The value of podcasts for the ethnic minority theatre community

This is something that may well be of interest for artistic directors, publicity and marketing managers of theatres.

Lots and lots of things are happening in the ethnic minority theatre community, but in many cases they are never known outside of the local communities where the theatre plays are staged.

Sometimes this is because those theatres producing these works think that because their ticket sales are local that getting the word out to a wider audience beyond their ticket sales boundaries doesn’t make good marketing sense. That was the accepted and somewhat sensible way of thinking “back in the day” when the only potential income from a local show was generated at the local level through tickets sales.

But that was then and this is now. This is a brand new day. Wake up y’all. The game has changed.

No longer are local theatre productions just local. Because of internet technology, there is no reason a local theatre cannot sell its merchandise like CD’s, T-shirts and printed scripts generated from a show to anywhere in the world. There is no reason why a local theatre production cannot film its production and stream it via pay per view and earn money from it long after it has left the stage in its original form. There is no reason why people in other parts of the world cannot hear about the success of your production and arrange to have your production in their theatre on the other side of the globe.

Remember, it is not only big names that make things happen in theatre. The mass media often talk about the actors who become stars that make theatre shows happen, but before there were stars, people just like you were on the local level making things happen that led to the development of those stars.

The key is reaching out and letting people know what you are doing. Back in the day ethnic minority theatre depended on the local newspapers and radio to get the word out about their local theatre productions, but now with social media all of that has changed.

Now people for all over the world can see what you are doing, which creates more potential for growth and development.

Why are we telling you all this? Simple. We benefit by assisting and encouraging you to connect with what other theatres are doing, because whenever we connect you we also connect ourselves. And being at the centre of the information exchange gives us access to the resources to help more theatres grow and in the process we grow also. The more theatres talk to each other and share what they are doing through us, the more possibilities are created for us to do business with those theatres like helping to make deals between theatres or to recommend artistic, technical or financial contacts that help theatres develop their shows.

We have found that the value of the internet is not really so much about selling things directly as it is about spreading information that brings about the selling of our services as a by-product of communication.

In my 40 years in the entertainment business, I cannot tell you how many deals have come my way that started out as a conversation unrelated to what eventually ended up happening.

So don’t underestimate the power of communication and connection. Networking whether it is face to face or through a digital portal can be extremely valuable. Podcasts are a good way of connecting people because it is a niche kind of activity and people who listen to podcasts are actively drawn to them because of their interest in the subject matter. So that means, the message that you disseminate on a podcast will go out and be listened to by people who have a specific interest in what you are doing, and will be more likely to respond in a positive way.

We are developing our podcasting outreach to help to connect the ethnic minority theatrical community because the more the theatre community connects, the more connections we have.

Our podcasts are FREE, both for you and for your audience. They will help publicize your shows as well as let people know what local ethnic minority theatres are doing.

The way it works is simple. We set up a SKYPE interview with you and you talk about what you want to talk about for 10 to 15 minutes. We create the podcast and you can then use it to send out to your social network and help you with whatever project you are doing. Our podcasts are also on i-Tunes and as a result we have large distribution network.

So if you are looking to get your message or show publicised please get in touch with us through our website: www.theatrestreamchannel.com

We hope to hear from you soon.