About us and our team.
Built in Ireland, now in the UK!
BQ Podcast started life as “Dustpod” in the Republic of Ireland in 2006.
The company was created by well-known Irish broadcaster and producer Dusty Rhodes (hence the name), and Dustpod continues to trade successfully in Ireland.
Meanwhile, following substantial investment from UK backers, we are now also in the UK, trading as “BQ Podcast”, a name that reflects our commitment to creating broadcast-quality podcasts.
BQ Podcast started life in Ireland in 2006 (and continues to trade in the ROI as “Dustpod”).
Following new investment in January 2023, we launched in the UK as BQ Podcast, with the name reflecting our commitment to helping our clients create broadcast-quality podcasts.
Our mission
1) Provide everything you need to create, produce and maintain broadcast-quality podcasts
2) Ensure your podcasts engage your target audience(s)
3) Use our production expertise to ensure your podcasts reflect and enhance your brand values.
4) Provide tangible results and a return on your investment.
Everything you need to create broadcast-quality podcasts...
Services
We specialise in podcast development and production for companies, brands, organisations, charities, and professional influencers.
We also provide a range of podcast services for existing podcasters, including consultancy, training, sound restoration, editing, mixing, mastering, audio-branding, custom/library music and even custom-built podcast websites.
BQ?
Broadcast quality means podcasts that sound "as good as anything you hear on the radio" including concepts, features, structure, content, smart editorial decisions, audio branding, and overall audio quality throughout.
It also means world-class supporting promotional audio (and video) that "grabs" the attention of your desired listeners on your website, social media feeds, emails etc., and that also make your press releases stand-out from the crowd.
The BQ Podcast difference
The vast majority of podcast production companies are set up by audio engineers.
Although audio engineers know how to record audio, they don’t have all the other important skills required to create broadcast-quality branded podcasts.
We do, and here’s why…
Radio
professionals
Our clients benefit from years of regional and national broadcasting experience because every production team member also regularly works with high-profile regional & national radio stations in the UK, Ireland, and beyond (as consultants and producers).
This experience ensures the podcasts we create “sound as good as anything you hear on the radio.”
Podcasting
experts
Our experienced radio producers also have years of experience producing podcasts*
They utilise their radio and podcasting experience (and the same high-end studios) to create successful broadcast-quality podcasts for our clients.
*Some of our team members have been producing a weekly branded podcast since 2006! (see below).
Marketing & business know-how
Beyond our production skills, we also have marketing and business know-how built into our DNA.
As a result, our team offers a perfect mix of creators, audio experts, experienced marketers and seasoned business professionals.
As a team, we know success for our clients means creating engaging podcasts that reflect and enhance our client’s brand values and provide a tangible return on investment.
Heard by millions
As world-class radio and professional podcast producers, our work is heard daily by millions of radio listeners and by tens of thousands of podcast listeners around the world*
*Work created by our team features daily on radio stations around the world including BBC Radio 1 & 2, Radio X UK, Wave 105, U105, RTE Radio 1, Sunshine 106.8 Dublin, Riviera Radio -France, Smooth Radio Australia and many more.
Podcasts that sound "as good as anything you hear on the radio"
“High standards are important, and our show sounded as good as anything you hear on the radio.”
Sarah Murphy, Digital Communications Manager, Chadwicks Group
“These remote interviews, which would otherwise be impossible, sounded as good as anything on the radio.”
Donal Hanlon, Marketing & Strategic Projects Principal – Engineers Ireland
Experience counts...
Trusted by these companies, brands & more...
Podcasting weekly since 2006
We’ve been creating and producing podcasts for a long time!
The first podcast is said to have been produced in 2004. Just two years later, in 2006, the founder of BQ Podcast began producing and co-presenting a weekly podcast called “Tech Central” for the Irish technology website ‘techcentral.ie’.
This podcast is still going strong and won’t be long until we reach episode 1000!
The rest of the production team at BQ has also been producing podcasts for many years. As such, we have all gained invaluable knowledge which is applied to every podcast we create.
No 1 podcasts & awards won!
In the past 12 months alone, two of our podcast series debuted at number one on the Apple Podcast Chart.
We also collected two prestigious awards. One for “Best Branded Podcast” and the other for “Best Digital PR Campaign”.
The bottom line...
Work with us to create podcasts that…
- engage your intended audience and meet your objectives
- sound professional and reflect your brand values
- are available everywhere including Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more
- deliver tangible results and ROI
Our team
Dusty Rhodes - Founder/CEO
Born and raised in Dublin, Dusty has been in the business of audio and communicating since the age of 16.
Dusty stumbled into the radio business directly after leaving school, working for various local radio stations.
As a naturally talented producer and broadcaster, Dusty soon found himself broadcasting to over 6 million listeners daily in the United Kingdom on Atlantic 252.
He then landed his dream job at Ireland’s equivalent of BBC Radio 1 when he joined an all-star lineup at RTÉ 2FM. Dusty produced and hosted many shows on 2FM, including the station’s flagship “Hotline” show.
Dusty went on to form an independent radio production company creating music shows, magazine programmes, and long-form documentaries for local and national radio.
In 2006 his company also began creating and producing podcasts for companies, brands and organisations, many years before most of us had heard of a podcast!
Due to his pioneering work in creating branded podcasts for many major brands and organisations, he is considered an authority in this arena. He is often affectionally referred to as “The PodFather”.
To this day, Dusty remains the only Independent Producer to have won multiple gold awards at Ireland’s Annual IMRO Radio Awards and has added to his accolades by collecting numerous awards for his work in podcasting.
Alex Preston - Creative Director
Like Dusty, Alex has also been working in or around the radio business since the age of 16.
He has spent most of his career developing ‘the sound’ of high-profile radio shows and radio stations.
Alex is also an accomplished businessman, having created and sold a number of successful businesses over the years.
His creativity, marketing skills, business knowledge, and audio production wizardry all provide a solid foundation for creating targeted branded podcasts.
Our clients always enjoy his high energy, fresh thinking, and positive approach to every project. Meanwhile, the team here at BQ Podcast often compare Alex to water because no matter what obstacles appear, he always seems to find a way around them to make things work for our clients.
Francis Molloy - Head of Growth & Partnerships
Francis has a Master of Arts in Social Policy and a Bachelor of Sciences in Chemistry (with French).
Having excelled in Chemistry and started his working life as a Chemical Analyst, he decided a career working with people rather than test tubes was more appealing.
In 2020, he relocated from Ireland to London, where he joined the Education, Training & Employment office of the National Probation Service. His role was to develop partnerships with local businesses and charities to create work and other opportunities for offenders.
As part of this admirable and challenging job, Francis became passionate about podcasts, how they work as unique and powerful communications resources, and our work in this area.
As our recently appointed Head of Growth & Partnerships, Francis is now spreading the word about our successful partnerships and creating exciting new relationships that will lead to the creation of more targeted, on-brand, broadcast-quality podcasts very soon.
Our producers
Every podcast we produce is overseen, managed, and quality checked by Dusty and/or Alex.
Aideen, Roisin, and Shireen generally supervise our projects on a day-to-day basis (see below).
In addition, we regularly work with around twenty world-class regional or national radio producers who also know exactly how to produce podcasts that “sound as good as anything you hear on the radio”. In addition, they also undertake professional coaching for hosts and guests and assist with creative ideas for our clients.
Every producer we work with has different and specialised skill sets. For example, a producer for a fashion podcast would be very different from a producer we assign to a science podcast. Therefore, like a great dating agency, we match the right producer to each client.
Aideen Finnegan
Producer/Presenter
Aideen Finnegan is a multi-award-winning broadcaster, journalist,
Aideen is the presenter & producer of our Adapt Radio podcast for the world-class ADAPT Research Centre at Trinity College Dublin.
Shireen Langan
Producer
Shireen cut her production teeth with Irish national stations RTE and Today FM.
She produces our Future Proof podcast for Forige.
Roisin Davis
Producer
Roisin took her B.A. from the University of London and dived straight into media as a researcher and producer.
Not only has she clocked up significant broadcast radio experience, but she loves online media, from blogging to podcasts.
Roisin is the producer of our Engineers Journal podcast ‘Amplified’.
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Want to work as a podcast producer?
If you think you’ve got what it takes to produce broadcast-quality podcasts, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us and let us know more about your best work so far.
If you are thinking of a career as a podcast producer, we’d love to help you get there. We’re working on a guide right now and we will publish it here as soon as possible.
