations for supporting the show:Nlogic - TV & Radio Audience Data SolutionsMary Anne Ivison at Ivison Voice. - Make her the female voice of your radio station.Matt Fogarty Voiceovers - It's great to have Matt back for 2024 supporting our show. Make him the imaging voice for your radio station by contacting him through his website.Megatrax - Licensed Music for your radio station or podcast production company.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Carlota G is the midday host at 107.5 XTreme Radio in Vegas. We discussed her early career path in radio, starting as a vinyl collector in high school and later transitioning from a medical billing job and then into broadcasting. She was inspired by DJs like Dusty Street and Doug "Sluggo" Roberts of KROQ fame. Carlota shared stories of her early days in radio, including moving from Southern California to smaller markets like Porterville and Fresno to get her start. She quickly moved up to doing overnight shifts at age 22. We discussed the music scene in the 1990s, including the diversity of alternative radio and the impact of Napster. Carlota honed her interviewing and programming skills over the years, including a long tenure at KCRW.Carlota opened up about the challenges she faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including losing her job and suffering long-term health effects. She praised her current boss, Cat Thomas, for his forward-thinking leadership.We also talked about the potential for revitalizing rock radio by blending alternative and rock music, and Carlota shared her experience of turning around the struggling X107.5 station in Las Vegas. She believes radio can make a comeback by focusing on community engagement, personality, and great music.A video and transcription of this episode can be found on our network page. Thanks to the following organizations for supporting the show:Nlogic - TV & Radio Audience Data SolutionsMary Anne Ivison at Ivison Voice. - Make her the female voice of your radio station.Matt Fogarty Voiceovers - It's great to have Matt back for 2024 supporting our show. Make him the imaging voice for your radio station by contacting him through his website.Megatrax - Licensed Music for your radio station or podcast production company.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

At least once a year I get the urge to do an episode about career management and what to do when there are mass layoffs from the impactful culprits like Bell, Audacy, iHeart, Corus, Rogers, or Cumulus. Yes these aren't the only companies that lay off staff but it feels worse when public companies do it. Over the last few months, Corus and Audacy have faced restructuring and rumours abound of being de-listed from their local stock exchange. If you are thinking a career change is inevitable, I have an episode 8 years in the making.I met Mac Prichard back in 2016 at Podcast Movement in Chicago. He had just started his podcast "Find Your Dream Job". Although the podcast is Portland, OR based, all the strategies and tactics to finding your dream job apply universally. In this episode, we will flashback to 2016 when I had no idea WTF I was going to do for work, and I appeared on Mac's show and they helped point me in the right direction. You'll also pick up some strategies on networking, applying for jobs, and managing your online presence. Yes, you need a LinkedIn Page. With that said, please connect to mine right now. Please subscribe to Mac's Podcast "Find Your Dream Job". PLEASE - share this episode with a friends who can benefit from all this amazing career advice. Thanks to the following organizations for supporting the show:Nlogic - TV & Radio Audience Data SolutionsMary Anne Ivison at Ivison Voice. - Make her the female voice of your radio station.Matt Fogarty Voiceovers - It's great to have Matt back for 2024 supporting our show. Make him the imaging voice for your radio station by contacting him through his website.Megatrax - Licensed Music for your radio station or podcast production company.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, I speak with Rob Grant from 101.5 Today Radio in Calgary. Back in 2022 I went to Spain and landed in Seville for the Copa Del Rey final between Real Betis and Valencia. On my Instagram I wondered why there were so many firecrackers going off. It was Rob who explained that it is the Valencian way of saying hello - it football terms. Over the years we have had football chats, and some radio ones as well. This conversation features some of the many things I love including radio, politics, history, and football. In fact - these could be my top 4 things to talk about.In this episode, Rob explains what hospital radio is, and how he wanted to do radio since the age of 9. We spend a little time discussing radio in Nelson, Kelowna, Edmonton and Calgary. He also made some prognostications for football and future elections.Thanks to the following organizations for supporting the show:Nlogic - TV & Radio Audience Data SolutionsMary Anne Ivison at Ivison Voice. - Make her the female voice of your radio station.Matt Fogarty Voiceovers - It's great to have Matt back for 2024 supporting our show. Make him the imaging voice for your radio station by contacting him through his website.Megatrax - Licensed Music for your radio station or podcast production company.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeff Woods returns to the show. He was a guest way way back in 2016 in Episode 2. Back then we spoke about his (then) new book, Radio, Records and Rockstars. Shortly after came the creation of a successful radio show and podcast. In this episode you will hear his process of creating an episode, the non-use of AI in research, and the influence of the late Bob Mackowycz on his career, and Woods' affinity for new music and live performances. Jeff discusses his experience in radio and podcasting, as well as his new book about relationships and sexuality. Additionally, he discusses the motivation behind his book and the importance of promoting acceptance and understanding of diverse sexualities.The New Book is here! The Kickstarter is underway!The Podcast is Here! And if you are a radio program director - pick up his show. Thanks to the following organizations for supporting the show:Nlogic - TV & Radio Audience Data SolutionsMary Anne Ivison at Ivison Voice. - Make her the female voice of your radio station.Matt Fogarty Voiceovers - It's great to have Matt back for 2024 supporting our show. Make him the imaging voice for your radio station by contacting him through his website.Megatrax - Licensed Music for your radio station or podcast production company.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Back in August of 2020, I had Alan Cross on the show to talk about the issues facing the music industry in the wake of the pandemic. In 2022, we could have declared that music was back but we still didn't have any real numbers with so many people trying to make up for lost time, missed shows, and those forgotten tickets stored somewhere on the internet.In this episode, music geek Alan Cross sits down to tell us about some of the latest trends in music, why concert tickets are priced the way they are, who sets the prices and why some tours are being cancelled before they get started. Yes we talked about two of the biggest stories surrounding concerts: Taylor Swift's success and the U.S. Government's Ticketmaster/Live Nation Anti-Trust lawsuit. We also discussed two Canadian based music documentaries that radio junkies might be interested in, including Hate To Love: Nickleback and the CFNY: The Spirit of Radio. A transcript and a video version of the show are available on our network site.Thanks to the following organizations for supporting the show:Nlogic - TV & Radio Audience Data SolutionsMary Anne Ivison at Ivison Voice. - Make her the female voice of your radio station.Matt Fogarty Voiceovers - It's great to have Matt back for 2024 supporting our show. Make him the imaging voice for your radio station by contacting him through his website.Megatrax - Licensed Music for your radio station or podcast production company.Also we added the Sound Off Podcast to the The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.