Matti Kajander, Executive Producer at Yle began the session by talking about how YLE in Finland creates music dramas every summer. These music dramas take a lot of research, interviews and time. It is important to balance the chronology of the famous person who the drama is based on with what is interesting to audiences.
It’s also important to realise the responsibility of telling someone’s story – does the listener know what is fact and fiction? Does the story confirm stereotypes or give a new perspective? Make the story topical so it interests people today and make sure it has a message.
Karin Bäckmark, Executive Producer at Spotify and Jakob Munck, CEO & Founder of Munck Studios spoke about De Fria. It is an audio experience that was recorded in 8D, meaning the sound comes from 8 different directions, and if the characters were in a forest then they recorded in a forest. Rather than looking to audio dramas they looked to channels like HBO for inspiration.
The marketing strategy was key to the audio drama’s success, from exclusive listening breakfasts to being the first podcast to ever have a commercial in the cinema. Their key takeaways are to allow actors to rehearse and be picky with the cast.
Emelie Rosenqvist, from SR, talked about making audio addictive. Like Karin and Jakob, she agrees audio drama should sound more like a tv show or documentary with cinematic sounding. The story is key and making characters likeable – even if they are the murderer.
One things for sure – audio dramas are about to be massive.
