PodMov Daily: Thursday, November 14

Episode 87: Your Thursday Podthoughts

Why Trademark Your Podcast? Essential Steps and Where to Start

Jeanine Percival Wright of Editor & Publisher has written an excellent guide to trademarking your podcast. A podcast’s “brand collateral,” made up of its title, logo, and artwork, grows in value as the show develops. As Wright reminds us, “trademarking these elements helps you protect your work and maintain control over your content.”

There’s no need to be an expert on securing intellectual property to begin. Wright describes key components like how to avoid infringing on others’ media by performing a trademark search and how to choose an easily trademarked name (go with unique, or better, made-up).

“If you’re serious about your podcast, it’s best to file your trademark application before you experience any issues,” Wright counsels. “Protect your intellectual property as early as possible, and save yourself from a lot of headaches on down the line.”

Editing a Podcast Interview: NPR’s Guidelines for Serious Territory

Editing a podcast interview can be intimidating for many reasons, especially when the conversation has a serious tone or context. How do the experts decide what to cut and what needs to be left intact?

Jerome Socolovsky has created a thorough and thoughtful guide for NPR Training to help make these judgments. “Deciding what to take out and what to leave in is essentially an editorial call,” Socolovsky writes. “Journalists are deciding what is relevant, and at the same time what is worth listeners’ time.”

Clearly you’ll want the segment you air to be as true to the dialogue as possible, but there may inevitably be times when ‘cleaning up’ tape or removing a question is the right decision. Find out “what you never cut” and more indispensable interviewer’s code from this piece and NPR’s Ethics Guide.

Podcasts and Stuttering: James Hayden Tackles Vulnerability Head-On

“If you had told my 21-year-old self […] that he would be appearing on podcasts to openly talk about stuttering and openly stutter on them, he would’ve laughed at you,” writes James Hayden. “Today, at 26, I’m constantly looking for platforms to share my voice and my story.”

The lack of visual cues and personal rapport between a podcaster and audience is precisely why the medium challenges and appeals to Hayden. Typically people “can tell by my facial expressions that it’s no big deal. That’s clearly not the case with a podcast.”

Hayden has found appearing on podcasts, including My Stuttering Life by Pedro Pena, to be liberating: “Although I’ve only done two podcasts, they’ve given me the biggest opportunity to get far out of my comfort zone.”

Bulletin Summary: Some Updates from Apple Podcasts

Happy Thursday, readers, and to those of you that use Apple Podcasts, here’s a heads up. The full bulletin will be in your inbox, but for your convenience:

♦The platform now has the capability to “hide shows while being reviewed for approval.” According to Apple’s update email, “this way you can easily manage the launch of new shows directly from Podcasts Connect.”

♦Also, the aspect ratio of host and guest headshots has been updated. If your show has a “Hosts & Guests” section, you’ll need to contact Apple to update or add images.

Cheers,

Team PM

Here’s what else is going on:

• Listen up: Renowned architect and acoustician John Storyk will present “Podcast Studio Design: Necessities, Variations and Options” at The Video Show in Washington, D.C. on December 5. He’ll discuss how his company “developed studios from the ground up” for both Stitcher and Gimlet Media.

• Movie night: Producer Eliot Wolf describes the new eight-part scripted crime thriller Hunted as more of a cinematic audio series than a podcast. Starring Parker Posey as a deputy U.S. marshal in Texas, the drama’s immersive feel comes from the film background of its sound design team.

• Bought out: In Hot Pod, Nicholas Quah questions the effect of Big Entertainment’s cash influx on the podcasting ecosystem. “Digital gentrification,” where value is funneled disproportionately toward shareholders, is the concern: “These half-baked, commoditized products could crowd out actual native works.”

• Red carpet: The nominees for the 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards have been announced. Held at iHeart’s Los Angeles theater, the January 17 event aims to “honor the most entertaining and innovative podcasts of 2019” in 30 categories. Fans vote for “Best Podcast of the Year” on Twitter.