The words “free” and “podcast” (as in “free podcast”) have always gone together like “cold” and “ice-cream.” To say your podcast was “free” was tantamount to saying your “water is wet” or your “fire is hot.” Okay, there has been an exception or two in the short history of podcasting – most notably in the form of James Patrick Kelly’s StoryPod. But the ties between FREE and PODCAST may be about to change. The newest unfree podcast is from the producers of The Sonic Society, a long running radio show and podcast out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It has been an endless showcase of audio drama goodness and their new project, Sonic Gold, may be all that and just a bit more. Membership in Sonic Gold requires a fee of $25.00 for a year. The idea was to find “a way to offer professional audio drama paid content to those who are interested for a reasonable price.”. Sonic Gold began April 1st, 2009 and has a planned 35 shows for the year, with new shows coming on the 1st, the 15th, and at the end of each month. Content for the first year will come from a number of sources including Colonial Radio Theatre.
Posted by Jesse Willis
This is terrific news. I plan to support this 100%.
Thanks Folks!
Although we’ll never abandon our flagship “The Sonic Society”… our mantra and our mission has always been to get the very best in Audio Drama out there and spread the word that this medium is a vibrant and exciting way to tell stories in the 21st century.
We’re thrilled to support those companies that are trying to make a go of Audio Drama today and continue to make high quality professional recordings.
Ideally, I’ve always felt, how cool would it be to be at the forefront of bringing a company that’s struggled for years to financial security through something as simple as a podcast.
That’s the hope. That’s the dream.
That’s our goal! Thanks so much for helping us on the way!
Jack
At first blush I thought why bother paying $25 for one episode when I can get guaranteed good stuff for less at Audible. Then I clicked back here to sffaudio and saw the $25 was for a whole year. Maybe they should have put out a 1/2 hour intro to wet people’s interest. Theatre has always been a hard sell with me.