Pop Convergence 2021

Pod Out the Jams: Podcasting and the Changing Mediums for Music Writing (Room A: Sky Church)

Over the course of the 2010s, podcasting went from being dominated by informal, conversational/testimonial-style content to encompassing a wide range of formats, with varying levels of production quality, not to mention profit potential. As an inherently auditory medium, it’s unsurprising that music-oriented podcasts would arise and even within this specific subset, the range of styles has encompassed everything from song/album analysis to critic roundtables to history-driven storytelling to investigative journalism. This comes at a time where opportunities for print-based music writing continues to contract and web-based outlets have struggled to maintain long-term economic stability. Podcasting, for certain, is faced by similar challenges in navigating this mercurial landscape but the medium is still young enough where both the creative and financial potential is still under-explored. Our roundtable discussion brings together active podcast creators and hosts to discuss the possibilities – and liabilities – involved in turning to podcasting as a medium for music writing in all its diversity. Some of the key questions that our panel would be engaging in include:

-How is podcasting similar or different from other music writing mediums? What are some of its unexpected benefits or shortcomings?

-How challenging has it been to adapt to the medium for those used to text-based forms of music writing, whether creatively, technologically, etc.?

-What is the potential that has yet to be realized, whether creatively, financially or otherwise?

-How may the ongoing consolidation amongst podcast networks, combined with the threat of network-exclusive access, alter our expectations of music podcasting into the 2020s? Do similar consolidations in the print/web-world offer lessons or cautionary tales to learn for podcasters?