The Next Adventure: The Super Times!

So join us, if you love exciting audio stories to enjoy on the go!

The Said.fm site has been taken down.

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This is probably one of the most difficult blog articles I've written on Said.fm's blog so here goes...

Firstly I would like to say a BIG THANKYOU to all the great listeners and people who've supported and helped us build Said.fm.  We've been trying to chat with as many users as possible to get feedback and we're always delighted about how nice our users are.  This doesn't mean you haven't told us what you hate about what we're building - you have!... but it's always been constructive criticism that we're taking on board.

Secondly, and you may have sensed this part coming after my opening sentences, we have decided to wind down the Said.fm service.  This was not an easy decision but after taking stock of many things - analytics, what our listeners have told us and the length of time we've spent nurturing this startup we felt the time is right to do this. Don't worry, your personal feeds and collections will remain in tact for another month so you can catch up on your Said.fm listening.

Having said this we are not dissapearing, Abdel and I have learnt a huge amount about this space and about doing a startup... we're taking all that learning and putting it into another venture, details of which will be revealed soon.  It's been a rollercoaster journey and one of the most amazing things to come out of it for us is to gain a brilliant editorial team.  We went from artificial intelligence to working with real people - wow!... on a web startup!

No one said it was going to be easy but it's defintely been a lot of fun :-)

Thanks for listening!

UPDATE: The Super Times is our next (ad)venture!

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Today we meet Frank, another one of Said.fm's brilliant curators.  Frank joined us via an Edinburgh connection (where we built some of Said.fm) and after a cup of hot chocolate we knew that this man would bring some intriguing and interesting listening recommendations for us all. Check out Frank's recommendations on Said.fm and indulge yourself in the following 2 minute interview to find out more about what he's into:

Hey, Frank!... So, what are you into?

Doing science, talking about science, writing about science, podcasting 
about science -- see a theme yet? 

How can we tweet about you in 140 characters or less?

Quintessential geek with a passion for science, podcasts and storytelling. 
/ 

What's your favourite programme?

I listen to so many -- but I'd have to say Answer Me This, because it's the only one that can 
make me giggle uncontrollably on the bus. 

Why are audio programmes appealing to you?

I get enough visual stimulus by sitting in front of a computer most of 
the day, so it's nice to listen to an audio programme on the walk home. 
They're also a very effective and simple medium for storytelling and 
conveying information.

Do you make your own programmes?

Of course! I'm currently helping to host the EUSci science podcast from the University of Edinburgh. 
Tune in to this podcast if you want to hear the latest science news and 
interviews with scientists, communicators and entertainers. Or just 
listen for a bit of silliness.

If you were to recommend 1 programme to someone who's never listened to 
podcasts what would it be and why should they listen?

Radiolab and I would recommend the EUSci podc-- what's that? Oh, right, no more 
self-promotion. In that case, I would recommend the Guardian's Science 
Weekly podcast as a 
great example of old media harnessing new media.

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Said.fm's first press release has attracted some great press mentions and articles, including the following:

"Results of Said.fm’s suggestions are impressive, to say the least. I’ve found some truly great items on Said.fm that I’d likely have missed in the jumble that the iTunes Store has become." Brad McCarty, The Next Web, read the full article.

"...a site like Said.fm is not only interesting - it is outright necessary." Roger H, Killer Startups, read the full article.

Joshua Brustein wrote an article for The New York Times Bits Blog on Radio for the YouTube Era, where Said.fm gets a mention, read the article here.

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Don't you think?...  Clearly we do, we have 2 vowels in our startup name - we're bringing vowels back into fashion even!... hehehe... lot's of startups have dropped them so join us in celebrating 'em.  Just a quick post from Said.fm HQ, while we're working away like busy bees in the sunshine.

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Our final RadioBox / Said.fm hack won't dissapoint you.  Patrick Sinclair has been hacking around with a geo-location app that let's you pick up and listen to sounds as you walk around a city - very cool!

For the RadioBox hack weekend Patrick worked alongside Said.fm's very own in-house hacker Abdel to extend this experience to feature soundbytes of programmes available on Said.fm.  Patrick has written about this hack in more detail here, including links to the code, resources used and an ivitation to have a play for yourselves.

With awsomely fun projects like these, we're looking forward to the next hack weekend.

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Jenny Ekelund was another RadioBox / Said.fm hack weekend attendee.  Jenny has been testing the waters with hacking events by attending some and during our first hack weekend she also hacked her first creation - and, my what a hack! 

Along with fellow seasoned hacker Rob McKinnon, Jenny built a prototype of a browser extension that literally extends your reading of Wikipedia to an audio listening experience.  The extension alerts you if you are on a Wikipedia article which has related audio to it on Said.fm!... Genius! I personally can't wait to have a play, being an avid reader / editor of Wikipedia.

Jenny has written about their hack in more detail here.

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Go on over to Said.fm and search for multiculturism. Enough said.

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At the first Said.fm / RadioBox hack weekend some amazing things were built over 2 short days by the lovely people pictured.  One of the hacks was a visualiser for our RadioBox events, where we play topical soundbytes in public venues (a social listening!).

Paul Battley, a hack weekend attendee and pro-hacker has kindly written about the RadioBox visualiser in more detail here, including links to the source code and test examples of the visualiser in action.

We're very excited about using this hack for future RadioBoxes.

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Yes!...   we are still shouting about our new Said.fm search and we think you should try searching for design today.  Go on you won't be disappointed :)

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Have you got the Monday blues?... well, here's a happy search term for you.

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A search term that I really love: Cities - filling your weekend with urban tales!

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Said.fm's Dave Pickering gives us his round-up and thoughts on the various audio awards that have been recently happening.

 Chalk and Cheese: Internet Programmes Awards by Dave Pickering

The fantastic shows RadioLab and The Moth, both much loved by the Said.fm curational team, have recently won Peabody Awards. The Peabodies are, for those who don’t know, prestigious American awards for public service broadcasting. The shows won based on their radio output, but both have one foot on radio and the other in the internet. The Peabodies don’t have categories. They reward across the all media, TV, Radio, Internet, anyone. Looking at this year’s winners they are quality programmes that have added to the awesome of the world. It is great to see programmes that are distributed through podcasting amongst them.

Looking online to research this blog I discovered that there is a Podcasting Awards. They have been going for 6 years and have been created by podcasters for podcasters. Last year RadioLab won the science category. Two of my other favourite podcasts also won at the 2010 awards, Savage Love and WTF. These prizes may not be well publicised outside the podcasting community but it’s great to see awards dedicated to the medium that I love so much, and I’m glad it’s the quality shows scooping the accolades.

The UK doesn’t have a podcast awards. We still file podcasts under Best Internet Programme Award, which is one of the categories of the Sony Radio Awards, that will be taking place in Grovesnor House in London on Monday the 9th of May 2011.

Believe me going to an award ceremony isn’t cheap, and if you are a self-funded podcast then you can’t just cover the costs with BBC or Absolute Radio expenses. It comes out of your own pocket. I know this from personal experience. I was there in Grovesnor House on an anxious evening in 2009, waiting to see if my podcast drama would beat comedy podcast Answer Me This! and media news show Guardian Media Talk. The actual winner turned out to be The Clifton Diocese for their Let Us Pod show.

This year Answer Me This! is up for the award again. Personally I hope they win it. They certainly deserve to. I’ve listened to them develop and hone their style from their early days to now, and they provide an entertaining and engaging show, that explores internet only territory: complete fan based interactivity. They make the sort of show that you can’t do on the radio. And so it’s great that they are in the Best Internet category.

But they are up against some other very impressive and worthy podcasts such as The Hackney Podcast and the Guardian’s London Walks. The Hackney Podcast represents something special and they will hopefully be developing their poetic and passionate localism with The Hackney Hear project. The Hackney Hear, like London Walks, will be mp3 player specific, a show designed to be heard on location. That is again something you don’t get with normal radio shows.

The other shows in the category are a show about aeroplanes and a show about music. Both of these happen to have been made for release on the internet as podcasts. But are they really different to what you can do on the radio? Should they really be in a separate category?

And when you look at the rest of the Sony Awards nominations you begin to see how lines are blurred. In the best speech programme award you have The Infinite Monkey Cage. I think this is a great programme, however I have only ever listened to it as a podcast. Mark Kermode is up for BestOn-Air Contributor. I like him as well. But for the last few years I have only downloaded him in podcast form or watched him on YouTube.

So the separate category for Internet Programme seems strange. Although I’m sure everyone up for that award is glad not to be going head to head with Brain Cox and Mark Kermode.

But even within the category itself it seems a strange contest. When I was up for an award I thought it odd that a drama series was being judged against factual and comedy shows. This is very much like presenting an award to chalk over cheese. I was happy that the internet was being recognised as a place where quality media was being made, I just would have preferred to have been up against other cheeses. In the Podcast Awards the show are separated into different categories, but at the Sony Awards podcasting is pretty much a category in itself.

Maybe we need a corporate funded media event with wide coverage dedicated to podcasts. Or maybe we need to scrap the boundaries between podcast and radio and look at audio as the medium. We need the Sony Audio Awards.

Ultimately the lowly podcast does need to be judged against the big cheeses. Answer Me This! should be in the Best Entertainment category taking on Chris Moyles and Frank Skinner. The Hackney Podcast should be up against the amazing Jon Ronson. “Now there’s a radio programme that I would love to be available as a podcast“ I thought, and then when hunting links I discovered you can download it from Jon Ronson’s website, so it already is!

It might take a few years but eventually some of these great independent podcasts would begin to hold their own. And unless they move across they will always be in this strange Internet Programme Ghetto where the chalk and cheese rubs against each other.

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Yes!... you heard, we now have search on Said.fm.  It's taken us a wee while to release it because we've been trying to make it not just a simple old keyword affair but a meaningful search in the Said.fm world.

If you go to Said.fm, on the right hand side of the top bar you'll see a search box, simply start typing what you're hunting for.  The autocomplete tab will drop down and magically show you results sorted into playlists, programmes or themes.  Go on, have a play and see what you get back.... here's a fun one to get you going: super.

If you have any feedback or comments on search or anything else for that matter - sign-in, becoming a Curator, the meaning of life, the universe and everything ;) - we're all ears.

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The next Radiobox will now be held in May. We are busy looking for a funky place to hold the event, and will be updating you as soon as we have a confirmed time and venue.

That means you still have plenty of time to submit your entries (no, we haven't forgotten)! Whether it’s a sound byte or a story, please upload your own thoughts on music and the web to the Said.fm soundCloud DropBox. 

And in the mean time, we have put together a second sneaky peek treat for your ears. This one features excerpts from Ariel Czackes from Bristol reminiscing on D++ the predecessor to Napster; Said.fm's own Aisha Yusaf on Bollywood nostalgia; and Harry from Itchy Trigga Fingers on the future of musical archives. You can find out more about Harry's band here. 

sneakpeek2.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Matt Hill (no relation to Curator Emma Hill) is one of our very first Curators and has been bringing some dramatic and gripping audio recommendations to our ears through Said.fm.  Matt is also a radio producer and is involved in many fun and interesting audio projects.  

Check out Matt's recommendations on Said.fm and continue reading to find out more about the radio connoisseur behind the recommendations:

Hey, Matt!... So, what are you into?

Serious, entertaining and seriously entertaining audio. If that sounds like a soundbite, it's because I've been using it as the top line of my CV for the last five years. Should really get round to writing something else.

How can we tweet about you in 140 characters or less? 

And I've just used my only soundbite? Ok, how about: “Man of many hats/emails, some in radio, some on the web; exists somewhere in-between. I call that space 'webio'. And that's trademarked.”

What's your favourite programme?

Has to be Radiolab. After that? The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There's quite a bit of crossover – philosophy, humour, unique storytelling and thoughtful sound designs. 

Why are audio programmes appealing to you?

Why do people listen to each other at all? I think broadcast radio (the stuff over the airwaves) has narrowed what people expect of audio programmes. What's happening in podcasting is exciting because it's opened up a debate – can a programme be made only to be enjoyed at 9am? Midnight? I doubt it. But we're only just starting to find out what that means. Bring on the revolution!

Do you make your own programmes?

I founded a podcast a few years ago called rethinkdaily – we did drama, short stories – and got a prestigious Sony nomination. Since then I've been making occasional documentaries for the BBC and a regular podcast called Spark London, a sort of UK version of The Moth. Next up is a project called Hackney Hear – an interactive audio documentary, launching later in the year...

If you were to recommend 1 programme to someone who's never listened to podcasts what would it be and why should they listen?

The best podcasts are between two people that simply include you in their conversation – and if there's one duo made that into a fine art, it's Adam & Joe. I think their original XFM programmes is still one of the best things they've ever done. I wish Mark and Lard had made podcasts – now THAT would have been special.

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Hi I'm Joe, I'm going to be working with Aisha, Abdel, Reuben and everyone else at Said.fm for the next month as an intern. My job is to back up Abdel as the second programmer but also to work on a new, exciting and secret mobile app for Said.fm. I only met Aisha and Abdel last week and that's when I first heard about Said.fm too, but already I'm excited about the project and want to do my bit to help bring noises to the ears of our listeners.

I share a common heritage with some of the team: I spent 4 years living in Edinburgh. It was there where I learnt to speak to computers and show them who's boss. I came away from Edinburgh University with a BSc in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Other Complicated Bleepy-Bloopy Stuff and I plan to unleash all the bleeps and bloops I can on Said.fm.

When I'm not working I like to write video games and record bizarre electro hip-hop songs. I also occasionally lounge about in the sun like a lazy cat or go to the shops and buy food.

I'm hoping to pick up a load of experience while I'm here and make some really cool things to make Said.fm even better.

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Said.fm was featured in the latest episode of BBC Outriders, where I got the opportunity to chat with Jamillah Knowles about podcasts and bringing vowels back into fashion!  Have a listen.

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Listen up folks! We have a new curator joining us, Emma Hill.

Emma is a radio journalist and podcast convert, who's also passionate about films, American literature and the theatre. Just like the all the Said.fm-ers she loves a good story and thinks being read to is the ultimate in decadence. 

Check out Emma's recommendations on Said.fm.  Also, continue reading to find out more about what makes this literary lady tick:

What are you into?

I love being with friends, reading a good book, eating out, talking about what’s going on in the news, classic movies and being outside on a sunny day.

What's your favourite programme?

Love ‘Something Understood’ on BBC Radio 4, which uses music, prose and poetry to explore abstract ideas

And I love catching up with the small-town goings on with News from Lake Wobegon with the legendary Garrison Keillor on American public radio.

In terms of TV of course The Wire and Mad Men are modern classics, and I love a bit of Masterchef and The Apprentice. 

Why are audio programmes appealing to you?

They have to work so much harder to grab hold of you and keep you entertained. I have massive respect for the art form and love the emphasis on words over pictures – our language is so beautiful and a good audio programme can be like poetry.  

Do you make your own programmes?

I don’t think you’d call them ‘programmes’ but I do make things with audio. I work in radio and have produced a number of reports covering the news, but outside of work I’m experimenting with soundscapes and tend to record sounds around me to see if I can make anything of them at a later date.

If you were to recommend 1 programme to someone who's never listened to podcasts what would it be? And why should they listen?

Probably The Curious Ear on RTE Radio 1 in Ireland, it produces accessible, quality, short documentaries about the sometimes weird and often wonderful world around us.

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Photo by Jenny Ekelund

Talented Makers + Strong Coffee = Cool RadioBox Hacks

A location based app for stories and sounds, a story visualisation web app pulling in comments from the SoundCloud player and a chrome extension which enhances browsing Wikipedia with audio from Said.fm... all built over a couple of days!!  

All three hacks will be demoed at the next RadioBox and we'll be blogging about each of them in more detail over the next week.  

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