Let’s Tweak Your Music Podcast (And Mine) For Better Performance

Do you produce a music podcast? Yet another program about our favorite subject which you were certain would explode like a supernova in the saturated YouTube, Spotify and TikTok galaxies? Do you now wish upon a star that someone, anyone who loves music as much as you, could locate your show with their telescope of interest and influence so your hot, burning passion for all things music can finally be seen for the star that it is, shining brighter than all those many other music podcasts emitting their own faint light?

Yeah, me too. I admit, the podcast I’m part of needs some tweaking and maybe yours does, too.  If we inventory everything that’s right about what we’re doing, it seems like the model of success, right? Interesting and diverse guests? Check.  Fun co-hosts who also love music and learning about people? We’ve got the best. An experienced producer who knows what they’re doing? Ours is a genius.

There’s a lot to like, but of course, it’s not enough. And that’s why I’m writing this bit, not just for you but also for me and our hard-working, toiling-in-anonymity crew. It’s a reminder that our show, now heading into its third season, can always be improved. If you think yours can be improved, too – and especially if you don’t – let’s examine what we could be doing better.

Know What Your Show Is

We began with a very specific idea in mind. We wanted to showcase songs, not just music. We wanted to book artists to discuss their music careers by focusing on a handful of songs they’d written. We asked them to select those songs for discussion, the ones they felt best represented what they were doing. Choosing to learn about the artist by focusing on specific songs felt unique.

We started by interviewing some of the city’s best acts, musicians with all sorts of upside, acts like Jumprope, ABRY, The Broken Spokes, Vosotros and Brightwire (they have a great new album, y’all!). Those episodes reflected the diversity of the city through its music scene and said something about our love for all kinds of music.

But, somewhere along the way, we lost sight of those early signals, the things that possibly would have separated us from being just another podcast with interviews and music segments. We dropped the notion that we could learn about an artist – especially emerging ones from our own city – by hearing about the reasons they chose to write certain songs.

Instead, we focused on the live music we captured during our time with our guests and live performance is tricky. First of all, it’s a performance. By definition, it’s less honest than hearing an artist share the very personal reasons they put lyrics and melodies together for something to exist in the world.

If the artist is having an off night, we learned, the footage you shoot may not be the best representation of their music. We definitely saw that occur on a couple of occasions; but, their words about why they wrote what they wrote rarely betrayed them.

The viewers who follow your show deserve to know how it’s going to present music and its creators in a more interesting way than, “So why’d you write this one?” or from training a camera on musicians while they play their song for the hundredth, five hundredth, thousandth time.

At the end of the day, the suggestion here is to know what your plan of attack is and then stick to it, especially if it feels like something no one else is doing. We’ve learned that – because of the opportunities that come your way or the diverse interests of your staff – that’s a lot harder to do than it sounds. But you’ll benefit by having a reliable, defined product your consumers can trust won’t change, if you can do it.

Don’t Ignore the Analytics

One thing our show is trying to improve is following the numbers to see what is working and what isn’t. Following numbers is a challenge for a bunch of creatives. We’re here to make art, not be accountants.

But, every tool you use in podcasting has built-in features to help you learn what is and what isn’t working. For instance, our most viewed episode is a tour bus talk we had with Mexican regional superstar, Christian Nodal. To date, it’s our only episode with more than 10,000 views, more than double the views of our second most watched, a festival interview we did with fellow Texan and all-around badass, Amanda Shires. 

There’s a lot more to delve into than views when it comes to analytics. But you can learn a lot just from that basic info. For instance, eight of the top 10 most viewed episodes we’ve produced did not feature live music. They were all interview oriented with pre-recorded artist videos to bolster the content. So why have we focused so earnestly on capturing live music, when it wasn’t a major element of the most watched shows in our arsenal? Good question and maybe one we’ll learn something from moving forward.

Cross Cultivate

Creating content for your podcast is the fun, easy part. The harder part is making people aware of what you’re doing. In 30 months of producing our show, we’ve managed 2,500 followers on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. That’s 83.333 followers per month over all four platforms. Over on Spotify, you can count our followers on one hand, if you’ve lost two fingers in a gardening mishap. Not exactly world beating. Pushing your show on these platforms is basic and essential and you’ve got to make even more time for those critical efforts than the hours you spend booking guests or recording and editing content. If you don’t, consider yourself a van Gogh, because your masterpiece will never be appreciated in this lifetime.

Make time to promote on these sites and elsewhere and be creative about those promotional efforts. Learn how places like Spotify and Apple Music can broaden your audience. Reach out to venues to see how they’ll team with you to promote their shows and give your brand more attention. Create merch that is hip and can sell, to build awareness and the podcast’s coffers. Go to music-oriented pop-ups, music gatherings like SXSW and ACL, to create content and more perception that your show exists and is doing cool shit. Think way outside of the box and try to network and create partnerships with existing brands which benefit all involved.

In short, creating an episode and posting it won’t bring viewers, no matter how good it is. You have to do every little thing you can to make folks know you’re out there and deserve their attention.

Get Money and Spend it Properly

You need less money than time to create a podcast and that’s why you’ll bump into 200 or 300 on every crowded corner of the Internet. But, you do need some money for basic operations.

One thing we did our first two seasons was find a paying, corporate sponsor. They poured dollars into the show and even though their sponsorships have long ended, they’re gonna get a shout out here anyway – thanks Adley Law Firm and Pusch & Wynne! – because they took a chance on some newbs. 

If you can get someone to foot the bill, do it. You’re offering their brand a chance to gain some followers, too, after all (hit those links above, especially if you’ve just been in an auto accident). With the right approach, you’ll find someone amenable to writing a check. When they do, make sure you have a good plan for how to use that money to build followership and bridges to other sponsorships.

Meet Regularly to Stay on the Same Page and to Show Love

A podcast, by and large, is a labor of love. Unless you’re building a show for iHeartMedia or Sirius, you’re going to devote a lot of time to creating and promoting your work. The last thing you probably will want to do after all that effort is to sit around and talk about it all.

But, I can say, not doing so would be a real mistake. There’s value in stripping away all the to-dos and focusing on the “what do we want to-dos” when creating a podcast or managing any venture. If you don’t meet regularly, when will you exchange ideas about what is and isn’t working with your show?

A hint: do not do this by text message. So much gets lost in the translation of texting, it will surely throw you off course if this is your only or preferred means of communicating. If you can’t get together for a real-life hang, at least Zoom it. That’s a much better option than a group text or DM.

Many great ventures began with a handful of people getting together in a room somewhere to trade ideas, learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and plot and plan to execute. You need to allow yourself the time to do the same. And, meetings are also good for checking in on one another. You should want to hear how life is going for your partners, outside of this work you’re doing together. So, make time and then really dedicate yourself to it. You’re creating something with real people and hopefully they’re people you enjoy, folks you find interesting beyond what they bring to the podcast table, people you’d like to see succeed not just at building your show, but at everything else. When it comes down to it, a podcast focuses on people and if you can’t see the brilliance and goodness of those right in front of you, you’ll have a hard time finding it in your guests or the audience you’re praying will follow your show.