She Podcasts, a podcasting community for women and non-binary people, has announced its first-ever annual Sonic Bloom Awards celebrating underrepresented voices in the industry.
The awards are created in partnership with audio production company KaSa Media, led by CEO Tiphany Kane who also hosts self-help podcast Radical Audacity in Love & Life and educational how-to podcast Mastering The Podcaster Mindset.
“The Sonic Bloom Awards were made to bring attention to podcasting projects by underrepresented voices from around the world that are creative, innovative and have a big impact,” the organisation stated. “We want to shine a light on cis and trans women, non-binary individuals and the all-around gender-fabulous people in the podcasting industry who are helping to move us forward.”
Categories are divided into Legacy, Craft, Industry, Innovation and Talent awards, and each applicant will be allowed to enter one nomination per three of those categories. Entry fees range from $50 (£40) for independent creators to $125 (£101) for corporate creators.
Stand-out nominations include The Gender Justice Award, which honours a podcaster or podcast organisation that have made an impact in “dismantling systems of patriarchy” in the industry; The Social Change Maker award, which goes to podcasters that have used their platform to raise awareness on a social issue or created positive change; and the Rainbow Mic Award, which goes to podcasters that have made an impact to the LGBTQ+ community.
The last day to submit applications for the Sonic Bloom Awards is 31 March with winners to be announced at She Podcasts LIVE! – an annual four-day conference led by women, trans and non-binary speakers – held at the MGM National Harbour in Washington DC on 21 June.
In a mass email newsletter from She Podcasts’ Jessica Kupferman, the co-founder and CEO had to clarify that the Sonic Bloom Awards are not the first awards for underrepresented voices but that it’s the first for “all the groups of voices”, and that only non-male entrants are allowed to win.
The Sonic Bloom Awards joins the growing number of podcast-specific awards schemes, including the British Podcast Awards which will officially be returning in September 2023, this year in partnership with PodPod. Creators can now go to the website to download the entry pack and submit their nominations in advance of the upcoming ceremony.
