In Industry Last updated 12 February 2016
A Birmingham School of Media researcher's podcast has been downloaded over one million times on iTunes, following interviews with some of the biggest names in the songwriting industry: from Suzanne Vega, Jimmy Webb, Todd Rundgren, “Weird Al” Yankovic to Neil Sedaka, Valerie Simpson, Johnny Marr, Neil Finn, and many others.
The critically acclaimed podcast was produced by the Sodajerker songwriting team of Brian O'Connor and Dr Simon Barber. With its detailed focus on work, and the inquisitiveness and enthusiasm of the hosts, the podcast has now been downloaded more than a million times and has received coverage in NME, Esquire, Slate, The Guardian, Mashable and Entertainment Weekly among others.
Dr Simon Barber also researches, writes and lectures popular music, the music industries, digital culture and jazz. As a research fellow in the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research at Birmingham City University, he is particularly interested in songwriting, and the relationships between creative workers and industry. When asked about the acclaimed podcast series, Simon said:
From a research point of view, this has enabled Simon to produce a number of book chapters, and peer-reviewed articles exploring songwriting as work, which is a hugely neglected aspect of creative labour. Simon is working to further define the field by developing a network of scholars interested in songwriting, and is looking forward to the great line up of guests that will appear on the show in the to the 100 episodes.
Episode 84, featuring the in-depth discussion with playwright and composer Willy Russell is due to be released in February. You can read more about Sodajerker On Songwriting on their website or listen to the podcast on iTunes.