Spotify puts call out to First Nations people for podcast accelerator program

Spotify wants First Nations people to apply to its Sound Up program, which empowers minority groups to tell their stories via podcasting.

Applicants do not need to have podcasting experience, Spotify said, just “a voice, a passion for the medium, and an eagerness to bring a podcast idea to life”.

Applications open today. From there, 10 aspiring creators will be invited to virtual sessions of reflection, learning, creative development, mentoring and networking, facilitated by Travis De Vries and Brooke Scobie from Awesome Black.

The four-week program will run from May 31 to June 25.

Spotify said it was committed to ensuring that diversity continues to shine through during the “golden age of audio”.

“First Nations Australians have been passing down their knowledge, culture and history from generation-to-generation through storytelling for tens of thousands of years, with podcasting now a platform to now take that storytelling to the world through Spotify, allowing for these stories to be shared and heard by all,” publicity for the initiative said.

“Podcasts have always been about amplifying diverse voices, and giving a platform for sharing and storytelling in a way that is opening listeners’ minds to new worlds and ways of thinking.”

Previous Sound Up winner and host of Spotify Original podcast Search Engine Sex, Rowdie Walden, said he knows first-hand the opportunities the initiative presents.

“Sound Up is a rare opportunity for mob to create a podcast alongside Spotify. Podcasting is such an incredibly fast growing medium, and as the oldest storytellers, I can’t wait to see shows come out of Sound Up 2021. It’s about time the world heard more of our stories,” he said.

The Sound Up program first launched locally in 2018.