Podcast Proposal

Name of the Podcast
Fresh Breeze
(Fresh Air for Lesser-Known Artists)

Description
Fresh Breeze will be a podcast highlighting creativity and the arts. We hope that personal insights from artists representing a wide range of creative endeavors will entertain and inspire our listeners.

Purpose
Fresh Air on NPR does a great job of giving its audience insight to famous artists. In keeping with the idea of bringing media access to the masses, Fresh Breeze is intended to give lesser-known artists a forum to discuss their art, inspirations, and creative insights.

Audience
There are growing ranks of people who are tired of today's overproduced, over-hyped star culture, but have a genuine interest in the arts. The audience for this podcast would include people who are looking for alternatives to mainstream entertainment venues.

Motivation
I have learned from my teenaged step-daughter that one of the reasons music “sharing” is so popular (especially with young people) is that they can find things that aren’t readily available commercially. With existing media outlets so homogenized, the demand for alternatives is growing and new digital technologies are enabling cost-effective production of alternative content. It will be important to start the podcast off with interesting music or audio track clips to capture attention. Also important will be finding ways to attract people to the podcast itself, but that’s more of a marketing issue than a podcast design issue.

Because of the eclectic nature of the intended podcast, using an evocative title and clear description of the content will be key to enabling potential listeners to determine relevance. Not everyone will want to listen to every podcast in this series, but those seeking alternative arts can see which might be relevant to them in the description of each episode.

Confidence will result from the easy-going nature of the conversation that will be designed to give listeners insight into the inspiration of creative folks who are not superstars, but regular people pursuing their artistic interests.

It is hoped that listeners will derive satisfaction from finding out inside stories of little-known regional artists who they might “discover” and also from hearing clips of music, poetry, film clips and other creations that can’t be found in the mainstream, overproduced “ClearChannel World.”

Format & Length
This pilot prototype will be about 5-10 minutes long and would ideally be published weekly, or so, as part of an ongoing series featuring different artists. In reality, I don’t know any other artists beyond the one I am interviewing for this pilot, so this will likely be the first and last episode.

Content outline/Interview questions
I have outlined the general content and possible interview questions below, but because this is an interview, I won’t know until it’s done how long each section will last. My intention is to edit the content I record to fit into a 10-minute time frame.

0:00 Intro – music sample from guest’s new CD
0:15 Voice over music giving podcast title and introduction

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Fresh Breeze, a podcast highlighting creativity and the arts. We hope that personal insights from artists representing a wide range of creative endeavors will entertain and inspire our listeners.

SUSAN: Greetings, I’m Susan Connell and on this edition of Fresh Breeze, we’ll be chatting with Ruby Devine, a musician from the Pacific Northwest. Ruby performs an eclectic range of traditional music from Americana and the Blues to Celtic classics and lively sea shanties. Ruby has just released a new CD, Sugar Baby Mine that includes a collection of her favorite 19th and early 20th century American traditional music.

What was the inspiration for your new CD?

Do you have a favorite song on the album, or one that has special meaning to you?

(Play a section of that song…)

In these days where rock, rap and hip hop reign, how did you cultivate a taste for this type of music?

Is there a common thread in the music in your repertoire?

Who is your typical audience?

What song do you get the most requests for?

(Play a section of that song…)

How did you get started as a musician?

Do you have any advice for people interested in pursuing a musical career or serious hobby?

Thanks for joining us Ruby. It’s been great sharing a bit of music from America’s past and nice to know that there are folks carrying on these traditions.

ANNOUNCER: You can find Ruby’s new CD at TowerRecods.com and more about what Ruby is up to at RubyDevine.com.

9:45 Bumper music from guest CD (0:15)