Compiled by James Manning and Jasper Baumann
Taylor time ahead of The Eras Tour
Taylor Swift fans prepping for her forthcoming Australian tour have plenty of choice when it comes to podcasts. Type her name into either the Apple, Acast or Spotify podcast search engines and you will be offered a staggering list of options.
Topping the podcast chart at the moment is a new title from Georgie Tunny (from The Project) and Kirsten Ploog (a former Project producer now with The Kyle and Jackie O Show) which has been published by Acast. There has only been one episode and a number of preview teases. But it’s high production values, professional and humorous presentation style has attracted a big audience.
One of the veterans in the genre is Taylor Talk: The Taylor Swift Podcast. Although it hasn’t been active for a few years, they managed to make 205 episodes.
A more recent effort is 13: A Taylor Swift Fan Podcast which has been running since 2021. In that time it has churned out over 300 episodes. The main drops are weekly but there have been plenty of “emergency” SwifTea episodes which are rushed out when there is breaking news.
On Tay to Z: A Taylor Swift Podcast, the hosts have been working through her catalogue in alphabetical order. There are 175 episodes so far over the past four years.
Another recent arrival is Taylor Swift Today. Although it’s not quite daily there are usually a few episodes each week. Recent episodes have included coverage of Taylor at the Golden Globes and the controversy surrounding a New York Times commentary about Taylor.
In 2023, LiSTNR released a special episode of their Behind The Hits podcast, all about the story of Taylor Swift.
From her first Aussie shows in 2009 to sold out stadium tours, the podcast episode dives into Taylor’s story through exclusive archived interview audio. The podcast also hears from industry pals including Ed Sheeran and Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, as well as a number of Swifties.
“In this podcast, we’re not only hearing from her across the multiple eras of her life and career, but from her peers. We spoke to Joe Elliott from Def Leppard, who might be a left-of-centre choice to talk to about Taylor Swift, but I think he helps us highlight just how transcendent she is as a musician, and how much she means to the music industry as a whole.
“She’s basically rewritten the rulebook with her masters being re-recorded to re-release years after they first came out. She’s taught the music industry how to be kinder, and how to be more considerate towards artists and creatives. She’s really been able to use her platform and power, especially over the last five years or so, to rewrite the rulebook on what artists can expect from the music industry and make it a fair place for artists to come after her. On multiple levels, her icon status is there.”
[Listen to Behind The Hits – Taylor Swift here]
Tony time at Fox Friday
Season seven has started off for Tony Martin’s Sizzletown which has returned for another year. Tony is back solo for the stat of the year as his colleague and audio producer Matt Dower takes a summer vacation.
The team announced last week they had signed up sponsor Fox Friday Brewery for another year. The sponsor funding is supplemented by monthly subscriptions and merchandise sales.
[Listen to Tony Martin’s Sizzletown here.]
No off-season for The Final Word
The cricket season might have peaked with the end of the Pakistan tour with a 3-0 victory for Australia. There are however two West Indies Tests still to play, Big Bash League finals and a New Zealand tour featuring three T20 clashes and two Test Matches.
Alongside cricket podcasts from LiSTNR (Willow Talk) and ABC (The Grandstand Cricket Podcast), is the indie production The Final Word. The podcast is hosted by cricket broadcasters and journalists Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon.
The podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network, but the hosts do much of the production work including securing their major sponsorship deal with CBUS Super.
A revenue stream also includes dollars from Patreon (712 paid members) and live shows they put on recently in Melbourne (guest Glenn Maxwell) and Sydney (guest Michael Bevan).
They have been following cricket around the world for 15 seasons and publish daily episodes during major test series involving Australia and England wherever they may be.
Collins can also be heard as a caller on the SEN cricket coverage where we worked along side Gerard Whateley on the recent Pakistan series and did great work hosting the SEN Ashes Tour in the UK last year. Now based in London, he visits Australia regularly for tours and will be in New Zealand next month when Australia arrive.
Lemon is a journalist and broadcaster and he writes on cricket for a number of publications including Guardian Australia.
There will be more on Collins and The Final Word soon in Mediaweek.
[Listen to The Final Word here.]
Icon Reputation launches podcast to dissect PR and comms
Icon Reputation, part of Icon Agency, has launched a podcast, Up the Creek, examining the hits and misses of PR and crisis communications from the sporting arena to corporate blowouts.
Director Mark Forbes and director of media and public affairs Benjamin Haslem will dissect how people or organisations define themselves in these crises and examine their attempts to extricate themselves.
Forbes told Mediaweek the two hosts have “a fair bit of experience on both sides of the fence”, both as former journalists who now work in high levels of PR and crisis communications.
While Up the Creek looks at the serious implications of PR mishaps and crisis communications, he noted: “It’s not a totally serious podcast. It’s a chance to have a giggle at the misfortunes of others.”
Though Forbes joked that the podcast is for “anyone who takes a degree of pleasure in the discomfort of others”, he said it would interest anyone intrigued by the reputations of individuals, organisations and corporations.
