From the Big Apple
Niels, where does your fascination with New York City come from? You seem to be going back as if you’ve got some serious business to run over there or at least got hooked to some local drug that requires you to come back frequently for a revitalising dose.
Well, as Helena De Groot, who works and lives in NYC, stated in a talk she had with Alexander Lippeveld at the DS Podcast festival in Oostende: there is a strong and vibrant podcast community in NYC. And I think I got a touch of that during my last two visits.
It was election time during my October/November trip. The Brooklyn front yards were decorated in an eclectic mix of political posters and Halloween attributes. The spooky season really was upon us.
Being outside the infamous Trump rally at Madison Square Garden was my first confrontation - from a European point of view - with how much the odds were in Trump’s favor to be re-elected. Something that, weeks later, still leaves a sour taste in the mouth of many of my progressive New York friends.
Besides the political observations, I was definitely focused on the podcast industry. It turns out it’s been a rough year already. Investors are pulling out of different platforms and media companies, resulting in people getting fired. In a tight market full of freelancers, the job openings specifically for podcasts are scarce. So, everyone is hustling, more than ever.
I kinda sensed that brutal market in the podcast maker meetup that Arielle Nissenblatt organized in Prospect Park (Google Maps), the beautiful green lung of Brooklyn. It is one of my favorite places in the city. And yes, I count Brooklyn as part of the city (not just Manhattan!). It was a very welcoming and social meetup. As usual: passionate creators easily find each other, even when a loud cover band is blasting away for hours, a couple of feet next to them.
One of the conversations I had was with Alyssa Fronk. She recently quit here regular day job to focus on her own passion project. I admire these kinds of moves. They are seen as risky or even irresponsible to people outside of creative industries. It means living on savings and choosing a clear direction.
I think this often is a brilliant way to develop your own brand, a strong identity in your field and it just shows the amount of dedication creative people can have to go all in on a project. You should listen to her podcast! Let Me Be Fronk. (Youtube - Spotify - Apple Podcasts)
Earlier that week I had briefly met Arielle already at Gotham Production studios for an interesting session on podcast marketing with Christy Mirabal. She is a marketing expert with over 10 years of experience in marketing strategy and execution for some big players. Think Sony, SiriusXM and Stitcher, for example. I wrote down some of the things I’ve learned - as a non-marketing professional - in this LinkedIn post below.
One of those key points: why the hell would you be on a platform like TikTok if NONE of your existing or potential audience is there? Because other shows are? There are way better ways to spend your time and money than aiming without focus. There are too many podcasts in my opinion that forget the fundamental marketing questions when getting their show our there. Some other insights are in the LinkedIn post.
Then I was also at MCM Creative Productions. A video first studio in Manhattan that had just opened their brand-new podcast studio. With fully customizable LED’s and a moving wide-angle camera that fascinated me, since it takes the video first approach to even consider building a setup like this. It creates shots that are rather engaging, compared to the more boring still shot, I would say.
There’s a lot of talented podcasters I would still like to speak in New York City. Their insights in the huge and evolving market and the sharing of knowledge are what I’m in for. It’s fascinating to reflect on some of these habits and possibilities from a European perspective. If you are a USA based podcast professional and you’d like to have a chat, let me know! niels@wajoo.studio.
Last year I had a blast at New York Times, This American Life, WYNC/Radiolab and more. You can read more about those adventures in this post.
PS: Did I already tell you I’ve seen one of my favorite actors of all time? TOM HANKS! He was one of the guests during the taping of Seth Meyers Late Night in the stunning Rockefeller building that I joined. This is not podcast related, I’m just fangirling for a bit. Let me. Hehe.
