Podcasting
Social Media: Twitter as Training Wheels - Can All the Goodness of Social Media Be Packed Into One Tool?
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Written By Noah Mallin | October 27, 2008 | Share This
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Today I eavesdropped on a conversation between Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Wesley Crusher, I mean Wil Wheaton, and MSNBC’s next generation newscaster Rachel Maddow about podcasts. Apparently they share more than just a hairstyle (see pic). Normally this kind of experience would be bought to me by late night pizza and my overactive dream-state synapses. In this case though I was perfectly awake as it floated down my Twitter stream in between my middle school friend and entertainment PR specialist Ariel’s insights on the music scene in Iceland and former colleague Tom linking to an interview with New York Times ad columnist Stuart Elliot.
So wow, the future huh?
Dark Day for Internet Radio
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Written By Kate Zimmermann | April 17, 2007 | Share This
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The Copyright Royalty Board has denied all motions to reconsider a ruling that forces Internet radio stations to pay royalties for songs heard per user. Under such an absurd calculation of royalties, webcasters will be expected to pay upwards of millions of dollars to operate. The new fees will go into effect May 15th - though NPR and other small action groups have appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. From Ars Technica,
” The ruling is a huge blow to online broadcasters, and the new royalty structure could knock a large number of them off the ‘Net entirely. Under the previous setup, radio stations would have to pay an annual fee plus 12 percent of their profits to the music industry’s royalty collection organization, SoundExchange. It was a good setup for the webcasters, most of whom are either nonprofits or very small organizations…
SoundExchange is jubilant over the ruling. Executive Director John Simson called the CRB’s ruling a victory for performing artists and record labels. “Our artists and labels look forward to working with the Internet radio industry—large and small, commercial and noncommercial—so that together we can ensure it succeeds as a place where great music is available to music lovers of all genres,” said Simson in a statement.
Noble words, but after today’s ruling…there probably won’t be much of an Internet radio industry left for SoundExchange to work with.”
Go to SaveNetRadio.org to sign an online petition and email your thoughts to congress.
Further Reading:
- RIAA Pushes Through Internet Radio Royalty Rates Designed to Kill Webcasts (Techdirt)
- No, Mr. Web Radio. I Expect You to DIE! (Copyfight)
- Dear Record Companies, You Are Complete Morons (LikeItMatters)
Podcasting? More like Nodcasting
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Written By Reprise Media | April 7, 2006 | Share This
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Being voted “Word of the Year” ain’t what it used to be. If popularity is any indication, “podcasting” might end up occupying the same space in the social lexicon as other unfortunates like “schwing” and “Homey don’t play that”.
Forrester Research has just released some new data on podcasting in the form of a report titled Podcasting Hits the Charts (payment required) in which it reveals that only 1% of households in North America regularly use podcasts.
Not only that, but those who do tend to favor already existing content such as the type found on Internet and broadcast radio.
Analyst Charlene Li shares some interesting (as always) thoughts in this post on her personal blog.
Quick snip:
“So should companies be putting podcasting on the backburner? Hardly. Content that already exists – such as earning calls, training updates, and executive presentations are all excellent fodder for podcasts…My caution is that companies shouldn’t be dashing out to create expensive original content for a small audience – unless they gain value from being seen as innovative.”
Related in SearchViews:
- All Things Podcast
- Rush Limbaugh Gets in the Podcast Habit
- Yahoo Joins the Pod People
Now, Search Spoken Words of Vodcasts with Podzinger
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Written By Reprise Media | March 20, 2006 | Share This
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News.com reports today that podcast search tool Podzinger has introduced the ability to search the text of video podcasts. Podzinger could already search audio podcasts; rather than merely relying on titles, context and other associated metadata, Podzinger uses a powerful speech-to-text application developed by BBN Technologies to make (and then search) full transcripts from the words spoken within the audio or video file itself.
The search interface informs users that “To find the podcast you want, don’t just search for it … ZING IT!” - meaning, uh, ’search for it.’ If you can get over the site’s somewhat grating attempt to multiply the number of meanings of the word ‘zing’ ad nauseum, it’s got some pretty impressive capabilities. The results page shows each instance of the term you search for surrounded by a few lines from the podcast’s transcript, making it easy to determine the context. Podzinger also provides a time stamp that tells you exactly when the term is spoken in the podcast, and one click can speed you directly to that point. You can watch the podcast as a stream, download it, or subscribe to it all from the results page.
Podzinger also maintains popularity charts (”See who’s getting ZING’d on the ZING Index”) for their 10 most watched podcasts and 10 most “talked about” people (based on how many cumulative mentions they get in all podcasts combined) - George Clooney fell four places this week to number 9. Hitting the RSS button next to a name tells Podzinger to create a feed for you that includes each podcast mentioning that person.
So what’s in it for them? Naturally, they’re serving Google ads on their search results pages, and who knows? Maybe they’re getting royalties every time somebody says “zing.”
Yahoo Joins the Pod People
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Written By Reprise Media | October 10, 2005 | Share This
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Yahoo just announced their plans to get into podcasting with the release of a new service which lets users download audio content from online radio programs, including National Public Radio, the weekly presidential address and a number of independent shows.
Check out the public beta here.
Yahoo Podcasts categorizies podcasts by topic, keyword and tag and features ratings & reviews in addition to a host of other features.
Here’s a snip from a post today on the Yahoo Search Blog:
“Yahoo! Podcasts offers a comprehensive directory of podcast series and individual shows from across the Web, complete with detailed search results, most popular and highest rated lists, editorial picks, and a full collection of tools you can use. These community tools include ratings, reviews, and the ability to tag audio content, or view the tags that other people add. Why waste time on noise instead of signal —Yahoo! Podcasts can help you discover tasty stuff to feed your ears.”
Alex Williams notes an interesting phenomenon happening with the interface while p2pnet has coverage plus a bonus chimp photo.
All Things Podcast
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Written By Reprise Media | September 23, 2005 | Share This
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Want to know what National Public Radio is doing to stay current, other than replacing the suede elbow patches on their tweed blazers?
Of course you do.
That’s why you’ll want to check out this audio interview with Maria Thomas, VP of NPR Online & Mobile on PaidContent.org.
Thomas talks about how podcasting has revived NPR’s audience - its shows regularly appear on the Top 10 Podcasts on iTunes - and how NPR has been able to leverage the big newsmaking events of the past few years to reach a wider audience.
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune backs up her claims and says NPR has doubled its audience in the last six years.
Rush Limbaugh Gets in the Podcast Habit
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Written By Reprise Media | June 6, 2005 | Share This
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Rush Limbaugh, you kook. First you offer to act as mentor to Reverend Al Sharpton (incidentally, the same one Project Vote Smart selected as my “Ideal Candidate” for office, go figure), then you try to keep the medical records of your little drug dalliance private (funny, you weren’t big on privacy during Clintongate).
Now comes word that you’re going to be breaking into podcasting.
Last week Clear Channel Communications began making available podcasts of Rush Limbaugh’s program to members who pay the $50-odd dollar a year fee for Rush 24/7 premium service. Shows will be pushed out to subscribers via software that sends a notification icon to their portable devices 1-2 hours after a show.
So what begun as a grassroots initiative is now moving into the mainstream, with commercial broadcasters seeking out new ways to survive amidst cutthroat market competition. This move and others like it will enable them to further monetize their medium to the over 11% of Americans who are expected to listen to audio podcasts by the end of the decade.
Podcasting is part of what this press release on MarketWire refers to as time-shifting, or the practice of recording programming to be viewed at a later time. Though it’s been used most recently in reference to TiVo, the practice has also been linked to VCRs and other mediums. More on that in this article on the Museum of Broadcast Communication web site.
iTunes Adds Podcasts + Free Songs for the Swiss
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Written By Reprise Media | May 23, 2005 | Share This
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It’s got good looks, questionable headphones, and now - podcast support. Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed details on the forthcoming iTunes 4.9 in a recent appearance at the Wall Street Journal “D” Conference.
According to today’s reports, Apple will be releasing a tool that allows content authors to throw up their recordings on the iTunes Music Store. Users will be able to access a searchable directory of podcasts and subscribe with just one click.
On an additional iTunes-related note, the company is promising “One Free Song for Every Swiss Citizen” as it launches iTunes Music Stores in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The company’s reach now extends to more than 70% of the global music market, with stores in 19 countries and over 400 million songs purchased worldwide. The NYC subway infection rate is hovering around 90%, at least that’s how it seems from our end. There’s still some holdouts, including this hilarious rant from someone named NinjaPirate.