Topic 

For my final projecting I will be creating a podcast series that highlights local music in the Philadelphia area. It will focus on bands/artists themselves but it will also highlight people working in other areas of the music industry in Philadelphia. I would like the series to not only highlight various artists but to also discuss how the Philly music scene works. Where bands start playing, how they utilize social media and market themselves, the role that local labels play and other things of that nature. I want the series to document the process that local artists go through to garner a fan base and pick up steady gigs. I want the series to showcase their music, but also illustrate what it takes to find any level of success in the Philly music market. I want to create this series because I think it is intriguing to understand the work it takes for local musicians to break into the Philly music scene and how they are able to sustain success.

Form

I envision the podcast to have a few dimensions. The first is just me discussing local artists/bands, highlighting their music, and explaining their story and how they evolved into what they are today. The second is to play audio of their music to give the listener an idea of what kind of music they play. I would also like to play clips of them discussing their music and their careers. These clips would most likely come from other interviews/podcasts and things of that nature. Finally I would like to hopefully have a few interviews within the series. Whether that is with the band members themselves or with other people in the music industry, I would like to use these interviews to provide insight on the obstacles faced in the Philly music scene. Things like finding shows, promoting music, or being able to find success in the industry and what they consider to be success. 

I would like each episode to focus on more than just one song as well as more than just the music itself, but I think this is an example of the way that I would like to discuss a particular topic and also provide audio of a few songs. 

“Make Me Feel” Final Podcast – Protest Anthems Podcast (billwolffsju.com)

Audience and Impact

My primary audience would be people that pur fans of the Philly music scene. Although that sounds broad, I think that there is a large population of people who are not necessarily just a fan of a particular band or 2, but are fans of local Philadelphia music in general. I think this audience would be interested in listening to this because it will hopefully provide a more in depth look into the bands themselves as well as what it is like to be a musician in Philadelphia. My secondary audiences would be those that are fans of particular bands and those that are just simply music fans. I think these audiences will listen for the same reasons. It will provide analysis and offer insight into the world of these bands that can not be found by just listening to their music or going to a show.

Prior Experiences 

For two years, I recorded a podcast called Sixers Saturdays. We either recorded the podcast in the 1851 studios on St. Joe’s campus or we recorded them via zoom. However, this experience did give me some experience editing audio in premiere pro and I think it will be helpful when editing this podcast. We also occasionally embedded outside audio into the podcast so I think that experience will also be helpful. Because we recorded it in a studio or via zoom, I did not get to use the technology I will most likely be using for this podcast so that will be a challenge. However, the experience of recording and editing a podcast will be beneficial to me.

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLnNvdW5kY2xvdWQuY29tL3VzZXJzL3NvdW5kY2xvdWQ6dXNlcnM6Mjk5NjQzNTk0L3NvdW5kcy5yc3M/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMTAxNTI0MDczMg?hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwi2odu1jO_1AhXtlOAKHVDFCMQQjrkEegQIAhAI&ep=6

Research:

I think this project will require a decent amount of research before recording. I will need to narrow down my topic a little bit more. I will need to pick a handful of bands/musicians to focus on. I would like to pick them based on the genre of music they play, how much of their time is spent primarily in Philadelphia, what label if any they are signed to, and how long they have been playing in the area. I would like to choose a variety of different music, different labels, and choose some newer bands and some older bands. I do not think this research will be particularly difficult but it is certainly necessary to the success of the series. I will also need to research supplementary material to put on the podcast. Such as other interviews and speaking clips from the bands. I will also need to reach out to people – musicians as well as others in the industry to gauge their interest in appearing on the podcast.

Obstacles and Resources:

I think the biggest obstacle for this series will be making sure there is enough audio that is not just me speaking. Obviously I will be able to put in clips of the music in the podcast but my hope is to have more than just the music on this series so that there can be more of an in depth look into the Philly music scene. However, it will be important that I make sure I can find enough material before I move forward with focusing on a particular band/musician. 

I am still undecided on how exactly I am going to record the series. A lot of it will depend on whether or not I have guests involved in the series. 

Timeline:

I think I need to spend the next two weeks doing research contacting musicians and other people in the industry to gauge their interest in being involved. After that I think I will need to narrow down a list of who I want to focus on and lay out a plan for each episode. Ideally, I would like to start recording on the week of February 21st and then record 1 episode for the next 6-7 weeks and conclude the series on the week of April 11th.