The Future of this podcast
The next few months may be bringing a few changes to this podcast. I hope for the better and I hope you will continue to listen and support this podcast.
You may have read a comment here or there by me about me retiring from my day job. That is quickly becoming a reality.
I have worked for the past thirty years for an automotive component plant here in Lockport. If read the news at all, you will know what company that is. They are in the midst of a bankruptcy reorganization and are determined to shed a large percentage of their US workforce.
As a result, I will be retired sometime in the next few months, possibly by July. While I may look for another job, it will certainly have to be quite different from the rat race I’ve been in. It would be nice to have a job that’s fun for a change. But at least the pressure will be off with a pension to cover the basics of survival.
But back to the podcast. In the short term, I am going to have to put things on the back burner. I’m going to put my personal life aside for the next couple months and work as much overtime as I can stand and get my finances in order. In addition, I am going to need to take a couple weeks off while I get some medical things done. I had been planning on retiring soon anyway, so I’m close. I’ll still do podcasts, but it will be as time allows and may not be on a weekly schedule. I have some material in reserve as well, so I hope to keep some shows coming. But they may be shorter, or I may try some different formats.
Please bear with me until I’m officially retired and can get back into the swing of podcasting. One good thing will be I hope to be able to be much more flexible in my schedule and be able to get to some of those wonderful open mikes and showcases that happen on weeknights. In the long run, I hope to get back to doing an even better job of bringing Buffalo and WNY’s music to you.
But to do this, I have some goals for the podcast that I want to work towards.
1. I want to increase listenership. This is important. If I’m to get bands and musicians to work with me on a podcast, I have to be able to offer something to them. Bringing their music to new listeners is the whole idea. The podcast has grown steadily, and will continue I’m sure, but some conscious effort and promotion may need to take place. I’ll be asking my current listeners and fans to help by spreading the word, telling others about this podcast and putting links to it in your own blogs, MySpace pages, signature lines in any forums you belong to, etc. You can help a lot!
2. Monetization. That’s a podcast term for making money from a podcast. I know, that’s an ugly topic. But being retired, I’ll need to find ways to pay for the podcast. Fortunately, it’s not a hugely expensive project, other than my time. But I may be seeking sponsors or even advertisers for the podcast. They might be just on the web page, or in the podcast itself. Whatever I do, I do not want to overwhelm the podcast with ads. And most important, I will never charge either the listener or the musician for the podcast. That’s a guarantee.
3. Collaboration. In the future, it’s likely that I may be working with others in promoting the local music scene. I’ve been talking with others that share this interest and it’s apparent that we can do even more to support the local musicians by working together. This may include other podcasts, internet radio stations, “real” broadcast radio stations, music venues, festivals, promoters and local record labels and studios. There are a lot of people – maybe more than meets the eye – working on many different aspects of the music scene. It’s almost inevitable that from time to time each of their aspects of what they’re doing will converge with what I’m doing. I have no axes to grind and would be happy to cooperate with anyone towards a better local music scene.
Your comments and input would be appreciated. Do you like the podcast’s format? Is it too long? Too Short? Do you like the interviews? Or just the music? Any other ideas you have would be of interest to me.
