Debunking Job Titles: Content Co‑Ordinator, PodcastOne
Up this week on Debunking Job Titles is Darcy Thomson, the Content Co‑Ordinator at SCA’s PodcastOne Australia – who does far more than get trigger happy with the zoom function on Pro Tools.
PodcastOne – an extension of PodcastOne US – sees more than 1.5 billion downloads annually across 350 episodes, produced weekly.
That’s an awful lot of content to coordinate…
How does your mum describe what you do?
“Produces podcasts.”
But seriously, what does a day in the life of a content co-ordinator look like?
She’s actually pretty spot on (I should really show her how to download one…)
Because this job really hasn’t existed before I started doing it, being the Content Co-ordinator involves all sorts of stuff, from taking care of uploading our audio, to scoping new shows and ideas to add to the PodcastOne network.
I’m also an audio producer so this is the part that my Mum is correct about… I build a lot of our shows in post-production and this is probably what I spend most of the day doing.
What’s is one thing about your job that is really obvious to you, but other people may not know?
Editing the “ahhs” and “umms” out of an hour’s worth of audio takes a really long time!
What’s the most important skill to have in your job?
Probably problem solving, especially when it comes to the back end of a web CMS. I’m really not a computer guy, so how I ended up being in a gig where I’m in charge of a tech platform is anyone’s guess!
The thing you find most challenging about your job is…
Four-way international phone calls between Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles and Paris. Everything about those is an absolute nightmare
And the most rewarding part?
Watching the amazing team around me grow and challenge each other with new ideas every day.
99% of us have come from radio, so to see everyone’s brains morphing into long-form audio mode is exciting and yielding some amazing work.
What do you think is the biggest industry misconception about podcasting?
That a podcast is just a radio show on demand.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given about working in the music industry:
What’s worked for me is if you find someone in the industry that will give you a minute of their time, do everything you can to keep that dialogue going.
Note down all their advice, improve where they say to improve, and if they say ‘stay in contact’ or ‘send me your work/demos every week’… do it!
Also zooming in and out of Pro Tools really quickly is a great way to make people think you’re a gun.
And give us one stellar piece of advice for anyone wanting to do your job:
Gotta love being creative and working across a number of different shows.
Also, be ready to take on the responsibility of being the final link in the chain, because you’re the first one people will come to when things go wrong.
Finally – when you look back at your career as a retired old prune, what do you hope to have achieved?
I’d like to have seen the industry prosper in Australia into something where more people can make money – publishers, advertisers and most importantly the creators.
When more podcast creators are able to make a genuine income from this we’ll see more truly unique and incredible work come out of this country.