Pods Up North

‘Pods Up North’, a Manchester startup event, has secured one of the biggest names in digital media – Spotify – as its headline sponsor. The event in Manchester city centre, on November 23rd, is a one-day conference to give podcasters the opportunity to meet and learn from audio industry experts and award-winning podcasts.

Pods Up North is the first event of its kind to be held outside London and Spotify’s support reflects the growing importance of podcasts in its ambitions. Having established itself as the number one music platform in the UK, Spotify has quickly become a major platform for all kinds of audio including podcasts. Spotify is not only driving listeners to discover podcasts for the first time but is also supporting creators at all levels. To do so it is taking the learnings in areas like discovery and artist empowerment from its success in growing the music business and applying them to podcasts.

James Cator, Head of Podcast Partnerships, EMEA, Spotify, said: “Pods Up North promises to be a great event and we’re thrilled to be supporting as the headline sponsor. One of the biggest things for us now at Spotify is the transition from a music service into the world’s first true audio network – and podcasts is a key part of that. It’s a growing space we can really tap into to give listeners in the UK more of what they want to hear, and to help be part of an exciting, growing talent space in the UK. It’s also a real opportunity to be able to create a community of truly diverse voices and views, so it’s hugely important to us that we support creators across the country, including in the North.”

Pods Up North will include workshops, discussions, talks and networking opportunities for podcasters of all levels. They’ll learn the latest techniques and get advice to help them to create great podcasts, including how to book guests, conducting interviews and technical advice.

In addition to speakers from Spotify, Pods Up North has secured big-name speakers from the podcast world, and guest appearances from award-winning podcasts including TV star Craig Parkinson from Two Shot Pod, A Gay and A Non-Gay, and The Naked Podcast. They’ll also be industry names including the Controller of BBC Sounds Jonathan Wall, Managing Director of Social Chain UK Katy Leeson, and co-creator of the British Podcast Awards Matt Deegan.

Pods Up North will be held in the city’s eco tech hub The Federation and is staged during the annual Manchester Podcast Festival. The Festival, now in its second year brings the best podcasts in the UK to live audiences in Manchester, including hit podcasts such as ‘The Guilty Feminist’, Richard Herring’s ‘RHLSTP’ and Dan Snow’s ‘History Hit’.

Pods Up North is the brainchild of Manchester-based podcasters and audio experts Kate Cocker, Vic Turnbull and Ant McGinley. They explain why they decided to launch the event,

“We started Pods Up North to support and celebrate the incredible podcast talent coming out of the North. Events like this have been ‘South-centric’ so far. We’ve designed Pods Up North for Podcasters of all levels, from those thinking about podcasting, to podcasters who are looking to take their craft to the next level.  There is so much podcasting talent in the north – at the moment people have found their own way, so we’re excited to bring people together at Pods Up North, share knowledge and help the podcasting community grow!”

Tickets for the event and can be purchased online through Eventbrite by clicking here

Ant McGinley, Vic Turnbull and Kate Cocker

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