The 2024 Australian Podcast Awards shortlist announced & voting now open
The 2024 Australian Podcast Awards (APAs), powered by ARN’s iHeart, are back to celebrate Australia’s top podcast talent.
The shortlist for this year’s awards have been unveiled, following the meticulous review of 400 submissions by 100 expert judges. This year’s diverse range of categories includes everything from True Crime to Comedy and Sex & Relationships.
Listener’s Choice voting is now underway and will remain open until October 10.
The winners will be celebrated at the awards ceremony held at the Sofitel Sydney, Darling Harbour, recognising outstanding talent across 30 categories, including the Podcast of the Year and Best New Podcast.
Media personalities, and hosts of podcast The Buck Up, Kate Langbroek and Nath Valvo will be hosting the awards night November 21. “We are very excited to host the Logies of podcasts and celebrate everyone. Will try our best to stick to the script but if it’s anything like our podcast we’re in for a long night. Sorry everybody.”
This year’s shortlist features a range of nominees, including The Churchill Collective, which captures audiences with thought-provoking discussions on leadership and innovation; Concealed with Art Simone, highlighting the secret world of drag artistry; Unemployed and Afraid, offering relatable stories of career transitions; and Grave Matters, which dives into dark history and true crime.
Black T-Shirts with Al Merry from The Flower Shop
This week, Adam Ferrier and Brent Smart are joined by Al Merry, chief creative officer and founder of the Flower Shop, one of the hottest new independent agencies from New York City.
In this episode, Merry chats to Adam and Brent about what it takes to move from being a creative to founding and running a creative business at the blistering pace set by the current advertising landscape. The interview touches on many tensions faced by creatives and the creative industry today. Perhaps the most relatable point of contention is the tension faced between a focus on the work, vs the commercial and practical realities of running a business.
Acast signs Frances Cook’s new money podcast, Making Cents
Acast has partnered with award-winning journalist, Frances Cook, on the launch of her new podcast, Making Cents with Frances Cook.
Making Cents aims to simplify the often-confusing world of finance, with Cook helping listeners navigate money, from budgeting through to investing. Cook will be busting through the jargon and figuring out realistic money solutions on a weekly basis, with two episodes per week for listeners. Along the way, Cook will chat to people who’ve made big money changes to discover how it’s transformed their lives.
Acast will host, distribute and monetise the podcast globally as part of the Acast Creator Network.
Ryan Lamont, senior development manager at Acast AU/NZ, said this partnership with Cook is a key part of Acast’s continued focus on the growing New Zealand podcast space.
“We’re excited to be partnering with Frances Cook on this next chapter of her career as an independent podcaster,” he said.
“The demand for high-quality Kiwi podcasts continues to grow in New Zealand, and Frances is the perfect creator to meet this demand.
“Acast will support Frances on her journey as an independent podcaster in the Acast Creator Network through our robust global monetisation offering, along with strategic insights from our decade of experience in podcasting.”
LiSTNR introduces LiSTNR Web Player Version 4
SCA has unveiled the LiSTNR Web Player Version 4 at play.listnr.com, continuing the tech innovation of the Australian-built, owned and operated digital audio ecosystem.
The Web Player advancements allow LiSTNR content to be consumed online anywhere and anytime on any device with a browser. The new user experience also makes content easier to share on social platforms, through posts and direct messaging.
In addition, LiSTNR has created a seamless transition between the app and the web with a new deep linking capability, ensuring that anyone with the app installed can easily use it to listen.
For advertisers, the LiSTNR Web Player Version 4 enables LiSTNR to continue to build its addressable audience by accelerating the transition from unknown to known users.
SCA executive head of LiSTNR product & technology, Chris Johnson, said: “The new LiSTNR Web Player, together with the updated LiSTNR App, creates a seamless user experience across a wide range of devices. The personalized platform makes it easy for audiences to find their favourites or continue where they left off. With the fully signed-in Web Player, advertisers can leverage our first- party data to achieve the same exceptional campaign performance they’re already experiencing on mobile.”
[The new web player can be found here]
Rowena Millward launches new podcast series with Mediaweek: Uncomfortable Growth Uncut
Uncomfortable Growth Uncut is a new podcast series author and business consultant Rowena Millward is launching in partnership with Mediaweek. Millward introduces the series:
Every piece of content from high-profile leaders today screams success. From the keynote stage. From the competitive business pitch. From LinkedIn.
Yet, when you get to really talk with them – the truth is anything but perfection. It’s gritty. It’s challenging. It’s a mosaic of the good, the bad, the ugly.
Uncomfortable Growth Uncut asks what happens when going gets tough
In all honesty – that’s what is truly interesting. It’s easy to talk about success (and these leaders are successful and impressive). But I genuinely want to know what they did when the going got tough. When they didn’t know the answer. When they wanted to give up.
As a leader, I’ve learned that it’s not the moments of success that define us but the messy, challenging crossroads where we’re forced to confront our deepest fears.
This new podcast Uncomfortable Growth Uncut is a space where we strip away the gloss and perfection, diving into the gritty reality of what it means to grow, lead, and live authentically. We explore the pivotal moments that test us to our core, the times when everything feels uncertain, and the only way forward is to dig deep and find the courage to keep going.
Which is why every guest on the Uncomfortable Growth Uncut podcast gets asked the same question: What is your Uncomfortable Growth story?
It’s unscripted. Unrehearsed. What they say is unknown (even to me – the podcast founder and host). It can be about anything: work, life, relationships, failures, business and family. It’s about the real story, and what they have learnt as they have navigated the twists and turns of real life.
This first series invites 10 incredible, high-profile media industry leaders to share their Uncomfortable Growth stories. You will already know their names. Now you have the chance to hear their backstory, and how this has shaped them.
Shameless Media’s new ‘Inherited’ podcast is changing up a ‘saturated’ space
Shameless Media’s new podcast, Inherited, releasing this week, aims to shine a new light on Australian talent and in doing so, also shines a new light on a tried and tested format.
The Shameless Podcast, hosted by co-founders of the women’s media company, Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews, used to conduct typical interviews with Aussie talent that is still seen to this day across all major popular podcasts.
“In 2021, we realized we were tiring of the format on Shameless,” McDonald told Mediaweek.
“However in the time since then, Michelle has been at me to get back to it, but if I’m honest, I’ve always found the interview space quite saturated.
“I think the reason we stopped doing interviews is because in Australia, it’s quite a small pool of talent, you’ll often see a similar person, maybe on a publicity tour, doing a lot of the same shows.
“I thought, if we’re going to bring back interview content, we need to be bringing it back with an idea and a concept that you would still listen to even if the person has been interviewed 100 times.
“We want it to feel like you’re getting something different, and that’s what Inherited is.”
Inherited is based on the premise that what one inherits in life is so much more than money, and no matter what stage in life you are, one has already inherited so many things.