PodMov Daily: Friday, March 5

Episode 384: Week Download Complete

The Ambies: 2021 Awards Nominees Announced

Nominees have been announced for The Ambies, The Podcast Academy’s inaugural Awards for Excellence in Audio. The 1,000+ submissions are a sign of how expansive the industry has become, writes Natalie Jarvey of The Hollywood Reporter. The ceremony will stream live on YouTube and Twitch on May 16.

The nominees list includes 164 shows and individuals across 23 categories. With four nods each, Dirty Diana, The Left Right Game, and Wind of Change lead the pack. To make the final cut, a “blue ribbon” panel of over 100 Podcast Academy members listened to an average of 35 hours of podcasts over two rounds.

Podcast Academy chairman Donald Albright, president and co-founder of Tenderfoot TV, says of the selections: “They are just as diverse as the creators, both in front of and behind the mic, and are reflective of the far-reaching medium. On behalf of the membership, we congratulate all of the nominees.”

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A Chat with Arielle Nissenblatt of EarBuds Podcast Collective

In the four years she’s been in the podcast industry, Arielle Nissenblatt has done just about every audio-related job in the book. For Sounder.fm’s monthly interview series SoundHER, Larell Scardelli spoke with Nissenblatt about the EarBuds Podcast Collective, demanding diversity in podcast spaces, and more.

Nissenblatt is the co-creator of the Outlier Podcast Festival, runs the EarBuds newsletter, works Community Management at SquadCast, and even co-hosts a show. Despite her impressive schedule, she fits in plenty of quality listening time: “I think it’s like five hours a day normal-speed, but it’s actually like four.”

“I always want to root for the underdog,” Nissenblatt says of podcast discovery. “I think that the problem is underdog and indie is often synonymous with like bad, you know, but there are underdogs that are good. We just need to be able to find them.” Thanks to her energy and passion, we are.

BrandStoryCasting: B2B Podcasting Made Simple

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As you build brand awareness and generate leads, the sound of your message matters. BrandStoryCasting delivers high-quality podcasts you’ll be proud to share with your network and beyond. Not sure if you’re ready to commit to a series? Take a single-episode test drive at a special introductory rate.

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Here's what else is going on:

• Ah, phrasing: “The Era of Audio Creators Has Arrived” is an actual article in The New York Times. Taylor Lorenz refers to “a new kind of influencer” out of Clubhouse and a new associated company. “Unlike podcasters, […] they perform for a live, interactive audience, much like streamers.”

• Ask me: Behold the interview checklist from reporter Jerome Socolovsky, the NPR Training team's Audio Storytelling Specialist. He made it “with the help of a number of NPR show editors to help you survive any interview and give your show one memorable conversation after another.”

• Golden fiddle: “There are ways to make (at least some) real money in podcasting without selling your soul,” writes Evo Terra in Podcast Pontifications. In addition to, or instead of, ads, Terra suggests premium show feeds, paid consulting, merchandising, and “whatever the hell NFTs are.”

• Global sound: PodFest Cairo, Egypt’s first podcasting conference, is this Sunday at 7:00 pm EET/11:00 am CT. The free virtual event will feature keynote speaker Linah Mohammad (The Washington Post's Post Reports). Sessions will be in English and Arabic, with translation both ways.