It’s been a busy start to the autumn period as members continue to thrive with new projects, collaborations and shows. Thanks to all who came to the Cardiff Podcast Leaders’ Lunch this week, it was a great event and good to connect with some of our Welsh and Bristolian members. Thanks to Bengo for organising. Our next Podcast Leaders’ Lunch is in London – date to follow.
A warm welcome to our newest members: Emily Crosby Media, Comunique, Rhiannon Media and The Next Chapter Studios.
New Launches
It’s been a busy month for video podcasting news:
HERA – the UK’s “first female-founded video podcast platform” – has launched. HERA is: “a media technology company on a mission to unlock the untapped $7.3 billion podcast market for women.” Founded by Rosie Allimonos, Nishma Patel Robb, and Kirsty Hunter.
Flightcast launches – “a new platform designed to redefine video podcast distribution, analytics and growth”. Flightcast proposes to be “an all-in-one solution for distributing, analysing, and growing video podcasts across major platforms including YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. It unifies every stage of the publishing process, from multi-platform uploads to in-depth performance analytics.”
Global acquires The Fellas Studio and launches Global Studios. Global, the Media & Entertainment group, has revealed details of a brand-new Studio for video-first original podcast content, created largely via their acquisition of The Fellas Studio.
Policy and the Creative Industries Public Policy Campaign
Following our public policy campaign over the summer urging the Government to recognise podcasting and audio as a core UK Creative Industry, we are in the process of collating the final letter, and data, which we will share with the Secretary of State. Follow us on LinkedIn to be kept up to date with further progress.
We are really pleased to let you know that DCMS is currently in the process of commissioning market research into the size and scope of the UK podcast and audio market as a result of our lobbying around this – thank you to Hannah Brankin for her tireless work. We will let you know once this has been completed.
AudioUK News
New member rates – a new structure for AudioUK membership fees were confirmed at this year’s AGM and they came into effect on 1st October. You can view the new structure on our website here.
Audiotrain – last month we relaunched Audiotrain, our skills and training programme dedicated to raising the bar in podcasting in audio in partnership with the BBC. Built around three core skills areas: Creative, Business, and Technical, each session is led by top industry professionals and packed with practical insights, tools, and tips you can apply right away, whether you’re producing shows or managing content at scale. All 19 masterclasses are available now at www.audiotrain.co.uk and are free and accessible to all. Please share with your teams and industry contacts so as many people as possible can benefit from this brilliant resource. We will be continually updating the resource with new content.
The APAs are being judged as you read this – we had a 46% increase in entries year on year – congratulations to Katie Banham and her team for getting us this far! Keep an eye out for the shortlist later this month. The ceremony is the 27th November, we will let you know when we release tickets so you can get there first.
Member News
We were thrilled to see the independent podcast and audio sector so strongly represented at this year’s British Podcast Awards. A testament to the industry’s incredible work and creativity. Our congratulations again to AudioUK members who won on the night including Audio Always, Aunt Nell, Insanity, Novel, Persephonica, Platform Media, Prison Radio Association, Reduced Listening, Sea Salt and Mango, Sony Music Entertainment, Whistledown and Yellow Ant.
Upcoming Events
Contracts and Licensing – Ask Us Anything – we’re running a repeat of our online legal drop-in session with partners Mint & Co on Thursday 16th October. Email juliette.nicholls@audiouk.org.uk to confirm your place. It’s an open and free forum for AudioUK members to ask any burning legal questions you might have.
Working Groups – we have a newly expanded range of working groups. The first meeting for the Branded Podcasts group is coming up on 22nd October at 10.30am, if you’d like to be involved, or would like more information about our other working groups, please contact katie.banham@audiouk.org.uk
Radio TechCon returns on 25th November and we’re delighted to be able to offer AudioUK members a £25 discount on tickets. Please use the code ‘AUK25‘ in the ‘Use promo, credit or voucher’ link on the checkout page. Please do not share this code outside of this network.
Eurowaves, the biweekly newsletter covering the European podcasting industry, has launched its Ultimate Guide to European Podcasting Events. This living list brings together all the conferences, festivals, and awards you’ll want on your radar. You can keep up to date here.
BBC
We continue to advocate on behalf of those members who work with the BBC. Most recently, we have:
Met with the BBC Chair, Samir Shah, to discuss the Charter Renewal and BBC Studios.
Met with Richard Knight, Director of Audio at BBC Studios, to discuss the impact of BBC Studios on the wider market.
Raised a number of issues across a number of different networks that members were having.
Consulted on the updated BBC Audio Release policy, including a MoU between the BBC and AudioUK to agree a two year trail period before the release is rolled out in full.
The BBC are hosting a webinar on the BBC’s digital growth strategy and the launch of a new BBC Sounds podcast commissioning round on Tuesday 14th October, 12.30-13.30. Speakers include Jonathan Kanagasooriam (Head of Content, BBC Sounds); Rhian Roberts (Commissioning Editor, Podcasts and Formats, Speech); Richard Maddock (Lead Commissioning Editor, 5 Live), Lizzi Doyle (Assistant Commissioner) and Lorraine Okuefuna (Assistant Commissioner). More details regarding the new commissioning round will be published on the BBC Radio Commissioning website on 14th October. You can register for the webinar here.
Member Benefits
We recently circulated the updated suite of policy documents, reviewed by our partners at WeDoHR – you can access the templates in the members area of the website.
And a reminder that AudioUK members are able to access an exclusive 10% discount on their first deal with Getty Images. With access to over 615 million premium assets, you can elevate your long-form episodes and create scroll-stopping social promotions that draw your audience in. Contact Philippa Ash at philippa.ash@gettyimages.com for more information.
And for the full list of benefits, log into the members’ area on the website.
Industry News
Do you have a new podcast? Or an older one you’re proud of? Would you like it featured in Sunday Times Culture? Clair Woodward would like to hear from you.
pening up access to shows programmatically could see the flow of money into podcasts increase. Read here for more.