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Episode 18: What’s In
The Name
I’m extremely guilty of trying to come up with catchy names or
titles for my podcasts and episodes.
Unplugged and Totally Uncut, The Choice, View from the Writing
Instrument and Pod-crashing to name a few.
Weird way out there labels but nothing as cool as Marc Maron’s WTF,
Discraceland, The Joe Rogan Experience or Crime Junkie.
While thumbing through iHeart Radio’s podcast directory I
had an extremely difficult time locating Ellen DeGeneres’ On The Go. I wasn’t aware of the title. It wasn’t as easy as Elvis Duran On Demand or
the Ben Shapiro Show.
When I danced for the first time
seven years ago with podcasting my DJ radio ego wanted to be cool like 48
Hours, Good Morning America and The Late Show.
I wanted something that could be branded by me and not a major Broadcast
Corporation. Podcasting was like taking
my first baby step. No more scooching
across the floor. I was up and ready to
run. That’s when I realized babies don’t
learn how to walk they learn how to fall.
Podcasting’s the same.
Everybody has the freedom to write, produce, act out and say whatever
they want. What happens if the name of
the show or episodes become that collection of letters people aren’t typing
into search engines? No matter how many
times you social network the presentation the image doesn’t come to mind when
new and old listeners need something pretty awesome to stuff into their
ears.
I chose Unplugged and Totally Uncut because in the opening scenes
of the digital race I thought I’d be original and let listeners in on the
entire process of the interview. From
the comedians walking into the studio and never knowing the show started before
they arrived to leaving in my vocal mess ups cuz I want to be just as human as
those who’ve chosen to take a shot and listen.
More importantly I was the production director of six radio stations and
editing was too time consuming so I had to come up with a name that basically
said this is why it isn’t perfect.
Unplugged and Totally Uncut.
7 years later, as a personality I’m still unplugged. I’ve always been on the strange side. I’m ok with a head dented in by the school of
hard knocks. The totally uncut part has
change tremendously. I’m an editing
whore. It took me the longest time to
learn how to edit for podcasting versus editing for a terrestrial radio
show. Podcast listeners accept mess ups
and but make them sound natural without having to edit the show to absolutely no
mistakes. During those days my numbers
were horrid. I remember a listener
writing to me, “I love your effort but if I wanted to hear a show I’d turn on
the radio. I’m more into conversations.”
View from the Writing Instrument is the writer in me being
awkwardly overbearingly too determined to never say, “I talk with published
authors.” I wanted a podcast that was
all about who what where why and when is your next book due? I live the life of writers because in all
things I do it all starts with letters, sentences and paragraphs. My biggest battle wasn’t getting the authors
but rather who and what is a writer?
What about songwriting? What
about script writers? Those that put
together recipe books? It truly opened
the door for me to broaden my niche.
I also have a podcast called The Lyrics From Billy’s
Forest. I don’t want to call this a dork
moment because the story behind the name runs extremely deep into the soul of
why broadcasting is the addiction. What
do you think happens on The Lyrics From Billy’s Forest? A farm boy country songwriter gone big
city? Nope. Mark Twain inspired tree hugging poetry? Nah. I
spent two years writing in the forest that surrounds the Billy Graham Library
in Charlotte, NC. I started doing it the
day my father passed away. I wrote
things down no other place on the planet shot through my thinking system. I’d always tell myself “These aren’t my
words. These are the lyrics from Billy’s
forest.”
A podcast I totally get into is NBC’s Songland podcast. The name says it all. But only if you’ve seen the weekly music show
on television. The Best Of Steve Harvey
is a great name. It tells thumbing
around podcast listeners exactly what it is.
The Best Of. Not to be confused with
The Steve Harvey Show podcast.
Armchair Expert from Dax Sheppard totally rocks my listening
world. If my wife wouldn’t of told me
about it the name Armchair Expert would’ve convinced me that it’s a sports
show. Right? I’ve had a conversation with the creator of
the LORE podcast. The Dude’s totally
focused and turns word play into a candy store.
Chelsea Handler’s Life Will Be The Death Of Me sounds like a totally
awesome comedian driven laugh your ass off funny show. But it’s not.
She’s incredibly brave to push mental illness forward and deals with it
by taking the subject to multiple stages and through many different
levels. When you listen to the podcast
you’ll instantly get the name but without an explanation it kinda sat there for
a while. I didn’t grow up listening to
albums and cd’s that featured comedians.
I’m that guy that’s an out of control visual.
Stuff You Missed In History Class is a brilliant title. Food 360 with Marc Murphy puts being an all-out
fan of food on the most important part of the day list. Purple Panties though kinda scares me. What if while listening my wife looks over my
shoulder at the smart phone and sees only Purple Panties. That’s why I can’t figure out why E.D.
commercials put so much focus on men having more sex. Guys are shouting “Hell yes!” Women on the
other hand are thinking, “He’s gonna screw around on me.”
Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend makes me laugh without
listening. I wish he would’ve gotten
into radio decades before podcasting.
The Last Podcast On The Left makes me wonder about what’s across the
hall on the right. What do you think
this podcast is about? Judge the show by
its title! The Last Podcast On the Left. It covers all the horrors our world has to
offer but imagined and real. Demons and
slashers to cults and serial killers.
So what’s the moral of the story? There are millions of podcasts currently
playing, many of which bare unique names that don’t always come up while using the
search engine. I totally grasp the
energy put into being original and how fun it can be to stick our way of
thinking way out there globally.
Thinking like a listener I’m reminded of my talk with program director
of a Charlotte station in 1985. He
wanted me to drop the name Arroe Collins.
Listeners would write on the Arbitron Earl, Harrold, Errol and believe
it or not Aerosmith. I disagreed and did
everything I could to protect the name.
35 years in the same market and I still bump into people that greet me
with, “Hey Arlo.” As in Guthrie.
As big corporate business radio gets its arms wrapped around
podcasting will those being hired need to create content need to shape up their
names? The way I moved around the
oddness of my titles was to put Arroe Collins on it first then the addition of
the other title. A smarter me would of
spelled my name A R R O W totally taking out the letter E.
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