Tag: podcasts

Why You Should Follow Your Favorite Podcasts on Spotify

July 6, 2022

Purple hand holds a phone displaying podcast What's New feed on Spotify

Many podcast fans have their own personal go-to’s: tried-and-true podcasts that teach you something new, bring a smile to your face, or connect you with the world at large. Loyal listeners tune in regularly, whether a few times a month, once a week, or daily, to the shows that just click. At Spotify, we’re always working to help those dedicated fans not only continue to enjoy their favorite shows, but to find them and know about them even more simply and easily. That’s where the “Follow” button comes in.

Hitting “Follow” allows you to stay up-to-date with your shows, access them easily, and sink into the listening experience with ease. Here are three features to fall in love with:

Get notified when new episodes drop

Stay plugged in with your favorite shows and never miss a moment thanks to notifications with every new release. All you have to do is hit the bell icon at the upper-left section of the show page to get notifications on your phone every time an episode drops—whether that’s for a news show you stream daily or that biweekly podcast you simply can’t wait for.

Find it quickly in What’s New

Back in July 2021, we launched What’s New, which makes it easier than ever to catch all the latest songs and episodes from the creators you follow. Plus, it’s even updated in real time, so you know you’ll get to listen to new content just as it’s released. All in, if you’re not sure what to listen to or where to start, head to What’s New—your one-stop shop for any new content from all the podcasters and artists you follow. We’re continuing to iterate and make this feature even simpler, allowing you to jump back into your favorite shows quickly, so stay tuned.

Seamlessly search

Did you know that following a show makes it more likely to come up in your search results? That means that if there’s a show that piques your interest but you don’t have time to dive into it right that second, you can simply follow it. Then, when you go back to search that one keyword from the title that’s stuck in your memory, it’s more likely to pop up quickly. We’re constantly evolving Search with the latest technology to simplify your searches. Find out more here.

(Not really a podcast person? You can Follow your favorite artists for notifications, easy search results, and access in the What’s New Feed too!)

Discover the Pioneering Influence of Disco Singer Sylvester With Our New Podcast Series, ‘Sound Barrier’

June 22, 2022

When Jason King was a kid, his family had a compilation full of disco hits from K-tel records in their music collection. On that tape was the song “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” from the singer Sylvester. Jason—who is a musician, a nationally recognized journalist, and the Chair of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music—didn’t know much about Sylvester at the time. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if Sylvester’s signature falsetto belonged to a man or a woman. But he knew it was his favorite song on the tape.

Sound Barrier host Jason King.

As an adult, Jason’s love of this song led him to learn more about Sylvester, an openly gay Black man living in 1970s America who dressed in drag and challenged gender conventions with a fervor few other musicians possessed. Though he wasn’t a household name, Sylvester’s innovative sound and persona paved the way for countless artists—particularly LGBTQ+ artists—to express themselves freely. And this is a big reason why Jason’s appreciation for Sylvester has made its way into his journalistic and academic work.

This has set the stage for the launch of Sound Barrier, our new documentary podcast hosted by Jason that aims to explore artists who have made pioneering contributions to music and culture. Fittingly, he has turned his focus to Sylvester for season one—exploring not only the singer’s life, but also the influence Sylvester has continued to have on BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists after his death.

In celebration of Black Music Month and Pride Month, For the Record caught up with Jason to talk about his journey creating Sound Barrier, Sylvester’s one-of-a-kind music career, and why Sylvester is more relevant today than ever before.

The description for Sound Barrier labels Sylvester as “a musician who is perhaps even more relevant today than in the ’70s and ’80s.” In your eyes, what makes him so relevant right now?

Sylvester is someone who was an intersectional figure before intersectionality was a buzzword. He’s somebody who was operating at the nexus of being Black and being gay and being femme when those things were still considered stigmas—they still are to some degree. But they were certainly considered stigmas at that time.

He was just unapologetically himself despite incredible pressure from his record label to be more straight and more normative. Every time he met that pressure, he pushed back and he became more himself. And so I think he’s instructive to contemporary generations of how to be yourself at all costs.

Are there any particular eras or aspects of Sylvester’s life that you’ve focused on over the course of the season?

It covers him chronologically in every aspect, but one thing we take a close look at is his musicianship. I feel like Sylvester is often celebrated for being a cultural icon, which he was, and for being a pioneer around issues of identity. But he did it through the lens of music, and he was a phenomenal musician.

I really wanted to talk about the way his career evolved over the years and to push back against the narrative that Sylvester’s best work was in the ’70s and everything that came after that was an afterthought. I think his ’80s work is some of his most creative work, particularly given that he had an AIDS diagnosis in the late ’80s and was still continuing to make really important music.

Sound Barrier features many notable LGBTQ+ artists who span multiple generations. How did you decide on these featured guests?

Well, we knew that we wanted to have scholars who really studied and thought about Sylvester’s life. So that includes Joshua Gamson, who wrote the biography of Sylvester, The Fabulous Sylvester.

We knew that we wanted to have his collaborators, his friends, and people who knew him at that time who could testify about who he was: singers like Jeanie Tracy and Martha Wash, as well as Patrick Cowley, who was an innovator with synthesizers. And then we knew that we wanted to also have the younger artists who may not have known Sylvester, who may not be vested connoisseurs necessarily, but who have been touched in some way by Sylvester’s music or his spirit.

So I reached out to people whom I felt were in Sylvester’s musical genealogy. That included Alex Newell, famous for their work on Broadway and Glee; that included Billy Porter, who I think is very outspoken about how much of a role Sylvester played in Billy’s own self-acceptance—before and after he won his Tony award for Kinky Boots; that included the vocalist and rapper Mykki Blanco, who’s maybe not directly in Sylvester’s vocal tradition but is very much influenced by Sylvester in other ways.

In reporting out season one of ***Sound Barrier*, the team managed to unearth some never-before-heard demos and interviews from Sylvester. How were you able to discover these, and what do they reveal about him?**

I thought I knew a lot about Sylvester, but I learned a lot through this series about what made him tick, his musical choices, his aesthetic, and the pressures that he faced.

And having heard Sylvester’s unreleased early 1970s demos before, I felt like one of the things I could bring to this series was to connect our team to Universal Music Group executive Harry Weinger, who has been in possession of these unheard recordings. They were produced by Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, and they’re fascinating because they capture Sylvester as a work in progress who was really figuring out who he was and how to be his most authentic self. And he did that in these first recordings.

In one of the demos, he’s singing “Superstar,” which is a song that’s incredibly famous because it’s a Leon Russell song that was performed by the Carpenters and later by Luther Vandross. Sylvester is doing maybe the first cover of it, but it’s astounding because he’s taking these baby steps to figure out how to deploy that incredible falsetto of his.

There are now so many queer artists with non-queer fan bases, and vice versa. Do you think Sylvester would be surprised by that if he were still here?

I think he would have thought that was the most normal thing possible. But he was lucky enough to come of age at a moment when there were new possibilities for out gay artists to actually achieve success on their own terms. He was someone who benefited from that change in the culture, but he also ushered in the rise of a kind of androgyny in ’70s and ’80s pop music.

There’s something in the podcast that I call the “Sylvester Effect.” When you look at the rise of artists in the ’80s like Dead Or Alive’s Pete Burns, who was definitely gender-bending, or Boy George, or somebody like Bronski Beat’s Jimmy Somerville, who had that huge hit “Smalltown Boy” about coming out and being gay, I don’t think any of that would have been possible without Sylvester.

I think he helped open up this space for people to just be themselves. But also, for greater acceptance of LGBTQIA+, artists in the ’80s who would have all kinds of fan bases. And today we have someone like Frank Ocean, who has an incredibly diverse fan base. That’s really a result of the kind of freedoms that Sylvester helped push for.

Learn more about the life and influence of Sylvester with season one of Sound Barrier.

Spotify Closes Acquisition of Findaway, a Global Leader in Audiobooks

June 16, 2022

Today, we’re excited to share that Spotify has closed the acquisition of Findaway, a global leader in digital audiobook distributions. As our CEO, Daniel Ek, said at our 2022 Investor Day last week, “We believe that audiobooks, in their many different forms, will be a massive opportunity.” Now, with Findaway officially part of the band, we are looking forward to innovating, growing, and rethinking what the audiobooks market can be—together.

Findaway works across the entire audiobook ecosystem with a platform and offerings that serve authors, publishers, and consumers. Their technology will help propel Spotify into the rapidly growing audiobooks industry with substantial market opportunity: the audiobooks market is expected to grow from $3.3 billion to $15 billion by 2027. Our global head of audiobooks, Nir Zicherman, said in his 2022 Investor Day presentation, “We believe this presents a unique opportunity to introduce music and podcast listeners around the world to audiobooks and drastically expand that market.”

In addition to offering the largest catalog of distributed titles, Findaway has actively worked to democratize audiobooks through leading technology tools that independent authors can use to publish and distribute their stories to new audiences. We plan on accelerating the growth of these tools, with the goal of scaling and expanding the audiobooks market overall.

Findaway’s technology infrastructure will enable Spotify to quickly scale its audiobook catalog and innovate on the experience for consumers, simultaneously providing new avenues for publishers and authors to reach audiences around the globe. Chapter one begins today . . .

How Gen Z Is Using Audio To Hear and Be Heard

June 14, 2022

It’s no secret that the influence of Gen Z is rapidly growing when it comes to culture, commerce, and everything in between. Whether they’re deciding the latest social media trend or the hottest new artist, these young tastemakers are the ones setting the agenda. That’s why each year, Spotify releases our Culture Next report to show how Gen Zs are shaping audio streaming and culture at large—and to explain what that means for advertisers on Spotify.

For the 2022 Culture Next report, we interviewed dozens of Gen Zs around the world—and surveyed thousands more—to identify the most influential audio trends that the world should take notice of. From there, we pulled together the five main takeaways (which you can find in our full report). But we realized that these play into a bigger, overarching idea: Gen Z is blurring the line between creation and consumption.

Redefining the boundaries of creation

While this idea is unfolding in many ways, it’s especially relevant to the relationship between creators and their fans. What was once a dynamic built around a one-way broadcast is now an interactive, two-way exchange.

On Spotify and Anchor, for example, the recent addition of polls and Q&As allow listeners to instantly weigh in on topics discussed in new episodes. And thanks to the emergence of platforms such as Discord, Twitch, and TikTok, Gen Z creators are hearing from fans as much as fans hear from creators. In fact, 47% of Gen Zs said they’ve joined a digital community, such as a subreddit or Discord, for fans of a particular creator.

And Gen Zs aren’t just using these digital spaces to get the latest info on their favorite stars. When it comes to up-and-coming stars in particular, fans in these communities are using these platforms to hang out with other fans, as well as with creators themselves.

“We’re all just kind of homies” is how 21-year-old singer-songwriter Dreamer Isioma put it.

Emotional-support podcasts

But Gen Z musical acts aren’t the only ones forging these intimate bonds with their fans. The world of podcasting now has its own stable of celebrity hosts, and highly engaged fans are cultivating communities around them. And this interactivity isn’t just serving as an effective way for creators to better reach their audiences—it’s fundamentally changing the way listeners relate to the content they’re consuming. Comparing Q1 2022 to the year prior, we’ve seen an approximate 40% increase in average podcast listenership among Gen Zs on Spotify.

And podcasts in particular have become more than just entertainment for Gen Z. They’ve become a form of content Gen Z can turn to for perspective and understanding as they tackle the increasingly complex issues they’re facing in their lives. Gen Z creators are finding themselves surrounded by a loyal base of fans who are using these podcasts as a form of support. Mental Health, Gen Z’s top podcast genre, experienced a roughly 62% increase in streams among Gen Zs in Q1 2022 compared to the year before.

Keeping it real

To better understand what makes podcasting such an appealing format for Gen Z to process ideas and topics that might be controversial (or even taboo), For the Record sat down with Kayla Suarez, cohost of Teenager Therapy, to hear her insights on the roles that honesty, authenticity, and vulnerability play in building lasting audiences and communities among Gen Z listeners.

One of the defining traits of Gen Z content creators seems to be how interactive they are with their community—much more so than previous generations. In your eyes, what has led to this dynamic?

I think with Gen Z, there is such a sense of community, especially online. People can just find groups of people, or podcasts, or even brands that have similar interests. With Teenager Therapy, we’re advocating for mental health and being authentic and vulnerable. And with that comes being honest with our audience and establishing that foundation of trust and honesty. We want to get to know them and then get them to trust us and know that we’re not experts or therapists, but we are going through the same experiences as them.

I think Gen Z really values that because I think nowadays it’s easy to see if a brand is just doing something just as a facade or if they’re being really honest. And so I think if, you know, a brand or company is just transparent about that, it goes a long way.

We noticed that Teenager Therapy was created with Anchor. Were there any features that attracted you to it, or are there any ways you use it to engage your fans?

Gael was the one who figured that out, but I remember him mentioning that Anchor seemed to be the most efficient way to upload a podcast. It also didn’t cost anything, which was a big factor. And recently, Spotify put an option to ask questions or put polls at the end, which we’ve been using. For example, the last time we were talking about cheating in relationships, we put a question: “Do you consider this to be cheating or not cheating?” It’s just little ways to engage our listeners.

What is it about podcasting as a format that allows for these conversations to unfold in an honest way?

Our audience is very open minded, and they’ve built a comfortable space for us to talk about topics that need to be discussed, even if they’re uncomfortable. We always just advocate for being respectful toward each other, regardless of differing viewpoints. I think just acknowledging that not everybody’s going to be correct and encouraging people to have an open mind play a huge role.

I also feel like the fans are very comfortable with this form of media. The hosts are right in your ear, and it feels like you’re just in the conversation with them in a very safe environment. I feel like that really resonates with Gen Z because a lot of us do feel lonely and stressed at times, and we don’t always feel like we can go to certain people for that.

Going back to the idea of how Gen Z creators build relationships with their communities, do you have any favorite ways of interacting with your listeners?

We use platforms such as Instagram and Discord to ask our listeners questions. And Spotify Live is one of my personal favorite things to use because it brings together our listeners in the same room. It’s a very intimate setting where it feels like I can basically just say anything. And for the most part, it’s a lot of our regular listeners who come on stage to talk about their problems. It’s really nice to be able to put a voice to our listeners’ names, especially if they’ve been there for so long.

Have there been any episodes or moments from Teenager Therapy that felt particularly impactful?

One of the more impactful episodes that I remember was when I was about to start college. I was talking about some of the feelings of guilt I was experiencing over leaving home, especially being from a first-generation family. I wasn’t sure how people would react to it because I hadn’t really found a group of people that had really shared that feeling.

It ended up getting a lot of attention from a lot of people feeling the same way. It felt nice knowing I wasn’t the only one struggling with the transition to college. We even had people giving advice, which was really impactful for me because it was something that I had been struggling with for a long time and still struggle with a little bit.

Take a deeper dive

While the evolving boundaries between creator and consumer is definitely a theme to keep an eye on when it comes to Gen Z, it’s just one part of the Culture Next 2022 report.

We’ve also dug up insights and findings on how Gen Zs use audio streaming to help shape their identities, how they’re embracing nostalgia in their own unique way, and how they’re using Spotify to express themselves. And while this report was created with advertisers in mind, we think everyone can learn a few things from these trends.

To get the entire scoop on how this rising generation is transforming culture in real time, be sure to check out the full Culture Next report here.

10 Tips for Gen Z Podcast Creators

May 27, 2022

Cam Kirkham, Chloe Vardy, Rhyanna Coleman, and Jonny Mounsor speaking at the podcast show

Making a podcast isn’t as daunting as it used to be. With easy-to-use editing tools like Anchor and 120 million podcast listeners in the U.S. alone, there’s never been a better time for passionate creators of any age to start a podcast.

Cam Kirkham and Chloe Vardy, the hosts of the Spotify Original podcast TMI with Cam and Chloe, are the experts when it comes to creating a podcast that captivates younger audiences. On their show, the couple weighs in on the conversations and questions Gen Zers have but are too embarrassed to ask their friends. So May 26 at The Podcast Show in London, the duo joined Spotify Executive Producer Rhyanna Coleman and Spotify Creator Partnerships Manager Jonny Mounsor for a conversation about their experience building a hit podcast and the podcasting trends that resonate with young audiences.

Following that talk, For the Record had the chance to pick the brains of the four podcast experts on ways Gen Z creators can build a successful podcast. Below are their top-10 tips to help your show stand out from the crowd.

Be your authentic self.

Lots of people might be able to host a show or format, but your unique selling point is that you are unique. Being honest and presenting your truest self will help your audience connect with you.

Don’t be afraid to stray from the norm.

Just because someone’s format, style, or duration works for them, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best fit for you. Experiment with some new and different ways of doing things to find what suits you best. Not every podcast has to be an hour long!

Consider adding video to your podcast using Anchor.

People are consuming podcasts in lots of different ways now, and young audiences have become accustomed to watching podcasts—so why not cater to that audience? Allow people to connect with your show however they love to listen.

Utilize your existing channels to build your podcast brand.

Podcasting is way more than just an audio file. You should be building around the podcast with other great ways for your audience to get involved. That could be Instagram, Reddit, bonus content—whatever it is for you, make sure you’re thinking about the whole brand.

Look for the gaps in the market.

With millions of podcasts now available on Spotify, it’s really important to stand out and have a niche in order to increase your discoverability.

Be consistent with releases (whether always-on or seasonal).

Building listener habits is so critical in podcasting. You want your audience to know which days your episodes are released and be waiting for that content to drop!

Make sure you prep and research ahead of recording.

Preparing topics, doing research for guest interviews, and planning special features and segments in advance will have positive results on your output.

Focus on the best-quality audio and recording equipment available to you.

You don’t necessarily need to have the most expensive equipment to achieve good audio quality. Your audio may not sound like a studio from the very start, but take the time to learn how to make it sound as good as it possibly can. Poor audio quality is one of the biggest reasons people choose not to listen to a podcast.

Define your ideal listener.

Don’t forget that the most important part of your podcast is your audience. It’s really important to know exactly who it is that you’re speaking to when you’re recording, as this will help you tailor the content to ensure it’s exactly what they want.

Be proactive in promoting your podcast.

Nobody will talk about your podcast unless you do! With word of mouth representing 25% of all discoverability in podcasting, you want to shout about your podcast at every opportunity. There are more tools than ever to help promote your shows, so don’t ignore any of them.

Now that you have some tips, you’re ready to get started. Head over to Anchor to get access to all the tools you need to create, distribute, and monetize your podcast. And in the meantime, hear more from Cam and Chloe in the latest episode of their podcast below.

Ford CEO Jim Farley Launches New Podcast ‘DRIVE’ featuring Jimmy Kimmel and Dax Shepard

May 19, 2022

Cover art for podcast DRIVE with Jim Farley

It’s hardly a surprise that Ford CEO Jim Farley is a car guy. As a kid he was nicknamed Jimmy Car Car—a moniker that follows him to this day—and there’s hardly a moment when Jim isn’t talking about cars.

But he now has a new claim to fame: He’s the host of a new podcast called DRIVE premiering May 25. Jim is stepping behind the mic to interview friends, comedians, and fellow auto enthusiasts about the ways cars unite us all.

In anticipation of DRIVE’s premiere, For the Record caught up with Jim to find out what attracted him to podcasting, the passion that exists around car culture, and what he’s learned along the way.

What led you to do a podcast in the first place?

I’ve been passionate about cars basically my entire life, and the podcast was a chance to connect with others about our mutual love for the things that get us around. Having these conversations helps me recharge my batteries and connect with my love for cars outside of business.

Drive is a show about passion and what drives you, through the lens of cars. Why did you choose podcast as a medium for this conversation?

It seemed like the best platform to capture a full conversation. I learn by talking to people, and sometimes you need a solid block of time to dig deep with someone.

Your podcast guests include Dax Shepard, Jimmy Kimmel, The Duke of Richmond, and Patrice Banks. How did you decide on those individuals? What made their stories speak to you?

Each of my guests fascinates me in different ways. I wanted to talk with people from different walks of life who also shared a love of cars. When we first started, we had a big list of people we wanted to talk to and just narrowed it down over time.

There are so many different ways to be passionate about cars—driving, collecting, racing, fixing, general trivia—what do you think makes them such a beloved item and symbol for people?

Everyone has a story in their life that’s linked to a car. You don’t have to be a car collector or auto exec to connect through these stories. People are passionate about vehicles. Yes, they can physically take you from point A to point B, but what happens on these journeys is often what you remember.

What have you learned since creating and hosting this podcast?

Well first, I learned how to host a podcast! When I first started, I wasn’t all that good. But I got better. And I’m extremely grateful to my guests like Dax and Jimmy, who were gracious with their time and advice about how to do this.

Second, in talking to some really inspiring people, I learned that almost none of them had a sense of destiny that they’d find success or be great. All of them had doubts, failures, and adversities. It was humbling, and a reminder that what matters is the sense of purpose and passion to do what you love and do it well, not the sense that everything will work out.

What is your go-to song or podcast for listening in the car?

Whatever my kids want to listen to! They are in charge!

What drives you, personally?

A duty to my family and my grandfather, who was employee #389 at Ford. I truly believe Ford can help make the world a better place, and that’s a legacy I’m willing to sacrifice for.

Curious what you can expect once DRIVE premieres? Find out by listening to the trailer below.

The Eyes and Ears Behind Spotify’s New Podcast Editorial Submission Form

May 11, 2022

A phone displaying spotify's podcast "editor picks" on front of a blue background

Every day, members of Spotify’s Podcast Editorial team curate selections of their favorite podcasts across genres like true crime and sports, interests like television and music, and impactful topics like gender equity and finding community. And with a constant flow of new podcasts for the team to wade through, there’s always plenty to choose from—which also means it’s possible that the next great podcast could slide through the cracks.

To help better find, review, and amplify the latest, greatest, and most diverse indie podcasts, the Podcast Editorial team recently opened up an editorial submission form for the U.S. podcasting community. Each applicant will be considered for their editorial features, with the aim of highlighting a wide range of formats (including video podcasts), backgrounds, and experience levels. And if you do get an editorial feature, you’ll have earned a coveted spot as one of Spotify’s featured podcasts across one of our community destinations or in our New Releases section. Read more about how to get your podcast featured on Spotify.

Spotify Head of Editorial Carmen Dukes and Podcast Programming Lead Isabella Way are two of the many individuals who have brought this tool to life, and they help spearhead the team that will be listening to each and every podcast. For the Record asked them to tell us more about the importance and potential impact of the editorial submission form.

How does this new tool help listeners find even more podcasts to love?

Carmen: We believe that listening is for everyone, and no matter what you love, there is a podcast for you. By creating this submission tool, we’re hoping to amplify this idea by going beyond genre to find cool stories—on the obscure, the fringe, the funny, the playful, the inspirational, and everything in between. Ultimately, this is about recognizing the full breadth of human storytelling beyond the traditional and well-known podcasts and turning up the volume on more voices.

We know that listeners listen to podcasts for a sense of belonging, to learn, and to be a part of something bigger. We want to help them discover new creators and new shows that match their identity, tastes, and interests by better connecting them more with all the great podcasts that are uploaded to Spotify every day.

Why is it so important to use tools like this to surface these indie creators?

Isabella: Many creators don’t have money for marketing or know someone who knows someone, so we want to use this tool to give voice to all creators and give them a place where they can be featured, celebrated, and grow their audiences. Indie podcasting by nature is a passion project. Creators make their podcasts from their closets with little money, but they want to say something, tell a story, or make someone laugh—or all of the above—so what’s better than helping these creators shine some light on their work? The more listeners and fans, the more these podcasters can make and start to see in exchange for their work.

How does this tool help make podcast discovery easier for the listener?

Isabella: Podcast discovery is hard, even for our team sometimes, and finding the podcasts that interest you can be a mystery. We want to make this discovery process easier, especially in finding podcasts from communities and voices that you may relate to or want to hear from. It’s easy to hear and know about the big, power-player podcasts, but maybe that’s not your thing. Our goal with the submission form is to help fans find their new favorite podcast and feel like they were in it from the very beginning of the fandom.

How has Spotify been growing our Podcast Editorial team in order to support this initiative?

Carmen: Our editorial strategy is called Community Made Here. We seek to cultivate a sense of belonging and community between listeners and creators through our editorial curations. In order to do that, it was important that I build (and continue to build) a team that represents the diversity of our listeners and our creators. My team is amazing and they are so passionate about serving their listeners—this starts with empathy, understanding, and being empowered to share their own fandoms and passions with others. I believe that people care about people not things, and at the core of our work is a relentless focus on connecting humans to humans through shared experiences, shared joy, and shared ambitions.

Why are you personally excited for this new offering?

Isabella: Being an Asian American who grew up in Laramie, Wyoming, I felt othered and different, and I found that I often did not connect with some mainstream stories—as much as I really wanted to fit in. I really love that podcasting as a storytelling medium carries a low barrier to entry to allow for so many different types of people.

I’ve been working on getting this out to creators for the last eight months and am really thrilled that we have already received so many submissions. There are millions of podcasts out there, and we want to identify and surface creators doing great work. We will review every submission that comes in to give everyone an equal chance to be heard.

Carmen: Joy sharing is contagious, aspirational, and necessary work. To me, creating a podcast is a mode of joy sharing, and we’re happy to dedicate more space on Spotify to indie creators who subscribe to that idea. This is an opportunity for an indie creator to be recognized for their storytelling and creativity.

Like what you hear? Submit your podcast with the new editorial submission form, then come chat with the U.S. Podcast Editorial team and Anchor creators on the Spotify Podcasts Discord.

Play Your Part and The Roster Team Up To Deliver The Fearless, a Podcast Page Focused on Gender Equality in Sports

March 28, 2022

Some of the biggest cultural moments of the past five years point to an increasing recognition of athletes as being more than just the sports they play. Whether it’s tennis star Naomi Osaka choosing to opt out of interviews for her mental health or NBA legend Lebron James refusing to “shut up and dribble” when it comes to the deaths of Black people at the hands of police, conversations about social justice and sports are now par for the course. As part of Women’s History Month, we felt it was important to call attention to the battle for equality that women in the sports world fight every day.

Which is why two of our podcast editorial communities, the social justice–focused Play Your Part and the sports culture–focused The Roster, have teamed up to deliver The Fearless hub on Spotify. Centered around identity in sports as well as the economic realities behind the sports industry, the inaugural edition of The Fearless features a selection of podcast episodes curated by Play Your Part editor Ayo Oti and The Roster editor Deondric Royster, along with guest-curated playlists that offer a deeper insight into the equality struggles women face in sports.

“Whether sexism, racism, homophobia, or even a mix of those and other societal ills, women—trans women included—have gone about breaking barriers in spite of the ones put in their way. Our page is an opportunity to share their stories and the creators that amplify them,” Ayo and Deondric told For the Record in a joint statement. “We believe there is an opportunity to explore this intersection between social justice and sports, and we hope that listeners interested in either or both issues will engage with The Fearless.”

Flipping the script

One of the guest curators for this edition of The Fearless is Dr. Amira Rose Davis, whose podcasts Burn It All Down and American Prodigies not only explore the intersection of gender, race, and equality in sports, but also the ways in which it parallels the world at large.

“I think one of the old adages is that sports reflect society, and people have pointed to that to say, well, the way that women are treated within the world of sports reflects a lot on how they are regarded by their state, by their government, by society as well,” Amira explained in an interview with For the Record. “I also push it a step further and like to think about sports as a laboratory. And so it’s not just that it’s reflecting society, but it also has a capacity to lead the way both in good and bad ways on many things.”

On Hear Us Now: Black Women in Sports, Amira’s playlist for The Fearless, she includes two episodes of her own from American Prodigies. These episodes share the stories of two Black gymnasts: Dianne Durham, who was left off the 1984 Olympic team despite winning the all-around at the 1983 World Championships, and Betty Okino, who was part of the USA team that took bronze in the 1992 Games. But looking beyond the challenges these athletes faced, Amira also considers how they worked to create a more sustainable space for Black gymnasts.

“A lot of what Betty details is echoed in other interviews we’ve conducted about the sport of gymnastics and other aesthetic sports like figure skating,” Amira revealed. “It is about body image ideas—about being voiceless. And with Betty, we have a conversation about how being a Black girl on top of being a woman made it harder to speak out.”

The path to payback

In addition to this intersection of gender and race in sports, another major point of emphasis for The Fearless is pay equity. While working on the hub, Ayo and Deondric were both inspired by the film LFG, which documents the U.S. Women’s National Team’s (USWNT’s) highly publicized legal battle for pay equity following their triumph at the 2019 World Cup. And it’s a big reason why Ayo and Deondric made a point to feature Alex Andrejev’s podcast, Longshot: Payback.

Like LFG, Longshot: Payback explores the social and economic issues revolving around the USWNT and women’s soccer at large. Along the way, Alex, a reporter who covers Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Charlotte FC for the Charlotte Observer, takes a closer look at one pro soccer player in particular: Jessica McDonald, who has become a prominent face in the USWNT’s pay equity battle.

Jessica also contributed a playlist to The Fearless, which you can find on Spotify.

There’s a lot that’s inspirational about Jessica’s story, which includes overcoming a tumultuous childhood to win a national championship with the University of North Carolina and then recovering from a devastating knee injury early in her career to win the 2019 World Cup with the USWNT. But what stands out most is that the 34-year-old forward is one of the few single mothers currently playing in the NWSL, and prior to this year’s NWSL labor agreement, she had never had a season as a professional athlete where she made more than $42,000.

“It’s a little bit jaw-dropping to hear Jessica say, ‘Yeah, I was only making $15,000 in my first few years in the league.’ Like, here’s a World Cup winner saying this, and really, it was a mountain,” Alex reflected in an interview with For the Record. “It was after her time playing for the NWSL’s Houston Dash that she was working at an Amazon packing facility during an offseason and she was like, ‘I don’t want to do this to my son anymore. I feel like it’s time to kind of throw the towel in.’”

Alex hopes that Longshot: Payback can help bring more exposure to athletes with stories similar to Jessica’s and help put into perspective just how little they’re being paid relative to the sacrifices they make. But Alex’s other hope is that this will inspire women in sports to continue banding together and demanding fair compensations from the leagues, federations, and organizations they play for.

This is a sentiment shared by Amira, who has seen the same phenomenon play out in the WNBA with its players securing a historic labor agreement, and she believes that the next step in pay equity in sports is to consider the idea of “fair compensation” in a more holistic way.

“Why are there players who are six foot and change squeezing onto coach flights? What about child care? What provisions are there for parents, for pregnancy, for adoption, for multiple forms of family making?” Amira asked. “We’re obviously seeing there’s more of an emphasis on not needing to work multiple jobs just to afford life as a professional athlete. And I think one of the big things that we need to continue to see happen are these widespread collective bargaining agreements that include provisions about quality of life and not simply that paycheck number.”

Interested in learning more about the ways that gender inequality affects women in sports? Head over to The Fearless and start streaming one of the podcast episodes handpicked by our teams at Play Your Part and The Roster. And for more on the film LFG, be sure to check out the curated podcast picks from the editorial community over at Listen If You Watch.

Spotify’s Sound Up Program Seeks Aspiring Podcasters To Create Shows Geared Toward Kids and Families

March 8, 2022

Since 2018, Spotify’s Sound Up program has worked with underrepresented creators to help them develop their podcasting skills and grow audiences. To date, Sound Up has launched in 12 markets—including Japan, Italy, the U.S., U.S. LatinX, India, Mexico, Australia, Sweden, the U.K., Germany, Brazil, and Argentina—and has offered participants educational resources, technical support, and opportunities to build relationships with fellow podcasters.

Along the way, Sound Up alumni have gone on to create award-winning shows while Dope Labs, FOGO, Search Engine Sex, and You Heard Me Write have all ranked on Spotify’s podcast charts.

For its latest iteration, Sound Up will be working with 10 up-and-coming podcasters in the U.S. who create high-quality content geared toward kids, families, and co-listening experiences. With the U.S. population growing ever more diverse, family content from underrepresented creators is needed now more than ever. Sound Up is on a mission to discover and elevate those voices.

So what can you expect from Sound Up Us: Kids & Family 2022 edition? Check out these four fast facts:

1. Up to 10 underrepresented creators will be part of the program for five months

Those selected for the program will go through a three-phase immersive experience where they will hone their storytelling, get more experience in audio production, and workshop their ideas around creating high-quality content for families. Along the way, they’ll receive support and guidance through in-person training and virtual workshops while also having access to all of the technology and tools needed to succeed.

2. This is the first family-focused iteration of Sound Up

After launching a sports-focused program in the U.K. earlier this year, Sound Up is now turning its attention to families. Why? Simply put, co-listening is an increasingly great way for kids and their families to spend quality time together while enjoying content that is educational and entertaining. Sound Up wants to continue to support this trend by allowing underrepresented creators with fresh perspectives to deliver more content to listeners in this space.

“We are so excited to launch our very first genre-specific programs this year. We are always adapting the program to reflect the changes in the medium and with our focus internally on Kids & Family it just made sense to expand our curriculum,” said Natalie Tulloch, Global Lead of Sound Up at Spotify.

3. Creators will work with top professionals

Sound Up’s longtime partner and collaborator Rekha Murthy, an independent podcast strategist, along with Dawn J. Fraser, a professional storyteller and communications coach, will be facilitating this program, giving participants the chance to collaborate closely with some of the best in the industry.

“Our hope is that we will be able to bring experts from the field of childhood development in conjunction with our amazing facilitators and podcast experts into the classroom to help participants tell stories that connect with their audience,” Natalie explained.

4. Participants will create their own pilot episodes

In order for participants to put what they’ve learned about the art and strategy of podcast creation and development to the test, they will create their own fiction or nonfiction pilot episode that accounts for kids’ intellectual and emotional well-being, and allows families to listen together.

Sound Up is accepting applications for this program now through April 8. On March 24 at 3 p.m. EST, Dawn, along with Spotify Head of Kids Audio Content Verdell Walker, will host a Q&A session on Spotify Greenroom to answer any questions applicants may have. For more on application requirements, be sure to click here.

For more information on Sound Up, and to check out the incredible podcasts that Sound Up alumni have created so far, check out the official Sound Up website.

Programa Sound Up, do Spotify, Continua Trazendo Vozes Diversas Para Podcasts

March 4, 2022

Desde o seu início em 2018, o programa Sound Up, do Spotify, ajudou criadores sub-representados a colocar o pé – e o microfone – na porta da podosfera. O objetivo do programa é diversificar as vozes no espaço de áudio, fornecendo oportunidades educacionais, recursos e acesso a especialistas do setor aos participantes. Os graduados do Sound Up em outros mercado, como Estados Unidos e Austrália, já lançaram programas populares que foram classificados nas paradas de podcast do Spotify, incluindo Dope Labs, Search Engine Sex, You Heard Me Write, e FOGO: Fear of Going Outside.

Agora, quatro anos após sua criação, o Sound Up foi lançado em 12 mercados (Japão, Itália, Estados Unidos, LatinX, Índia, México, Austrália, Suécia, Reino Unido, Alemanha, Brasil e Argentina) e ajudou centenas de graduados a encontrar oportunidades na criação de podcasts.

Como funciona o Sound Up? Em cada mercado, 10 participantes são selecionados para fazer parte do programa. Os criadores passam por uma experiência imersiva virtual ou presencial, na qual aprimoram sua narrativa, obtêm mais experiência na produção de áudio e têm a chance de desenvolver suas ideias. Após o término da sessão, os participantes continuam a receber apoio do Spotify durante todo o ano, enquanto criam um piloto profissional de sua ideia, que tem a oportunidade de se tornar um Original Spotify.

Em 2020, à medida que pessoas ao redor do mundo alteravam seu estilo de vida com base nos protocolos de distanciamento social e nos riscos do COVID-19, o Sound Up também teve que se adaptar. “Foram dois anos incrivelmente difíceis em que, globalmente, tivemos que ajustar o programa aos treinamentos virtuais”, compartilhou Natalie Tulloch, Líder Global do Sound Up. “Mas também tivemos a chance de ver histórias maravilhosas começarem a tomar forma, e agora que lançamos novos podcasts, é incrivelmente gratificante.”

O For the Record viajou pelo mundo para conferir alguns dos participantes atuais e recém-formados do programa para saber mais sobre suas experiências e os podcasts que estão criando.

Maickson Serrão (Brasil)

Pavulagem – Contos da Floresta, de Maickson, é um podcast de não ficção sobre histórias do folclore amazônico. O criador está atualmente trabalhando com sua equipe para mapear o enredo de todos os 12 episódios do programa. “Vamos falar de criaturas como a Mãe da Mata, uma lenda muito famosa aqui, mas também de contos desconhecidos como o pássaro que come gente”, compartilhou Maickson. “Já entrevistei alguns contadores de histórias tradicionais. Essas pessoas vivem dos muitos rios da região e também são anciãos dos povos indígenas da Amazônia brasileira.” Durante sua experiência no Sound Up, Maickson apreciou como o programa era prático, enquanto também permitiu muitas oportunidades de liberdade criativa. “Espero que todos os participantes do Sound Up tenham muito sucesso e que o programa continue impactando a vida de muitos outros jovens talentos em nosso país. Muitas histórias precisam ser contadas sobre as pluralidades e a diversidade florescente do Brasil”, disse Maickson.

Samara Costa (Brasil)

ZUMBIR é um podcast que destaca os contos de ficção afrofuturistas. A criadora, Samara Costa, está atualmente trabalhando em ideias para episódios, e isso envolve muitas viagens. Ela visitou recentemente Angola como parte de sua pesquisa. “As histórias e mitos angolanos tiveram um grande impacto em mim, especialmente o som, o misticismo e o estilo de vida dos jovens angolanos”, explicou Samara. “Acho que a combinação de referências brasileiras e angolanas serão elementos que servirão de base para a criação de alguns episódios de ZUMBIR.” Sua parte favorita da experiência Sound Up foi ver seu episódio piloto ganhar vida, de uma ideia no papel a um episódio polido. “Pude sentir a voz dos personagens, como eles falam, andam, como riem, tudo pelo áudio… Foi fantástico! Tudo isso foi criado com o apoio técnico e emocional de todos os envolvidos no Sound Up, desde mentores e organizadores até amigos que fiz durante o programa.”

Caio dos Santos (Brasil)

Raízes é um podcast documental que conta histórias de famílias brasileiras. Na primeira edição, Caio investiga suas próprias origens em um esforço para responder uma questão: De onde eu vim? O participante do Sound Up está atualmente trabalhando na produção da primeira edição e já escreveu dois roteiros. “Eu aposto que muita gente se conectará com o carisma dos personagens e suas histórias”, compartilhou Caio. Para a próxima fase de sua jornada, o podcaster espera continuar contando contos do povo nordestino.

Lucas Moura (Brasil)

O podcast de Lucas Moura, Calunguinha, o cantador de histórias é um podcast fictício que espera expandir a imaginação de crianças negras compartilhando a história dos negros no Brasil e no mundo. Lucas está atualmente trabalhando na finalização de roteiros e encontrando as vozes certas para fazê-los brilhar. Sua parte favorita no programa Sound Up foram os artistas com quem conseguiu se encontrar para o podcast. “Convidamos um artista (Lázaro Ramos) para participar do nosso podcast e ele aceitou”, explicou Lucas. “Ali ficou claro para mim que o Sound Up é um projeto que pode ajudar a ampliar meus horizontes.”

Gigi (Reino Unido)

Gigi acabou de terminar o programa e está trabalhando em seu podcast Journeys With Grace, que é uma história de descoberta imersiva e independente. Da narrativa aos detalhes de direitos autorais, a experiência de Gigi no Sound Up trouxe muitos novos conhecimentos sobre a indústria. Sua parte favorita do processo foi desenvolver o trailer e o episódio piloto. “Cobrir meu trailer com paisagens sonoras e adicionar áudio atmosférico aqui e ali foi divertido para mim – um pouco estressante e divertido”, explicou o podcaster. “Sou criativo, então, ver minha visão se concretizar foi um momento super legal. Esse sentimento é insubstituível.” Agora, seu foco é desenvolver o roteiro e encontrar uma maneira de convidar os ouvintes para o seu programa de maneira íntima. “Estou ansioso para o processo, para minha visão estar aí para todos e o podcast encontrar e ressoar com as pessoas que deveria.”

Para criadores do Reino Unido e da Irlanda interessados no programa Sound Up, as inscrições estão abertas até 14 de março de 2022. Envie sua inscrição aqui.

Fatima Hellgren Camara (Suécia)

Podcast de Fatima Hellgren Camara, Välkommen till Ön (Bem-vindo à Ilha) é um olhar cômico sobre pessoas irritantes e seus hábitos frustrantes. Toda semana ela discute essas pessoas e se elas devem ser enviadas para uma ilha deserta muito, muito distante. A série acaba de terminar sua segunda temporada, durante a qual Fátima aprendeu a editar e produzir seus próprios episódios. Sua parte favorita do Sound Up? “Ter tido a oportunidade de aprender um conjunto de habilidades totalmente novas”, compartilhou a apresentadora. “No entanto, minha parte favorita foi me familiarizar com o equipamento técnico.”

Roba Kadhem (Suécia)

Atualmente em sua terceira temporada, Lyssna Tjejer (Listen Girls) é um podcast co-hospedado por Roba Kadhem e Aya Said. No programa, as duas discutem temas do Pink Room, o maior grupo de mulheres do Facebook da Escandinávia. Por meio do Sound Up, Roba experimentou um maior senso de comunidade entre outras pessoas do setor. “Foi muito aconchegante ver essas pessoas incríveis todas as semanas e conhecê-las, mesmo por meio de uma reunião virtual”, explicou Roba.

Arunima Tenzin Tara (Índia)

Em Dinner by Ear, a apresentadora Arunima Tenzin Tara dá dicas aos ouvintes sobre como preparar um jantar em apenas 30 minutos. Atualmente, Arunima está testando novas receitas, desenvolvendo versões rápidas de jantares que ela adora e lendo o máximo possível sobre a história dos alimentos. Ainda no meio de sua participação no Sound Up, toda essa preparação permitirá que ela comece a gravar os episódios assim que chegar a hora. Sua parte favorita da experiência até agora foi entender por que ela estava fazendo esse show e quem era sua audiência. “Acho que esse exercício foi algo que gostei porque me obrigou a analisar criticamente o conceito do meu podcast e restringir a audiência a um tipo muito particular de pessoa”, explicou Arunima. “Esse foco me ajudou a ter clareza sobre o tipo de receitas a serem incluídas no programa.” À medida que avança para a próxima fase, Arunima terá a chance de gravar sons na cozinha, criar músicas originais e passar um tempo aperfeiçoando sua voz.

Shreya Dasgupta (Índia)

O podcast Imagined Tomorrow, de Shreya Dasgupta, apresenta uma variedade de especialistas que usam seus conhecimentos em ciência e tecnologia para especular sobre o futuro da Índia. Shreya está usando as ferramentas que aprendeu na Fase Um de sua experiência no Sound Up para se preparar para uma nova temporada; atualmente ela está no processo de delinear, pesquisar e reportar processos para os próximos episódios. Até agora, ela teve duas partes favoritas do programa. “O primeiro foi conhecer podcasters incrivelmente criativos”, disse Shreya. “O segundo foi aprender com os mentores do Sound Up e outros da equipe do Spotify, que não apenas depositaram sua fé na minha ideia, mas também foram super comprometidos e entusiasmados em ver minha visão.” Shreya em breve entrará na Fase Dois de sua experiência no Sound Up.

Peppa Smith (Austrália)

Yaama Mama é um podcast criado por Peppa Smith que se concentra na paternidade de crianças indígenas. Por meio de temas sérios e comentários sarcásticos, o programa examina e desconstrói a maneira como os pais são ensinados a criar os filhos em sua comunidade. Peppa está atualmente em um momento de pesquisa, trabalhando na coleta de informações para serem usadas em seus episódios. Uma de suas partes favoritas do Sound Up foram as pessoas que teve a chance de conhecer. “Tive reuniões em que encontrei pessoas extremamente inteligentes e talentosas na indústria”, disse a podcaster. “Também tive a sorte de que os outros membros da turma para 2021 são uma multidão brilhante, engraçada e incrivelmente bonita.”

Esses criadores e suas histórias são apenas uma pequena amostra dos podcasts que estão sendo desenvolvidos por meio do Sound Up. Para saber mais sobre o programa e como funciona para amplificar vozes sub-representadas, visite o site do Sound Up.

Spotify’s Sound Up Program Continues to Bring Diverse Voices to Podcasting

February 28, 2022

Since its start in 2018, Spotify’s Sound Up has helped underrepresented creators get their feet—and mics—in the door for podcasting. The program’s aim is to diversify the voices in the audio space by providing participants with educational opportunities, resources, and access to industry experts. Sound Up graduates have released popular shows that have ranked on Spotify’s podcast charts, including Dope Labs, Search Engine Sex, You Heard Me Write, and FOGO: Fear of Going Outside.

Now, four years after its inception, Sound Up has launched in 12 markets (Japan, Italy, the U.S., U.S. LatinX, India, Mexico, Australia, Sweden, the U.K., Germany, Brazil, and Argentina) and helped hundreds of graduates find careers in podcasting.

How does Sound Up work? In each market, 10 participants are selected to be a part of the program. The creators then go through a four-week virtual or in-person immersive experience where they hone their storytelling, get more experience in audio production, and have a chance to workshop their ideas. After the session ends, the participants continue to receive year-round support from Spotify as they create professional pilots of their ideas, which have a chance to become a Spotify Original.

In 2020, as people around the world altered their lifestyles based on social distancing protocols and COVID-19 risks, Sound Up also had to adapt. “It was an incredibly difficult two years where, globally, we had to adjust the program to virtual trainings,” shared Natalie Tulloch, Sound Up Global Lead. “But we also got the chance to see wonderful stories begin to take shape, and now as we launch new podcasts, it feels incredibly gratifying.”

For the Record traveled across the globe to check in on a few of the current and recently graduated program participants to learn more about their experiences and the podcasts they are creating.

Gigi (U.K.)

Gigi just finished the program and is working on her podcast, Journeys With Grace, which is an immersive self-contained story of discovery. From storytelling to copyright details, Gigi’s Sound Up experience taught her plenty about the industry. Her favorite part of the process was developing the trailer and pilot episode. “Layering up my trailer with soundscapes and adding atmospheric audio here and there was fun to me—a stressful kinda fun,” explained the podcaster. “I’m a creative, so seeing my vision come to fruition was a super-dope moment. You can’t really replace that feeling.” Now her focus is on developing the script and finding a way to invite listeners into her show in an intimate way. “I’m looking forward to the process, the vision being out there, and the podcast finding and resonating with the people it’s supposed to.”

For U.K. and Ireland creators who are interested in the Sound Up program, applications are open now through March 14, 2022. Submit your application here.

Fatima Hellgren Camara (Sweden)

Fatima Hellgren Camara’s podcast Välkommen till Ön (Welcome to the Island) is a comedic look at annoying people and their frustrating habits. Each week she discusses these people and whether they should be sent off to a deserted island far, far away. The show just finished its second season, during which Fatima learned how to edit and produce her own episodes. Her favorite part of Sound Up? “To have been given the opportunity to learn an entirely new skill set,” shared the host. “However, my absolute favorite part was getting acquainted with technical equipment.”

Roba Kadhem (Sweden)

Currently in its third season, Lyssna Tjejer (Listen Girls) is a podcast cohosted by Roba Kadhem and Aya Said. On the show, the two discuss topics from Pink Room, Scandinavia’s largest Facebook group for women. Through Sound Up, Roba has experienced a greater sense of community from others in the industry. “It was so cozy to see these incredible people every week and get to know them so well even through a virtual meeting,” explained Roba.

Arunima Tenzin Tara (India)

In Dinner by Ear, host Arunima Tenzin Tara gives listeners tips on preparing dinner in only 30 minutes. Arunima is currently testing out new recipes, developing quick versions of dinners she loves, and reading up on as much food history as possible. Still in the middle of her Sound Up program, all this preparation will allow her to start recording episodes as soon as it’s time. Her favorite part of the experience thus far has been determining why she was making this show and who her audience was. “I think this exercise was something that I enjoyed because it forced me to critically analyze my podcast concept and narrow the audience down to a very particular kind of person,” explained Arunima. “This focus has helped me gain clarity about the kind of recipes to include in the show.” As she moves into the next phase of the program, Arunima will have the chance to record sounds in the kitchen, create original music, and spend time perfecting her voice.

Shreya Dasgupta (India)

Shreya Dasgupta’s podcast, Imagined Tomorrow, features a variety of experts who use their backgrounds in science and technology to speculate on India’s future. Shreya is using the tools she learned in phase one of her Sound Up experience to prepare for a new season; she’s currently in the outlining, researching, and reporting process for upcoming episodes. So far, she’s had two favorite parts of the program. “The first has been getting to know such incredibly creative fellow podcasters,” said Shreya. “The second has been learning from the Sound Up mentors and others on the Spotify team who not only placed their faith in my idea, but have been super committed and enthusiastic about seeing my vision through.” Shreya will soon be entering phase two of her Sound Up experience.

Maickson Serrão (Brazil)

Maickson’s Pavulagem – Contos da Floresta (Pavulagem – Tales From the Forest) is a nonfiction podcast about Amazonian folklore stories. The creator is currently working with his team to map out the storyline for all 12 of the show’s episodes. “We’ll talk about creatures like Mãe da Mata (Mother of the Forest), a really famous legend here, but also unknown tales like the bird that eats people,” shared Maickson. “I have already interviewed some traditional storytellers. These people live off the many rivers in the region and are also elders from Indigenous people from the Brazilian Amazon.” During his Sound Up experience, Maickson appreciated how hands-on the program was while still allowing plenty of opportunity for creative freedom. “I hope that all participants from Sound Up become very successful and that the program continues to impact the lives of many other young talents in our country. Many stories need to be told of Brazil’s pluralities and blooming diversity,” said Maickson.

Samara Costa (Brazil)

ZUMBIR is a podcast that highlights Afrofuturist fictional tales. The creator, Samara Costa, is currently working on ideas for episodes, and that involves a lot of traveling. She recently visited Angola as part of her research. “The Angolan stories and myths made a big impact on me, especially the sound, mysticism, and lifestyle of young Angolans,” explained Samara. “I think that the combination of both Brazilian and Angolan references will be elements that will serve as a basis for the creation of some ZUMBIR episodes.” Her favorite part of the Sound Up experience was seeing her pilot episode come to life, from an idea on paper to a polished episode. “I was able to feel the voice of the characters, how they talk, walk, how they laugh, all through audio.… It was fantastic! All of this was created with the technical and emotional support of everyone involved in Sound Up, from mentors and organizers to friends that I made during the program.”

Caio (Brazil)

Raízes is a documentary podcast that tells the stories of Brazilian families. In the first season, Caio investigates his own origins in an effort to answer one question: Where did I come from? The Sound Up participant is currently working on producing the first season and has already written two scripts. “I’m betting that a lot of people will connect with the charisma of the characters and their stories,” shared Caio. For the next phase of his journey, the podcaster is hoping to continue telling tales from the people of Northeast Brazil.

Lucas Moura (Brazil)

Lucas Moura’s Calunguinha, o cantador de histórias (Calunguinha, the Singer of Tales) is a fictional podcast that Lucas hopes will expand the imagination of Black children by sharing the history of Black people in both Brazil and around the world. Lucas is currently working on finalizing scripts and finding the right voices to make them shine. The creator’s favorite part of the Sound Up program was the artists he was able to meet with for the podcast. “We invited one artist (Lázaro Ramos) to participate in our podcast and he accepted,” explained Lucas. “There it became clear to me that Sound Up is a project that can help broaden my horizons.”

Peppa Smith (Australia)

Yaama Mama is a podcast created by Peppa Smith that focuses on parenting Indigenous kids. Through both serious themes and sarcastic commentary, the show examines and dismantles the way parents are taught to raise children in her community. Peppa is currently in research mode, working on collecting information to be used in her episodes. One of her favorite parts of Sound Up was the people she’s had a chance to meet. “There’s been meetings where I have met with some hugely clever and talented people in the industry,” said the podcaster. “I’ve also been lucky that the other members of the cohort for 2021 are a brilliant, funny, and incredibly good-looking mob.”

These creators and their stories are just a small sampling of the podcasts that are being developed through Sound Up. To learn more about the program and how it’s working to amplify underrepresented voices, visit Sound Up’s website.

Ready for an Encore? ‘The Big Hit Show’ Examines Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ in Season 2

February 23, 2022

For movie buffs, music lovers, and TV show fans, the influence of pop culture can feel as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. But what happens when the films you love or the albums you have on repeat start to infiltrate political discourse and your extended family’s mealtime conversations? This is what The Big Hit Show—a podcast documentary series from Spotify and Higher Ground—seeks to explore.

After breaking down the Twilight saga phenomenon during season one, host and journalist Alex Pappademas is back to discuss the power and influence of Kendrick Lamar’s iconic second record, To Pimp a Butterfly. Following his successful major label debut, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, the heavier and more universal themes of Kendrick’s sophomore album struck a chord with mass audiences when it was released in 2015.

Seven years later, the album has more than 1.5 billion streams on Spotify and continues to hold its place in the zeitgeist. The cultural conversation regularly finds its way back to To Pimp a Butterfly, an album that, according to Alex and his podcast guests, made it bigger than mainstream—it changed the world.

For the Record spoke with Alex about his decision to follow up his four-episode analysis of Twilight with an examination of Kendrick’s masterpiece in the second chapter of The Big Hit Show.

The last chapter of The Big Hit Show was about the Twilight saga and this new one is about Kendrick Lamar’s ***To Pimp a Butterfly*—two moments in culture that don’t seem all that related. How are the chapters connected for you?**

To me, it’s all one story about what’s left of mass culture in the 21st century and the vagaries of creative success in a mediascape where there’s no such thing as a sure thing. Maybe it’s like a book that approaches one subject—the hit and often its surprising consequences—from four different angles. Part one is about how the Twilight saga defied conventional Hollywood wisdom, became a box-office sensation, and changed the lives of many of the people who worked on it. Part two, the Kendrick Lamar season, is about the next phase of a hitmaker’s arc. You’ve made your first hit—what do you know? How does success complicate the life and public image of an artist?

Why did you choose to cover Kendrick in this second chapter?

I’m a huge fan of Kendrick’s and a huge fan of To Pimp a Butterfly. But I also knew there was a specific story to tell here. Modern recording technology has made it possible for people to collaborate on music without ever meeting in person, but Kendrick made this record in a more timeless way—in actual rooms, with a big cast of characters who are fascinating musicians and fascinating people in their own right. So right away there was this interesting social, communal aspect to the story of how this record came together. Everyone who passed through those sessions—even for a day or two—seems to have come away from the experience with an expanded sense of their own potential, and I was excited about the opportunity to tell that story using the voices of the people whose creative lives were changed by that experience.

Why is it important to revisit the themes of this record now?

The themes of this record have been the themes of the last seven years and counting in America. To Pimp a Butterfly feels prescient now because even on the other side of a national protest movement, a global pandemic, and a presidential election, we’re still in the same place as a country in so many ways. This is an extremely personal album about what it was like to be Kendrick Lamar after the success of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City changed everything—struggling with fame and responsibility and homesickness and particularly with the violent deaths of several friends. But Kendrick was making this record between 2012 and early 2015, a moment that coincides with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the beginning of a national reckoning on the subject of structural racism and police violence, and these songs were already touching on issues that would explode onto the national stage.

What can listeners expect to hear for the first time while listening to the show?

We’re going to hear from people who knew Kendrick as a quiet, observant middle schooler and saw the potential for stardom and leadership in him before he saw it in himself. We’re also going to hear from the extended family of L.A. musicians who helped bring this record to life—players whose whole careers led them to a moment like this. We will hear the voices of legends including George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic, and we will find out the one thing you were absolutely forbidden to do when visiting Prince at Paisley Park.

Looking forward to future chapters, how will the show continue to tie these seemingly disparate cultural moments together?

One of the things I’m proudest of about these first two chapters of the show is the way they use Twilight and Kendrick as a way into a larger story about a country where big hits are increasingly the one thing we have in common. These shows aren’t just about the big hits they’re about—they’re about the moments in which those hits happened and what the success of Twilight or “Alright” revealed about what people living through those moments were hungry for, or turned on by, or afraid of, or angry about. In an increasingly fractious world, we can’t really draw conclusions about every person who bought To Pimp a Butterfly or camped out overnight for Breaking Dawn tickets, but I think there is something to be learned from the fact that it was these things that got people excited and not something else.

Ready to hear how the music industry’s most influential players came together to create a world-changing album? Stream season two of The Big Hit Show below.