Every week we will be revealing five pearls of wisdom from a member of the Tileyard London community. From creative industry tips, to top places in London to eat and drink, there’s a whole host of knowledge at Tileyard that you definitely don’t want to miss.
This week we spoke to the presenters of the ‘At The Yard’ podcast, Lucy Macieira (Education & Marketing Manager to Tileyard Education) and Matt Williams (CRM Director and Editor of Music Jobs). ‘At The Yard’ is a podcast recorded out of Tileyard Education, situated in Tileyard London and is designed to ask the big questions about what the music industry is really like. If you’re thinking of starting up your own podcast or just interested in hearing more about the behind the scenes work involved, here are Lucy and Matt’s top five tips for producing a podcast.
1. Choose a niche topic
You need to choose a topic that you’re passionate about and one that stands out from other podcasts. It’s useful to do some market research to check out your competition. Looking at the Spotify ‘top trending’ podcasts is a good place to start. ‘At The Yard’ is different from others because it incorporates businesses and people that work at Tileyard London or have connections with us. The podcast also has a broader theme of the music industry which appeals to a wide audience. Our listeners don’t necessarily have to know what Tileyard is in order to follow along and enjoy the podcast.
2. Chemistry and teamwork
It is important that whoever is leading the podcast, the presenter(s), have strong communication skills and good chemistry with each other. We are friends outside of work and know each other well. The idea for ‘At The Yard’ actually came about in a conversation over a few drinks.
‘At The Yard’ would not be possible if we didn’t have such a great team working with us. Producing a podcast is much more work than just hitting record on a conversation. Callum Watts is our producer and edits all of our podcasts. Callum studied an MA in Music Business at Tileyard Education and now works for the business. Alex Hollingsworth and Justin Gartry also work for Tileyard Education and are a vital part of our team as they help us find studios onsite to record our podcasts and set up all the gear for each recording. When we initially started ‘At The Yard’, we filmed each of the episodes. At that time Panos Agamemnos, Tileyard Education’s videographer, filmed and edited all of the videos which was a great help too.
3. Know your guest
It’s vital that you know your guest well before recording a podcast episode. Make sure you research their background, latest achievements and have facts and figures to hand. It’s your job to build a rapport with your guests and make them feel comfortable. This should result in a natural, flowing conversation and make for good listening content too.
4. Be adaptable
After recording a couple of episodes we learnt that having a structured set of questions for every guest doesn’t always work well. Conversations have to be honest and sometimes having a regimented list will make for a disjointed, interview-like conversation. It’s good to have an idea of what you would like to cover in the podcast but often guests bring notes or mention an anecdote that leads on to an interesting, spontaneous conversation. The best episodes are often when guests feels at ease and can be fluid with what they want to talk about. It’s important to know that things don’t always go to plan. You might come across technical issues or not cover every point in your notes but that’s fine.
5. Listen to your audience
It’s essential to listen and interact with your audience. Often our listeners give us feedback about particular episodes. You should take any comments onboard because these people are your audience, essentially you are creating the podcast for them and want to make it entertaining. Social media is a great way of promoting your podcast and interacting with listeners. We have an Instagram page for ‘At The Yard’ which we update every time we release a new episode. Follow At The Yard on Instagram here
Listen to At The Yard here
Follow At The Yard on Instagram here
Follow Tileyard Education on Instagram here
Follow Music Jobs UK on Instagram here
