Pod people: Joan As Police Woman’s Joan Wasser and Ted Kessler recording the Q Podcast
HOW DID YOU MANAGE THAT?
Co-hosts/producers Sophie Paluch and Ally McRae explain how they joined forced with the MMF/AWAL for a podcast exploring the colourful lives of music managers…
Q PRESENTS… THE MAKING OF
Q Magazine editor Ted Kessler on why the music monthly decided to make the leap into the podcast world...
Why was it important that Q Magazine entered the podcast space? Ted Kessler: “It was important to enter the space because over the last year I’ve really started to listen to a lot of podcasts. Before then, it wasn’t that important because I hadn’t been listening to them. That’s a glib answer, but it’s true and one of the many amazing things about being an editor: if you have an idea, you can usually make it a reality pretty quickly. We had been doing a version of it live at The Social, but then we had a light-bulb moment about doing it in a studio instead. It’s just another way of Q doing what we like to do best: telling great stories about music and musicians. It all feeds into the same space, but it’s another method of travel. If it helps drive people to the magazine that is obviously fantastic, but it’s not the main aim. The main aim is just to make something worthwhile and enjoyable, that spreads the Q credo, and that one day washes its own face.”
So how does the Q podcast distinguish itself from others out there? “I like plenty of podcasts that involve the hot air of journalists sharing their gags and insights with each other, but I didn’t think that was what Q should do. What the magazine does best, I think, is get great access to interesting talent and deliver their most intimate and funny stories. So, that’s what we are trying to do with The Making Of. It’s a one-on-one interview about a great musician’s life and career. The one element that we definitely do that nobody else does anywhere is The Biscuit Tin, which is an old Smash Hits technique of asking pop stars silly questions. Watching Aldous Harding decide which animal’s body she’d like if she kept her own face is a life highlight. Hopefully, we also have a different personality to other podcasts. There are lots of football podcasts that co-exist in similar spheres. I don’t see why music should be any different if we’re smart.”
You launched in March 2019. How’s the reaction been so far?
“I ask not to be told of audience figures. I’m an artist, after all. We’ve had some lovely emails, though, particularly about the Green Gartside episode, because he does so few interviews and that one was really in depth.
Sophie Paluch: Matt Dodds (head of Ditto Management) with Sophie Paluch
Podcasts are so intimate, aren’t they, and it’s great that ours has tickled so many intimately. People seem really into it and during our recent break after the first season we’ve had lot of concerned messages about returning soon. We’re back early July. I have loved each one that I have hosted. I even enjoyed Mike Scott [of The Waterboys], which Q deputy ed Niall Doherty hosted, though it pains me to say so. Highlights: Jah Wobble’s East End tales, particularly nearly being killed in a pub brawl for burning his squat-mate’s furniture; Aldous Harding’s utter disdain for The Biscuit Tin; Fat White Family’s Saoudi brothers’ beatbox pod theme tune; Green Gartside arriving with a ring-bound folder of colour-coded anecdotes; Joan Wasser doing her ident in the style of Sly Stone’s Family Affair; Loyle Carner’s tales of inspiration…”
What are your goals with the podcast in the long run?
“I like the format. I think we’ll keep it like this and just refine it as we go along. I like simple ideas that can accommodate lots of different kinds of personalities. I’d like to do a live version too, though, and I think we will. It would be lovely to have a sponsor, as well. I’ve become quite evangelical about podcasts. I absolutely love them when they are good. They’re only going to grow as a way of communicating with more people because you can carry them anywhere. ”
Why were managers a great untapped subject for a podcast series? Ally McRae: “For me, it was from working in the music industry over the last decade – across quite a few sides of it – and hearing stories of how different people have achieved or failed with various endeavours. That always stuck with me. I felt there was a real space for something like that to exist, and podcasting is the perfect medium to tell and listen to those stories.” Sophie Paluch: “We wanted to give a platform to newer, younger managers as we realised that there was nothing out there that really looked at management from all sides, from those working with huge artists to those just starting on their journey.”
The podcast is associated with MMF – what has that done for the organisation? SP: “We felt it was an important story to tell and naturally the MMF was a perfect place to take it to. Fiona [McGugan, Music Managers Forum/FanFair Alliance) got the concept from the start and was incredible, she took it to AWAL and got us the sponsorship we needed to get it off the ground. I think the MMF would agree that it’s offered their members and beyond an opportunity to hear the stories of some amazing and relatable managers doing stuff in real time. We have had so much amazing feedback on it, every episode we get messages from listeners saying how much it helped them think differently and most importantly made them feel like the journey of management isn’t such a scary and sometimes lonely one, that was always our aim.” AM: “From the outset, there was a real desire to sit down with managers ‘doing it now’ and hear what they are up against and how they are continually evolving. What we didn’t want, was to hear the war stories from the “good old days” and have to listen to any Kill Your Friends style bullshit. We wanted to keep it very much a relevant podcast which brings up management
topics that are actively being debated in the corridors of the biggest companies across the industry, and getting the managers take on how the changes across streaming, publishing and live are affecting their artists, I like to think we’ve done that in season one.”
Sophie, you also work on the artist plugging side of things with Blueprint Pods – how important have podcasts become for music acts? SP: “Podcasts are becoming one of the main means of really getting to know who an artist is beyond just the music, and I think the marketing guys, managers and labels are really starting to understand that now. It gives them a voice away from the traditional promo they usually have to do. For example, I work with Freya Ridings and we put her on the podcast Beauty Full Lives and she got to talk about skincare and beauty for an hour, it was one of the most popular episodes of the series and because of that we can look at the themes from it and find other podcasts that work for her.”
Do you think industry podcast revenues will continue to grow or is there a glass ceiling approaching? SP: “I think there are lots of revenue streams out there for podcasts, everything from sponsorship to brand partnerships. If you build the right podcast and make it scalable on a global level then the possibilities are endless. Rights for podcasts are now being acquired for film and TV, and labels/DSPs are partnering up with podcast production companies, and most likely locking in the IP for any podcasts made through them. What is the difference between a song and a podcast episode? They are both a piece of audio – some could say a master – to own, exploit and generate a revenue from. I’m sure there’ll come a time where you’ll be paid for a podcast stream the same way you are for a song.”
“We wanted to give a platform to newer, younger managers”
SOPHIE PALUCH HOW DID YOU MANAGE THAT?
Ted Talks: Q Magazine editor Ted Kessler
musicweek.com
01.07.19 Music Week | 23
Photo: James Polley
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104
