What is a podcast? Where do you get it? And does it actually require a “pod?” Singer Michael Rice, creator of the podcast Opera Now!, seemed like the perfect person to answer these questions. Here he shares the ins and outs of the podcast, how he started his own podcast, and what podcasts offer opera fans and opera singers alike.
Podcasts—what, how, and why?
A podcast is audio or video content available via the Internet in a downloadable and, most importantly, a subscription format. It started as a grassroots thing for people to produce “radio” type shows, though it has now grown into the mainstream. Major networks and radio stations offer a lot of their content in this format, available for people now, NPR being the big example. You can find shows about everything from technology to Lost fans theorizing about what’s going to happen next.
Even opera?
Now, finally, they [opera fans] can! Although, I believe [Rice’s podcast is] the only one of its type: looking at what is happening in the [opera] business on a week-to-week basis and discussing it in a round-table format. Many companies now have [podcasts] available, but they are really just promo pieces for their season. When I started this I wanted to find a way to transport those discussions we all had in music school lounges to a mass audience, and do it with some humor, to show people that opera is not the hallowed and elite art form that many think it may be.
So what happens in one of your “shows”?
I comb the Internet for interesting stories and post the links up at a great bookmarking sight called del.icio.us. It’s a way to make the stories you find interesting available to people without having to e-mail links, etc. I then contact a few people from my corral of regulars and set a time. We all get on Skype and I record the session. I also like to throw in some non-opera-related humorous stories, if something strikes me as funny.
Last week we talked about the singer Tom Jones and the insurance he took out for his chest hair. That was something I couldn’t pass up. And we also have a regular feature called “Guess Who Died?”, where we pay tribute to people who have recently passed. It may sound callous, but it is always sincere. I just thought it was a catchy name for a segment.
It definitely is. We need to backtrack. I’m pretty sure a large percentage of readers don’t know what a podcast is, let alone del.icio.us and Skype.
Skype is more important.
We’ll probably feature it in a later column, but you can give us the gist.
Skype is a great voice/chat program that allows you to have high quality voice over the Internet, much better quality than a phone call. You can conference in up to eight people now, I believe, and it’s what really makes the show possible. People can be all over the country or world and can participate. [For more information about Skype, see “A Singer’s Guide to Staying in Touch While Living Abroad” by Chantal Panozzo, February 2008.]
So you pull together your group of people for the night, everyone gets on Skype, and you all just dish about opera.
That’s about it, although it’s usually more about stories in the news than reviews or who we like.
You must be pretty in the know, then. Where do you get your news?
Newspapers, mainly. It’s not gossip; it’s discussion of what is happening and what we feel about it: the Met at the cinema, the rise of the director, etc.
Who’s on the panel?
It varies, but I have a staple of about 10 people I go to. We’ll usually have about four people on per show. They come from different areas of the business—singers, conductors, composers, coaches—all people I’ve worked with and befriended.
Aren’t you afraid you might shoot your career in the foot by saying something in your podcast that might anger the wrong person?
It never gets personal. We are discussing what’s in the news. If something sounds like a dumb idea, I don’t see anything wrong with saying so. People may (and do) disagree, but that’s the point, to have a conversation about what’s happening, to keep it alive and not some museum piece that is to be revered.
How long is one of your shows?
About an hour.
Who listens to them?
It runs the whole spectrum, from people in the business to fans of opera. I’ve gotten a lot of e-mail from people who came across the show and were never big opera fans, but have since gone to see one. They enjoyed the honest, casual style of the show.
That’s the kind of outreach those opera-house promo-podcasts will never get.
I agree. It may be easier for me as an independent producer to be a bit casual, but I think it would help companies if they saw this as a different type of media outreach and not like the standard radio or TV segments they did in the past. I was at the Opera America Conference last year, speaking, and tried to get that across. Hopefully, it helped!
How large is your audience?
We average about 1,500 downloads per episode. It sounds small, but for a niche audience like this, I’m happy.
That doesn’t sound small at all! Why don’t you take us through how the whole thing started?
I had been listening to a lot of technology-themed podcasts and thought it would be a great idea to do something like that for opera, a few people sitting around talking about what was going on in the business. I contacted several friends and colleagues to see if they were interested in joining in. The rest is history. I also saw that nobody else was doing anything like this, which was great, as it had been unexplored. So far, people seem to enjoy it.
How long have you been doing this?
Since October of 2006.
I was a little surprised by the title of your podcast. Isn’t “Opera Now” the name of a magazine?
It didn’t occur to me at the time, but so far there hasn’t been an issue. I’m hoping the exclamation point and occasional on-air lapses into profanity will serve to differentiate us from that august publication. Although if they did ask me to change, it would mean we had made the big time!
Well, La Scala’s legal team chased a blogger Opera Chic [see Jan. 2008 issue] last year for using their logo, so you never know.
That would be pretty sweet! She [Opera Chic] is great. I love her blog, and I have gotten some listeners from her linking to our site, which is great. That’s the best way to spread the word.
Do you think that’s how most people find you—links from like-minded websites?
Sure, or the iTunes store.
This would be a good time to clear up some confusion about podcasts. Your show is listed in the iTunes “store,” but it’s free to download or subscribe, correct?
Yes, it is free. The iTunes store has a podcast directory that people can search. It has episodes listed as well as a link to the website. And it can be listened to on any portable audio device or computer, not just a Mac or iPod. Some people are still confused about that.
“Podcast” is kind of a misnomer.
Exactly, but it was what stuck.
So a podcast doesn’t necessarily involve either an iPod or a broadcast?
Nope. “Netcast” might be more appropriate a term. If you have a computer and a mic, you can have a voice. Whether anyone wants to listen to your voice is another matter.
So what does one of our loyal readers need to do if they want to listen to, or subscribe to, your podcast?
Go to operanow.blogspot.com and you can find all the info you could ever need. You can listen there or click to subscribe via iTunes.
Have you ever gotten any famous guest panelists?
Not yet, but I may have a few soon. My people are talking to their people (and when I say my people, I mean me).
If you could have anyone on your show for one episode, who would it be?
I would love to have [Roberto] Alagna on to ask him what makes him tick.
Do you want to recommend a few episodes that first-time listeners might enjoy—your “greatest hits?”
I love all my children, but for the sake of curiosity, “What Are You Duke Boys Doing in Cincinnati?” How many opera podcasts can make that connection?
Wow, I’m going to have to listen to that one.
It was a good one. They were supposed to perform with the “Pops” and all hell broke loose.
About that panel on opera and technology at the Opera America conference—can you tell us a little about what you learned, or taught, there?
The panel was there to discuss using the Internet as a new marketing tool, both for companies and individuals. It was with someone from the Met and L.A. Opera (and I got more laughs). L.A. had put some clips up on YouTube; the Met had revamped its website (which is great now). I was kind of an outside voice in that respect, but I think the people saw the possibilities of using podcasts as another arm of their marketing.
Do you get the impression that “Big Opera” is excited about the possibilities of technology, or is getting them up to speed like pulling teeth?
I see more and more companies jumping on the bandwagon, most probably seeing the success the Met is having and no longer wanting to stand back and wait. They see it is working and getting press, and they want to be a part of it.
