Just for you blog-followers of Hi-Phi Nation, a brand new episode is available now on the webpage. The episode will be released on your podcast feeds Tuesday morning, which will mark the 1-year anniversary of the release of our first episode.
It has been a wild ride this past year. The very first episode of Season 1, still one of my favorites, receive 742 downloads on the first day of release. Since then, it has been downloaded 60,000 times. We currently have about 20,000 subscribers judging from the number of downloads new episodes get within a month of release, but across the board, episodes have eventually reached 50,000 downloads within a few months. We are well north of half a million downloads from around the world. This is not huge, but for an indie production done by one person in just a year, I think its pretty good. The only way to grow, with no advertising budget, is word of mouth.
I appreciate your patience with me this season as I juggle teaching and research as well as producing the show. I had to make a decision as to whether to finish production on a batch of episodes, and then release them more frequently, or just releasing them as I complete them. I decided on the latter, and it has meant about an episode a month. Behind the scenes, I am trying to secure a way to fund future productions, which involves a lot of grant-writing and grant-rejections. Its a high-risk, high-reward affair but its the only way I see of sustaining such a geeky niche show. That said, there is a lot of good news. I will be producing the show from Canberra, Australia, at the Australia National University, from Mid-June thru Mid-August, so send me your story tips from down under. I am also in the works for an entire season three based on one philosophical theme throughout.
Future episodes from this season will include questions about personal identity and the afterlife, another episode on the philosophy of music, and more collaboration with outside producers. Please continue to support the show through word of mouth, writing to journalists who cover podcasts, and donations through Patreon and Paypal. -Barry
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