The BBC Academy returns for another Sounds Amazing event, in collaboration with BBC R&D, showcasing the most innovative and creative audio productions, and the latest exciting developments in audio technology.

Join your conference host – BBC Click’s LJ Rich – who will take you on a fascinating three-day journey online. We’ll hear from industry leaders about their amazing award-winning work on sound across TV, radio, podcasts, film, and gaming. Top commissioners from the BBC and beyond will give their views on the most exciting trends and their most innovative output. You will also learn about fantastic new technologies to enhance your production process and deliver more immersive and accessible audio to audiences.

This page gives the schedule and booking link for day three. Links for days one and two are at the bottom of this page. Some parts of the programme are still being finalised; we will update these as they are confirmed.

DAY THREE: 16TH OCTOBER
Morning Conference Session: 11:00 – 12.00

Commissioning Gold – Leading commissioners from across the industry will talk about ideas and trends in audio that excite them, discussing programmes they’ve chosen for their innovative flair and taking a look at the evolution of the creative and business sides of audio publishing.

Jon Manel is Podcast Commissioning Editor at the BBC World Service, who commissioned the award winning international podcast hit, Death in Ice Valley, the BBC’s first English language podcast in India, Kalki Presents: My Indian Life, as well as 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter and 13 Minutes to the Moon. Previously, he was a multi-award winning BBC investigative reporter.

Emmanuella Kwenortey is Assistant Commissioner for podcasting at BBC Sounds. She was a recipient of the Guardian’s Scott Trust bursary and was also part of the BBC’s next generation committee, providing an advisory function for the Executive committee, in particular to consider the challenges facing the BBC from the perspective of younger audiences.

Brett Spencer is the Digital Content Director of Bauer Media. Brett is now working across Absolute Radio, Magic, Kiss, Hits and Greatest Hits Radio, Jazz FM and Scala Radio. He is responsible for podcast strategy across both Radio and Magazine groups. He was also the BBC’s former digital editor for its popular music stations (Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6Music and the BBC Asian Network).

We will announce more brilliant commissioners soon.

Techno Bubble: 12:15 -12:45

Immersive Worlds – Catherine Robinson (BBC Wales) will talk about her pioneering work with immersive audio technology to bring us exciting new listening experiences. She’ll talk about the use of 3D binaural sound to give a powerful sense of perspective, such as in the documentary Hearing Homelessness. We’ll also hear about Audio Orchestrator, a new tool to create immersive sound through multiple connected devices.

Afternoon Conference Session: 13:30 – 14:30

Popping Podcasts – We hear from podcast makers whose work stands out in what is now a very large crowd of podcasts. James Robinson (Tracks and The Bomb), Helena Merriman (Tunnel 29) and Dan Maudsley (Paradise) will talk about their great work and interesting trends in podcast genres such as true crime, documentary, and drama.