Arroe Collins Like It's Live

Hey it’s Arroe. This is Play It Forward. A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus.
Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward.
Episode 35: The Actress, Rocker and MTV Host
The one thing we have in common is how uncommon our professions once were. Then we were slammed into a nine week and more career bending time out by something called Covid-19. Now we have a second common. A hearty respect for each other’s journey’s now gone silent.
Raven Goodwin stars as Denise Clark in the film The Clark Sisters, First Ladies of Gospel. All that spiritual energy without a single bad vibe about the virus. In fact she’s part of a winning circle of family togetherness and love.
14 North is a hard rock band that started as a musical collaboration among friends in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Front man Zach knows as a creative mind and person how truthful you’ve got to be with yourself and band during times like this.
MTV’s Jordan Wisely is no newcomer when it comes to facing uphill struggles and battles. He’s a six-time competitor on The Challenge and is the reigning champion after winning last season’s “War of the Worlds 2.” As for his point of direction during this Coronavirus shutdown. It needs plenty of focus.
That’s Play It Forward I’m Arroe

Hey it’s Arroe. This is Play It Forward. A look at the unexpected changes endured by entertainers, writers, camera people and all others affected but not infected by the global invasion of the Coronavirus.
Real people. Real stories. The struggle to Play It Forward.
Episode 34: Reimagining with Michael May And Ed Quinn
A lot of eyes are focused on the reopening process of America. I say process because pretty much every state is following a three phase approach. Not just small businesses in the way of hair salons, dining, movies and clothing but entertainment as well.
How will new stages be built? Will it be a difficult task to keep up? I’m a mobile DJ that lives for huge floor overtaken by party like an animal dancers. My wife and I talked yesterday about the lifespan of the slow dance. How long will it be before we see couples uniting?
Michael May is a Karaoke host at the Crystal Lounge in Billings, Montana. One of the first cities to allow entertainment to return. To make any of it possible Michael’s had to revamp the night spot atmosphere.
Ed Quinn plays the President of the United States on the hit television series The Oval. His stage will change as well. As of now he explains how he’s ready for whatever the calling is but it’s got to get past the guessing game.
That’s Play It Forward I’m Arroe

Pod-Crashing Episode 54: Unknown Universe
Is the new movement becoming more vibrant? The project being podcasting. According to Edison Research’s Senior VP Tom Webster, “Podcast listeners have spent the past two months checking into episodes for 6.5 hours a week.”
Wait wait hold on. Before we pull out the party bus and champagne, we need to look at the larger picture.
The past two months have been February and March 2020. We were just getting into the Coronavirus experience. According to Tom, a lot of decision makers and podcast performers were expecting larger listening habits but the shutdown is proving to put performers on a different path.
Compared to January 2020 there’ve been no changes. Listeners were still checking in at 6.5 hours per week.
The biggest change is when listeners were getting locked into the episodes. On a normal business day it was during the commute or while at work or school. Being shut in at home totally took away that one on one alone time between the hosts and passenger.
So what’s changed with podcasting? The biggest audience grabbers. Leading the pack right now are news driven podcasts crammed with endless content about the virus and how to survive in an ever changing community. According to Edison Research News features are up 25% to 39% over the past two months.
Also checking in with a bigger following are podcasts that lean on religion, self-help and philosophy.
Sport shows not so much. Those that are getting the hits have redesigned their layout in the way of bringing forward more stories about the athletes and less about building a better game.
Even NPR has seen a 4% drop in listeners but maintain their strict policy of staying true to the format of each episode being no longer than ten to fifteen minutes. According to Ana Grundman her audience knows how much time they’ve got available and having such programming fits into stay at home cluttered day.
If you’re just getting into podcasting this is something to keep close to your heart. Adopting that shorter format and staying true to who and what your listeners are doing during the shutdown is speaking their street. It’s something they can not only relate with but grow with.
Knowing that there are no long drawn out commutes means listeners puts you ahead of the curve in the way of showing respect to your followers by way of recognizing the house the full of kids, the spouse is doing business in the kitchen while the others in a guest bedroom are trying to keep their head above the company expectations.
On a personal experience level. I saw a slight rise in listenership in April 2020. Mainly because of the huge drop I was experiencing a month earlier. I didn’t drop podcast episodes but I reconditioned them in the way of making them more about what the globe was experiencing.
Like Edison Research mentioned, shows that were religious based, self-help or philosophy were gaining in strength. The way I moved around that on the other podcasts was to make small shifts in my conversation format with artists, authors and actors. Don’t be afraid to talk about reality.
I also began an entirely new series called Play It Forward which puts a ton of attention on everyone in the entertainment industry affected but not infected by the Coronavirus. Plus, on my podcast Creativity The Addiction I began to reword how I described what creativity is. It’s not just artist thing but a huge part of our business world. Nothing gets done without creativity. Being shut down with no work doesn’t mean you can’t still feed that beast. If you don’t you’re setting yourself up for a hard hit of anxiety, depression, guilt and shame.
My biggest worry is Coronavirus burnout. How far do we as podcasters go before listeners start seeking a more up tempo escape?
Let’s look into this. The deeper we get into this shut down while experiencing several...