Spotify holding Sound Up Bootcamp for First Nations podcasters

Spotify is encouraging First Nations podcasters to apply for a new Sound Up Bootcamp four-day residential workshop.

The workshop will take place in Sydney this November, and aims to better surface Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander voices and stories.

It is the next instalment of the global Sound Up Bootcamp Initiative, which has given fresh talent a creative platform to share their work with the widest possible audience in both the US and UK.

10 individuals will be chosen from the pool of applicants, given a round-trip flight to Sydney and accommodation for the duration of the bootcamp if they reside outside of Sydney, and the opportunity to spend four days at Spotify Australia’s headquarters.

Applicants need not have any prior podcasting experience; “just something to say, a passion for the medium, and an eagerness to bring their great ideas to life.”

Three finalists will then win a cash grant, podcast production equipment and further extended mentorship opportunities.

Spotify’s Sound Up Bootcamp in the Us received more than 18K applications.

That program was successful in “stimulating amazing ideas and facilitating a truly unique and important community of aspiring women of colour podcasters,” Spotify ANZ managing director Jane Huxley says.

“What Spotify is offering through Sound Up is a hugely exciting opportunity for First Nations producers and storyteller,” says Emily Nicol, an Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander radio producer and the curator of Spotify’s flagship First Nations playlist Black Australia.

Applications are being taken between now and October 29.