Do you need a Podcast Agent?
Vol. 74 - Some insider tea on working with a podcast agent from Liv Albert and Joy Fowlkes.
Shé:kon from the Haldimand Treaty Land! Happy Pod the North Tuesday!
In this issue:
Some housekeeping re: upcoming releases and the Pod the North picnic!
Liv Albert has her Podcast Agent, Joy Fowlkes, to help her navigate this crazy industry.
Canadian Indie: Photos from Our Past
True North Feature: Decolonizing Power
BTW:
As of July 11, 2025 there are currently 38 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 36 First Nations communities across Canada. Woof.
SOME QUICK HOUSEKEEPING:
Pod the North will be skipping a week in the cadence this August to give me a little buffer time between getting married and some awesome collaboartions I’ve got coming up next month. Yes, your girl will be a wife in less then a month! You can expect the next issues of Pod the North out on August 12 (instead of August 5th), and then every other week after that as usual (plus some bonus content in between).
This weekend’s Pod the North Picnic in Burlington is cancelled! Some sad news, but some much needed time ahead of.. again.. wedding stuff. Kristi and I have already been in talks and will OF COURSE let you know when this meet up will get rescheduled! Thanks to all who’ve already RSVP’d, I promise to make this up to you soon!
Many thanks for your patience here!
Is it time to work with a Podcast Agent?
Liv Albert has her Podcast Agent, Joy Fowlkes, to help her navigate this crazy industry.
As an independant podcaster, half the work isn’t actually podcasting. If you’re serious about growing your show into a full blown career, you’re more than likely going to need some help from someone who knows the industry inside and out, has connections, and is able to secure you fair advertising and network deals. That way you only need to focus on one thing: making a great show.
A couple years ago I talked to Liv Albert, host and creator of Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! about how she ended up making podcasting her full time job. In 2020 she was able to go all in on the show, but within the first year she knew she needed help on the business side of things, she just didn’t now she needed an agent.
Coincidentally, she ended up getting approached by a large media agency interested in representing her, but soon got left on read for over a month. Luckily, during that month in limbo, she also got an email by Joy Fowlkes.
Joy is a Podcast Agent at The Gernert Company and a former podcast producer in her own right. The Gernert Company mostly deals in book publishing space, so Joy has really carved out a niche all her own. After a call together, Liv, who’s always wanted to publish books one day, knew this was who she wanted to represent her.
Since beginning to work together, Liv and Joy have built up a ton of trust and a pretty solid friendship. I talked to the two of them to get a sense of what it means to have a podcast agent in your corner and when it’s time to work with one!
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Paid subscribers of Pod the North can listen to the full interview next week!
Kattie Laur: Give me an idea of the difference between an Agent and a Manager!
Joy Fowlkes: I think everyone explores representation differently, but I would say an agent is more focused on finding and securing deals for their clients. A manager looks at a wider picture and commissions any money their client is receiving, regardless of whether or not they source the deal or participate in the deal. So the commission split is also different. It's regulated legally and I actually didn't know this until I read a book on entertainment law; agents typically commission 10% of all revenue deals that they source - that's how I do it. Some agents demand that they have to participate in any, even if they didn't source it. A manager can take anywhere from 15% to 30%.
KL: So how did you end up scouting Liv, and talk to me about how you go about scouting shows to represent?
JF: She was blowing up on Spotify at the time and it just felt evergreen!
I don't really scout anymore, which is a privilege. I, for the most part, represent a handful of shows who are always-on chat or storytelling [shows], and are in multi-year contracts. A lot of what I represent is where my taste is. I still don't understand ancient history, but I really love storytelling. I really love feminism. The most basic thing about me is I love true crime.
But I'd say my bread and butter is always on chat shows, advising people on how to monetize their podcasts, how to expand in an omnichannel way, whether that's monetizing a newsletter, social touring, merchandise, things like that.
I thought I was gonna make a bunch of hit serial podcasts, but those don't do particularly well in podcasting nowadays. Networks are very reluctant to finance them because entertainment is not doing well. There's not as much of a safety net for that investment. That said, I do really believe in the medium so a lot of my time goes into helping journalists and creators make those shows, or trying to get deals for those shows.
KL: Liv, what are some of the ways that you're leaning on Joy these days?
Liv Albert: Yeah, I feel like we've mostly just gotten good advertising deals. I was in a couple year deal a while back that was very well paid and set me up in a good position. And then this year we got a deal returning to Acast, where I'm working on a larger creator network; a mutual aid type situation specifically with podcasts in the vague realm of history. This current deal that I have I think is pretty great. I have like a lot of freedom and I can kind of do what I want, in both that realm but also my own show.
I get so many emails all the time from people who are trying to pitch me on various things, and it's really nice having somebody to either just straight up handle it or just tell me whether or not it's even worth it to keep talking with somebody.
It's really nice having someone who also just knows what the fuck is going on with the industry. I have a lot of trouble keeping up with that type of stuff. To just have somebody who knows what's going on and can help me, or even just be a sounding board, is the best.
JF: My job is to not create more work for Liv unless it's promising work. She gets emails all the time, either sent directly to me or she forwards along. I only tell her when to pay attention to it, when there's something worth reporting.
The other thing is keeping the network honest. Liv was weighing out making content shifts; publishing more episodes and how that would affect the bottom line, how it would affect her mental health. Are there other channels the sales team is pitching? We have an understanding of every brand that Liv’s ever read for, and every brand that she would be willing to read for and trying to set the sales team up for success early on.
KL: When you say “the Network'“, what are you referring to exactly?
JF: The networks are the studios or financing partners that are going to help. So a few examples are iHeartMedia, Wondery, SiriusXM, Odyssey, Acast. All of them have their advantages disadvantages.
I have had shows at every network, and people move around for various reasons. To Liv's point, she doesn't have to keep up with what's happening. I have an idea of what network makes sense for what show.
I always tell people to take marketing potential from a network very lightly. They tend to over promise, as does every human being. But it can't hurt to be in the same portfolio where your audiences have overlap because if they're not marketing you, they're at least selling to those people.
KL: Joy, when would you say is the perfect time a podcaster should consider working with an agent?
JF: So it's very rare to sell a show from scratch nowadays, but I always am happy to see a pitch. I think most agents are looking for people with known platforms.
The other thing is the performance of your show. I always tell people it's a marathon, not a sprint. If you are going to be disappointed by the numbers I'm about to say, try to keep in mind that the amount of listeners that you have on your episodes could potentially fill a room or a movie theater, and how often do people have the opportunity to talk to that many people at once on a weekly basis?
The numbers that I'm often looking for: baseline, at least 100,000 downloads per month. Ideally those are all US downloads, but I think networks are getting better about monetizing Canada. I hope to have at least 15,000 - 50,000 downloads per episode. Those numbers can skew in many different ways depending on the value of your audience. Parenting shows, business shows, tech shows, the numbers can be a lot lower but the audience is worth a lot more in terms of spending power.
The other thing that I'm also looking at is the omni-channel presence; is there a possibility that the network could monetize beyond their show, meaning their social, their YouTube, their newsletter.
KL: I can't help but think about the work that you're doing for Liv and compare it to my own experience. I would LOVE to have you in my corner, but I definitely don't have the audience size that Liv has. Any hot tips for people who can already see where they could use an agent in their life but aren’t at that download threshold yet?
JF: First, prepare your audience for advertising. Set ad breaks and create a spreadsheet that's highly systemized that shows where you put those timestamps, and organize your files so that they're appropriately managed and altogether in one place. When you have a back catalog of 700 episodes it can be a nightmare to go backwards and try to figure out where to pick those ad markers. Go ahead and set the sound chimes if you wanna include those to cue your audience that ad break could happen there because in the best case scenario, your show is gonna hit and you're gonna be putting advertisements on it and you're gonna be dynamically inserting them across all of your episodes.
Survey your audience. It's so important. The most important part is not writing the survey or creating the survey, it's actually looking at the data. What I encourage people to always do is ask for some demographic data, like age, sex, location, earning power. I typically always recommend asking ‘what is your favorite podcast besides mine?’ And ‘what is the most unique podcast that you listen to that no one has ever heard of?’ The first one you're usually gonna get the Daily or like a Joe Rogan or like a true prime show. But the other one gives you a more niche understanding that possibly would align with the size of your audience.
I also really love the Rephonic Podcast Map. It’s free. You can go on it and you can see all of the shows that web out of your show where your audience is also listening. It's a great place to get a sense of audience overlap, and you can be more successful reaching out to a creator when you've said, ‘Hey, I have demonstrated data that says my audience is also listening to your show’.
The other thing is, do your best to not burn out. I would say like if you're not ready to do a weekly show, don't do it. If you're not reaching 15,000 downloads per episode, don't do a second episode per week. The common assumption is a very enthusiastic podcast listener is listening to five episodes per week and if you're gonna launch two episodes that week, and they already have five and one of them is yours, they're often just gonna choose between one of those two episodes rather than listening to both of those episodes. So just because you do two per week doesn't mean you're also gonna get 15,000 on that second episode.
The other thing I would just say is don't be afraid to apply for grants. A lot of my clients who are in Canada have had success getting them.
Then the last thing is please don't sign a contract without reading it and having someone look over. It doesn't have to be an agent, doesn't have to be an attorney, but have your smartest friend read it.
The podcasts that Joy and Liv are loving:
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Check out this Canadian Indie: Photos from Our Past
Stories behind the pictures that define our lives.
Uncover memories, heartfelt tales, and the moments that connect us to our roots. From old family albums to forgotten snapshots, this show delves into the emotions and history captured in every frame to take you on a journey of nostalgia, storytelling, and discovery—because every photo has a story worth telling.
True North Podcast Feature: Decolonizing Power
Empower yourself!
Inspiring community energy stories from around the world on the theme of Decolonizing Power, hosted by Mihskakwan James Harper and Freddie Huppé Campbell. Explore the unparalleled potential of renewable energy microgrids in Indigenous, Island and Coastal communities utilizing new technologies and applying circular economy principles to take climate action. Connect to a global network of leaders, including young innovators sprinting towards a sustainable, just and impactful clean energy future.
What’s going on in Canada’s podcast ecosystem:
New Releases:
June 17, 2025 - Can We Talk About That? is the new show by the women's shelters in Oxford County, funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation Seed Grant. Each week Sophie Foster sits down with local experts to ask the questions we're all wondering about gender-based violence.
June 30, 2025 — North Bay Echo Network has announced a new show, The F Bomb Show! The podcast is aimed at women in a leadership roles looking for support, self-reflection and growth.
July 11, 2025 - The Alberta Worker has returned for season 4! Every episode Kim Siever shares personal labour history, with a focus is on workers from marginalized groups.
July 18, 2025 — Steve Paikin has a new podcast: The Paikin Podcast. From Canadian politics to seismic global changes to signature one-on-one interviews and redline debates on the most hot-button issues, the show looks to understand the world today, with balance and context. It’s already in the top 200 on Apple Podcasts Top Shows.
You oughta know…
Congratulations to Joel D. Montgrand, host of Actors and Ancestors, who recently won Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series at the Leo Awards!
Canadaland is officially deep into feed consolidation mode. The July 8th episode of The Backbench announced that episodes would no longer be released on their own respective feed, but instead released every Tuesday on the Canadaland feed moving forward.
In Podcast The Newsletter, recommends Butt Out, Baby, the podcast dissecting every scene of Dirty Dancing. Here’s what she’s saying about one of her favourite shows these days: “Ellie has on her friend Christy who gives incredible detail about all of the costumes—exposed thighs, dancing with faces, sweaty undershirts, chunky chains, ankle strap, cinched waists, big puffy bangs, sweetheart necklines, exposed midriff…it’s pure poetry. We also hear about the difficult acting that was required of Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze to dance so terribly when they are so skilled, how cute and perfect their movements are. There is a really smart conversation at the end about lowercase “dirty dancing,” Black dance, and how it is absorbed by white people.”
Bob Kane has announced that his time consulting for Libsyn Ads has come to an end. Bob has been a beacon at every podcasting event I’ve gone to and I’m so grateful for his support during his time at Libsyn Ads. Please wish Bob the best summer ever! I’m sure we’re going to see his wonderful work again very soon.
Podnews and Broadcast Dialogue have been reporting on The Podcast Exchange’s recent filing for bankruptcy. It’s sad news for Canada and worth keeping an eye on as the cards unfold this summer, but I haven’t got anything noteworthy to say about this yet!
Good Reads:
The Everything List for Audio Opportunities | All Hear July 2025
Podcast Marketing Magic | What Are You Podcast People Talking About
The Podcasters Digest | The Creator Economy Is Booming
Just Joe (glamping)…
Thanks for supporting Pod the North, I’ll be back in your inbox in two weeks!
Kattie
BSKY: @podthenorth.bsky.social | IN: @podthenorth
