Podversations Presents: Allan Coye | Podversations — Transcript

[Music] iHeart Radio presents pod versations a weekly discussion with the biggest names and influencers in podcasting hello and welcome back to the iHeart podcast speaker series I'm will pearon president of iHeart podcast as you know we like get together once a week to chat with one of our favorite Talent OR producer or an executive in the business and talk about podcasts talk about where we see the industry going talk about what they're working on today we have the chance to chat with Alan Koy the senior vice president of digital strategy and business development at Warner Music Group we've been partners for a couple of years now working on some really interesting podcasts together so we're GNA have a conversation about what they're up to specifically at interval presents and uh kind of talk about where the where the industry is going but Allan thanks for taking some time with us today thank you for having me yeah well like I said we we've really enjoyed being partners with you guys guys working on interal

presents and before we get into some of the specific shows would would would love to hear from you just as you think about the interval um brand and slate of shows can you talk a little bit about this how this came to be and and what what the brand really stands for for you guys yeah absolutely so you know the purview that uh I have as sort of you know in in my seat as uh in in doing U business devel M and kind of working with closely with dsps and consumption platforms on the music side um what was clear to me was that we as a company needed to build out more capabilities and strategy around podcasting and storytelling to uh the podcast listenership the podcast audience audience which has been growing and is you know kind of becoming uh a bigger part of you know what people listen to when they go to you know the various platforms where they consume content and

we didn't really have a have a lot of infrastructure or a lot of strategy at Warner Music Group before interval presents so um we did a lot of work internally I Leed a lot of it uh and we decided to create a uh podcast Network and um we had the official brand launch in April of 2022 but a lot of work preceded that um but now I'd say you know out of that we we tried to focus on places where we can actually to provide value and leverage and uh particularly to our our our partners and Partnerships so when we when we set out set set out to do this work we said what does it feel right for us to be doing um we have the you know what do we have we have the DNA of a record label we've got you know access to Talent um we've got an interesting way of telling stories and and sort of umth on uh authenticity in terms of cultural relevance um and I think we have a good way of finding

audiences uh particularly around some of these you know distribution platforms so we put all that together we said what we need to do is um you know this should be like like culture music should be at the store at the center of what we do but when we think about content at interal present it's not just about music there are a lot of other content like verticals that um go well with music whether we're talking about entertainment lifestyle social impact social justice and we can play in those areas and we feel feel like we can add value in those areas so um once we decided on our content filters we we then started looking for uh Partnerships um we have uh we we're we're not really set up to do tons and tons of shows uh our initial slate includes eight shows six of which are now launched Y and so we are looking forward to you know I think we've just about we're just about to across the year and a half mark and so um you know

looking forward to launching our last two shows and you know getting into into year two yeah yeah and some amazing shows and we're talking about shows like Rap Radar and holding court with ebony K Williams who we've had on this speaker series before uh The Last Resort and then you've got a couple of shows let's talk about those because we're not just they're not just from anybody you've got two Heavy Hitters coming in to launch the uh the next two shows with you guys do you want to talk a little bit about those yeah well would love to um so the first is uh a show called underwater and um it is uh you know uh from our partner Jason Derulo who has been very very leaned into this project and it's a really interesting uh fiction romance Thriller and uh it's actually going to feature uh new um newly released music from from Jason and some music that is original and specific and exclusive to the podast podcast so we looked at this is a way to really one we had we

couldn't have asked for a better partner uh than Jason he's been super leaned into this project he's been um you know very thoughtful and leaned into thinking about ways to leverage the podcast to do some interesting storytelling but also leverage his audience on the music side so we're looking forward to kind of creating some Synergy there um you know we think um we think think it's a really really great story um and we're really looking forward to kind of the world hearing it we're partnering very closely with our friends uh Atlantic uh to make sure that we we you know find um we leverage his audience and they can hear the podcast and listen to the music and um you know it it'll be in conjunction with an upcoming album of his so that's one really cool uh cool project on the horizon I mean how often do you get a chance to get original music from a musician at that level I mean that's that's pretty awesome I'm curious how how that project specifically came to be

how was Jason was he part of the the origin of this or yeah how was it born Jason had you know had formed an early version of the story that we then took and made it into an actual script and so the actual uh script and story The Narrative for this for this for this podcast actually comes from an idea that he had and we uh came in to help bring him bring it to life so we partnered with clamor audio as a as the audio production partner at Temple Hill uh the you know one of the production companies behind two great companies exactly and um really made this into I think it's GNA feel very cinematic so um you know we actually Jason's co-star we we partnered with Alex ship who um if you know know she's she's recently played storm in one of the X-Men movies she recently was in the the Barbie movie um

and has a great great singing voice so there's some really really interesting cool things there um and so yeah we we looked for uh ways to leverage uh what we could bring to the table in terms of working directly with our labels uh infusing the music in an authentic way and hopefully providing a really interesting audio listening experience for the podcast listeners it's going to be it's going to be a super cool show and then I think I'd cut you off the other show that you guys have in the works launching uh launching of the not too distant future you want to talk about that one absolutely so that one is called mind your own with Lupita nongo so uh terrific um you know Hollywood actress uh has a had a great idea for a podcast and the way I would describe it is you know it's it's sort of like a this American life but for stories uh being told from the African diaspora so each episode includes a story that is

personal to her and and she you know um is a Kenyan native but spent a lot of her formative years in in Mexico and it really kind of is a you know includes really personal stories from from her but in some way they connect to these scouted stories that came from all over about you know from every day Africans and there's some sort of connective tissue between her story and the scouted story some really really interesting um interesting storytelling and then what we did was we actually partnered with Warner Music Africa our affiliate label to find artists who had music that we could Infuse into the show as part of the sound design to make it to give it that look and feel and even more sort of uh authenticity with um with with with podcast listeners so we are really really excited about that one as well it's being done in conjunction with snap judgment who were terrific Partners on it and that'll be out um at some point

very soon yeah oh that's so cool and when you think ahead to where you guys want to go obviously this is just the just the beginning here are there other categories or certain topics that you guys are excited to explore just curious where where you see it all going yeah look I think there is there are really we're in the early phases of testing how to interest podcast listeners in podcasts that Infuse music and music listeners into podcast stories about topics that resonate with them so whether it's music music adjacent entertainment social justice social impact uh you know uh lifestyle like I think there are uh more experiments and ways to interest you know each each each sort of pocket of of audience in uh those those topics as long as it feels like something that's relevant to them um so I think we will continue to I think at the at our core we'll continue

to do what we say in in you know at interval presents which is sort of like amplify um underserved audiences and voices yeah and we'll that'll that that work will continue to remain at the core but yes I could definitely see us doing more um in the entertainment lifestyle culture Lane but with the lens as I said before of sort of like the the you know in DNA of a of a record label what do you think I mean for for you what is different about podcasting than other medium in terms of a of a path for communication and a way for entertainment you know whether through your own personal experience or how you guys think of it as creators and and and producers of content how do you see podcasting being different than other other medium you know I honestly I think it's so such a multi-layered multifaceted way to uh to tell stories yeah you know and there's so many it's almost you know you

know not to overuse this but it's almost cinematic in nature right because there's so many and when we go through these Productions by the way it does feel like you know when we're doing mind your own or when we're doing underwater it feels like you're making a movie it feels like you're making a TV show um that's the sort of you know the layers of of of of um development and production and editing um and the the nature with which we sort of you know choose the sound design like those are the types of you know that's that's the level of scrutiny that each piece of these stories uh kind of goes through any podcasts go through so I think you know um there's a lot of given the sort of convergence of how people are listening to podcast and listening to music I think that there's some really interesting ways ways to kind of you know combine those and make them feel a little bit more seamless you know um there shows when I listen to podcasts a lot of um some of the podcasts I listen to that's where I get my music

recommendations you know yeah some of them it's like and um you know I think there are C certain times where if I'm really passionate about a particular artist and that artist is a guest on a podcast then I'm automatically want to go to listen to that podcast so I think we're trying to think the world uh as like in a very cohesive way that allows for a lot more of that crossover and blending of consumption for for the listeners yeah it makes perfect sense and I think you guys are playing in a really interesting space right now because as we've looked at the statistics around how and when people are listening to podcasts versus other forms of audio we were a little bit surprised to be honest that now you're looking at about 65 to 70% of podcast consumption happening at home I think we've traditionally thought of it as being sort of a commuting type consumption radio is that way radio is sort of the inverse about it about 70% of radio consumption is happening

outside the home but about 70% of podcast consumption at home which sort of speaks to what you're talking about I think there's this room for these higher production quality you know brilliantly told stories that are becoming a new form of entertainment it's not just information collecting which sort of the early days of podcasting was you know your standard chat show two people talking at the mic which of course is a great format it's stood the test of time and works really well but these types of stories that you guys are talking about telling as we think about these incredible talent coming into the space I think it's opening that door to um some really interesting ways to tell stories uh I know it's exciting I don't know if that matches up with with your own listening if that as a podcast listener what how does that sort of match up against when when you're finding the time to listen to podcasts you know I think it depends for me like and I I by the way I Echo all those sentiments I I think like we're

looking for very unique ways of of of telling stories and in podcast L you know lend themselves to that so totally agree there uh for me it it kind of depends it it depends on um you know probably my mood uh you know I have I have my go-tos but sometimes you know if I'm really busy but I want to catch up on like what's going on in Sports World I have my like you know like kind of sports podcasts um you know uh giving where we sit in the industry and the sort of um you know thinking about industry Trends I have like my music and like Tech uh you know genre P you know business genre podcast I listen to and then you know when I'm more sort of you know um leisurely and and you know kind of listening to things for just pure entertainment then I you know then it's like a little bit more of the um you maybe the chat show or the occasional you know kind of um thing that's a little bit off the beaten path and of course you know um I spent a lot of time

listening to all all of interval presents podcasts on a weekly basis so that takes up a decent amount of time too yeah well it's fun I I think if you were to listen to the shows that you guys produce across the board you would you've got a great mix of shows that make you feel a good bit smarter you know Ebony does such a great job of this withholding Court yes it's entertaining yes she's fun to listen to but you always walk away feeling a little bit smarter you certainly feel entertained you feel at least closer and more um more sort of upto-date uh on the culture like you said whether it's music recommendations whether it's just understanding what's on artist's minds but you guys are building a really really interesting slate shows uh and frankly I'm excited to see where it all goes but congrats on what you guys have built to this point Allan it's it's it's really fun to watch I don't know if you have any uh parting thoughts for us no I look I I um I'm just sort really one appreciative of our partnership you know

when we built um interval presents we there we wanted to focus on the areas where we thought we would have our sort of core capabilities around you know Finding good content producing that content or part ING with uh you know Talent production Partners to to create the content and sort of marketing that content but on the distribution front on the monetization front you guys have been terrific partners and it's it's it's allowed us to do uh to stick to the areas where we feel strongest so you know I'd say thank you so much for for that um that's one and you know two I'd say you know look out for for inable presents and I don't think we're we're still not going to be in the you know a massive scale game but that means you know but because we do sort of quality over quantity um I I hope to continue sort of you know batting a thousand when it comes to content that we think will resonate with with audiences so we're looking forward to it as well no that's great well they're they're awesome shows if you have not checked out an Nal

present show uh be sure to we've talked about a few of them here today but some really good ones to come but Allan thanks so much for spending some time with us today thank you for having me appreciate it and thanks everybody for joining us we'll be back again next week take care pod versations is a production of iHeart Radio you can find more from the biggest names in podcasting on the iHeart Radio App or wherever you get your [Music] podcast