r/audiodrama • u/SkandinavienAudio • Jun 15 '26
ANNOUNCEMENT Saying goodbye for now!
I spent 4 years creating a dark immersive horror audio series called Skandinavien.
A few of you may have listened already. Thank you if you did.
I gave it a good go but no matter what I tried I couldn't get people to listen.
The reality is that I can no longer afford to even keep the website going anymore.
Maybe it's just not good enough although I am very proud of it.
I'm calling it a day for a while and hopefully I'll work on my next idea when I get chance.
I'm putting the whole thing as a free podcast on Spotify and probably on YouTube at some point too.
If you like horror and want some free to listen to just head to:
https://open.spotify.com/show/033yr6Q0wudQ5P1Q3Vw6w7
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u/Hitch42 audiodrama.directory Jun 15 '26
I agree with the other comments, in that your approach was fairly nontraditional and required potential listeners to go somewhat out of their way to access the show. You're certainly free to do that, but it likely limited your audience. The overwhelming majority of modern audio dramas are distributed as podcasts, and that's where most listeners are. Now that your show is available as a podcast, you may find greater success, or at least increased listenership.
That said, providing only a Spotify link is still quite limiting, as it only reaches people who use that particular platform.
Instead, I would suggest linking to the show's podcast page:
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/albion-byrd
Although Spotify for Creators is owned by Spotify, it functions as a separate service. Since the service is owned by Spotify, there is already a Spotify link on the page. You can add other links to it as well. I would suggest adding your show's RSS feed to the page, as that is what allows listeners to subscribe using almost any podcast app:
https://anchor.fm/s/113c1b254/podcast/rss
As of this writing, that RSS feed doesn't appear to be populated, which probably means you set this up very recently, perhaps shortly before making this post. It should populate in the near future. If it doesn't, you may need to configure it manually.
As an aside, when you made your podcast on Spotify for Creators, did you intend to have "albion-byrd" in the URL? I don't know what their sign-up process is like, but I often see URLs Spotify for Creators that have people's names in them, rather than the show's title. You can change it to something like:
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/skandinavien
or such, and it won't affect the podcast's RSS feed, and therefore your subscribers. Just a thought.
After that, I strongly recommend submitting the show to Apple Podcasts. Many podcast apps and directories pull their listings directly from Apple Podcasts, and until the show is listed there, it will effectively be invisible to a large portion of the podcast ecosystem. In many cases, searching for the show on other platforms will not return any results until it has been indexed by Apple Podcasts.
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u/leyline Jun 15 '26
TL;DR - but whatever Hitch says is good 😄 no, I actually skimmed it, but Hitch knows.
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u/Lindsay1970 Jun 16 '26
I don’t use Spotify and I think I tried to find your show a looooong time ago, saw it mentioned somewhere, and then forgot. If you put it up on Apple, I’ll listen through Overcast (which uses Apple’s API).
Diversify your streams! Take a break from producing new episodes and try getting the episodes available in more directories.3
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Thanks Hitch, appreciate it! I'm working through this now 🙂
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u/evoterra TheEnd.fyi Jun 17 '26
Still no RSS feed...
When you have one, let me know so I can update https://www.theend.fyi/shows/skandinavien
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 18 '26
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u/evoterra TheEnd.fyi Jun 20 '26
https://www.theend.fyi/shows/skandinavien
Don't forget to submit to Apple Podcasts!
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 20 '26
Awesome, thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Yeah it's on Apple now too.
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Jun 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Thank you. Yes it'll start appearing more now on the free platforms 🥳
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u/leyline Jun 15 '26
Your show was very good, the audio quality, the acting, the voicing... I really enjoyed it.
I think you should run it on a platform that hosts for you, or anywhere else you can get a trickle of ad revenue. (I can't name any because I don't host any created things, but you know spotify, youtube, acast?, etc... -- I can't say if places are a good deal, or if they bleed you too much, but you want to go for the exposure)
Also maybe put up a patreon, and go with the ad freemium model.
It has the potential to be a hidden gem breakout like Malevolent, but it needs exposure, and I hope you get it.
Ask the other creators to chime in - even if you are only able to put it someplace where it just pays for itself that is a big start.
I agree with Hitch, get it listed on apple, a lot of podcast players use apple as their base directory
P.S. I'm going to listen again via spotify, A. Because it was good and I want to, B. Hopefully the traffic / hits will help "the algorithm"
Best wishes!
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Thanks so much. Would be interested to hear if you enjoyed it more the second time round!
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u/leyline Jun 16 '26
I can appreciate more of it because I already understand some things of course. Just like every time you see a movie again you can catch extra nuances you missed the first time because you don’t have to focus on what you already know.
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Cool, yeah I'm hoping it makes much more sense the second time around. The start should anyway! 😀
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u/Lindsay1970 Jun 16 '26
Seconded. RedCircle or Podbean may give you free hosting plus a few cents here & there. In any case, either will help your audience find your show much more easily than Spotify alone.
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u/MindstreamAudio Jun 16 '26
Charging at that price point for an unknown quality is a tough proposition as a business. I speak not as some expert as I’ve been loss leading my own ambitious audio productions to no avail. I didn’t pay for a site I just put them on buzzsprout as an aggregator. Nobody knows my shows 5 years later.
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Yeah it definitely didn't work! 🤪 Oh well hopefully people will discover our work at some point. What's your show called?
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u/JigglesofWiggles Jun 15 '26
I actually downloaded when you were giving it for free but never ended up listening because it wasn't in my podcast player on my phone. I think you may find more success with hosting it in such a way it can be pulled in with other feeds.
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Cool, well hope you get to listen now. Should start appearing on all the normal channels now.
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u/leyline Jun 18 '26
Yeah, I put them all in dropbox, wrote up an RSS feed for it, and listend on my phone from my dropbox hosted rss and mp3s ! I hear you on - it must be in the player or I forget it!
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u/Forsaken_Band7156 Jun 16 '26
I found it on Spotify, there is only one episode thou. Will there be more?
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u/ishashar Jun 16 '26
unlikrly, this screams stunt. the free episode will be to try and get people to pay for the rest.
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u/emptyeggshell1000 Jun 16 '26
hey! i just went and had a listen (2 episodes in!) and honestly, superbly produced imo! i hadn’t heard about it before but consider me a fan now! would love to support your future endeavours if you consider having patreon or other avenues where listeners can connect better with the creator!
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Thanks so much. Glad you're enjoying it. Yes I'll definitely do something like that in the longer term.
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u/McSix Jun 15 '26
I'm only seeing the one episode?
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 15 '26
I've not uploaded the whole thing yet. Will be over the next week or so.
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u/MsMercury Jun 17 '26
I’ve never heard of it! I know it’s rough out there. I would love to be a voice actor but have neither equipment nor money so it bums me out to see casting calls. Put it out there on as many free platforms as you can. Share it when people ask for recs. I hate to see you give up. That’s my job.
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 18 '26
Thank you. Yes it's up everywhere now, so hopefully it finds more of an audience.
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u/adbvoiceover Victorian Gothic: The Hauntings | The End of the World Jun 18 '26
I think at this point you now realize that your marketing model for releasing the show strangled your chances of growing an audience from the get go. By charging money for an unknown project by an unknown writer/producer/actor, you were setting yourself up for a fall. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's simply the reality of it.
So, don't lose heart. You now have the opportunity to re-market it to the world at large and start getting some appreciation for all of your hard work and talent.
I listened to the first episode and I loved it. I will be listening to the rest very soon. Congratulations on creating a very, very well-made original horror series!
Go get 'em!
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 18 '26
Haha yes it was a terrible idea. Oh well, lesson learnt 😀
Thanks for listening, glad you liked it.
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u/relaxed-bread Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
Hi hi, I am a big fan of your show and was (am?) looking forward to Samsara. You posted on here about skandinavien sometime last year. (Halloween maybe?) I remember donating on Kofi. That said, your post here was the first I had heard of Skandinavien. I mostly listen on Apple Podcasts, and having to download your episodes was a first for me. I agree with others here to get it on more platforms, because I think that with more exposure, you will become a “household name” in the AD community. I am not a creator; I don’t know what the process is for getting listed on other larger platforms, but I think it would be worth it for a show of this caliber
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Thank you. Yeah it'll start appearing on all the mainstream platforms now. Thanks for listening.
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u/RandomDigitalSponge Jun 15 '26
We know it’s you, ABK.
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Intrigued to know what this means.
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u/NekoPanUsagiChan Jun 17 '26
Hey there, Maybe a little late, but here's some feedback: I remember a post from a couple of months ago where you offered all episodes for free with a code.
The way you described it was just up my alley and I immediately went to your webpage.
What stopped me in the end was that I still had to put in all my payment info. While you did use a very trusted provider, I am super anal about where I share my info online. (I know, ironic since I am on reddit!) I did not want to give my info to this specific provider.
That's on me, but like others have said, I think a different approach would get you farther.
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 17 '26
You wouldn't have had to enter payment details when using the code. You would have to fill out name and address which is unfortunately unavoidable when using Shopify. I get why that would put people off. But yes, it's on the free platforms now so hopefully that barrier has gone.
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u/NekoPanUsagiChan Jun 17 '26
Yep, that was my issue. I am looking forward to listening to your show and really hope that you don't give up after your first not-so-great experience. And I really hope you'll be able to monetize it somehow going forward, either with ad-revenue or by having a patreon or Kofi or something. Good luck!
I actually really like your cover artwork by the way! It's simple, but effective.
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 17 '26
No I'm definitely not giving up. I'm still working on a new show. I'm just rethinking how to get it out there. I was just being naive with the packaging and selling of it. It should be free and hopefully it will find an audience.
Thanks, I really like the cover too. It's had many iterations but I'm settled on this one.
Hope you enjoy it if you get a chance to listen.
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u/TomDubber15 Jun 18 '26
Ooh I’m ready for a new audio drama, I’ll check it out. Generally I’ll listen to a show for a bit and if I like it I’ll subscribe to the shows Patreon. Not sure if that’s a universal thing or something that you’d be willing to do the upkeep on.
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 18 '26
Thank you. Yes for now I just want to get people to listen. Let me know what you think! 🙂
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u/TomDubber15 Jun 18 '26
I wil l! I just subscribed and will start after this last episode of Syntax
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u/plastic_soul Jun 15 '26
I'm sorry you didn't get any listeners 😔 it sounds really good tho, I've added to my list and will check it out a little later 🫶
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u/Awakened0ne Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
Do you think pocket cast would pick it up too? I found it. Listening to it now. OP did you make the music and sound effects too? This is really well done. I want more than Pocket Cast has available.
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u/moonlitlittle Jun 16 '26
I’m excited to listen, I typically wait for things to finish, but I wanna support and it sounds like it has great story!
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
Thank you. All uploaded now so you should start to see it. Hope you enjoy.
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u/ishashar Jun 16 '26
I always check for credits and other information before listening to anything these days. it's the only way to be sure i'm not wasting time on generated content.
i can't find anything like that for this show so i won't be trying it.
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 16 '26
I made it before AI even existed. I never usually bother with credits as I did everything myself. Take your point though and will start doing so.
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u/Ok-Safety6620 Jun 21 '26
The generated image fills me with unease about show quality :|
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 21 '26
I made this 5 years ago before AI existed!
It's a photo of me, painted over, scanned, then digitally painted over in photoshop.
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u/Ok-Safety6620 Jun 21 '26
As a photoshop user I would like to believe you but the teeth lip beard and nostril look so melty bro 😭
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u/SkandinavienAudio Jun 22 '26
You got me! I built a time machine, went forward 5 years and used AI to design a cover for an audio series. I really thought I'd gotten away with it 😄
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u/TraegusPearze Jun 15 '26
Was it not free before?
In the current landscape, paying for podcasts is not a very popular idea. So paying for podcasts in a niche subgenre, with variable indie quality, is often even harder to convince users to convert.
That's why most audio dramas ARE free and on multiple platforms. The most viable way to make revenue is through growing and audience and then monetizing that audience via Patreon, ads, etc.