Three Signs Of Optimism In The Audio Industry

I note that all of these are to do with, or because of, or in spite of, the lack of big money floating in the audio-verse...plus 3 things I'm currently listening to

Maybe it’s the grey February skies that lasted a whole extra day this year. Or the relentlessly depressing news cycle. Or it’s just me…but I’ve been actively looking around for things to feel optimistic about.

And this has taken some effort, I can attest. But I’ve found a few things that I’d like to share with you here.

1 - Sound Fields - a new publication about audio documentary in theory and practice

Sound Fields is a new publication and event series that will look solely at the theory and art of audio documentary. It launched in digital format this winter (with an NY-based live event, I understand).

It was founded by a small group of editorial board members, a group that’s comprised of artists, journalists, academics, and documentarians who want to extend the conversation and community about the world of audio documentary. Future goals include live events, commissions and hard copy publications.

For now, you can find it for free online. They accept Venmo donations if you are interested in lending your support. Go to their site for details.

Why this made me feel optimistic:

In a time when so many things feel like they are shutting down, or shutting out voices, here’s one where it sprouted instead. As I read the different chapters, I could feel poetry happening; both in the literal form and also in the tension that that poetry exposes.

It was lovely to read the Forward, Letter from an Editor, the written version of Sayre Quevdo’s 21 Questions that I first heard at Resonate. His presentation prompted me to stop him in the hallway to say thanks (for bringing a level of soulful reflection to a place that could easily have been just about the industry). Also in here is Jess Shane’s piece What Do I Owe You? This piece followed many of the themes we tackled in our interview recently.

It’s a gem. There’s so much in there…you can unlearn about Tanzania, read a shit-hot interview transcript, and even listen to some things too.

2- Short Audio Formats Are Back!

Julie Shapiro and John DeLore launched Audio Flux at Resonate in the fall. Last week they released the second cohort at OnAir Fest.

Audio Flux celebrates short works, up to a 3-minute maximum. Thus far it’s been commissions, but coming in April, they will announce a call-out.

Why this made me feel optimistic:

Sure, it could be long. Most audio works are very, very veryvery long. We’ve gotten used to this. We expect to sit down with the host for hours at a time. But what if they were short instead?

No two Audio Flux stories are alike. They prove that you can make a sound-rich experience in under three minutes. And they also show that a simple can be a good story; that there is magic in a short moment, or that small things are actually big things in disguise.

It only takes a few minutes to feel inspired. Listen here.

3 - New Things Are Being Launched, Indies Aren’t Dead, and It’s Not Just All Celebrities, All The Time

Well, except maybe at Lemonada, which appears to have cornered the market on celebrity podcasts. Last week it was David Duchovny. This week it’s Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.

And while I can admit that I do enjoy listening to Julia Louis-Dreyfus (she’s been my go-to comedy gal since Seinfeld launched—gasp!—34 years ago), I do feel that being named Best Podcast of the Year by Apple, when they launched with an episode which was just a Zoom call with Jane Fonda (which cut out halfway through).

I’m like…ok…has this all gone awry? I chose to think that Wiser Than Me won the many awards that it did win based on the premise: That it’s time to actually hear from older women who have some wisdom to share, rather than shelving them away with a pair of knitting needles in a rocking chair. And I can get behind that. But the craft of it?

Yes, Julia LD is a great interviewer and she’s funny even when she’s not trying to be. I guess I just get grumpy when something with those production values is the full-scale winner. Not that the show was cheap to make - I bet it’s very expensive for her to read her Host-Read Ads. But if that’s what we are to look towards as the guiding principle of this industry, I have some bigger worries, but you already knew that.

Three Series I’m Listening To Now:

With Dignity is a short series that chronicles Casey House, the first AIDS hospice in Canada. The limited series is hosted by Nick Green, a playwright who wrote Casey and Diana, a play that tells the story of when Princess Diana came to visit Casey House in 1991. The play has a sold-out run in 2023 at The Stratford Festival, a theatre town in Ontario that’s also famous for being the hometown of Justin Bieber. This short series is now home for the oral history that explains how Casey House came to be, in 1988, at a time in the world when the world knew nothing about AIDS. It’s produced by Pipa Johnson, who created Expectant, which I wrote about at the end of our climate-anxiety summer last year, with a theatre company in Toronto called Soul Pepper. It’s nice to see institutions investing in these sorts of stories.

The Retreat

I was charmed to learn that it’s actually The Financial Times that got behind The Retreat, the investigative podcast that explores the dark side of meditation. It’s part of their new show, Untold, of which The Retreat is the first strand. A few episodes in, and I’m hooked, and haunted, and a bit relieved that I have been satisfied with my own failure at meditation and not tried to pursue this any further than the occasional 12-minute app sesh.

Lowlines

A totally indie podcast that’s utterly transportive. Produced by audio-newcomer Petra Barran, it creates a sound-rich sonic universe for you to slip into (and disappear if you so wish).

Back soon with some more notes and ideas from the art and the craft of narrative storytelling.