BROADCASTER & PODCASTER CLARA AMFO APPEARING ON: MAKING PODCASTS PAY
Along with hosting her BBC Radio 1 show, Clara Amfo has two podcasts – Fashioned and This City. Ahead of joining Jessie Ware, Spotify’s James Cator and more on a panel exploring this freshest of formats, the DJ explains why in pod she trusts...
WORDS: PAUL STOKES
You already have a radio show, why make more work for yourself with two podcasts? “I’ve always, always, always been a fan of podcasts, since their inception. It’s so funny they’ve become the norm now, because I remember podcast was such a buzzword, ‘Ooh, what’s this magical new thing?’ But it is just audio playing in a different space. I absolutely love doing my radio show, but there are different conversations to be had on different mediums. I can’t get into an hour-long chat when I’ve got 15 songs to play in an hour. So that’s why I love podcasts. I’m obsessed with them. It’s got to the point now for me where I listen to podcasts as much as I do to music. There are podcasts I look forward to as much as my favourite TV show. You know that every Tuesday, at a certain time, you’re going to get your fave. I just hope I can do that for other people.”
From your experience, do you think others from within the music world would enjoy podcasting? “I’m very excited about Yungblud’s podcast on BBC Sounds. It’s about community and young people talking about their mental health. It’s just his personality. Podcasts can serve artists brilliantly, like Jessie Ware and her Mum doing Table Manners. People can argue about the veil and the disconnect that is allegedly supposed to be there between an artist and their fans. Some people like complete mystery, they don’t want to know that their favourite artist goes to the toilet and some people want to know absolutely everything. I have no problems with artists doing podcasts at all. Speaking for myself, learning about them through who they interview,
or whatever it is they want to talk about, actually informs the way that I enjoy their music. With Jessie, on her new album, I can hear the love that has gone into the songs based on the conversations she has with her mum. When Yungblud is talking about the things he’s been through, being open about his sexuality, I have more context because of how open he’s been in his podcast space.”
What is your advice for growing a podcast? “It’s tough because, for me, all the best podcasts, the ones that I enjoy the most, I don’t think they’ve rubbed their hands together and twiddled their cigars like an old-school showbiz Svengali going: ‘We’ve gotta do this, we gotta do that...’ If you are speaking about something that you genuinely love and you’re interesting, people are going to be into it. It’s really not rocket science. Don’t get me wrong, with the culture of everyone having a podcast these days, it is very easy to see who’s doing it because they are interested in that conversation and in the art of it. And you can see who’s doing it because it’s just a visibility tool. It’s very, very obvious. There are podcasts that don’t last beyond a season because you can tell it’s a promotional tool. That’s fine, something can serve a purpose, but for me, true success is hearing people talk about something that they genuinely care about. That’s always a winner in my eyes, or ears, in this case.”
“I love learning about artists through who they interview or what they
talk about” CLARA AMFO
50 | Music Week
Do you have any technical tips for podcasters? “We’re in a great space where you can just pick up your phone, open the recording app and you can construct a podcast. That is one of the beautiful things about it. You can create your own content in your living room. The pandemic has really shown that. For [London-focused pod] This City I used to insist on having my guest in the room with me, to have contact. I had to adapt like everyone else, trying to get the best sound quality I can – I have to give a shout-out to my producer, Ami [Bennett], she’s the best. As we speak, podcasts are evolving.”
musicweek.com
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