This week’s episode marks nine years of the Sound Off Podcast, and it’s a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come—and where we’re going. From upgrading our sound and socials, bringing on sponsors, to adding video in a world that now scrolls for connection, our show has evolved alongside the media landscape.

In this episode, I dig into what’s broken in radio: a system that stretches talent like Stretch Armstrong—asking for more with less—and a stubborn over-reliance on music in an era where listeners can get any song, any time. What keeps people tuning in? Spoiler: it’s not the music—it’s the personalities. So why aren’t we hearing more from them?

We also talk about recent radio layoffs, a nostalgic Winnipeg radio reunion, and why spoken word content is more valuable than ever. Plus, I share the details on my new Studiobricks booth. Yes Matt Cundill voiceovers is still a thing; even though I don't talk about it a lot on the show.

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I've known Neil Veglio from his ongoing posts on LinkedIn, but I thought it would be fun to just say hello in a line up at the Podcast Show in London last month. Neal is the founder of PodKnows, a podcast production and coaching company out of the UK. He agreed to come on the show to share his journey from radio to podcasting, and why it is important to create value-driven content rather than focusing solely on monetization. We discussed the challenges of podcast marketing, including the pitfalls of buying downloads and gaming platform algorithms.

We talked about many of the podcast strategies he covers on his show Podcasting Insights with The Podmaster: growth advice for people and brands, such as the significance of websites, proper SEO, and audience engagement. Neil provides insights into podcast auditing, recommending creators critically listen to their older episodes and focus on improving content quality. Neal pointed out accurately that the current trend of video podcasting is excellent to disuss, but creators need to focus on the basics like the importance of choosing meaningful podcast titles.

Don't expect any knock 'em down drag 'em out fighting in this. We both believe success comes from creating authentic content that provides genuine value to listeners, rather than chasing vanity metrics.

Please sign up for the SOUNDING OFF Newsletter. Full of all the things you never knew what you were missing in your life.

Both the Sound Off Podcast and The Podcast Superfriends are apart of The Open Podcast Prefix Project (OP3) A free and open-source podcast prefix analytics service committed to open data and listener privacy. You can be a nosey parker by checking out our downloads here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.