At Volume, we’ve become pros at producing remote-recorded podcasts during all the different stages of lockdown and social distancing that punctuated 2020. Along the way, we have learned two very important things:

1. It is difficult to get high-quality recordings of guests or participants if you have to record them from home over Zoom or some other online app.
2. If the guest recording is low-quality, the only thing that can save the show is if the host voice-over is crystal clear, crisp, and high-quality by contrast!

The host or narrator’s recording definitely makes or breaks a podcast. It is the one thing listeners expect to be flawless, and the one thing they pick up on immediately if it is poorly done.

Here are 3 tips for getting quality voice-overs for your show:

1. Record a rough-take early on

Doing a rough recording of your host or narrator’s voice-over using a phone gives you something to work with while you start editing your episode’s first cut. You will quickly hear where you might need to change the script, add content, or shift your intonations to help the voice-over fit seamlessly with other material you are using. You need to make sure that the voice-over script is on-point before you spend the time and/or money on doing a proper studio-grade voice-over recording.

Reading the script out loud for a rough-take will also force you to get in some crucial practice. The more you practice your script, the more natural you will sound. After all, you want to come across as if you are speaking to the listener, not as if you are reading to them from a borrowed library book.

2. Use the right equipment

Bad audio is difficult to clean up, even with the most advanced audio-editing software. You can reduce noise and reverb in a recording to some extent, but a lot of it gets baked into the soundwaves upon initial recording. So make sure you have the right equipment, and you are recording in a sound-proof booth, studio, or small isolated space in your house (even a closet filled with clothes can help!).

Our weapons of choice for great audio are the Rode NT1-A Condenser Microphone, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface, and our cozy sound-booth at Volume’s office in downtown Johannesburg.

3. Create audio consistency

Make sure your recording sounds the same at the start of the episode as it does towards the end. You can do a couple of things to help create this kind of consistency:

• Before stepping in front of the mic, do some warm-up exercises. Why not read your script out loud one more time?
• Have a glass of water at hand to make sure you don’t dry out in the middle of your recording session or start to sound wheezy by the time you sign-off.
• Take a break when you start to sound tired (or replace that glass of water with an energy drink!). If you start sounding sleepy your audience will drift off too.
• Make sure to maintain a consistent distance from the microphone the whole time.

A bad voice-over can sink the best show, and a good voice-over can make your podcast shine! It will remind your listeners that, despite unavoidably glitchy guest recordings, you are in fact a high-quality podcast producer.

New Shows & Episodes

Transparency Talks — Episode 7: Brezhnev Malaba

Zimbabwean journalist, columnist, and editor Breznhev Malaba talks about the origins of his journalistic passions, the reasons behind his pointed language in his columns and how he is operating after being labeled a “subversive” journalist by the country’s government. Brought to you by the CCIJ.

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Waterless — Episode 7: Brezhnev Malaba

Host Winston Mwale speaks to Brezhnev Malaba, the Zimbabwean journalist who did a wonderful story about Harare’s crumbling water infrastructure, with support from CCIJ. Why did Brezhnev do the story? What challenges did he face when doing the story? And any tips for young investigative journalists? Brought to you by the CCIJ.

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News From the Frontline — Episode 6: The Impact of COVID-19 on Children

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the closure of schools on 18 March until further notice as part of the country’s fight against the spread of coronavirus. This led to the interruption of the academic year but also stripped away school nutritional programmes, psycho-social support, and healthcare for many children. In this episode, we are interrogating issues around Covid-19 national lockdowns and the impact that they have had on children and education. Brought to you by Tekano.

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What’s Crap on WhatsApp? — Episode 28: Are 1 million children trafficked in SA every year?

In this episode we investigate three new viral messages. One of these stories is about photos that have been circulating on social media showing what appear to be children in small cages in a warehouse. Are they human trafficking victims? Brought to you by Volume and Africa Check.

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African Media Thermometer — Episode 4: KAS Health Reporting Conference goes online

In the final installment of African Media Thermometer, we share highlights from the KAS Media Africa series of online discussions where they looked at the quality of health journalism in Africa. Brought to you by KAS Media Africa.

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Volume Recommends

How to Save a Planet

This new podcast from Gimlet brings founder Alex Blumberg back into the studio along with “scientist and policy nerd” Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. As a climate-crisis podcast, this show does something unique: it presents one of the most anxiety-inducing topics of our era in a way that makes listeners excited to hear more.

➡️Listen here

Volume Resources

How podcasting is developing in Africa
Neha Gupta, World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
Podcasts are a rare point of growth in the current media landscape. How exactly is it growing on the continent?

Amazon Takes On Spotify In Podcasting
Bill Rosenblatt, Forbes
This week Amazon announced the launch of a podcast service integrated with Amazon Music.

Should your NGO make a podcast?
Michal Blaszczyk, Bond
More NGOs and charities are starting to use this engaging audio format to connect with their dedicated supporters.

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HOW TO PODCAST October 2020: How to Create Quality Voice-overs was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Looking for a specific kind of person

To make sure we create an efficient, inspiring, and effective team we made sure to look for people who:

• Bring a totally new perspective, background, or skillset to the team: To keep creating compelling content, we need to keep things fresh!
• Can self-manage and work independently: This is especially important for our current remote-work environment. We also want people who can initiate and drive new podcast projects.
• Have an itch to scratch: They need to be innately driven to investigate, report, tell compelling stories and change society.
• Can take initiative: Will they be able to surprise us (and our audiences)?

Volume has always been driven by the unique strengths of our team members and collaborators.

Meet The New Volume Team Members

Hiring new team members is not easy. We had to be patient to find people who filled the above-mentioned criteria, as well as the specific job descriptions themselves. But we are pleased to say that our searching paid off.

So, we’d like to welcome the newest members of team Volume:

Andisiwe May: Junior Podcast Producer

“I am Andisiwe Michelle May, a new addition to the Volume family as a Junior Podcast Producer. I am a Rhodes University alumni with a Bachelor of Journalism and Media Studies degree and a second major in Organizational Psychology. I am a multilingual multimedia storyteller with a special interest in podcasting, community journalism and social change.”

Zoe Mafoko: Marketing Intern

“Hi I’m Zoe Mafoko, a final-year Bachelor of Journalism student at Rhodes University. Prior to joining the Volume team, I interned at numerous media outlets including the Mail & Guardian, the Daily Maverick, the SABC and Carte Blanche. I am passionate about the work of the media and how communications and marketing work together to shape perception and understanding.”

New Shows

African Media Thermometer
In this podcast series KAS Media Africa, the Media Programme of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, is looking into the effects the pandemic is having on newsrooms across the continent.

We examine misinformation on health issues, business models for health journalism and analyse the questions of quality and credibility in the media in Africa. In a series of podcasts we speak to our colleagues in Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

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New Episodes

Access — Episode 4: Access to vaccines for COVID-19

News From the Frontline — Episode 4: Domestic Violence during lockdown

Kill Switch — Episode 6: How Do We Win the Fight?

What’s Crap on WhatsApp? — Episode 25: Another Chinese Virus?

Volume Resource

Finding Success in Podcasting When Coming from Other Professions
Zach Brooke
Think podcasters must leave all learned skills behind once they switch careers? Think again.

Top 5 Podcasts For Your Playlist For Women’s Month
Andisiwe May
With patriarchy deeply entrenched in our society and women at the forefront of the fight for equality, podcasting looks like it can play an important role

Ben & Jerry’s is launching a podcast about white supremacy in America
CNN Business
Ice-cream company Ben & Jerry’s is taking its support for Black Lives Matter to the airwaves with a podcast that delivers an unflinching appraisal of American white supremacy.

Vulture to Double Podcast Coverage
Press Room
Vulture editor Neil Janowitz today announced that the site is ramping up coverage of podcasts, as the medium attracts more listeners and the site’s readers are hungry for podcast news and reviews.

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HOW TO PODCAST Sept 2020: Assembling An Awesome Podcasting Team was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

On the 27th of July we launched the first episode of Kill Switch, a new podcast produced by Volume, Access Now, and the #KeepItOn coalition.

What makes this podcast different from previous Volume shows is its diverse international cast. The #KeepItOn coalition consists of over 200 organizations from all around the world — fighting against government-mandated internet shutdowns from Sudan to Pakistan.

Each episode of Kill Switch features a roster of guests from this coalition. In the first episode, we talk to Oliver Spencer from Free Expression Myanmar, Berhan Taye from Access Now about her home country Ethiopia, Mishi Choudhary from SAFLC in India, and Hija Kamran from Media Matters for Democracy in Pakistan. The casts for the second to sixth episodes are just as internationally diverse — from journalists in Liberia to digital security experts in Venezuala!

But creating these rosters, and weaving together the stories from the guests into cohesive narratives, takes some doing. Especially if you are working towards a tight deadline! Here is what we’ve learned so far:

Be extremely organized

Connecting, organizing, and recording four guests per episode from different countries and time-zones is an administrative and logistical nightmare.

You need to have a detailed spreadsheets or project planning tool where you track the progress of each episode’s guest. We used TeamGantt, for example. But a Excell sheet or Trello board would also work well.

You need to have columns for guest contact details, their biographic information, and time-zones. You also need to note down whether they’ve replied to your invitation, scheduled a recording and have been sent the interview questions. This process of tracking each guest will be carried over to the editing process as well, as you might have to edit the interviews as they come in.

All of this will help you make sure everyone in your team knows what is going on and that there is no confusion about things like time-zones (which is bound to happen!) for interviews.

Work with overlapping schedules

Because we are doing six episodes of Kill Switch with four guests each — we need to make sure that we contact everyone in time. And because we are dealing with such a large cast from around the world, and people from places where internet connection is being interfered with, you are sure to have some participants who don’t readily reply to emails!

This means that we already started recording guests — and editing their interviews — for episode two and three while episode one was still in production, and interviews for episode four and five are being planned while episode two is in production. Again here, it is important the keep the first point we mentioned in mind!

Be disciplined with your recording times

The cast for each episode includes interesting people from fascinating organizations. Student activists living in refugee camps, startup founders from ‘Silicon Mountain’ in Cameroon and security specialists fighting against hackers based in Berlin. How do you fit the stories of four guests like these into a tight 35 minute podcast (including the great story-telling from the host!)? You don’t.

You have to be prudish with the time allotted to each interviewee in the show. A good way to do this is to make sure that your interviews are getting right to the point. Where Volume shows like Alibi have the benefit of delving deep into each character, their backgrounds, and their motives, Kill Switch needs to quickly introduce each guest and help them get the most value out of their 10 to 15 minutes of ‘air time’. It is not only about editing the interviews afterwards, it’s also about conducting the interview with targeted questions.

New Shows

Kill Switch
Kill Switch is a podcast series that explores the alarming rise of anti-democratic internet shutdowns and related digital rights violations across the world.

The series will follow inter-related stories looking at unique facets of internet shutdowns and digital rights violations. It will focus on the perspectives of different role-players from a variety of locations.

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Access
Access is a 4-part podcast series that looks at the impact of Intellectual Property (IP), specifically patents on accessing health care, in the context of COVID-19. Each week, we will be joined by local and global experts to discuss and make sense of global developments that affect us locally in South Africa. Access is brought to you by the Health Justice Initiative, hosted by Fatima Hassan and produced by Volume.

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Latest Episodes

News from the Frontline — Episode 3: Community Health Workers

Waterless — Episode 4: Winston Mwale

Transparency Talks — Episode 4: Khaled Sulaiman

What’s Crap on WhatsApp — Episode 23: Over a Million Graves?

Legal Insights — Tax insights on debt and corporate restructurings for businesses in distress

Volume Resources

Volume Amplify: What are ‘branded podcasts’ and why are they so effective?
Adriaan Odendaal, Volume Blog
A branded podcast is much more than just an ad. It’s a unique opportunity to create a meaningful and magical marketing moment for your business or organization.

Telling Africa’s story: The future is podcasts
Kim Chakanetsa, Mail & Guardian
Across the continent, people have been making and listening to podcasts for the best part of a decade — and there are some excellent podcasts out there.

Back to school: A new podcast trendlet is shows explaining public schools and public housing
Nicholas Quah, Niemanlab
Plus: What the Times paid for Serial, Spotify thinks that what podcasts need is more video, Headgum raises $2 million, transnational Asian podcasts, and more.

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HOW TO PODCAST August 2020: Making a podcast with a global cast was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This post is from the HOW TO PODCAST newsletter

Over the last couple of months, everyone has had to adapt to new ways to live their lives, do their work, and survive different degrees (and ‘levels’) of quarantine and social distancing. At Volume we had to take it a step further than just surviving: we had to innovate!

We have been more productive than ever, it seems, because we’ve been perfecting the art of remote-recording even before #LockdownSA started. By the end of June, we’ve become experts in different forms and styles of remote-recording; from WhatsApp voice-note interviews to conference-call round-table discussions. So we thought we might share some things with you that we’ve learned along the way .

Some things we’ve learned about remote-recording:

• When recording at home, use the reverb-absorbing recording-booth that you already own: a closet full of clothes.
• Interviewees might not be comfortable sitting in their closets, though. So we recommend a more dignified alternative: Sit in a parked car and let the upholstery dampen the noisy reverb.
• Modern smartphones actually have pretty good microphones, so don’t be afraid to use them.
• When recording on your phone, keep it next to your ear like you are on a phone call, instead of speaking into it at a distance. This will keep the levels stable.
• There are plenty of innovative software available for doing remote conference-call recordings. Zencastr, for example, lets you record over a web-browser.
• Technology always seems to fail at the most important moments, so be prepared for that by prepping participants on how to use the digital tools. Having a fallback plan when things go awry is also always a good idea.

You can read Paul McNally’s blog post below for more nuggets of remote-recording wisdom.

New Shows & Episodes

All our new shows and episodes released over the last few months have been remote-recorded using different techniques.

Webber Wentzel Legal Insights
Legal Insight is the Volume produced podcast of one of SA’s most reputable law firms, Webber Wentzel.

The panel-discussion show deals with a number of fascinating topics, such as the rights of tenants vs landlords during the lockdown, legal penalties for spreading misinformation, as well as cyber-crime!

Because the show takes on a panel-discussion format, we’ve been recording most of the 14 episodes released so far through a web-based podcasting conference-call app.
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CCIJ: Transparency Talks & Waterless
The newest partner podcasts from Volume are Transparency Talks & Waterless. Both podcasts from the Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ’s).

Transparency Talks is the CCIJ’s organizational podcast, focusing on issues of truth, transparency, trust and the people within the CCIJ community.

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Waterless follows seasoned investigative journalists report on the growing global water-crisis from different angles, telling stories that expose the reality of this growing crisis.

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News from the Frontline
News from the Frontline is Tekano’s Atlantic Fellowship podcast produced by Volume.

In this podcast different Tekano fellows report on news from the frontlines of local communities, focusing on how South African lives are affected by certain social issues.

The Tekano fellows are interviewed over VOIP software that allows us to record their stories remotely, as well as voice-notes sent in by the fellows over WhatsApp.

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Volume Resources

Which innovations are taking podcasting into the future?
Adriaan Odendaal
There are some creators that are still pushing podcasting as a creative medium into exciting unexplored terrain.

How to Create a Branded Podcast During COVID-19
Paul McNally
What do you do when no one can come to the studio?

NPR launches an afternoon news podcast to complement its morning one, and it hopes you’ll listen to both
Nicholas Quah, Niemanlab
Podcast listenership had continued to grow at a steady and dependable pace. According to the latest Infinite Dial report, an estimated 104 million Americans over the age of 12 now identify as monthly listeners.

Podcasts for the Next Billion
Thomas Barrasso
Designing a podcast client for KaiOS smart feature phones

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HOW TO PODCAST Jule 2020: Perfecting the art of remote-recording was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

But 25 years after the celebration of the first women’s day in 1995, women are still at the mercy of men, society, and the law.

With patriarchy deeply entrenched in our society and women at the forefront of the fight for equality, podcasting looks like it can play an important role. It has been used to create an understanding of the battle by looking at the effects of patriarchy on women’s lives.

Considering the lack of progress in policies and reforms, we look at empowering, thought-provoking, and entertaining podcasts created by women for women that aim to invoke social and legislative change in SA — and provide great banter too.

Here are some podcast episodes that should be on your playlist this women’s month:

1. News From The Frontline EP 4: Domestic Violence during lockdown

News From The Frontline is Tekano’s solidarity initiative produced by Volume, where Tekano’s Atlantic Fellowship participants bring you news from the frontlines of local communities in South Africa. With the nation under lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus, the country has seen a surge in incidents of gender-based violence. President Ramaphosa declared gender-based violence the ‘second pandemic’.

SAPS recorded 2300 gender-based violence complaints in the first week of the lockdown alone. And in the first three weeks of lockdown, more than 120 000 survivors phoned the national hotline for abused women and children.

That is double the usual volume of calls for a 3-week time-frame. While other episodes of News from the Frontline look at issues such as sex work, or young women and access to water, this episode of the series specifically looks at how people are working to fight domestic violence across Africa.

Listen to News from the Frontline here

2. Patriarchy Popcast EP #2.2: Superwomxn

Strong Women. May we know them. May we be them, and may we raise them. But may we also allow them to be whatever they want to be. In this episode of Patriarchy Popcast, they talk about the notion of strong black women and the implications it has on mental health, relationships, and identity.

Every week the hosts of Patriarchy Popcast invite participants to discuss very difficult conversations surrounding the Patriarchy. Each episode works as follows: there is a Perils of Patriarchy box and in the box there are facts and views that can drive the conversation towards POPing the Patriarchy.

Listen to Patriarchy Popcast here

3. She Brigade S2 EP 14: Zandile Mkhwanazi, Founder of GirlCode & EmpowerXx

Welcome to She Brigade, the podcast hosted by Pelontle Mosimege. In each episode, the hosts of She Brigade have in-depth conversations with amazing women across South Africa, from corporate professionals to creatives and entrepreneurs.

In this episode the hosts talk to Zandile Keebine, the Chairwoman and founder of GirlCode, a non-profit organisation aimed at empowering young girls and women through technology. Through her leadership, the organisation has grown immensely to host monthly coding and robotics workshops teaching over 3000 girls from primary and high schools.

She is also the founder of EmpowerXx, a women-in-STEM focused recruitment agency whose focus is to accelerate women in leadership positions within corporates.

Tune in to hear her all about Zandile’s story.

Listen to SheBrigade here

4. 5FM Podcasts FEMMEnomenal: Leah Jazz and Lindy Johnson and Kate Pinchuck

5FM Podcasts presents FEMMEnomenal, an audio and video portrait of South African women. 5FMs female DJ host a video and audio podcast series featuring some of South Africa’s most influential and inspiring women. The series includes candid conversations around life, love, #everydaysexism, overcoming hardships, and everything in-between.

In this episode, #5Squad’s Leah Jazz chats to comedians Lindy Johnson and Kate Pinchuck about working in the male dominated world of comedy.

Listen to FEMMEnomenal here

5. Sisters in Conversation S1 EP 24: Kundi Ramashia, Family Advocate

Sisters In Conversation is hosted by Tebello Motshwane and is an extension of the Sister In Law platform. The podcast will focus on profiling women in the legal profession, the challenges they have overcome in the profession, issues of transformation and representation of particularly Black women in the profession, and how they navigate the legal industry in general.

Kundi Ramashia is the only black female and youngest Family Advocate in the Office of The Family Advocate, Johannesburg. Having begun her career at one of the top rated international Law Firms in the country (Hogan Lovells), Kundi has not only practiced as an attorney in private practice; but also spread her wings as a Supervising Attorney at a National legal NGO (ProBono.Org) as well as working as a National Course Coordinator for a private tertiary institution (Pearson Institute), lecturing first and second year law students.

Listen to Sisters in Conversation here

We hope this list of amazing podcasts inspire you to fight the patriarchy this month — whether that is contributing to the fight against domestic violence, getting more women into STEM fields, or calling attention to sexism in your industry.

Did we miss any of your favourite podcasts on this list? Please share them in the comments so that everyone can go an listen!

Top 5 Podcasts For Your Playlist For Women’s Month was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The problem with the growing success and popularity of podcasting is that the adherence to convention and expectations can cause the medium to become stagnant and formulaic. Cultural theorist Mark Fisher called this “the cult of the minimal variation”. This means that instead of taking risks and innovating, companies start churning out cultural products that closely resemble those that have already proven to be successful. Most of us know exactly what to expect from a series by listening to the first few minutes, or even just looking at the cover art. But there are some producers, companies, and creators that are still pushing podcasting as a creative medium into exciting unexplored terrain.

Multi-media podcasting

Podcasting was born as ‘internet radio’. But the internet is not ‘audio-only’ — it is inherently multi-media. It’s no surprise then that podcasters have slowly started experimenting with different ways to embrace video, graphics, gifs, and more, as part of their production.

The most obvious early trend for podcasters was to publish or stream their shows to Youtube. The Joe Rogan Experience is perhaps the bastion of Youtube podcasting, and the reason why Spotify acquired the show as the new flagship of its video-streaming service. If anything, this signals the growing importance of video to the medium of podcasting.

Perhaps more interesting and innovative, however, is the trend of audiograms. These are animated images, usually with a rolling transcript and animated soundwave, that runs while the audio plays. It has become an increasingly popular way to share podcasts.

This trend opens up a new space fuelled by novel multi-media tools for creating podcasts that are different. Take a look at the creative video-versions of the podcast Brains Out!

As Wired Magazine already wrote in 2016: “To Attract New Listeners, Podcasts Need to Move Beyond Sound”.

Interactive podcasts

Along with multimedia capabilities, the internet brings interactivity with it due to its underlying computationality. This has already allowed video streaming services to experiment with interactivity, such as Netflix’s acclaimed Black Mirror: Bandersnatch interactive-episode, or the HBO murder-mystery Mosaic that allowed you to interact with the story via a mobile app.

Podcasters are also now starting to explore this possibility. The podcast Solve, for example, bill their show as “the world’s first interactive murder-mystery podcast that puts you at the center of the investigation”. Each week on Solve, the audience is assigned a new case based on a real crime, they are given clues and encouraged to solve it. There are also other experiments such as 3D Escape Room: Frequency, an interactive podcast where listeners play an audio-based escape room situation where they have to navigate a series of puzzles. Though these might sound like niche experiments now, the popularity of smart speakers, voice-enabled devices, natural language processing, and increasingly complex listening platforms, might open up new spaces for interactive audio.

If anything, dynamic ad insertion has at least shown that changing podcast content to fit the individual listener is technologically possible. But how can creators use such technology as a creative tool, rather than just a means for monetization?

Micro-podcasts

Just like we are accustomed to television dramas being 40–50 minutes, and sitcoms 20–30 minutes — we’ve come to expect all podcasts to fit into certain standard time formats. We hit play and expect either a 20–30 minute show or a 40–50 minute show.

Micro-podcasting has become a way to create shows that don’t adhere to those conventions, rather becoming quick bite-sized pieces of audio story-telling or reporting. This format isn’t just about time-constraints. Rather, think of how Twitter’s character-limit changes the kind of conversations, topics, or way of speaking we have as opposed to blogs or Facebook posts. Good examples of this are World Dispatch and Shortwave. Volume has also released a number of micro-podcasts — concentrating on how we can communicate a clear idea and content in a short sharp way that is compelling. These include Colourful Numbers as well as Read This!.

WhatsApp voice-note podcasts

While micro-podcasts are perfect for platforms such as Twitter (with Facebook even experimenting with Voice-Clip statuses), there is one platform on which we habitually listen to short audio-snippets: WhatsApp.

Since the arrival of WhatsApp’s voice-note feature, it has become a popular medium for sharing short self-recorded audio. Volume found a way to turn WhatsApp into a podcasting platform, by taking micro-podcasts and broadcasting them to subscribers as WhatsApp voice-notes.

The flagship show for this is What’s Crap on WhatsApp? , produced with fact-checking organisation Africa Check, and is the first of its kind. What’s more: this gives What’s Crap on WhatsApp? the ability to be an interactive show, as listeners can forward WhatsApp misinformation to us to get fact-checked.

Transmedia storytelling

Transmedia storytelling has existed at least since the 1960s in some shape or form. This is a form of storytelling that allows creators to use different media channels to tell different parts of a single story. An example of this is The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, an American web series adapted from Jane Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice where characters had real Twitter and Tumblr accounts that formed part of the story.

Podcasting has become a powerful medium for similar transmedia storytelling. Netflix recently created a scripted podcast called The Only Podcast Left to accompany their post-apocalyptic comedy series Daybreak. The podcast is set in the world of Daybreak and focuses on a group of teens who decide to make a podcast during an apocalypse.

Likewise, HBO’s documentary series McMillion$ has a companion podcast that reveals untold stories not covered in the series, as well as discussions with the main characters.

Volume has always been interested in finding ways to innovate when it comes to new-media journalism. Leave a comment if you know of more ways podcasting can spark new ways of telling stories in our digital age!

Which innovations are taking podcasting into the future? was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Podcasts are no strangers to advertising. We’ve all heard those “Casper Mattress”, “Zip Recruiter”, and “Simply Safe” ad inserts between segments of Planet Money or How I Built This. But branded podcasts are completely different from this. A branded podcast would be closer to your favourite show doing an episode — or even a whole series! — about one of your products, services, or case studies. Simply because they think it would be interesting to their listeners. A branded podcast is much more than just an ad. It’s a unique opportunity to create a meaningful and magical marketing moment for your business or organization.

What does a branded podcast actually consist of?

In its most denotative sense, a branded podcast is simply a podcast produced by or in partnership with a company, business, NGO, or other organization for marketing or message amplification purposes. What makes this medium different from other avenues of advertisement is that, as one journalist described it, “branded podcasts are the ads people actually want to listen to”. This is because a branded podcast should, first and foremost, be an astoundingly good podcast that audiences would listen to regardless of who produced it or for what purposes it was created. The only difference between a podcast and a branded podcast, in the end, is that the story being told is about your product, company history, innovations, role in the industry, or customer story.

The genius of branded podcasts lies in that it is, at its core, about telling an engaging story using the unique creative tools offered by podcasting:

• Immersive and captivating story-telling
• Compelling conversations or interviews
• High-production value
• Amazing music and sound design
• Content that inspires, excites, entertains, or intrigues listeners

How Does a Branded Podcast Help Your Market Your Message?

Branded podcasts generally serve as a long-term marketing plan that helps enterprises:

• Market their business or services by demonstrating their knowledge, showcase their expertise, and building positive brand association.
• Create public engagement with their brand.
• Position themselves as industry or thought-leaders.
• Create an engaging internal educational or organizational messaging tool.
• Recruit employees.

The BBC Global News’ Branded Content Division recently did an empirical study where they measured how branded audio content is perceived, engaged with, and retained by listeners. These are just some of their findings:

1. Branding stands out from surrounding content: “Brand mentions in the podcast deliver on average 16% higher engagement and 12% higher memory encoding than the surrounding content […] The intimate and conversational nature of the podcast environment creates an elevated state of engagement for brand mentions”

2. Branded podcasts achieve cut-through with ad avoiders: “Memory encoding around brand mentions beat TV benchmarks by at least 22%, showing that branded podcasts are an effective way to engage this hard to reach but commercially-desirable group.”

3. Branded podcasts drive positive brand associations: “Listeners create subconscious associations with the brand, based on words they hear in the podcast.”

The study also found that because podcast listeners are active — they are more engaged with the content. 94% of listeners consume podcasts while doing activities such as chores, driving, commuting, or exercising. Rather than reducing brand impact, the study showed that this activeness increased engagement (+18%), emotional intensity (+40%) and long-term memory of the podcast (+22%).

The last lasting value of branded podcasting lies in the act of producing the podcast itself. We are on the cusp of the golden age of podcasting, and to bring out a well-scripted, high-production podcast for your company or organization demonstrates clear innovativeness and industry-leadership. Branded podcasts are in the perfect spot now where there is an established market, but it isn’t saturated yet. Only the most forward-thinking organizations are doing it.

How Are Branded Podcasts Produced?

It is not difficult to produce a podcast. It is, however, extremely difficult to produce a good podcast. Companies serious about doing it right usually turn to expert producers or creatives who can offer experience, expertise, guidance, and equipment. There are podcasting networks such as Volume that offer branded podcast production as part of their services. At Volume we call this well-developed arm of the business Volume Amplify. What we do at Volume Amplify is take the creativity and production expertise that has helped our original shows like Alibi become national hits — and helping companies craft bespoke content for in-house or external marketing campaigns.

With Volume Amplify we usually work closely with the client — relying on their unique institutional knowledge and industry expertise to become the main ingredient in the podcast. We guide the client to ideate concepts and shape the episode scripts. We set-up recording sessions and coach participants on how to sound natural on a recorded interview or conversation. We then take care of all the additional recording, archival material editing, mastering, and scoring. The end result is a top-tier audio production that is perfectly packaged for digital distribution, not only showing off your expertise, industry standing, or core values — but also allowing you to boast with an innovative marketing outlet that people actually enjoy listening to.

Learn more about Volume Amplify here.

Volume Amplify: What are ‘branded podcasts’ and why are they so effective? was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The brand-new website for the Africa Podfest — a podcast festival held in Nairobi, Kenya this March — was launched this week. Just in time for #africanpodcastday! But what exactly is the Africa Podfest, who will be attending, and what will “Africa’s first podcast festival” mean for local creatives driving the podcasting scene across the continent? Africa Podfest’s co-founder Paula Rogo made time for us in between the crazy rush of putting on a first-time festival to ask her some of these questions.

Volume: Where did the idea for the Africa Podfest come from?

Paula Rogo: The idea for the Podfest came from myself and my co-founder Melissa Mbugua. We both come to podcasting in Africa from very different directions. I have a journalism background and started my own media company when I moved back to my native Kenya two years ago. The company is called Kali Media and what we do is we create content for millennial East African women. Part of the content creation started to fall under podcasting because we saw it as a medium that had great potential and that wasn’t of as yet flooding the market. And then also, I just generally think it’s a beautiful medium. Audio and radio have always been very beautiful to me.

As I was considering building a podcast network made up of East African women podcasters (and by that, I mean Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and into Rwanda) I realized that the ecosystem around podcasting was pretty non-existent. For this idea of mine to be successful, I’d have to play a big role in helping build and move the process of podcasting towards becoming a sustainable medium on the continent. From Melissa’s end, she comes from a tech and innovation background here in Kenya and she saw the rise of podcasting and was just very curious about it. She started doing research and some of the first research done in Kenya on podcasting is from her. We were friends, so one day we sat down and said: “Hey why not put a podcast festival together?” We then added another friend Josephine Karianjahi as our head of partnerships, and that was the initial team. We grabbed a day on the calendar — March 12 to 13 — and that’s what’s happening here in Nairobi next month!

V: What — and who — will we see at Africa Podfest?

PR: This is exciting. We’re just finishing up programming and it’s really — really, really — exciting what we’ve been able to produce for our inaugural year. What we found is that a lot of our key audience that will be attending is mostly a local Kenyan podcasting audience and other people who are interested in training. It’s a 2-day festival and within those 2 days you will find a lot of cool podcast training sessions happening. Specifically PRX (the company behind the Radiotopia network) has their head-trainer Kerry Donahue coming from the US to do a big training session here. Adjoined to our programming is also a training session by Afroqueer. And although there are a lot of podcast experts, this is a place that’s also for people who know nothing about podcasts and are curious to find out more. Podcasting is for everyone.

“And then are a lot of great panels, live shows, and listening parties! For example, Glynn Washington from Snap Judgement, one of the top podcasts in the USA, is at one of our key notes”

And then are a lot of great panels, live shows, and listening parties! For example, Glynn Washington from Snap Judgement, one of the top podcasts in the USA, is at one of our key notes — he’ll be flying in from the West Coast of the US. There will also be listening parties where you’ll get to sit, listen, and talk about the production of a podcast. And we also have a really great podcast from South Africa called Alibi — a true-crime investigative journalism podcast that is one of the best within South Africa — basically in Africa! The team behind that is coming. We have a lot of great local podcasters: Kevin Mwachiro of Nipe Story; Karen Kaz Lucas of The Spread.

What we’re really trying to do is bring in a lot of podcasts from different parts of the continent. A lot of training, a lot of ways to connect, and a lot of really great panels and keynote speakers.

V: How important is it for African podcasts to work together, instead of competing with one another?

PR: Listen, collaboration is key when it comes to podcasting. It is key if you’re trying to grow your audience. It is key if you’re trying to learn. It is key if you’re trying to just make your podcast the best thing it could possibly be. And within Africa, we are a collaborative continent. We work together. We grow together.

So especially when it comes to how the world sees Africa and how the world sees African podcasting, we are low on most people’s totem pole of importance. It’s really key for us to work together and to come together and build this really, really great medium and ecosystem around it — specifically and uniquely for an African audience. The sky is the limit when that happens!

V: How does Podfest aim to grow the podcasting scene in Kenya — and other African countries?

PR: We see Podfest as a meeting place — a gathering hole. Our goal is to provide the platform for ideas to spurt and for connections to be made and for innovation to happen within the podcasting space. We are just setting up the platform. If it’s something where you have a great idea, we’ll be the place where you connect with the right producer, the right people to make it happen. Maybe even the right funders or supporters for your podcast.

“Our goal is to provide the platform for ideas to spurt and for connections to be made and for innovation to happen within the podcasting space… We’ll be the place where you connect with the right producer, the right people to make it happen.”

Our aim with Africa Podfest is to make podcasting one of the premier mediums for media in this decade. We envision podcasting to be on par with radio in Africa, and we know how strong radio has been as a medium on the continent. Our goal is to grow the scene and to support the scene in order for it to reach that level. Because podcasting is ultimately a form of independent media, and as we all know: strengthened independent media — in all forms — is beneficial to any society.

V: What do you hope will be the lasting effects of the Africa Podfest 2020?

PR: I want it to be that some of the best podcasters, some of the biggest grants, some of the biggest audience growth — all that good stuff — happens because of a connection. A meeting or a learning that happens at Podfest 2020.

It’s crazy that this is our inaugural year. We are planning it and we also don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re really in the throes of it and it’s really hard sometimes to see what it could potentially look like on the other side. But by being on the team we have learned a lot about podcasting, about community, and about putting an event of this size together. We’ve learned about connecting the continent around a medium that’s really exciting. I hope the lasting effects are that everyone who comes has learned something, has met someone, and has plans to grow podcasting beyond what they thought possible before they entered.

The Africa Podfest takes place on 12–13 March 2020 in Nairobi, Kenya. To find out more or get your ticket, visit www.africapodcastfestival.com. You can also keep up-to-date with the event by following Africa Podfest on Twitter @africapodfest.

Volume will also at Africa Podfest representing the best of South African podcasting with Alibi. The Volume team also plans to launch an exciting new African podcast at the festival — so make sure not to miss out!

A Chat with the Co-Founder of Africa’s First Podcast Festival was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Lesser Known Somebodies

This long running podcast just keeps getting better. Lesser Known Somebodies is comedian Simmi Areff’s show where he talks to some of the most fascinating and funniest South Africans out there. It’s definitely one of the top talk-show podcasts and getting all the South African references and jokes just makes it so much more enjoyable than any international show you’ll find in your feed.

Listen to Lesser Known Somebodies here

Sound Africa

Sound Africa has a history of doing amazing work through thorough journalistic storytelling. This show is all about getting behind some of the country’s fascinating and obscure untold stories and the continent’s “dizzying complexity”.

This year their season They Killed Dulcie investigates the 1988 murder of South African freedom fighter Dulcie September and is definitely worth a listen!

Listen to Sound Africa here

My Only Story

This excruciatingly honest podcast by Deon Wiggett made wide waves this year and quickly became one of the most talked about shows of 2019.

My Only Story is Deon Wiggett’s real-time journey tracking down and outing the abuser who violated Wiggett and a number of other boys over 20 years ago.

Listen to My Only Story here.

The Story

News24 got into the podcasting game this year with The Story — a podcast show that discusses local and global headlines in the way only a podcast can. Given News24’s journalistic resources, this show offers high-quality news told in an interesting and entertaining format.

Listen to The Story here.

BONUS: The Year of Volume Podcasts

This year Volume exploded onto the scene with not one, not two, but four awesome new podcasts. Like proud parents, we obviously believe our babies are special and all the positive feedback we have received from listeners over the year proved that something good is happening here at Volume.

What’s Crap on WhatsApp

What’s Crap on WhatsApp is a unique show if there ever was one. Not only can you subscribe and listen to it over WhatsApp as short voice-notes, but it also deals with those dodgy forwarded messages you often see in your group chats. Along with fact-checking organization Africa Check, Volume entertainingly debunks some of the most prolific and absurd content from WhatsApp.

Listen to What’s Crap on WhatsApp here.

Colourful Numbers

Colourful Numbers is a show we are really proud of, as it deals with climate change and the growing global climate crisis — by bringing it home and making it relatable to South Africans. This show takes three numbers each episode and delves into what story each of those figures can tell us about climate change in SA.

Listen to Colourful Numbers here.

Read This!

This year’s hottest African literature podcast is definitely Read This! Presented by The Johannesburg Book Review’s Jennifer Malec, this show brings you up-to-date with exciting new books, authors, and poets from SA and the African diaspora. Not only is this cultural food for your soul, but you can also listen to some of the hottest upcoming authors and poets read from their own works, just for you.

Listen to Read This! here.

Local Focus

Local Focus is all about bringing you the news that has been overlooked amidst national headlines. Our on the ground reporters find and investigate local news stories that often reflect something about a broader national climate or crisis.

Listen to Local Focus here.

THE BEST SOUTH AFRICAN PODCASTS OF 2019 was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Local Focus

“Acid Attack”

This month “Local Focus” introduced its awesome new host Hellen Tlokana who debuts with a chilling story of a young woman who was assaulted with burning acid by her boyfriend. It’s a shocking report of yet another case of gender violence plaguing South Africa.

🌆 Listen to “Acid Attack” on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Online

What’s Crap on WhatsApp?

“Apricot Seeds Cure Cancer”

What’s up with this story making the rounds that apricot seeds can cure cancer? And have you heard that people think you can use toothpaste to tst whether you are pregnant? Find out if these — and two more! — viral stories are true or not in the latest episode of this fake-news busting podcast from Volume and Africa Check.

📞Listen to “Apricot Seeds” on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Online

Colourful Numbers

“Water Shortages and The Climate Crisis”

The numbers for this episode are: 6, 300, and 7. Find out what stories these numbers can tell about the water crisis South Africa is facing, and how Joburg might also soon run out of water for its citizens.

🌳Listen to “Water Shortage” on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Online

Read This!

Johannesburg Review of Books editor Jennifer Malec has been industrious in November producing two amazing episodes of Volume’s hot African lit podcast “Read This!”

“Everything Is A Deathly Flower”

In this episode podcast host Jennifer Malec talks to Maneo Mohale about her highly anticipated debut poetry collection that deals with her experience of sexual assault. Hear Mohale read one of her poems and discuss her work in this latest African literature podcast episode.

📚Listen to “The Water Dancer” on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Online

“The Shadow King & The Water Dancer”

In this episode you can hear all about two amazing new works of African literature. The Water Dancer, the debut work of fiction by award-winning writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and The Shadow King, by Ethiopian–American author Maaza Mengiste.

📚Listen to “The Shadow King” on Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Online

To make sure you don’t miss an episode again, you can receive any of our shows on WhatsApp as voice-notes by simply clicking on the links below:

Subscribe to Local Focus

Subscribe to What’s Crap on WhatsApp?

Subscribe to Colourful Numbers

Subscribe to Read This!

#RECAP: All the New Podcast Episodes You Might Have Missed in November was originally published in Volume on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.