Hello from Brooklyn, where I’m on the ground at On Air fest. On Air is a storytelling event that has been called the “Coachella of Podcasts.” There are a lot of big names here. Anderson Cooper, Seth Meyers, and Penn Badgley have all stopped by to talk about their podcasts and forays into the audio world.
On Air Fest was started in 2018 and takes place in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles. It brings together tons of interesting artists, storytellers, and industry leaders for panels on storytelling and launching your own creative projects.
The festival this year is packed with some of the biggest names in traditional broadcast radio. There’s a strong NPR and WNYC contingent, with people like Sam Sanders and Jad Abumrad of Radiolab and Anna Sale of Death, Sex, and Money.
Hundreds of people are shuttling in between sessions in the main event rooms at the Wythe hotel. However, the real action was in the event’s new “Creator Hall,” outside just around the corner.
I spoke at the first event at the hall, which is why I’m here. But the two sides of the festival felt very old vs new media. Big-name talent schmoozed in the main hall green room while creators and video-first podcasters congregated in the Creator Hall.
Lessons For Creators From The On Air Fest Panels
Kareem Rahma, from Subway Takes, gave what most people here agreed was the stand-out session. He cracked jokes on stage and opened up about his creative process. He said that he lives by the motto, “shoot first, aim later.” Or rather, don’t get tied up with the details or trying to get a piece of creative work perfect. Just get it out there, and you can tweak it as you go.
Next was Emily Sundberg, a star newsletter writer who just landed a big profile on the cover of NYT’s business section. Sundberg spoke on the importance of talent-driven media and differentiating yourself from other creators online. Other creators speaking include TikTok newscaster V Sphere and Cities by Diana, the administrator of a truly unhinged Instagram account about urbanization.
Executives like Reza Izad, co-founder of Underscore Talent, which represents tons of A list creators, were also mingling and mixing at On Air’s Creator Hall, along with the heads of creator-first podcast networks like Talkhouse.
Spotify Looms Large
One thing I overheard a lot of people chatting about was Spotify’s new creator program. Spotify partner managers were bopping in and out of the festival, and lots of podcasters who have primarily focused on YouTube were eagerly debating whether or not Spotify’s pivot to video would cannibalize their YouTube revenue.
The RSS Feed Days Are Done
I left the On Air fest heavily inspired and full of ideas for expanding my own independently produced tech and online culture podcast, Power User (listen now!!).
But the festival drove home the massive role platforms still play in the podcast ecosystem. Podcasting began in the early 2000s as an open-source system built entirely on RSS. The web-based RSS feed format allowed users to subscribe to and download anyone’s audio files automatically.
Unlike traditional broadcasting, podcasting was decentralized and open. Anyone with a microphone and an internet connection could distribute their content without gatekeepers.
The term “podcast” was coined in 2004, combining the iPod (the hot technology of the time) and the word broadcast. Despite the name and its ties to Apple, podcasting was platform-agnostic for years. But talking to people at On Air Fest really drove home how much this open foundation model has been eroded as platforms have begun centralizing the space.
Platform-First Strategies Are Vital To Consider
During Rahma’s talk, he discussed having a platform-first strategy. For example, his hit show Subway Takes was actually created for 90-second Instagram clips. Over time, he built a following with his short-form Instagram-optimized content. Only now, this week, has the show evolved into a longform podcast.
Another podcast manager talked about how shows he managed had hacked the YouTube algorithm to 10x their audience nearly overnight. Sam Sanders, a veteran of the old-school NPR world, now hosts a YouTube-first video podcast called The Sam Sanders Show. The name is crucial, as it focuses on him as a personality and a brand, something YouTube likes.
Even the biggest names in the business are narrowing their focus to cater to the platforms they use. When you’re building a project, having clarity about which platform and audience you’re creating for is more important than ever. It was a reminder whether you’re an old-school creative or new-school creator, we’re all now working at the mercy of these major tech platforms.
