If your brand is a story, then how can you best bring that story to life? Who knows more about story that the artists who work at Pixar – past, present, and future? In this conversation from hivio 2014, the audio future festival, Mark Ramsey talks with former Pixar story artist Emma Coats. Emma got her start in story at Pixar Animation Studios in 2007 on the feature film Brave. While at Pixar she also worked on such films as Monsters University and Inside Out. Since leaving P

If all your favorite audio content is all over the place in a variety of different channels, why can’t you aggregate it all in one place? Well, now you can! J.D. Heilprin is founder of AGOGO, a stealthy mobile-first startup that was recently featured in the iTunes store as “best new app” and “top news app.” Much more than aggregating podcasts, AGOGO is a platform bringing together a world of audio (and the audio form of TV and textual media content made audio) in one place, a

The number one media brand in Australia is a radio show. Think about that for a second. The number one media brand in Australia is a radio show. So says Southern Cross Austereo’s Craig Bruce as he provides a master class on making great audio entertainment and developing and nurturing talent. There’s a lot U.S. broadcasters can learn from Craig’s keen comments and finely-tuned best practices, which he shared with all of us in his Q&A at hivio 2014, the audio future festival.

So I read with interest today this distribution-related tidbit from NTS MediaOnline: Cumulus Media-owned Westwood One has announced an agreement with NextRadio that will enable all U.S. radio stations to use advertising inventory to fund the industry’s payments to Sprint. Over the past year, broadcasters have been asked to commit dollars and/or inventory to fund the Sprint NextRadio Initiative, which plans to sell at least 30 million FM receiver-enabled smartphones in the nex

What’s the difference between a media brand and an individual with 50 million YouTube views? Nothing! Andrea Russett is a YouTube phenomenon. She has amassed over 700K Twitter followers, 1 million YouTube subscribers, 1.1 million Instagram followers, and 50 million YouTube views. Speaking with me at hivio 2014 with her manager Phil Becker, here are some of the questions that Andrea and Phil answered: How did you become a YouTube Star? How do you grow that kind of attention? W

What do advertisers want from the audio marketplace in general and from radio in particular? Let’s ask an agency head! Or in this case, an “anti-agency” head: Ric Militi, CEO of InnoVision, a company that buys terrestrial radio, Pandora, and a whole lot more. This was one of the standout Q&A’s from hivio 2014, the audio future festival. Among the questions Ric answers: What kind audio do you buy? Why? What is the BEST thing about the audio space from the advertiser’s perspect

Pandora is changing more than the way folks consume radio – it’s changing the way agencies view audio advertising. This was at the center of my conversation with Pandora VP Audio Sales Doug Sterne at the hivio audio future festival in San Diego in June, 2014. Among the questions Doug answers: What impact has online radio in general — and Pandora in particular — had on audio as a force among agencies? For online radio, audio is more than just audio. What creative opportunities

So what did you miss at hivio, the audio future festival, in San Diego earlier this month? Well let’s ask somebody who was there. Sara Marsolek, Faith Radio Network’s Listener Engagement Director, was kind enough to take some copious notes and has agreed to let me share a summary of them with you. You can read her original blog post about the event here. Thanks Sara! Here are some key takeaways: 1. Build your list. I call this new name acquisition – too fancy? Well, you get t

Podcasting, online radio, terrestrial radio, satellite radio….Do you think that all these audio silos have little in common? That podcasting is different from radio is different from online radio and Pandora, etc? You’re wrong. Do you think that ever-increasing choices in a world offering everybody their own personal customized experience means the end of “hits,” and – by association – the end of radio? No, in fact the more choices you have, the more important “hits” become.

He’s the author of the best-selling Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World He’s Gary Vaynerchuk! Gary created this video just for us to open hivio 2014 – the audio future festival – last week. In it, he showcases the power of audio. “Audio matters – period,” says Gary. Lots more video to come from hivio 2014. If you haven’t already signed up for hivio updates, do it now! #festival #future #radio #hivio #audio #markramsey #Media #radioindustr

I wanted to create an event that attracted a bevy of thoughtful future-oriented doers in the audio space, one that offered new ideas, inspiration, and compelling Q&A for radio, online radio, digital audio, and podcasting (I’m only pretending those are separate categories, of course). I also wanted to create an event that folks would be proud to attend not only because of the information and the networking, but also because it was just plain fun. Here are some images from hivi

On June 4, from 8:30 PT to 4:30 PT, hivio streams all day long! Here’s the lineup so you can schedule your viewing (all times are PT and approximate): 8:30 – 9am – Mark Ramsey (@MarkRamseyMedia) 9 – 9:10am – Video from Gary Vaynerchuk (@GaryVee) 9:10 – 9:30am – Tracy Johnson, Tracy Johnson Media (@TracyJohnson) 9:30 – 10:00am – Jerry Rocco, 22Social (@JerryRocco) 10 – 10:30am – BREAK 10:30 – 11am – Ric Militi, InnoVision 11:00 – 11:30am – Craig Bruce, Southern Cross Austereo 

hivio is the audio future festival, and it streams LIVE from San Diego on Wednesday, June 4, 2014, beginning at 8:30 am PT New Ideas, Inspiration, and Compelling Q&A for Radio, Online Radio, Digital Audio, and Podcasting. Mark Ramsey talks LIVE with SiriusXM’s Tim Sabean, InnoVision’s Ric Militi, Southern Cross Austereo’s Craig Bruce, Growth Hacker and Author Mark Middo, Former Pixar Story Artist Emma Coats, the Content Marketing Institute’s Robert Rose, Pandora’s Doug Sterne

It’s shaping up to be perhaps the most diverse gathering of professionals in the audio information and entertainment space ever. Just take a look at this word cloud version of all the company names present in the room: From broadcasters to podcasters, from commercial radio to public radio, from startups to established players, from digital innovators to traditional radio stalwarts, from U.S. to International. It’s a full house for hivio 2014, the audio future festival, set fo

Wouldn’t it be great if the audio space had its own little version of SXSW? A place for the cool kids in and around the radio world to meet and play together? No matter if they were US or international, broadcasters, podcasters, commercial or public media, online radio, agencies, technologists in the audio space, storytellers, talent, or artists? The wait is over. Today I’m proud to announce the kickoff of the utterly unique hivio 2014 – the second annual audio future festiva

Want to hear some great ideas on the future of radio and the role of what we sometimes call “podcasting” in it? Then watch this video. It’s the New Media Show from Geek News Central with Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee, and I am their featured guest this week. We cover a TON of ground in this conversation, including… How should Apple’s iTunes Radio and Podcast app evolve? Why radio should consider podcasters to be their “farm team” A strategy for radio to monetize the most pop

Stop the pity party, broadcasters! It’s a new year! All year long I hear tons of complaints that “radio is not doing this” and “radio is not doing that.” I’m asked if I ever get frustrated that maybe, just maybe, industry titans aren’t listening to me. Well of course not! First of all, tons of people in the industry are doing amazing things, many beneath the media radar. Second, I listen to me and you listen to me, and – judging by the 30% growth in my subscription list over

It didn’t look, feel, or smell like any other gathering of radio types. But don’t take my word for it…. Just watch this short highlight reel (and spot all the familiar faces – or see yourself): Well today I have good news: hivio 2014 is ON. Mark your calendars now: June 4, 2014 in San Diego. Be there or be extraordinarily square. hivio celebrates new and influential ideas in on-demand, radio, content, social, mobile, and technology that transform the audio entertainment and i

In order to rally and fight a problem, we must begin by recognizing its existence. The realities of changing consumer usage have certainly provoked action for my clients in what used to be called “newspapers,” I can tell you. But radio has been slower to action not only because the trends have been less dire, but also because so few are willing to stand up and tell the Emperor that he has no clothes. Indeed, some refute the trends altogether. So it is when we hear that radio

In one of the most enjoyable conversations from hivio 2013, the radio ideas festival, I talked with Gary Kramer, Artistic Director of the National Comedy Theatre in New York and San Diego. Over the past two decades, the NCT has presented almost 7000 performances. As a performer, Gary has appeared throughout the country, as well as internationally in places such as Iraq, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Turkey and Spain. In addition to NCT, Gary has directed and performed with C