Episode Details

In Episode 675 of the New Media Show, host Rob Greenlee welcomes Cameron Stack, founder and curator of Recognized.fm, for a conversation about podcast awards, creator credibility, industry recognition, and the growing business behind awards, nominations, platform distinctions, editorial selections, and career honors.

Podcast awards can be easy to dismiss as another trophy or promotional exercise. Credible recognition can have a much larger impact on a creator, a show, a network, or a media company.

An award nomination or win can strengthen a media kit, support sponsor conversations, attract better guests, generate press coverage, and give prospective listeners another reason to take a show seriously.

The difficult part is deciding which awards deserve the investment.

Podcasting now has a wide recognition ecosystem that includes juried competitions, audience-voted awards, editorial selections, regional programs, platform honors, niche-category awards, professional distinctions, and lifetime-achievement recognition such as the Podcast Hall of Fame.

Cameron created Recognized.fm to organize this expanding market and help creators understand their options. Recognized currently tracks more than 100 audio and podcast awards, with information that can be filtered by factors such as geographic scope, entry fees, voting format, and prestige. 

They discuss why creators should begin with a clear objective before paying to submit. A widely known international award may bring general visibility, while a smaller award focused on a creator’s profession, region, language, or subject category may carry more influence with the people they most want to reach.

Example 1: A medical podcast may receive greater credibility in healthcare than from a broad entertainment competition.

Example 2: A true-crime show may benefit more from an award respected by that community than from competing across every podcast genre.

Submission fees also need to be considered. Independent creators may only have the budget to enter one or two competitions, while networks and larger publishers can treat award submissions as part of a broader marketing strategy.

Cameron explains why creators should compare costs against potential returns in visibility, authority, business development, audience growth, and professional validation.

The judging process matters just as much as the entry fee. Creators should understand who operates the award, how judges are selected, what criteria are used, whether the process is transparent, and how much weight the recognition will carry with the intended audience.

Every award has its own purpose and incentives. Some ar