The winners of the Audio Production Awards 2023 were announced last night (23 November). This annual event, held by trade association AudioUK, celebrates the people and companies involved in audio production across all audio content in the UK.
Presented by co-hosts of award-winning BBC Sounds podcast Brown Girls Do It Too Rubina Pabani and Poppy Jay, the gala event took place at the BFI on London’s Southbank and was sponsored by Audible.
The award of the night for Production Company of the Year went to Reduced Listening, the company behind award-winning hits such as Spotify’s music analysis podcast Decode (who featured on PodPod episode 3), Audible Original true-crime podcast Man In A Bag, and Crooked Media’s political podcast Pod Save The UK, which launches in 2023.
"The range of content and the craftsmanship shone through, with every topic presented with such a unique take and personal touch,” the judges said. “This reflects the company's strong ethos of inclusion, diversity and elevating new talented voices in front of and behind the mic.”
Sound designer Axel Kacoutiė also won two categories on his own for Best Factual Producer on poetry series Mother Tongue on BBC Radio 4 and Best Sound Design Producer for his freelance work across audio. The judges said: “Axel’s work feels effortless and colourful and manages to strike a tone between powerful language and sound design that lingers on after you've listened, much like a favourite album.”
Other notable podcast winners from the night include producer Lina Prestwood who also claimed two gold awards for new category Best Lifestyle & Society Producer as well as the Sustainability Award for her work on Scenery Studios’ immersive and meditative podcast The Long Time Academy.
This year’s Audio Production Awards received a “record-breaking number of entries” according to vice-chair of AudioUK Bernard Achampong, when the nominees were announced late October across the 22 categories, which include audiobooks, podcasting and radio.
“The Awards are about representing and celebrating the huge wealth of production and presenter talent that exists in the UK,” said managing director of AudioUK Chloe Straw. “The creativity and expertise within the audio industry continues to be of an incredible standard, and this was highly evident in the quality of the entries this year. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners.”
