This Is What Streams Are Made Of Episode 1

Welcome to the first episode of This Is What Streams Are Made Of, a new video series by Inner Ear. Over the series we will teach you every aspect of live programme making. In this episode, Dougal Perman, co-founder of Inner Ear, explores the unique advantages of live streaming and how it can safeguard creative jobs from the rise of AI technologies. Drawing from over 23 years of experience in digital media production (and his specialist expert knowledge of live streaming, podcasting and interactive storytelling), Dougal shares insights on the critical role live content plays in audience engagement and career sustainability.

Discover the benefits of producing “as live” content, learn about our four-point audience engagement strategy, and get a glimpse into what’s coming up in future episodes. Join us to unlock the full potential of live programming and stay ahead in the creative industry.

Key Points Covered:

 • The impact of AI on creative jobs
 • Advantages of live streaming for audience engagement
 • Introduction to Inner Ear’s audience engagement strategy
 • Why creating “as live” content is efficient and impactful
 • Sneak peek of upcoming episodes

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to our new series
02:22 Deliberate mistake or happy accident?
02:46 The benefits of "as live" production
03:59 Brief history of Inner Ear
06:24 Our video streaming evolution
08:55 Some of our milestones
11:05 Why we teach live programme making
12:29 This video series will include information on...
15:50 Our programme making framework
17:17 Get in touch with Inner Ear
17:59 Why does creating live content protect your job from AI?
23:17 What AI can never do

Stay tuned for more episodes where we’ll dive deeper into defining objectives, developing strategies, learning from (our) mistakes, telling your story to a live audience, our quick-start guide to making a live programme and much, much more.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more insights and tips on creating compelling live programmes: @innerearmedia 

Join the waiting list for a chance to get a free copy of Dougal's forthcoming book by the same name, This Is What Streams Are Made Of: https://www.innerear.co.uk/want-to-le...

Inner Ear (www.innerear.co.uk) creates shared digital experiences to communicate your message by engaging your audience. Our specialisms are live programme making, serialised (podcast) production and interactive storytelling. 

Inner Ear is the production company behind @TRADtv (www.tradtv.scot), Radio Magnetic (www.mixcloud.com/radiomagnetic), Walking Heads (www.walkingheads.net) and hundreds of successful live streams for brands and cultural organisations.

Creators and Guests

Producer

Dougal Perman

Co-founder and Director of Inner Ear, storyteller, media producer, creative consultant, innovator and idealist.

What is This Is What Streams Are Made Of?

I love the immediacy of live streams. If you want to engage audiences, the barriers to entry have never been lower. All you need is an idea and a decent smartphone and you can become a live streamer. But with a camera, microphone, computer connected to the internet, a bit of know-how and a strategic plan then you can become a professional broadcaster and really set yourself apart. In a world flooded with user-generated content, liveness and originality can help you rise to the top. Candour and authenticity are the aspects of live streaming I like most. And I find the unexpected nature of live programmes as rewarding as it is nerve-wracking.

Unlock the Secrets of Successful Live Streaming with Dougal Perman, cofounder of Inner Ear and Live Stream Pioneer Since 2001.

This podcast complements the YouTube series, and expands on the book, by the same name.

Dougal Perman: Why does producing
live content protect your job from ai?

There's a lot of concerns about how you.

Your work may be replicated
or made redundant by AI tools.

My 9-year-old son Errol asked
if my job was safe from ai.

What is immune from, um,
being made redundant by ai?

Is

Hello.

Welcome to this Is What Streams Are
Made of a new video series by Inner Ear,

which is accompanying a book that I'm
currently writing by the same title.

And in this episode, gonna tell you
some of what you can look forward to

coming up in this series, which is just
gonna run and run and roll and roll.

As we create new episodes that tell
the story that we want to about how

to create live content, I'm Dougle
Perman, co-founder of Inner Ear, a

content company, and I'll talk a little
bit more about me and it in a moment.

But, uh, if you wanna learn
everything that you can about live

streaming, then keep watching.

But we don't just want to
teach you about live streaming.

We want to teach you everything we can.

About making live programs
because live programs are

greater than just live streams.

But we don't just want to
teach you about live programs.

We want to share everything that we
have learned and continue to learn about

creating live, shared digital experiences.

Because if the experience is enriching
enough, then you can engage your audience.

Really unlike any other form
of content in our opinion.

And if you've put into practice even
some of the tips and techniques and

tactics that we're gonna share with you
throughout this series, then you can

create live programs that will help you
stand out significantly from the rest.

And.

If you keep watching this video to the
end, I'll also share my thoughts on

why producing live content can help you
protect your job from being taken by ai.

This, uh, is what streams are made of is,

I think I'll just cut
that a little bit out.

Right?

Uh, so, uh, but I might
not because actually.

It's a good opportunity to tell you
that we are creating this as live

because we create almost all of the
long form content that we do as live.

And what we mean by as live is.

We vision mix it with usually multiple
cameras and we mix everything, the

audio and the video and graphics and
everything, um, live in the moment and

create a complete program, whether it's
actually being broadcast live or not.

And we do that for various reasons,
but some of the advantages are.

You do all the work in advance and
front load it, and then you run the

program and then when it's done,
it's done and it's very efficient.

And also you get that liveness and
that buzz and the authenticity and

the integrity of the material is
much more immediate and dynamic.

And it might not be as polished, but I
think it resonates more with the audience.

And, um, it's just the way
we're also used to working.

And so I think it's a real point of
difference for Inner Ear, as I might

have mentioned, but can't remember.

Um, we are based in Glasgow,
Scotland, which is one of the

world's greatest music cities, and
it's a brilliant place to be based,

especially because when we co-founded.

In a year, my good friend Tom Ada and I
started it way back in September, 2000.

And in March, 2001 we launched
Radio Magnetic, which is, uh,

one of the UK's first and longest
running internet radio stations,

and it still goes, still on the go.

Um, now looked after by a community
of, uh, specialist program.

Producers and contributors to the station.

Um, largely, um, the excellent and
tireless work of Vicki Troop and

Davey Kelly and big shouts to them
for all they do on radio magnetic,

but it's something very close to
our hearts and as an underground.

Uh, dance music, internet, radio
station, which broad broadened out

to be a, a little more eclectic
than just that, um, set of genres.

But it was always keeping an ear, ear
to the underground and providing a

platform for alternative music from
the fairly early days of the web.

Um.

Uh, we learn everything that we know
about live streaming and podcasting.

We, we were creating podcast programs
really from as soon as we had an on

demand audio archive of our program
content, which was early 2001.

I.

And um, and when podcasting as a
Medium kind of really got going

around 2003, four, we were making
podcasts from back then also.

But all of this stuff is
just part of what we do.

'cause we have created live and on
demand content for everyone from

Underground Dance music heroes, and.

Niche arts organizations through to,
um, internationally renowned cultural

organizations and leading global brands.

And with all of it, we always take an
approach of trying to create content

that engages audiences through a four
point strategy that we follow in terms of

entertaining, educating, energizing, and
enticing the audience to get involved.

Live streaming is as popular
today as it ever has been.

And having done this since the early
days of the Medium, I've been part

of its evolution and experienced
the highs and lows along the way.

And.

We've learned everything that we know
about live, so we learned everything we

know about it in the early days through
building radio magnetic, which we can

talk a bit more about in a moment.

But, um, we started video streaming in
2001 way before we were really ready to

do so, but part of what plunged us into
the deep end was becoming a media partner

for social Media Week in Glasgow When, um.

Our good friend Tim Wright was
involved in bringing it to Glasgow

and pioneered a lot of that kind of
activity and that DIY ethic and we were

all over the city in um, 2011 and 2012.

I.

Uh, filming and live streaming stuff
with some pretty, um, ambitious projects

given that we were very new to the
medium, including an international DJ

par party with, um, the, our friend
Cliff Waddle and um, uh, Paul Mc Fagin

put together, um, as a radio magnetic
party at the end of social media week.

And, um, it was, uh, it was
quite bonkers 'cause we had DJs.

Um, coming in as remote contributors
from five or six different

locations around the world into
the old hairdressers in Glasgow.

And then we streamed that out.

We had live keynote from Argentina with
the eminent economist ton, Don Tapco.

We didn't really know how to patch,
um, remote contributors in live, so

we figured that out, made that work.

Um, there was all kinds of stuff
that we did for the first time.

There and then straight off the back
of that, um, did this live stunt

display at the Riverside Museum
in Glasgow with Danny McCaskill.

Um, and a lot of the time when we've been
doing this stuff, we've been kind of at

the forefront of it, trying to figure it
out, overstretching ourselves, but, um,

try not to over promise what we're doing.

Just always pushing what we're doing
to, because we just always want to

try and find new ways of doing things.

And do stuff that we've never done before.

Um, it's taken us to some
very interesting places.

Um, and some of the many milestones
that I've passed along the way of inner

ears continual evolution include running
a 24 7 live radio station, which was.

Pretty demanding, but, um, great
fun and, um, all encompassing.

Um, live streaming 70 plus
specialist programs every week.

Um, as part of that and managing
all the talent who created them.

Um, running live outside
broadcasts from clubs, venues,

and festivals around Scotland and,
um, further afield sometimes too.

And we earned a solid reputation for
creative flair and musical integrity,

um, amongst the music industry, um,
our media peers, and most importantly

with the audiences and our fans.

Um, and we started using
mobile broadband devices.

I think really actually we started
using, um, MiFi audio devices in.

Uh, maybe 2007, um, 2007, eight
to live stream audio only content,

and then mobile broadband.

In 2012 when we started streaming
the Glen Fi piping Championship

from Blair Castle in Blair Atal.

And, um, beautiful Perthshire and
we created a live experience that.

Couldn't, wouldn't
otherwise have happened.

And we've live streamed the Glen
Fi pipe in championship ever since

to thousands of avid uh, bagpipe
enthusiasts around the world.

And we've done a lot of that kind
of work amongst many other things.

So in this series, we're gonna go into.

A detail on a large amount of topics.

Actually, I'll just refer to my
notes so that I don't forget some

of, uh, what we're gonna go into.

But, um, there's, uh, there's a lot
of really brilliant technical how to

guides and, um, problem solving and
tech knowhow stuff on YouTube already.

And we're not gonna
try and replicate that.

Um, because some people are doing that
really well already, but what, and there's

also loads of good stuff about making TV
and making and filmmaking especially, but

what there isn't really is a comprehensive
guide to making live programs and even

more enhancing them to make them live
digital experiences for your audience.

And so when I started writing, writing the
book, this is what streams are made of.

Which is a course that, um, my partner
Annie and I have taught, um, several

times, including for Expo North, um,
based at the cultural development

organization based, based in in Vanessa
and serving the Highlands and Islands.

And, um, we've done some brilliant
work with them over the years and,

um, that, uh, we've delivered many
courses for them and for others, and.

Then I took that title on
and lent it to the book I'm

writing and now to this series.

Um, because apart from the pun on,
this is what dreams are made of,

it's also really, you know, a live
stream is made of so many things.

So some examples of what
we're gonna go into depth.

And detail on include defining
your objectives and coming up

with a strategy to deliver them.

Um, storyboarding research,
scripting rights and clearance.

Something that a lot, a lot of people, I.

Uh, I am quite in the dark about, and I
know more about especially music rights

and music, media rights online than I
always joke and say that than I wish

I did because my life would be easier
if I just didn't know these things.

But I'm glad I do know them because
I know how to avoid, um, potentially

get into a lot of trouble or,
um, and also how to go about.

Getting rights the right way.

And um, so it can save you
a lot of headaches with that

kinda stuff with advice there.

Um, I might cautiously say that
is becoming a little bit easier,

but, um, logistics, figuring
out what kit you actually need

and how to go about getting it.

Um, hardware, software, platforms.

Technical workflow and set up
problem solving and troubleshooting.

Something that I pride, uh, we pride
ourselves on our crew is especially

adept at problem solving because there
are so many problems that we encounter

all the time and you think you've
seen them all and then you encounter

loads that you've never seen before.

And it's really just about
how you go about solving them.

Um, and.

A quick piece of advice, a quick
top tip on problem solving, which

is actually quite hard to do, is
check the most obvious thing first,

but the most obvious thing sometimes
escapes you and you end up checking

the most complicated things before you
remember what the obvious thing is.

Oh, it's not plugged in.

Um, which is, um, there's a good
technical term that, um, my colleagues

Finley and Alan have for that one.

There's an air gap.

Um, so, uh, we'll also explore
marketing plans, promotion, audience

development and interaction.

And after the live program is over, you've
created a whole suite of content assets.

So you've got.

The live recording itself, but also you
might have multiple camera recordings,

the audio, maybe multi-track audio.

You might have live
performances and talk bits.

Uh, you might have outtakes behind
the scenes content material that

you've used to create features
which become VTS as, uh, they

were called in the old days of tv.

And that term has stuck.

Um, and.

Photos and, um, all kinds of different,
um, bits of content that have tremendous

value when repurposed and used
after the program has gone out live.

Um, so we talk a bit about that
and then also having a look at

statistics and analytics and how to
understand and interrogate them and

what they can teach you and help
you learn more about your audience

so you can forge a more meaningful.

Relationship with that audience
and engage them further.

And, um, as much as possible we'll follow
the program making framework that we use

for creating live digital experiences,
which is pre, which is the concept and,

um, strategy stage pre-production, or
the planning and logistics production,

making the, the program post-production.

Reviewing and editing it.

Progression, which is then deciding,
um, considering how you can take the

content further, what more you can
do with the project, and finally.

Per pension, which is actually
an antiquated word that took me

quite a long time to find so that
I could have a word beginning

with P to complete that framework.

And, um, I, uh, often say in a workshop,
if you learn nothing else, at least

you've learned the word per pension.

It did occur to me recently that I
could call that perspective and it

would really mean the same thing or.

Quite something quite similar, but
my mum, who's, uh, writer and editor

said, no, leave it as prop pension.

Um, you're teaching people a new word
and um, uh, and that is, it literally

means reflection, contemplation.

Um, and then so you can think back on it
and then, um, consider how to improve it.

And, um, of course we
want to hear from you.

Throughout this series so
you can get in touch with us.

Um, because, uh, you can get in touch
through, uh, comments on YouTube

and LinkedIn videos, um, through
any of our social channels and of

course on our website in eo.co.uk.

Um, and, um, our attitude has always
been the more people who know how

to do this and who are doing it, the
better because that grows the market.

Uh, um, and it just, um, can,
it means that everybody's.

Working to improve what they're doing
and produce better and better content.

Um, and so finally, why does producing
live content protect your job from ai?

So, I'm gonna write a blog post about
this on inner ear, but I've been

thinking about it 'cause I, there are
lots of valid concerns at the moment.

AI is.

Incredible and generative AI is amazing
and AI tools have been with us for a long

time and I, like many of us use them every
day and probably interact with AI every

single day without even realizing it.

But there's a lot of
concerns about, um, how you.

Y your work may be replicated or made
redundant by AI tools, and that is

especially of concern to creative
people, um, including writers,

designers, illustrators, music producers,
um, software developers, coders.

Um, and, um, my 9-year-old son Errol
asked if my job was safe from AI or

if my job could be, uh, taken from ai.

And I said.

As a producer and a director?

No, I don't think so.

It'll be a very long time before, and
um, and um, and I think that really we

can just all embrace these tools and
use them to improve what we're doing.

But I was then thinking about the creative
industries and thinking, well, what is

immune from, um, being made redundant
by AI is live performance and live.

That liveness, that live interaction,
that's something that AI can't touch,

partly because the way that generative
AI works and the way that large

language models work, um, they are.

They draw on existing material, and
they do try to innovate on that to the

extent that their algorithms will enable
them to do so, but they are effectively

responsive and reactive and they're
not really coming up with new ways of

doing things and, and with new things.

Um, and, um.

So I, I posed this, uh, you know, what,
what else would I do, but pose this to

an AI and, uh, and see what it thought.

So I put it to JGPT model four
and, um, and I said that I think

that, um, the creating live, shared
digital experiences, the liveness

amplifies the unique aspect of live
performance and that human connection

between the artist and audience.

Which enriches the lives of
all involved, discuss and chat.

GPT was very interesting actually,
and said that my perspective on the

integration of AI in the creative
industries, particularly in roles such

as content creation and live performance
production, highlights a significant

discussion about the evolving relationship
between technology and creativity.

The apprehension around ai.

And creative role stems from its
capability to automate tasks that are

traditionally human led, which is indeed
raises concerns about job displacement.

However, as you noted, there are
several ways in which AI can serve

as a beneficial tool rather than a.

Uh, replacement and it goes on to talk
about how can streamline processes

and, um, uh, and generative tools
can, um, save time and free up the

human creative, um, to concentrate on
aspects of production that require more

insight and emotional intelligence.

And then when it comes to live
performance such as theater, music.

Dance talks, which, uh, you know,
one could include, um, everything

from live poetry and comedy
and, um, lectures and so on.

Then the essence of liveness, the
spontaneous, interactive elements

that characterize live events
remain irreplaceable by AI and

these events that thrive on that
unpredictability in the moment.

And I've always been fascinated and
delighted by liveness, which is why I

like live streaming as a medium so much.

And I think that actually you don't
just have to be producing some kind

of art, although you could argue
that the art is, is what you are

making, but it doesn't need to be.

A performance as such or certainly, um,
an artistic endeavor like music or theater

or dance or, um, talk based performance.

It could be, um, it could really be
anything because if you're making

a live program about it, if you
are one of those who, um, fears for

your particular type of art being.

Um, being taken away the market,
um, potential for it being eroded by

generative ai like music production
and, um, graphic design, for example.

Then making live content about it and
documenting that process and giving

people a, uh, look behind the curtain
and that privileged access to it and.

Uh, in that, um, in the course of
doing that, performing to your audience

in a live context, that is something
that AI can never do and will never

do, and really has no business doing.

And so, um, yeah, I think that
we can actually utilize live

production for so much more Rich.

Purpose than you might
ever have considered.

So I will write more about
that on the Inner Ear blog and

come and join us next time.

Um, I will say also, if you go to
Inner Ear, um, and to the blog, uh, if

you look in the work section for the
blog, then you'll find a waiting list.

For the book and if you sign up to that,
then, um, and if you could do something

for us and sign up to that waiting list
and also subscribe to this channel, then

the first hundred people to do both.

We'll give a free copy of the book to.

And then the next 900 people to
do it, um, will give 50% discount,

uh, for subscribers to this channel
and members of that waiting list,

um, when we start selling the book.

So I hope that's an incentive to entice
you to do that because I would very

much like to thank you for watching
and, um, hope that you can join us

next time for this is what streams
are made of when we'll get stuck into.

To find a new program.