SafetyDetectives recently chatted with Jacob Bozarth, the Co-Founder and CEO of Resound, to delve into the transformative role of AI in podcast editing. Bozarth shed light on how artificial intelligence adeptly manages intricate editing tasks to ensure audio remains both natural and professional. He also discussed AI and automation’s profound impact on reshaping podcast editing practices and offered insights into the future of AI-driven editing tools.
Hi Jacob, Thank you for your time. Can you talk about your journey and what motivated you to establish Resound?
Resound was birthed out of my first company, Resonate Recordings which is a podcast production agency that has worked with over 3,500 podcasts. Editing audio is time-consuming and takes a lot of time. We decided to try to automate the tedious parts of podcast editing for Resound and built a prototype of an AI editor that recognized filler words.
This worked, and we decided to make this tool available to more than just the Resonate Recordings team. 44% of podcasts have 3 episodes or less, and one reason for this is the time it can take to edit and produce your podcast. An hour-long podcast recording takes on average 3 hours to edit, but with Resound you can edit that same recording in a few minutes.
What are the flagship features of Resound?
The flagship feature of Resound is the ability to automatically detect and remove filler words from audio in a matter of minutes. You can also now hear the edits that you choose to cut instantly. We’ve built proprietary machine-learning models with our own ethically sourced data. Very soon Resound will be adding silence detection and AI mixing and mastering to enhance your audio quality.
What are the key benefits of using AI for podcast editing?
The major benefit of using AI for podcast editing is the incredible amount of time it saves. Resound is built and tested by professional audio engineers. There is a lot of hype and fear around AI and it replacing real humans. Since day 1 we built Resound to speed up our Audio Engineers at Resonate, not replace them. The user is in the driver’s seat and can choose to cut, keep, or adjust the recommendations we give. We have a streamlined workflow that allows users to review these recommendations in minutes. One major benefit is that creators, producers, and editors have more time to focus on things they enjoy like creative editing, sound design, creating more episodes, marketing , etc.
Can you explain how the AI handles complex editing tasks, such as noise reduction, audio leveling, and transitions, while maintaining a natural and professional sound?
Resound enhances your audio using cutting-edge noise reduction and leveling algorithms. The main feature of Resound is the AI editing and for transitions, we add a small crossfade to all edits (as a professional audio engineer would) to ensure that smooth edits are made. Additionally, you can make fine-toothed manual adjustments in Resound to the edits we suggest. Our filler word detection model is trained in a way so the boundaries are more precise than any other tool available. We do this by training with proprietary data we own. Some of our competitors use a speech-to-text AI tool to identify filler sounds which can result in choppy and unprofessional-sounding edits. Since day one Resound has been built with professional audio engineers and hobbyists in mind.
I believe we’ve proven the value to professionals since Resonate Recordings recently integrated Resound into their workflow after several months of testing. And I believe we’ve proven the value to hobbyists since approximately 70% of our current users stated they use Resound to work on their podcast as a Hobby or Side Hustle.
How does Resound handle sensitive audio files and prevent unauthorized access to confidential podcast materials?
Resound respects your privacy and security online. Read a detailed summary of what Resound does and what you agree to when using our services in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
We employ industry best practices to secure and validate requests to our systems. User data is encrypted during upload and originals as well as all derivatives are stored encrypted at rest and delivered via encrypted download. We are aware of the sensitivity of this topic among our users and so have commenced additional upgrades to our already-robust security posture, especially as relates to user audio files and related data.”
How has the adoption of AI and automation impacted the way podcast editing is done, and what do you foresee for the future of AI-driven editing tools?
I believe that the quality of shows and content has gone up with the integration of AI tools into podcasting. Sure there may be some shows where the quality has gone down but those shows will not stick around. Most creators, producers, and editors are able to spend more time ensuring that quality content is produced at a higher volume. I believe that you will see the podcast industry continue to grow as AI continues to empower creators and remove barriers that have existed in the past.
Literally anyone can start a podcast and with the increase in accessibility to tools what used to take hours upon hours can be done in minutes. Quality content will shine and historically you’ve seen that content be distorted by lack of editing and production. Now with Resound and other tools, anyone can improve the quality of their show to ensure their content and message are heard crystal clear.