Transforming Audio Culture: Elevating the Art of Music Discovery

#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation Podcast

"Radio will never die…"

"You have to define yourself and create your own brand. I normally don’t like that ethos that you have to create a brand, but you can definitely do it in a way that stays true to yourself."

Our guest on today’s episode is Saidah Blount, Executive Producer at SONOS Radio, she is also their Primary Impact Storyteller. What does that job title mean exactly? She lets us know. Storytelling is at the heart of what Byta believes is one of the most important elements of promoting one’s self: always control your narrative. So Marc and Saidah get into it. Saidah followed a very unique path from the midwest to New York, one that included music journalism, stopping off at NPR for a few years and eventually landing at SONOS. Her north star was always music and trying to figure out how she could somehow incorporate that into her work life. She realized early on that working in the music industry proper was not for her, so she had to figure out another way, to do it on her own terms. She is a big fan of radio, having grown up in Kansas City one of the first big radio markets in the USA, plus both her parents were big music fans. Marc has a long history in Radio as well, so they discuss the differences between curated playlists (by real people VS AI), and old-school radio, and the future of “radio”. How can musicians make contact with the people at SONOS to have their music heard and played? Spoiler alert- persistence seems to be the answer. It is a great conversation that goes down some surprising and very insightful paths and Shazam.

Saidah spoke to us from Brooklyn, New York

#HowWeListen Live: In Conversation

00:10 - Byta.com

01:58 - Sonos Radio

05:14 - Kansas City Radio

08:22 - NYC 2000s

11:15 - Interview Magazine

14:05 - National Public Radio

16:06 - radio.SONOS.com

22:40 - Shazam, auto Shazam

25:25 - Byta.com

26:00 - Imaginary Sound Track

28:10 - Black is Black, DJ Lindsey Caldwell

29:00 - Jamaican & country music

30:00 - Women in Sound, Women in Sound ‘zine

32:00 - Bob Boilen

34:00 - Bandcamp

42:00 - Huw Stephens

45:00 - DEI initiatives

50:00 Thom of Radiohead

51:00 - Erykah Badu

52:00 - Dolly Parton

53:00 - Tems

57:00 - Byta.com

Music by Fin Productions and Oliver Lyu

Episode Credits:

Artwork by Jen Pmphrey

Hosted by Marc Brown

Series coordinated by Jamie Ford

Produced and edited by Colin MacKenzie

Music by Fin Productions and Oliver Lyu