FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APVA Partners with Solid Gold Podcasts as a Watch Party Host for the African Podcast and Voice Awards, 2024
[27-06-2024]
The Association of African Podcasters and Voice Artists (APVA) is thrilled to announce SolidGold Podcasts as its newest watch party host for the African Podcast and Voice Awards 2024.
Solid Gold Podcasts’ vision is to be the Podcast and Audiobook Partner of choice and their mission is to help people and organizations #BeHeard through quality, creative, spoken word production.
We are super excited to have Solid Gold Podcasts on board as a co-creation hub and strategic partner for the African Podcast and Voice Awards,” said Bidemi Adedire, Founder of APVA. “Their steadfast dedication to fostering collaboration and driving innovation perfectly complements our mission of celebrating and amplifying diverse voices across the African continent. With their expertise and commitment, we are confident that this partnership will further elevate the recognition and appreciation of talented individuals and content creators in the podcasting and voice industry.
Bidemi Adedire, Founder of APVA
As a strategic partner, Solid Gold Podcasts will play a pivotal role in supporting the APVA awards by hosting watch parties, providing valuable industry insights, and collaborating on initiatives to empower African content creators. Their extensive network and expertise will contribute to the overall success and growth of the awards.
“We can’t wait to share the excitement and new podcasts that have been produced across the continent at this industry event” says Gavin Kennedy, CEO and founder of Solid Gold Podcasts. “Africa is the original home of storytelling, and podcasts lend themselves to reviving and growing spoken word content.” he added. “We are delighted to be one of the watch party locations this year and will be (loudly) rooting for our favourite podcasters.”
Gavin Kennedy, CEO and founder of Solid Gold Podcasts
The APVA team extends their warm appreciation to Solid Gold Podcasts for their commitment and enthusiasm in driving the mission of celebrating and empowering African content creators. This partnership marks an exciting chapter in the journey of APVA, opening doors to greater collaboration and opportunities for the African podcasting and voice community.
About Solid Gold Podcasts
Solid Gold Podcasts was founded by Gavin Kennedy who has been involved in radio and television broadcasting and production since the early 1990s and has thoroughly enjoyed being part of the exciting transition from analogue tapes to a fully digital Internet-enabled, multimedia environment. Gavin’s journey includes being joint owner of a television and audio post-production and outside broadcast facility while also assisting in the establishment of numerous community radio stations (e.g. Mix FM, BUWA, East Wave), a community TV station (Soweto Community TV), while also pioneering in-store radio and television for clients such as Ster Kinekor, Edcon, and Harmony Gold.
In the mid-20-teens, Gavin noticed he’d totally stopped listening to radio — and was instead listening almost exclusively to podcasts. A survey of family, friends, and clients at that time revealed a massive dearth of awareness of what a podcast was, let alone encountering people who were listening to them. As for finding locally produced podcasts, those were as scarce as hens’ teeth.
This gap in the market prompted Gavin to initially revamp an entire floor of his building in Randburg, and several additional studios, intended only for recording podcasts, were built. He subsequently converted the entire 2 storey building into podcast and audiobook studios.
Since then, it’s been a fun and crazy ride as podcasts entered an exponential growth phase, and businesses, individuals, and organizations realized the power of podcasts and started experimenting in the digital audio space. A natural extension to the offering was the inclusion of end-to-end audiobook production and publishing.
In addition to making their 11 studios available for self-produced podcasters, Solid Gold provides a podcast concierge service to hundreds of clients, ranging from SMEs to large multinational organizations.
Gavin’s vision is to be the podcast and audiobook partner of choice and his mission is to help people and organizations #BeHeard through quality, creative storytelling.
Solid Gold Podcasts has produced thousands of podcasts for hundreds of podcast channels and, with 11 professional studios, is the largest podcast creative space in Africa.
For more information about SolidGold Podcasts, please visit
Press Contact:
[Gavin Kennedy]
[Founder and CEO of Solid Gold Podcasts]
About the Association of African Podcasters and Voice Artists
The Association of African Podcasters and Voice Artists is a community-driven organization that seeks to discover, amplify, and celebrate African voice/audio creatives.
We are dedicated to fostering the growth and development of the audio-creative industry in Africa.
Our Objectives:
- Discover Africa’s Unique voices that are telling and retelling the African narrative.
- Amplify the excellent works of African audio creatives via the African Podcast and Voice Awards and other industry-specific events
- Strengthen the African audio industry by providing home-grown resources that cater to the needs of audio creatives
- Transform audio skills into viable businesses via the APVA Academy
- Lead conversations with international organizations (prospect partners) and mediate to provide tools and facilities easily accessed by African audio creatives.
- Partner with and support communities and organizations looking to support the African audio industry.
Press Contact:
[Gracie Imo]
[Programs and Communications Officer]
[The Association of African Podcasters and Voice Artists]
[awards@apva.africa]
