Making Creativity Pay

It’s impossible to move at the moment for think pieces about the future of AI and for better or worse you’re getting another one here. In this episode I’ll talk a bit about examples from art, music, writing and coding and how what could be an incredible advance for some will bring consequences for others. I show how with text to speech advances it's hard to tell real and AI adverts apart, how whole songs can be created from just a sentence and the argument around 'homeopathic robbery' in that if you train on so much data it's impossible to tell where you've taken from then is it really theft or just a paradigm shift. Links: Text to Speech with Eleven Labs: https://elevenlabs.io/ Text to Music with Udio: https://www.udio.com/ Full episode of 'Hard Fork' that includes discussion around AI art and copyright issues: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/podcasts/20hard-fork-elon-empire-artists-ai.html Full episode with Andy Stanton on his book Benny the Blue Whale: A Descent into Story, Language and the Madness of ChatGPT https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/chatgpt-and-creativity-andy-stanton/ Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

“It feels like people do have to almost have a second career to support themselves. And it's not clear where the kind of goals or the safe spot is anymore where you can just fully concentrate on that thing” Rachael Healy is an award winning journalist and the current British Journalism Awards Journalist of the year for Arts and Entertainment. Rachael is a freelance journalist working predominantly with The Guardian and the i newspapers and we talk about getting articles commissioned, from show reviews through to in-depth investigative reporting. We also discuss the star rating systems of reviews, building a personal brand as well as her repeated focus in her writing on the financial impact of being an artist including the experience of performers at the fringe Rachael Links Rachael’s Best In Class article https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/feb/29/woke-tv-comedy-workshops-infuriating-right-wing-press Twitter: https://twitter.com/ohrhealy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachaelhealyjournalist/ Website: http://www.rachaelhealy.co.uk/ British Journalism Awards Winners: https://pressgazette.co.uk/press-gazette-events/british-journalism-awards-winners-2023/ Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

“...people who go into medicine, often it's not so much just pure science people, it's people who've got maybe a bit more of a broader interest range than your standard person who just wants to be a scientist or a mathematician or something like that. So I think often you find people going into it who've got a bit of a second interest, even at the point of sort of choosing what career they're going into.” This episode is with Comedian Matt Hutchinson we talk about his experiences of the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe with his show ‘Hostile’ from promoting the show on Social Media and Flyering through to working with PR and Production companies. We also discuss how being a comedian interacts with his day job as a Doctor and how he somehow manages to combine all this with studying for a research PhD as well as currently being in the middle of writing a book based on his experiences as a Doctor. Matt Links Twitter: https://twitter.com/hutch_up Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthutchinsoncomedy/ Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

Ahead of the Glasgow comedy festival which runs from the 13th to the 31st March I spoke to comedians Jay Lafferty and Kathleen Hughes two Scottish comedians who are performing at the festival. We talk about Kathleen’s experiences as a relatively newer comedian who after a two week run last year is currently preparing for her first full Edinburgh Fringe run in 2024. We also discuss Jay’s experiences as a full time comedian, going on a nationwide tour with her show ‘Bahookie’ and how the Scottish comedy has changed and the supportive nature within the scene. See Jay and Kathleen Live Jay Lafferty - Bahookie at Glasgow Comedy Festival (29th March): https://www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com/performances/jay-lafferty-bahookie-special-live-recording/ Bahookie On Tour: https://gildedballoon.co.uk/bahookie/ Kathleen Hughes - Cryptid (WiP) at Glasgow Comedy Festival (24th March): https://www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com/performances/kathleen-hughes-cryptid-work-in-progress/ Cryptid at Edinburgh Fringe: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/kathleen-hughes-cryptid Jay Website:https://www.watchthisspaceproductions.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayjaylaffs Joy Agenda Podcast: https://pod.link/1719574893 Kathleen Twitter: https://twitter.com/kathleenwho_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathleenwho_ The Humour Mill: https://www.humourmillglasgow.co.uk/ Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ Episode Photos: Kathleen: https://www.instagram.com/_dunkan_/ https://www.instagram.com/tjstade/

“Finding out information about comedy, if you don't already know what you're looking for can be ridiculously overwhelming” This episode I spoke to Zoë Paskett founder of LMAOnaise a website, newsletter and soon to be newspaper that covers some of the less mainstream areas of comedy. The ethos of this podcast has always been that even if your art may not be driven by money, without the money it’s difficult to keep creating the art and so marketing matters and my chat with Zoë was a great example of this, creating a print version of something when even web journalism is collapsing is an ambitious aim. We discuss Zoë’s plans for the newspaper and her work setting up and promoting the crowdfunder along with her experiences as a journalist for publications such as the London Evening Standard and from running her weekly newsletter for the last three years as well as the value of curation when it comes to comedy. LINKS Crowdfunder for Newspaper https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-lmaonaise-comedy-launch-a-print-newsletter/ Website:https://www.lmaonaisecomedy.com/ Instagram: http://instagram.com/lmaonaisecomedy Threads: https://www.threads.net/@lmaonaisecomedy Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

"With the advent of social media and Myspace as was, we sort of got a bit of a following and we've been growing our audience ever since" This episode is with Sheldon Southworth AKA Dickie Ticker from the band The Lancashire Hotpots. The band's motto is “21st Century Folk for 21st Century folk” and have released albums including Never Mind the Hotpots and Achtung Gravy and have performed at festivals such as Glastonbury and Kendall Calling as well as touring the country and are currently on their Bisto Inferno tour. We talk about the challenges facing a live band in the current economic climate, promoting band both online and the various tools and techniques involved in selling tickets to live shows. LINKS Website: https://thelancashirehotpots.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thehotpots Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelancashirehotpots/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/thelancashirehotpots/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ac41g3jUH9rBoe6zawiaB TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thelancashirehotpots?lang=en Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

“It’s a romantic comedy with added sexy cowboys” Eleanor Birdsall-Smith is producer of the sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show ‘Cowboys and Lesbians’ which is about to embark on a 3 week run at the Park Theatre in London and The Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol. We talk about her background in TV, her Fringe experiences including the importance of reviews and the tactics of flyering as well as the impact of a name change to the show. LINKS Park Theatre London (Feb 21st - Mar 9th) https://parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/cowboys-and-lesbians Wardrobe Theatre Bristol (Mar 12th - Mar 15th) https://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/cowboys-lesbians/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CowboysPlay Instagram: https://instagram.com/cowboysandlesbians TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@cowboysandlesbians Times 4* Review discussed in the episode: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cowboys-and-lesbians-at-edinburgh-festival-saddle-up-for-this-brilliantly-funny-teen-drama-66bkcpkx5 Show Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fysK6vFtLj8 Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

"Even though they took my songs, I still felt like a failure, and I did for the largest part of the last 10, 15 years. I felt like I failed at music" Alexis talks about her experiences as a singer/songwriter, comedian and actress, about going viral on TikTok and her resurgence as a pop star 20 years on. We talk about having songs she’s written being recorded by Kylie Minogue and Rachel Stevens, the impact being dropped by her record label had on her and her determination to make the most of the opportunity the second time around. We also discuss Social Media, online promotion and the psychological impact chasing clicks has on your state of mind. LINKS Website: https://www.alexisstrum.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexisstrum Instagram: https://instagram.com/alexisstrum TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@alexisstrumofficial Retropop Article about releasing the albums 20 years on: https://retropopmagazine.com/alexis-strums-debut-album-addicted-finally-released-after-being-shelved-over-20-years-ago/ Alexis on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/49DJil4JyZdW8Upoilkfom Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

Kat Molesworth who as well well as having a huge amount of experience in digital marketing is event producer at Content is Queen who are running the International Women’s Podcast Festival which is taking place in London in October. We talk about traditional offline promotion for podcasts, what makes engaging social content to drive activity to your podcast as well as discussing the festival and Kat’s aims for it in more detail. There’s a load of other practical bits of advice from Kat throughout the episode including examples of podcasts that do things particularly well in a certain aspect of podcasting. Kat Website: https://www.katmolesworth.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thatkat Instagram: http://instagram.com/thatkat Blogtacular Podcast: https://pod.link/1063884748 Content is Queen Website: https://contentisqueen.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/contentisqn Pitch your talk or panel idea for The International Women’s Podcast Festival: https://festival.contentisqueen.org/speaker-applications Interview with Grace Andrews (Marketing Director for Diary of a CEO) on Callum McDonnell’s ‘Creator Playbooks’ podcast YouTube: https://youtu.be/44gUHzuLb78 Podcast: https://pod.link/1613319204 Normal Gossip Podcast: https://pod.link/1597761181 Bitter/Sweet Podcast: https://pod.link/1674678902 Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

Kat Molesworth who as well well as having a huge amount of experience in digital marketing is event producer at Content is Queen who are running the International Women’s Podcast Festival which is taking place in London in October. We talk about traditional offline promotion for podcasts, what makes engaging social content to drive activity to your podcast as well as discussing the festival and Kat’s aims for it in more detail. There’s a load of other practical bits of advice from Kat throughout the episode including examples of podcasts that do things particularly well in a certain aspect of podcasting. Kat Website: https://www.katmolesworth.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thatkat Instagram: http://instagram.com/thatkat Blogtacular Podcast: https://pod.link/1063884748 Content is Queen Website: https://contentisqueen.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/contentisqn Pitch your talk or panel idea for The International Women’s Podcast Festival: https://festival.contentisqueen.org/speaker-applications Interview with Grace Andrews (Marketing Director for Diary of a CEO) on Callum McDonnell’s ‘Creator Playbooks’ podcast YouTube: https://youtu.be/44gUHzuLb78 Podcast: https://pod.link/1613319204 Normal Gossip Podcast: https://pod.link/1597761181 Bitter/Sweet Podcast: https://pod.link/1674678902 Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

"I think life is bigger than AI. I don't think AI is bigger than life. That may be the most naïve thing anyone has ever said on the subject. We'll see." Andy Stanton is an author best known for his ‘Mr Gum’ Children’s books and has written a book called Benny the Blue Whale: A Descent into Story, Language and the Madness of ChatGPT which is available in print and also as an audiobook with ChatGPT voiced by Nish Kumar. As you’ll hear from our talk this doesn’t mean he’s typed a simple prompt and then printed the results, rather it’s a fascinating look at language and a great lesson on what makes good writing by considering what ChatGPT can’t do as well as looking at what it can manage. As well as the book, we discuss Andy’s long running podcast Ask The Nincompoops as well as not reading your reviews and the difficulties of promotion in a social media age. LINKS Book: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/benny-the-blue-whale/ Audiobook: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Benny-the-Blue-Whale-Audiobook/B0CKM6WDLV Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyStanton15 Andy on the Failing Writers Podcast: https://www.failingwriterspodcast.com/episodes/episode/5137e57d/s3-ep20-how-to-write-a-book-using-chatgpt-andy-stanton Mr Gum Website: http://www.mrgum.co.uk/ Find more about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

"I think life is bigger than AI. I don't think AI is bigger than life. That may be the most naïve thing anyone has ever said on the subject. We'll see." Andy Stanton is an author best known for his ‘Mr Gum’ Children’s books and has written a book called Benny the Blue Whale: A Descent into Story, Language and the Madness of ChatGPT which is available in print and also as an audiobook with ChatGPT voiced by Nish Kumar. As you’ll hear from our talk this doesn’t mean he’s typed a simple prompt and then printed the results, rather it’s a fascinating look at language and a great lesson on what makes good writing by considering what ChatGPT can’t do as well as looking at what it can manage. As well as the book, we discuss Andy’s long running podcast Ask The Nincompoops as well as not reading your reviews and the difficulties of promotion in a social media age. LINKS Book: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/benny-the-blue-whale/ Audiobook: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Benny-the-Blue-Whale-Audiobook/B0CKM6WDLV Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyStanton15 Andy on the Failing Writers Podcast: https://www.failingwriterspodcast.com/episodes/episode/5137e57d/s3-ep20-how-to-write-a-book-using-chatgpt-andy-stanton Mr Gum Website: http://www.mrgum.co.uk/ Find more about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

"I think life is bigger than AI. I don't think AI is bigger than life. That may be the most naïve thing anyone has ever said on the subject. We'll see." Andy Stanton is an author best known for his ‘Mr Gum’ Children’s books and has written a book called Benny the Blue Whale: A Descent into Story, Language and the Madness of ChatGPT which is available in print and also as an audiobook with ChatGPT voiced by Nish Kumar. As you’ll hear from our talk this doesn’t mean he’s typed a simple prompt and then printed the results, rather it’s a fascinating look at language and a great lesson on what makes good writing by considering what ChatGPT can’t do as well as looking at what it can manage. As well as the book, we discuss Andy’s long running podcast Ask The Nincompoops as well as not reading your reviews and the difficulties of promotion in a social media age. LINKS Book: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/benny-the-blue-whale/ Audiobook: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Benny-the-Blue-Whale-Audiobook/B0CKM6WDLV Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyStanton15 Andy on the Failing Writers Podcast: https://www.failingwriterspodcast.com/episodes/episode/5137e57d/s3-ep20-how-to-write-a-book-using-chatgpt-andy-stanton Mr Gum Website: http://www.mrgum.co.uk/ Find more about ‘Making Creativity Pay’ Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

“If you're really Into making it, into doing it, the worst thing in life is getting to 85 and not having tried to do the things that you want to do or not having been your best self” Dec Munro is a comedy director and producer and co-founder of the Bill Murray comedy club. Dec has directed loads of Edinburgh Fringe shows for performers such as Stuart Goldsmith, Mawaan Rizwan, Angela Barnes, Sofie Hagen and many more. We discuss the role of a director in a show, about drawing out ideas and getting the best from an artist and whether taking a show to Edinburgh is right for everyone as well as moving from the Fringe to TV and if the TV industry does enough to nurture scripted comedy. We talk about The Bill Murray and Angel Comedy Club, how that came about, the London comedy scene, the embarrassment of riches London comedy goers have and how the ‘So what do you do for a living’ clips on social media may impact what people expect from a comedy show. Dec also runs beginner stand-up comedy courses both to individuals and in a corporate setting and we discuss how this attracts both those who want to make a go of being a comedian and those that realise that the skills of a comedian are transferable to their day job. Dec’s Website: https://www.decmunro.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DecMunro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/decmunro_comedy/ The Bill Murray/Angel Comedy: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/

“If you're really Into making it, into doing it, the worst thing in life is getting to 85 and not having tried to do the things that you want to do or not having been your best self” Dec Munro is a comedy director and producer and co-founder of the Bill Murray comedy club. Dec has directed loads of Edinburgh Fringe shows for performers such as Stuart Goldsmith, Mawaan Rizwan, Angela Barnes, Sofie Hagen and many more. We discuss the role of a director in a show, about drawing out ideas and getting the best from an artist and whether taking a show to Edinburgh is right for everyone as well as moving from the Fringe to TV and if the TV industry does enough to nurture scripted comedy. We talk about The Bill Murray and Angel Comedy Club, how that came about, the London comedy scene, the embarrassment of riches London comedy goers have and how the ‘So what do you do for a living’ clips on social media may impact what people expect from a comedy show. Dec also runs beginner stand-up comedy courses both to individuals and in a corporate setting and we discuss how this attracts both those who want to make a go of being a comedian and those that realise that the skills of a comedian are transferable to their day job. Dec’s Website: https://www.decmunro.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DecMunro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/decmunro_comedy/ The Bill Murray/Angel Comedy: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/

"I was in hospital listening to this country album, going, ah, life's too short for me to be listening to country music every other week" On this episode is comedian and podcaster Liam Withnail. Off the back of a sell-out run of his show 'Chronic Boom' at the Edinburgh Fringe. I talk to Liam about his experiences at the Festival in August, what he did to promote the show, the challenges he faced putting the show together and how he’s now taking it nationwide with a tour starting March 2024. We also discuss his podcast ‘Enjoy an Album’ which he co-hosts with fellow comedian Christopher Macarthur-Boyd which itself has been a live show at Edinburgh. We talk about how they’ve introduced video and developed the podcast with the financial help of Patreon supporters. Links Twitter: https://twitter.com/liamwithnail Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liamwithnail/ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@liamwithnail 2024 Tour: https://www.berksnest.com/liam Enjoy and Album Podcast page: https://podfollow.com/enjoy-an-album Links to other activity, including free podcast of Liam’s 2019 Fringe show, Homecoming: https://linktr.ee/Liamwithnail BBC article featuring Liam on financial aspect of being a comedian in current economy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65038562

“It used to be you'd focus on one thing and you'd focus to do it to the best of your degree, but I think now everyone has to be really multidisciplinary” - This episode's guest Elf Lyons who has a broad range of talents that we discuss in the podcast. We talk about her Edinburgh show this year ‘Heist’ with Duffy and how audience response turned a two week run into a whole month and how it impacted her approach to being in Edinburgh compared to previous years and her experience this year directing a number of shows by fellow artists at the Fringe. Elf’s previous Fringe show ‘Raven’ is playing for 2 nights on 27th/28th October at Soho Theatre in London and we talk about the balance of putting shows on yourself versus working with promoters/theatre companies to remove some of the stress of promoting and financial risk and balancing that with a lower return. Elf also has a YouTube special - “Elf Lyons Talks Dirty” and we discuss the Work In Progress process and development aspects of Stand Up comedy and finding the right platform for you whether that’s Live, TikTok, Twitch or any other medium. Elf also has a podcast called ‘Elfonomics’ that she runs with her father - Economist Gerard Lyons taking a look at a range of Economic questions such as the benefits of an artist having an OnlyFans account or what lessons artists can take from footballers. Links ‘Heist’ co-performer Duffy: https://www.instagram.com/darklydreamingduffy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elflyons/ Website: https://www.elflyons.com/ “Elf Lyons Talks Dirty” YouTube Special: https://www.youtube.com/@ElfLyonsComedy Raven @ Soho Theatre 27th/28th October: https://sohotheatre.com/events/elf-lyons-raven-2/ Elfonomics Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elfonomics Twitter: https://twitter.com/ELFONOMICS Episode Transcript: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/blog/elf-lyons-comedy-and-performance-episode-transcript/

This episode is the second of a two-parter with Theatre Correspondent Fergus Morgan, the previous episode discusses Fergus' experience as a freelance Theatre Correspondent for titles such as The Scotsman and The Stage, as well as appearing on Radio 4 and in publications across Europe. In this episode we discuss the Edinburgh Fringe, the role a reviewer plays in a show getting noticed and the balance for performers between getting their work seen and balancing the financial and mental pressures of a month at the Fringe. You can find Fergus at: Twitter: https://twitter.com/FergusMorgan Fergus' Newsletter: https://thecrushbar.substack.com/ His work at The Stage: https://www.thestage.co.uk/fergusmor1

This episode is the first of a two-parter with Theatre Correspondent Fergus Morgan. In this episode we discuss Fergus' experience as a freelance Theatre Correspondent for titles such as The Scotsman and The Stage, as well as appearing on Radio 4 and in publications across Europe. We also discuss Fergus' own Newsletter The Crush Bar, the differences of being your own boss as a Newsletter producer compared for writing for others as well the current state and future direction of journalism. The second part of my chat with Fergus will be out on 30th September and will discuss the Edinburgh Fringe, the role a reviewer plays in a show getting noticed and the balance for performers between getting their work seen and balancing the financial and mental pressures of a month at the Fringe. You can find Fergus at: Twitter: https://twitter.com/FergusMorgan Fergus' Newsletter: https://thecrushbar.substack.com/ His work at The Stage: https://www.thestage.co.uk/fergusmor1

"Flyering is like a one-on-one direct intense experience of rejection, constant little micro bits of rejection and that can really suck" This episode is with Laura Thurlow whose show "A Preoccupation with Romantic Love" is on between 19-27th August as part of the Free Fringe. She discusses flyering, the importance of the Free Fringe, the impact of Social Media and lots more. Details: ⁠https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/preoccupation-with-romantic-love⁠ Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurelbrae Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurelbrae/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@laurelbrae