Dynasty: How Jaime Black Created Chicago's Longest-Running Music Podcast

Today's most popular podcasts, This American Life, RadioLab, Serial, and The Adam Carolla Show, are nine, seven, one, and six-years-old, respectively. And on June 19th, Apple celebrated its 10-year anniversary of hosting podcasts on iTunes. In short, podcasting's a young medium in which milestones are marked in dog years - if you're a five-year-old podcast, you might as well be 50. With that said, Dynasty Podcasts, Chicago's first and longest-running music podcast, just turned 100, celebrating its 10th anniversary on August, 30th. To celebrate, Dynasty hosted an epic 10-hour broadcast featuring interviews and live performances with nearly 40 local musicians and DJs."I'm still in awe of and thankful for how well it went," said Dynasty founder and host Jaime Black. "Live-streaming in and of itself is extremely temperamental and it could have been an absolute disaster." The same could be said about starting a podcast before iTunes or the ubiquitousness of cellphones. But the event, like the podcast, found a way to work. Dynasty began in 2005 when Black, who has been in local radio for the past 15 years, stumbled across the medium while reading about broadcasting trends online. "I was just paying attention," said Black. "I was working as a journalist and interning at Q101 and I was inherently engaged with what the internet was becoming. When I read about podcasting, it made sense for what I wanted to do." Unfortunately, in 2005, it was nearly impossible to transform a paper-napkin-idea into a podcast overnight. Black was producing and putting on live shows for his radio gig and decided, one day, to record a performance and conduct interviews during the event. And because there wasn't a platform for downloading podcasts, Black would encourage fans to bring their iPods to the shows so that he can could transfer the mp3 to the device directly via firewire."It wasn't about building a brand or a product at the time; nobody really knew what a podcast was anyways," said Black. "It's like if you didn't know what a pizza was, but you were given dough, sauce, and cheese; you'd probably still put those ingredients together and really enjoy it. We didn't have a name for the podcast; it was just something that allowed us to connect with people and tell local music stories." Eventually, it became easier then having to physically hand someone a podcast. Soon, Black created a website and began putting mp3s up that people could grab and download. Then, in 2010, Michael Win, a local DJ, told Black that he should be his podcast up on Soundcloud, a relatively young audio platform for artists. "We were actually one of the first podcasts on Soundcloud," said Black, "We were able to develop a great relationship with them and test out new features that were being developed specially for the medium." In Dynasty's 5 years on Soundcloud, the podcast has amassed 50,000 followers from over 150 countries."There were some months and years in the beginning when it was slow, but everything picked up when we interviewed Perry Farrell. I don't know how we ended up on that publicist's list, but we did, and having an iconic name really helped us." Since that interview, Dynasty has hosted nearly everyone who's anyone in the Chicago music scene, from Smashing Pumpkin's Billy Corgan to Chance the Rapper. I don't know if I'm stubborn or stupid or what; it's just one of those things I've kept doing.[/pullquote] And though Black could certainly expand the Dynasty audience by extending its reach, he's committed to keeping it a local podcast."When I heard Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream, that was kind of my radioactive spider/ Peter Parker moment," said Black. "I knew that grunge was associated with Seattle and New York had its own sound, but that was when I realized that there was exciting stuff happening in my backyard. I fell in love with local music and the idea that we could be eating at the same Olive Garden." Black, in his own right, has also served as a sort-of radioactive spider for the Chicago music scene, helping connect musicians, DJs, and producers under Dynasty's shared universe. "During the live show," added Black, "I loved that I would talk with a producer who's worked with 2 or 3 of our other guests." Moving forward, Black is using the anniversary to do a mini-reboot, launching a new logo and website, as well as creating an iTunes channel for the "second decade's" worth of content. (Dynasty will still stream on Soundcloud). Black will also be hosting more live shows, putting together panels, and collaborating with Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) on events. Now that the dust has settled on the ten-year live broadcast, Black also finally has an opportunity to reflect on his long-running show, what he's learned, and the advice he'd give aspiring podcasters."I don't know if I'm stubborn or stupid or what," said Black. "It's just one of those things I've kept doing. If you love it, do it until people listen." (Images via Dynasty)