Sony Music Entertainment (SME)’s Global Podcast Division has acquired podcast production company Neon Hum Media.
Los Angeles-based Neon Hum describes itself as a a boutique podcast production company that works with its partners to develop “sound-rich, crafted, cinematic audio productions.”
Independent producer, reporter, and sound designer Jonathan Hirsch launched Neon Hum in 2018, producing documentaries, talk shows, and partner content. The company’s clients include Crunchyroll, Discovery, HBO Max, NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, and others.
A recipient of the Green Eyeshade, Edward R. Murrow, and duPont Awards, Hirsch himself has produced hundreds of long-form audio works for NPR, Vox, NBC, Fusion Media Group, and more. His seven-part documentary podcast series Dear Franklin Jones debuted at #1 on the iTunes podcast charts.
Following the deal with Sony Music, Hirsch steps into the role of Vice President, Global Podcasts, and Head of US Creative. He will oversee the US creative division and report directly to Steve Ackerman, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Podcasts at Sony Music.
The acquisition brings Neon Hum’s production expertise under the Sony Music umbrella. This will allow Sony Music to further develop podcasts for its subscription service, The Binge, while bolstering its existing slate of content. Additionally, Sony Music plans to leverage Neon Hum’s capabilities to expand its work-for-hire services beyond audio production for branded and client podcasts.
“We have worked closely with Jonathan and the team at Neon Hum for several years now and value his creative and strategic vision to produce premium shows across our successful true crime and always on slates.”
Steve Ackerman, Sony Music Entertainment
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Sony Music’s purchase of Neon Hum comes over four years after the company made a strategic investment in Neon Hum. The partnership led to the launch of shows including Dinners on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and multiple seasons of its true-crime franchise Smoke Screen, including current hit My Fugitive Dad.
“We have worked closely with Jonathan and the team at Neon Hum for several years now and value his creative and strategic vision to produce premium shows across our successful true crime and always on slates,” said Ackerman.
“This move allows us to maximize Neon Hum’s creative and production input as we further grow our roster of original and client shows.”
“Neon Hum and Sony Music have always been aligned in our audio-first mentality and approach. I’m excited for the next steps as the Neon Hum team becomes a full part of Sony Music Podcasts and we continue to produce premium audio content.”
Jonathan Hirsch, Sony Music Entertainment
Hirsch also commented on the deal, saying, “Neon Hum and Sony Music have always been aligned in our audio-first mentality and approach.
“I’m excited for the next steps as the Neon Hum team becomes a full part of Sony Music Podcasts and we continue to produce premium audio content.”
The move marks Sony Music’s latest move to strengthen its podcast game after naming the senior leadership team to drive its expansion in the podcasting space in December 2019.
SME first ventured into podcasts in May 2019 when it signed a joint venture with podcast developers Adam Davidson and Laura Mayer to “find and develop original podcast talent and programming.”
Among the first programs to come out of the JV was a podcast investigating the case of Jeffrey Epstein, titled Broken: Jeffrey Epstein.
SME also partnered with comedy and news satire brand The Onion in 2019 to develop original podcast content, and with podcast producer Renay Richardson for a multi-genre podcasting joint venture called Broccoli Content.
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