It’s one of the toughest problems facing any of us in the audio space: How do we leverage social media to spread our actual audio content? This problem is made tougher by the fact that various social media platforms are all in on video and images, but not so much all in on audio. There are a number of platforms available today that attempt to solve that problem and give your audio a chance to go viral. One of my favorites is WAVVE. In this video I’m touring the brand new vers

The power of audio is more than just music or even “spoken word.” With his partner Larry Fessenden, Glenn McQuaid is the co-creator of the extraordinary contemporary audio drama series “Tales from Beyond the Pale,” featuring voices you’ll recognize from artists like Vincent D’Onofrio, Sean Young, and the late, great horror legend Angus Scrimm. In addition to writing and directing many episodes of Tales, Glenn is also well known for his feature film work – he was writer/direct

Every high profile brand and personality must now think of themselves as digital brands, but how? Chris Balfe has the answer. He’s a Partner at Red Seat Ventures. Red Seat partners with high profile individuals and brands to build unique digital businesses. Initial clients include Premiere Networks and motion picture producer Blumhouse. Prior to founding Red Seat, Balfe was President & COO of Mercury Radio Arts as well as CEO of TheBlaze. TheBlaze pioneered a brand new direct

How can radio and other media brands do social media right? Why not ask the expert whose clients include NBC Universal, News Corp, and several OTT video players? Todd Beck is CEO & Founder of Beck Media & Marketing, the agency dozens of TV, OTT, and Tech companies look to for potent digital strategies that get results. Beck Media’s areas of focus span content creation and exploitation on TV, web, mobile, and social media, and whatever medium comes next. Todd was one of the fe

Andy Bowers is the Chief Content Officer of Panoply, a leading podcast network and an innovator in the space. In this Q&A from hivio 2016, the audio future festival, I talk with Andy about Panoply’s business model, how the company works with advertisers and brands, and the future of podcasting as a business. Among the questions Andy addresses: Describe Panoply For advertisers, Panoply is more about impact than scale. How is that distinction important and how does it work for

Valerie Geller is a talent coach second to none. She works worldwide, coaching personalities in podcasting, radio, and television. In this standout Q&A from hivio, the audio future festival, I talk with Valerie about how to coach and develop great talent and where to find the future of audio talent. Among the questions we address: How can talent communicate more powerfully? How can talent tell stories without making it “all about me?” How to sustain engagement over a period o

Gary Vaynerchuk calls this “the greatest era of fake businesses ever,” but is he right? And… Dollar Shave Club is snapped up by Unilever, but it’s all about the data. Plus, rants and raves about the wisdom – or not – of flossing, how money-losing SoundCloud could possibly be worth $1 billion, and why YouTube stars will keep haunting the top of the book bestseller lists. It’s episode 47 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Li

What lessons can any media brand – even any radio brand – learn from TheBlaze? TheBlaze is Glenn Beck’s innovative, genre-busting, hugely successful platform for news, information, and entertainment in TV, radio, and online. Since its launch, its digital operation has logged nearly six billion page views. In this conversation from hivio 2015, Mark Ramsey talks to Scott Baker, TheBlaze’s Editor-in-Chief. Some of the questions we discuss: Define “TheBlaze”? What is it and why i

How can terrestrial radio partner with online radio for the benefit of both? That’s just one topic tackled by Duncan Orrell-Jones, CEO of Slacker Radio. In this Q&A from hivio, the audio future festival, Orrell-Jones outlines Slacker’s business strategy and how it contrasts with the strategies of more familiar names like Pandora or Spotify. Slacker’s emphasis is on building a state-of-the-art radio experience and pursuing unique deals in partnership and distribution. Some of

Podcasting is helping millions of listeners fall in love with audio all over again. That’s from the perspective of someone who has been at the center of radio, digital, and now podcasting. Mike Agovino is Executive Vice Chairman of PodcastOne and former COO of Triton Digital – two firms at the core of the new age of digital audio. In this conversation from hivio, the audio future festival, Mark Ramsey talks with Agovino about the amazing impact of podcasting for advertisers a

What is the future of audio advertising? That’s what I set out to learn from a true expert: Kirsten Wolf, VP Media Director of Starcom Worldwide. While Kirsten doesn’t speak for the entire advertising industry, Starcom is unquestionably at the forefront of the audio advertising space. What are advertisers and buyers looking for from audio brands? How do advertisers see radio, podcasting, online radio, and more? And where are the trends headed? Here are some of the central que

What’s there to love about radio? A lot, according to Marilu Henner. Indeed, my conversation with the always warm and spirited Marilu was one of the highlights of hivio 2015. Marilu is the ultimate Hollywood hyphenate – author, actor, TV star, and humanitarian. Along with starring in over thirty films, six Broadway shows, and two hit classic sitcoms, Taxi and Evening Shade, this five-time Golden Globe Nominee now hosts her own nationally syndicated radio show The Marilu Henne

There are few class acts in the radio and TV business classier than Barry Drake. After an amazing career leading a variety of radio and television companies, Barry has set down on paper the best lessons from those years, mixed with enough anecdotes and highlights for several careers. The book is 40 Years 40,000 Sales Calls: Thoughts on Radio and Advertising Based on a Lifetime of Customer Contact Broadcasters Foundation of America. Enjoy this wide ranging conversation with Ba

What’s the upside for advertising on podcasts? Where is it going and how can your podcast get a piece of a growing advertising pie? That’s what I asked Erik Diehn, VP Biz Dev at Midroll Media, the podcasting advertising network. Midroll, like PodcastOne, is one of the companies creating of the business of podcasting. The audience sizes of leading podcasts are approaching and surpassing what advertisers are accustomed to on TV, so despite imperfect measurements, momentum is be

I’m tired of certain “chiefs” of the radio industry who diminish the prospect of making money from streaming, as if Internet radio is altogether different from or irrelevant to the future of broadcast tower licensees. Hardly. Further, when these individuals proudly proclaim “there’s no money to be made in streaming” and “I’ve never met any broadcaster who has made money streaming,” they are not only expressing ignorance, they are also granting permission for an entire industr

I have long argued that radio broadcasters demand too little of their mobile apps. Yes, they can stream the over-the-air content. But so can your radio. What else can they do? What about your app is so essential, so engaging, such an important complement to the over-the-air and streaming experience that it demands not only that I download it, but that I also use it on a regular basis? That’s why I like the Clip Interactive platform so much (I have featured them before in this

Quick Summary: How can your media brand leapfrog your competition? Not by shortcuts but by “smartcuts.” Here are a few examples that you can put right to work: Lateral thinking, agility, leveraging platforms, 10X thinking, and more…. Shane Snow is the co-founder of Contently, the publishing platform for brands, journalists, and storytellers. Shane is a journalist who’s written for “Fast Company,” “The New Yorker,” “Wired,” and “The Washington Post.” Shane also is the author o

If you are a regular watcher of CNN’s Reliable Sources, then last weekend you saw the first part of a remarkable interview with the equally remarkable Glenn Beck. Always a great talent and once a polarizing lightning rod for controversy, Glenn reveals new layers of thoughtful complexity and a humanity that will surprise those who know him best from his Fox News days. I thought it was quite striking. Watch for yourself and see if you don’t agree. One of the great challenges of

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

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