Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting
Contents
1. But not yet as it turns out Apple s iTunes available for download at www itunes com works as a pod catching client It lends an automatic hand to those who don t know where to find aggregators where to find blogs that host podcasts and which pod cast directories list the shows that fit their needs and desires now they too can enjoy a wide range of podcast choices With iTunes podcasting reached into the mainstream markets around the world And if that doesn t make you go Wow consider this On August 4 2005 iTunes launched in Japan Within four days the iTunes Music Store had 7 million downloads Sony s own MP3 download service averages under 500 000 downloads a month Instead of dealing with third party applications Apple iTunes is a one stop shop for all your podcasting needs It gets even better Subscribing to a podcast with iTunes is just as easy as with the Juice and iPodderX methods Follow these steps to do so 1 In the iTunes Music Store click the Podcasts link located in the top section of the left column You can also click the Podcast icon located in the center of the Featured Artists section 26 Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency a Figure 1 7 The new Apple iTunes Music Store s podcast feature E P Podcasts amp Party Shuffle Radio NEW Sicr Purchased b fi 60 s Music P Agricantus This week Maroon 5 amp Black2. Creating a Podcast There are two schools of thought when it comes to creating a podcast The I need the latest and greatest equipment in order to capture that crisp clear sound of the broadcasting industry school of thought and the Hey my com puter came with a microphone and I ve got this cool recording software already installed school of thought Both are equally valid positions and there are a lot of secondary schools in between The question is how far you re willing to go But let s dispel something right off the bat about podcasting You re not reprogramming your operating system you re not hacking into the Internal Revenue Service s database and you re not setting up a wireless computer Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 15 avr network with tinfoil from a chewing gum wrapper a shoestring and your belt regardless if MacGyver showed you how Podcasting as mentioned earlier is not rocket science In fact here s a quick rundown of how you podcast 1 Record audio and convert it to a download friendly format 2 Create a simple but specialized text file that describes your audio file 3 Upload everything to the Web Yes yes yes if it were that simple then why is this book so thick Well we admit that this list does gloss over a few details but a podcast in its most streamlined raw presentation is that simple The details of putting together a podcast start in C
3. co uk online story 0 3605 1145689 00 htm1 its generally accepted in the podosphere that the first person to use the term as a reference to the activity we now know as podcasting was Dannie Gregoire on September 15 2004 groups yahoo com group ipodder dev message 41 While some assert the name has connotations to the popular iPod device created by Apple Dannie didn t have that in mind when the phrase was coined Regardless of the intentions the term has been backronymed that is treated like an acronym and applied to a variety of plausible existing meanings Of all the possibilities we prefer Personal On Demand narrowcasting not broadcasting which shortens nicely to pod casting But of course you can choose whichever one makes sense to you Granted the podcasting phenomenon was in part fueled by the wildly popular iPod portable audio device but no evidence suggests that the two were related when the name was coined And as one of your authors Evo stoutly maintains Because don t even own an iPod yet am quite obviously a podcaster see no reason for the association to continue to be made Harrumph Just because the FCC doesn t have jurisdiction you re not exempt from the law or perhaps more importantly immune to lawsuits You re personally responsible for anything you say do or condone on your show Additionally the rules concerning airplay of licensed music the distribution of copy
4. comes to promoting podcasts we honestly haven t seen that sort of thing going on Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 29 Podcast Pickle Gary Leland and the crew at Podcast Pickle podcastpickle com take a slightly different approach for listeners to find the podcasts they re looking for Their best innovation in our opinion is the Favorites listing Rather than rely on voting as a measure of popularity the Pickle allows registered mem bers to mark as many shows as they like as their favorites The more people who have marked a show as Favorite the higher up on the Favorites list a podcast is A neat idea But that s a lot like a popularity contest you have no way to judge how well you might like a show just because a bunch of other people do That s why Podcast Pickle also allows you to browse by category or search for relevant keywords that mean something to you Like Podcast Alley it also has an active forum section where you can see what other folks are saying about a particular podcast before you subscribe Vahoo com Audio search Browsing through lists and weighing your options using the relative popular ity of shows as a measuring stick are great starting points but this is the Internet we re talking about here When you re looking for something in cyberspace you likely do one thing first Run a search In late summer 2005 Yahoo rolled out its audio specific search engine at audio search yaho
5. need to know about choosing a Web host for your podcast media files Note that we called your audio a podcast media file Podcasting isn t just about audio On the contrary you can podcast any sort of media file you like even video Although this book focuses on audio files you could use all the tips we give here to handle other types of media files After you post the media file you need to create a specially formatted text file usually XML Extensible Markup Language explained in detail in Chapter 9 and move it up to your Web server This file describes where to find the media file you just placed on your Web server This is your podcast feed and the special format you use for your text is called RSS 2 0 Listeners to your pod cast can subscribe to your show by placing a link to this podcast feed in their podcatching client Yes we know this sounds really complicated But we assure you it s not Some hosting companies such as Libsyn www 1libsyn com specialize in taking the technological bite out of podcasting so you can focus on creating your best sounding show With Libsyn shown in Figure 1 4 moving your audio files to the Web server is as simple as pushing a few buttons and the creation of the RSS 2 0 podcast feed and even the accompanying Web page are automatic If you want to take more control over your Web site podcast media files and their corresponding RSS 2 0 feed turn to the latter chapters of Part
6. Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting In This Chapter Finding out what podcasting is Creating a podcast Finding and subscribing to podcasts KO the invention that makes the biggest impact on our daily lives isn t an invention at all but the convergence of existing technolo gies processes and ideas Podcasting may be the perfect example of that principle and it s changing the relationship people have with their radios music collections books education and more The podcasting movement is actually a spin off of another communications boom personal Weblogs commonly referred to as blogs Blogs sprang up right and left providing non programmers and designers a clean elegant interface that left many on the technology side wondering why they hadn t thought of it sooner Everyday people could now chronicle their lives hopes dreams and fears and show them to anyone who cared to read And oddly enough people did care to read and still do Podcasting combines the instant information exchange of blogging with audio files that can be played on a computer or MP3 player When you make your podcast publicly available on the World Wide Web you are exposing your craft to anyone with a personal computer and a broadband Internet con nection To put that in perspective the Computer Industry Almanac predicts the global online population will top 1 2 billion users by 2006 In the United States broadband connections are now more p
7. Eyed Peas Hq Alternative i Coe igre taucstion se fi Cake Pressure C v AUSTHINY 1 this WEEK in TECH fi Deep Forest se _ Le Cn S Leo Laporte i Eric Fernandez Submit a Podcast Q Fin P O 2 NPR story of the Day fil Evo Terra Browse ai NPR hers School Of ASU DMIT Podcasts Ail P Butte Co Chroni fa Filk ee ar ey Mea Unvessky Dial Madu and rar aray catas San Samat 3 FOXCAST Family Guy fi Fiona Apple iMix lt poe eaea fi Gabrietie Roth amp T Billboard Charts Epicurean See All RE a H Gato Barbieri precum z 5 Tunes New Music T fi Green Day Music Videos i i gt G ITunes fi Incubus Movie Trailers winks 6 NPR Technology fa iPod Music SS Winecast Enhanced CoffeeGeek Podcast CuisinePod Crash Test Kitchen NPR iih Love Everybody C Tin E CofteeGeek com Angoina Waz and Lenny 7 FOXCAST The Simps Music baby pr FOX Broadcasting Co lst stv Ton Rated 7 Gift Certificates W2 8 NPR 7AM ET News Duccelected Soma iTunes Music Cards s NPR Redeem guitar OINI AVA KFI s Tech Guy Support D FESTIVAL NEWS amp MORE Leo Laporte mean 10 Security Now Steve Gibson 11 NPR Movies NPR 12 Hi My Name Is Mark Mark Hoppus t 13 The Al Franken Show bd mor La 2 Find the podcast of your choice You can do that by clicking its name in the iTunes Music Store or by per forming a search using the iTunes Music Podcast search engine in the top right corner of the iTunes scre
8. III In those pages we walk you through some essentials not only how to upload a file but also how to easily generate your RSS 2 0 file using a variety of tools Grabbing listeners With media files in place and an RSS 2 0 feed ready for podcatcher consump tion you re officially a podcaster Of course that doesn t mean a lot if you re the only person who knows about your podcast You need to spread the word to let others know that you exist and that you have something pretty darn important to say 20 Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency E Figure 1 4 A podcast hosted by Libsyn handles many of the technical details a EMBER SE GS 6 BD OB hep seekerlibsyncom TG Jeo Getting Started Latest Headlines 4 VisibleHurnanjava Original fiction Japanese word of the day SF amp F books and movies plus whatever cool stuff I ve leamed Mon 15 Aogust 2005 Categories BGOSE Fiction Show 8 Fiction GEXO arief Glimpses of Somewhere Else Show 8 general Original Fiction The Great Puzzle Part I podcasts thoughts lad BGOSE_GrentPurzie_8_14_2005 mp3 Fiction i J Archives Comments 0 Jul 2005 Aug 2005 August 2005 sm Tt 1 2 3 4 35 789 14 15 16 21 22 23 28 29 303 of the Day Omoshiroi Cool Stuff Review Teenagers from Mars SEEN The Surrogates 100 Chinese Idioms 4 Persisting in Evil Brings Self Destruction Syndication Geek4x4 Podcast Creating sho
9. L and accompanying show notes You re all set but ask yourself How do podcasts get from the Web to my computer To access all this great new content you need a podcatcher an application that looks at various RSS feeds finds the new stuff and transfers it from the Internet to your computer automatically Take a look at some of the different podcatching clients available for your podcasting needs You may think you need an iPod for all kinds of reasons but you really don t need one to podcast Allow us to state that again You do not need an iPod to listen to or create a podcast As long as you have an MP3 player be it an application on a Mac an application on a PC or a portable device you can unplug and take with you you possess the capability to listen to podcasts Depending on the MP3 player you may even be able to create your podcast on the device as well but to listen all you need is a device that can play audio files 22 Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency D Figure 1 5 The ground breaking trendsetting and all around first podcatching client Juice a The catcher that started it all Juice Juice shown in Figure 1 5 was created by Adam Curry yes the former MTV VJ and no we re not kidding It promotes itself as an open source free to use application that downloads audio files from RSS feeds of your choice directly to your Mac or PC You can then sync your portable pla
10. Movie which comes pre installed with many new Macs and can record voice as well as video If you don t already have the appropriate software here s a fast way to get it Download the version of Audacity that fits your operating system at audacity sourceforge net shown in Figure 1 1 Oh yeah it s free 16 Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency 1 An audio card Make sure your computer has the hardware it needs to handle audio recording and the drivers to run the hardware ay Some desktop computers come with a very elementary audio card built into the motherboard Before you run out to your local computer vendor and spring for an audio card check your computer to see whether it can already handle basic voice recording For tips on choosing the right mic software and audio card be sure to check out Chapter 2 Getting and setting up the hardware and software needed to record is a start The next step is using it Skaka Audacity Free Audio Editor and Recorder E T ew God Audacity Home About Download Help Contact Us l Get Involved l fi hp audacity sourceforge net Search this site The Free Cross Platform Sound Editor Audacity Is free open source software for recording and editing sounds It is available for Mac OS X Microsoft Windows GNU Linux and other operating systems Learn more about Audacity Download Audacity 1 2 3 for Mac OS 9 or X O
11. Questions than Anawers Dowwtoaded Outcomes Wider Perspective Dewniceded gt Daladiven Dackonmaking Reda Dowwiceded O Summertime Dovmicaded Wired to Conale Doviriiveded Nasiri Sun Aug 21 2353 00 2006 re ET Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 23 3 Double click the name of a podcast You can also single click the name of the podcast and then click the Add button near the top 4 Click Save That s it You ve just subscribed to your first podcast with Juice Of course you don t have to navigate through the list of podcasts Follow these steps if you have a specific podcast in mind 1 Click the little green button with a plus symbol on it You find this button on the Subscriptions panel 2 Type the URL of the feed in the Add a Feed window Hopefully you copied the URL and can simply paste it in If not be very careful with your typing Congrats You now know how to use Juice to subscribe to any podcasts you happen to come across in the future Stepping up your game with iPodderX Shortly after Juice came on the scene developers August Trometer and Ray Slakinski raised the bar for podcatching clients across both platforms with their own creation iPodderX shown in Figure 1 6 a podcatching client also known by its more geeky name an aggregator that promised to do a lot more than just download audio files And it delivers iPodderX available for download at www ipodderx com
12. began modestly enough as a simple aggregator but now offers the following features Accesses and displays all HTML links and images that accompany the podcast post called show notes Retrieves any enclosed media file not just MP3 files Y Manages files for both iTunes and iPhoto via Playlist Builder 1 Offers SmartSpace a feature that deletes old podcasts from your hard drive according to the parameters you set It also has a safeguard fea ture that allows you to recover any deleted podcasts you want to archive 24 Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency i Figure 1 6 iPodderX is more than just a podcatching client it s also an RSS reader and offers file manage ment capabilities ia Add a Subscription Feed ES All Subscriptions Area 51 Show Baulestar Galactica Cyberpunk Radio Dragon Page Mond EarthCore Evil Genius Chronicles Geek Fu Action Grip Japancasting Leisure Talk Radio Michael and Evo s Nicole Simon s Use Podiobooks Test Slacker Astronomy Slacker Astronomy Wizard News Radio Wwan s Audblog Your Mac Ufe Episode 22 The Rebellion Is Evil Taki Rebellion is Evil chapters The Rebellion Is Evil Taki The Rebellion ts Evil Taki The Rebellion Is Evil Taki Interview The Rebellion Is Evil Taki Episode 22 7 Mon August J Mon August 1 2005 Requiem of the O g7 Mon August 1 2005 Requiem of the O Mon Jul
13. cription window appears showing the link you copied in Step 1 filled in the Subscription Feed URL box 3 Click the Downloads tab 4 Choose to download the most recent podcast or all available files from the File Catch Up drop down menu Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 25 5 Enter the name of the show in the Custom Folder Playlist text box Dragon Page Cover to Cover as well as EarthCore by Scott Sigler are examples 6 Click the Add button iPodderX automatically checks the feed and begins downloading content The 800 pound gorilla called iTunes With the launch of iTunes v4 9 podcasting went from what the geeks were doing in the basement of the Science Building to the next wave of innovation on the Internet which was of course developed by the geeks in the base ment of the Science Building As always a step into the mainstream market brought some dismay the hardcore independent podcasters considered this a sad day for podcasting as corporate entities sponsored by Disney ESPN BBC and so on dominated the iTunes Music Store podcast directory shown in Figure 1 7 What about the indie podcasts the ones that started it all Would they be forgotten Go unnoticed Languish unsubscribed Well at first it seemed that many of the original groundbreakers that the podcast ing community knew and loved The Dawn and Drew Show Tokyo Calling Catholic Insider Slice of Scifi might get lost in the stampede
14. en 3 When you get to the podcast page and available podcasts in iTunes click the Subscribe button If you re using iTunes for the first time to subscribe to a feed you get a confirmation message You can select the Do Not Ask About Subscribing Again option to avoid this message iTunes immediately takes you from the Music Store to your Podcasts list and gives you the progress of the download After your podcast has finished downloading you can create a playlist for your podcast and organize your downloads accordingly Options options and more options Of course everyone s tastes and styles are different and there are plenty more options for podcatching clients Maybe you re using Mac Windows or an entirely different operating system Maybe you don t want to install any Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 2 7 ar new software on your system or maybe you just like to be different Hey that s okay You too can be a podcast listener 1 Doppler Designed exclusively for the Windows platform Doppler dopplerradio net has a strong contingent of dedicated users who are perfectly happy with the features it offers Additionally it seems to be a pretty rock solid piece of software and it s available for free Y Nimiq Nimiq nimiq n1 has been described as an exercise in simplic ity It does what it does that is download podcast media files very well Some folks looking for advanced features s
15. hapter 2 and wrap up in Chapter 5 then Chapters 6 and 9 walk you through all the geek speak you need to accomplish the podcast Looking for the bare necessities You need a few things before starting your first podcast many of which you can probably find on your own computer 1 A microphone Take a look at your computer Right now regardless of whether you have a laptop or desktop model Windows or Macintosh your computer probably has a microphone built into it or a jack for plugging in an external mic and maybe even an included external mic packaged somewhere with the manuals cables and such Position the microphone to a comfortable spot on your desk or table If you re using a laptop position the laptop to a comfortable spot on your desk or table make sure you know where the built in microphone is in the laptop s housing Usually the built in microphone in a laptop is located close to the edge of the keyboard or near the laptop s speakers Some models tuck it in at the center point of the monitor s base Consult your user s manual to find out where the microphone is hidden on your machine Recording software Check out the software that came with your com puter You know all those extra CDs that you filed away thinking TIl check those out sometime Well the time has arrived to flip through them You probably have some sort of audio recording software loaded on your computer such as RecordIt Windows or i
16. he podcasts sample episodes or any sort of ratings Instead you find many direct links to podcast feeds and those can easily be fed to your pod catcher of choice Find the category you like start subscribing and then listen IndiePodder is very much an open directory Not only can anyone contribute shows but also programmers with OPML experience can repurpose the con tents of the directory into applications and other directory services Because of this capability most of the podcaster directories use the information in IndiePodder org to help build at least in part their own directories of podcasts Podcast Alley If IndiePodder org was the first place to hang your podcasting hat Podcast Alley odcastalley com is the first place to boast brand and generally beat your chest about it With incredibly active forums detailed descriptions of podcasts and individual episodes plus the majority of all podcasters clamoring to get their listeners to VOTE FOR ME ON PODCAST ALLEY THIS MONTH it s no wonder that Podcast Alley is the most active podcast listing and ratings service to date Along with IndiePodder org Podcast Alley is owned by PodShow the family of podcasts and services produced by Adam Curry and crew This close affilia tion with podcasting services and the podcasts themselves has some pod caster pundits crying foul While we agree this provides fertile ground for some less than ethical activities when it
17. nds com podcast platfo rms useful sounds No 32 45 Nicole Siman usefulsounds com podcast useful sounds Te 3 49 Nicole Simon usefulsounds com podcast can create S 01 EarthCore Pre 24 18 Scor Sigler EarthCore Podcast 4 1M2 Main Title 0 50 Jeff Beal MONK Soundtrack MP3 files 02 EarthCore Chapters1 4 47 04 Scout Sigler EarthCore Podcast 03 EarthCore Chapters 45 33 Scott Sigler EarthCore Podcast froma 4 just 1 Day 3 45 Kai Tracid http ahhhdon A S 04 EarthCore Chaps6 amp 7 48 35 Scott Sigler EarthCore Podcast variety of 05 EarthCore Chapters8 10 41 02 Scott Sigler EarthCore Podcast di 06 EarthCore Chapters11 13 16 18 Scott Sigler EarthCore Podcast 3 audio ae formats gt lt m c 1940 songs 13 3 days 13 77 GB 18 ey Figure 1 3 While com pressing audio files Apple gives a progress report onthe conversion process aS Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency After you install iTunes follow these steps to convert your audio file 1 Choose File Add File to Library Or you can press O Mac or Ctrl O Windows 2 Browse for the audio file you want to convert and then click Open Your file is now in the iTunes Library 3 Find the audio file in the iTunes Library and click to select it 4 Choose Advanced Convert Selection to MP3 Your file is converted to the MP3 format see Figure 1 3 Congratulations you just recorded your first podcast At least the a
18. o com While Yahoo wasn t the first in the space see Chapter 10 for other options it certainly has the potential to be the biggest having been a pioneer in search based technology for years There are so many directories for podcasts that Rob Walch of podCast411 has put together a directory of directories podcast 411 com page2 htm1 As of this writing 66 different directories are listed 30 Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency
19. opular than dial up And to top it all off portable players are surging in popularity with over 22 million adult owners This chapter is for podcasters those making the content and podcatchers those listening to the content alike We cover the basic steps to record a podcast and lay out the basics of what you need to do to tune in a podcast 2 Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency Deciding Whether Podcasting Is for Vou Technically speaking podcasting is the distribution of specially encoded multi media content to subscribed personal computers via the RSS 2 0 protocol Whew Allow us to translate that into common speak Podcasting allows you to listen to stuff you want to hear whenever and wherever you want Podcasting turns the tables on broadcast schedules allowing the listener to choose not only what to listen to but also when And because podcasts are transferred via the Internet the power to create an audio program isn t lim ited to those with access to a radio transmitter This section covers other reasons podcasting is probably for you Vou want to deliver audio content on a regular basis Sure you can post your audio content on a blog if you have one Many blog gers who do that called audiobloggers record audio segments and insert them as links into the text of their blog posts Readers of the blog then down load the files at their leisure However audio blogs require the readers to manually select
20. org Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 2 NG explained later in this chapter Potential listeners visit literally dozens of Web sites as they seek out new content and getting yourself listed on as many as possible can help bring in more new listeners to your program A huge listener base is a double edged sword More demand for your product means more of a demand on you and the resources necessary to keep your podcast up and running We recommend working on your craft and your skills as well as getting a good handle on the personal and technological requirements of podcasting before you embark on a huge marketing cam paign Part IV has more details about marketing Part IV spends a lot of time talking about the various ways you can attract more listeners to your show and ways to respond to the ideas and feedback that your listeners inevitably provide Many podcasters are surprised at the sheer volume of comments they receive from their listeners but when you consider how personal podcasting is compared to traditional forms of media distribution that s really not surprising at all Now that we ve finally busted pesky myths about podcasting and given you an honest warning about listener demand we re going to give a quick overview of various applications that get MP3 files from Web servers to personal players Catching a Cast with Vour Podcatching Client MBER RNS amp So you have the MP3 file some XM
21. righted material and the legalities of recording telephone conversations all apply Pay close attention to the relevant sections in Chapter 5 to avoid some serious consequences When it comes to the legalities ignorance is not bliss Narrowcasting the practice of delivering content to a select group distin guishes podcasting from traditional forms of broadcast communication such as radio Where a radio station broadly casts its signal to anyone who hap pens to be within the radius of the signal podcasts narrowly cast content to people who have made the overt decision to listen Vou have something to say 13 Podcasters as a general rule produce content that likely holds appeal for only a select group of listeners Podcasts start with an idea something that you have the desire and knowledge either real or imaginary to talk about Add to that a bit of drive a do it yourself ishness and an inability to take no for an answer The point is to say what you want to say to those who want to hear it 4 Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency MBER D Podcasts can be about anything and be enjoyed by just about anyone The topics covered don t have to be earth shattering or life changing You have to follow a few rules but even then you can break most of them Some of the most popular podcasts are created by everyday people who sit in front of their computers for a few nights a week and just speak their minds heart
22. s and souls Some are focused on niche topics others are more broad based Quite a few are seemingly put together at random perhaps moments before the recording started Vou want to hear from your listeners I ve heard more than one podcaster comment on the fact that they get well comments For some reason which we ll let the social anthropologists of the future puzzle out podcast listeners are more likely to provide feedback to the podcasts they listen to than radio show listeners are likely to e mail their thoughts to the show host That s probably traceable to the personal nature of selecting a podcast Podcasts offer their listeners and makers more con trol options and intimacy than traditional broadcast media can Of course the radio is much harder to talk back to than a computer with an Internet connection and e mail which remains the killer app When you ask for feedback you re likely to get it and from unusual places Because geography doesn t limit the distance your podcast can travel you may find yourself with listeners in faraway and exotic places And this feed back isn t always going to be Wow great podcast Listeners will be honest with you when you invite feedback If you re starting to get the idea that podcasting is revolutionary ground breaking and possibly a major component of social upheaval great But not all podcasts are so deep In fact many of them are just plain fun
23. the content they wish to download What sets podcasting apart from blogging is that podcasting automates that process A listener who subscribes to your podcast is subscribed to all of your content when ever it s available No need to go back to the site to see what s new Vou want to reach beyond the boundaries of radio In radio the number of people who can listen to a show is limited by the power of the transmitter pumping out the signal Podcasting doesn t use radio signals transmitters or receivers at least not in the classic sense Podcasts use the World Wide Web as a delivery system opening up a potential audience that could extend to the entire planet No rules exist yet anyway to regulate the creation of podcast content In fact neither the FCC nor any other regulatory body for any other government holds jurisdiction over podcasts If that seems astounding remember that podcasters are not using the public airwaves to deliver the message NING Ry Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting What s in a name when the name is podcasting As with most items that make their way into the conventional lexicon of speech the precise ori gins and meaning behind podcasting are some what clouded While the domain podcast com was originally registered back in 2002 nothing was ever done with it as far as we know and Ben Hammersley suggested that and many other terms in February 2004 www guardian
24. ther directory or listing site maintained elsewhere on the Internet Other aggregators maintain their own lists based on how many listeners have used their podcatcher to subscribe to particular shows So where are these directories Fire up your browser and as Edgar Winter says Come on and take a free ride As you can see it s pretty darn easy to find podcasts and to fill up your player of choice pretty quickly Listen to some shows for inspiration When you find one that makes you think I can do a podcast at least that good consider it an invitation to do just that Good thing you ve got this book 28 Part I Podcasting on a Worldwide Frequency Quest for Podcasts If you re going to podcast and with you picking up this book it s a safe assumption that the interest is strong it s a good idea to take a look around the podcasting community and see what other podcasters are doing We give you a few places to get started in this section directories podcast listing services and even podcast specific search engines Check out the various sources mentioned in Chapter 10 as well IndiePodder org The directory that started it all IndiePodder org indiepodder org isa volunteer supported directory of podcasts It consists of various categories managed by individuals with particular interests in given categories IndiePodder org is a bare bones site You won t find detailed descriptions about t
25. ther downloads T Figure 1 1 November 19 2004 Audacity 1 2 3 Released Audacity Audacity 1 2 3 is a new stable version of Audacity This version fixes a Dug that interfered with long recordings on some Windows systems and another bug that causes random crashes on Mac OS X It also includes several updated translations and other bug allows you fixes and minor improvements to edit audio See the Release Notes tor a complete list of changes and known problems in this version and create More news Item A A MP3 files C Recording your first podcast When you have your computer set up and your microphone working it s time to start recording Take a deep breath and then follow these steps 1 Jot down a few notes on what you want to talk about Nothing too fancy just make an outline that includes remarks about who you are and what you want to talk about Use these notes to keep yourself on track Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 17 All this the checking of your computer jotting down notes and setting up your recording area is called preshow prep discussed in depth in Chapter 3 by other podcasters who have their own ways of approaching pre show prep all of which can give you some starting points 2 Click the Record button in your recording software and go for as long ae as it takes for you to get through your notes We recommend keeping your first recording to no more than 20 min
26. uch as downloading BitTorrent files are switching from iPodder to this little jewel 1 Odeo But what if you can t or don t want to install podcatching soft ware on your system Odeo odeo com allows you to subscribe to any podcast in its directory without putting any software on your desktop Instead podcast media files are assembled and made available so you can listen to them at the click of a button Podnova Podnova podnova com is another service that tracks pod cast content yet doesn t require you to download any software to your desktop As with Odeo you have the option to download some software so files can be transferred to your MP3 player but it s nice to know that some services don t require this step We ve glossed over quite a few advanced features of Odeo and Podnova and probably have not done justice to Nimiq or Doppler And of course additional clients and services provide similar yet distinct capabilities But an attempt at a comprehensive list would be instantly obsolete so this quick list simply offers a rough idea of how far the limits of podcasting currently extend Bottom line At this point you should easily be able to subscribe to the podcasts of your choice Now that you ve got your podcatching client it s now time to take a good listen as to what is happening in the podcasting community Many podcatch ing clients have internal directories of podcasts accessing their listings from ano
27. udio part of it ene Coos ee gt e PO ___ Search iTunes lt 4 Source Time Artist Album 7 50 Name TB Library 16 Skype_imerview 1 F Podcasts amp Party Shuffle Radio GB Music Store Purchased Music Converting Songs Ji A Complete Enigma F A Mix for Lai H An Off Kilter Christmas J Apollo 13 Score amp Dialogue J Area 51 J Back to School Battlestar Galactica with Ronald M LR Big Bro s Mix A Billibub Baddings Soundtrack Christmas Mix 1993 2000 J Christmas Mix 2002 2 Selected Song SSS gt G 1 song 7 8 minutes 11 5 MB u La Gi Transferring your audio to the Web An audio file sitting on your desktop regardless of how earth shattering the contents may be is not a podcast Nope not by a long shot You have to get it up on the World Wide Web and provide a way for listeners podcatchers to grab that tasty file for later consumption Chapter 1 Getting the Scoop on Podcasting 9 If you already have a Web server for your blog company Web site or personal site this process can be as easy as creating a new folder and transferring your newly created audio file to your server via your FTP client of choice If that last paragraph left you puzzled and you re wondering what kind of mess you ve gotten yourself into relax We don t leave you hanging out in the wind Chapter 7 covers everything you
28. utes That may seem like a lot of time but it will fly by 3 Give a nice little sign off like Take care of yourselves See you next month and click the Stop button 4 Choose File Save As and give your project a name Now bask in the warmth of creative accomplishment Compressing your audio files If you re using an application other than Audacity you may need to make your recording into an MP3 file Many audio players that come with comput ers offer the capability to create MP3 files but if your audio player doesn t read or compress audio recordings to MP3 files you can keep it fed by down loading iTunes from www apple com itunes Check out iTunes in Figure 1 2 Even though it s an Apple product a Windows version is available as well Kalaka iTunes a A sa pi H Q op Om Search Browse Name Time Artist Album Genre W S Matrix Reloaded Suite 17 35 Don Davis The Matrix Reio Soundtrack Podcasts The Inner Light Suite 6 36 Jay Chattaway The Best of STA Soundtrack o amp Panty Shute Can t You Trip Like I Do 4 28 Crystal Meth Industrial Radio E Don t Go Back To Rockville 422 REM Epanymous Rock BB Music Store Getting Some Fun Out Of 3 12 Madeleine Peyroux Free Enterprise Soundtrack By Purchased Music S Nigh Time Is The Right Ti 3 24 Ray Charles Ultimate Hits Co ROB PF A Complete Enigma alive youre not alo 6 23 hitp j
29. w notes Before you pick up a bullhorn slap a sandwich board over yourself and start walking down the street virtually anyway you have to make sure you re descriptive enough to captivate those who reach your Web site First you re going to want to describe the contents of your show to casual online passers by in hopes of getting them to listen to what you have to say You can easily glance at a blog and get the gist of a conversation but an audio file requires active listening to understand and it s quite difficult to skim In effect you re asking people to make an investment of their time in listening to you talk read a story or play music You need some compelling text on a Web page to hook them Descriptions of podcast episodes are called show notes and they are designed to quickly showcase or highlight the relevant and pertinent con tents of the audio file itself A verbatim transcript of your show isn t a good idea but we do recommend more than simply saying a show about my day Chapter 8 discusses ways to create your show notes and offers tips and tricks to give them some punch Refer to Figure 1 4 for an example of what show notes look like on a Web browser Getting listed in directories When you have a ready media file and a solid set of show notes you re ready to take your podcast message to the masses You can get listed on some directories and podcast listing sites such as Podcast Pickle and iPodder
30. www ha Trance g B ainra useful sounds 05 01 23 Go 31 20 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal Figure 1 2 arofa iraia S useful sounds 05 01 30 Ge 30 55 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal amp useful sounds 05 02 07 Fir 27 37 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal Apple pang TE raie E Dopet useful sounds 05 02 14 the 18 44 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal P mim useful sounds 05 02 21 Th 37 55 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal iTunes j E Gack to School useful sounds 3 01 OF 27 36 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal ia Battlestar Galactica with Ronald M useful sounds 05 03 14 As 26 40 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal available H Big Bro s mix useful sounds 05 03 21 ipo 30 17 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal A Bilibub Baddings Soundtrack useful sounds 05 03 25 Ho 26 11 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal for both F Christmas Mix 1993 2000 useful sounds 05 04 07 So 16 55 Nicole Simon useful sounds de Vocal H Christmas Mix 2002 useful sounds 05 05 01 it s 51 09 Nicole Simon useful sounds de podcast Mac and F Christmas Mix 2003 useful sounds 05 05 17 the 32 46 Nicole Simon useful sounds de podcast i o 3 z useful sounds 05 05 31 the 25 53 Nicole Simon useful sounds de podcast Windows useful sounds 05 06 22 ho 31 57 Nicole Simon useful sounds de podcast S useful sounds 0 u 9 32 Nicole Simon usefulsou
31. y 25 2005 Requiem of the O g7 Mon July 25 2005 Requiem of the O g7 Mon July 25 2005 Requiem of the O 4 Mon July 18 2005 Requiem of the O g7 Wed July 13 2005 Requiem of the O g7 Mon July 11 2005 foto22 mp3 19 3 ME Episode 22 brings us a new way of doing a show and sad news about Ron and Janine leaving the show Ear Netwon steps in to help with duties this month and next month will be Ron and Janine s last show as co hosts though more bits fram them will be forthcoming Show Notes Die Lucas Die Dy A Mouth Like An Intergalactic Princess Cussing In A Galaxy Far Far Away The Adventures of Luke Skywalker 40 things I ve learned from Star Wars F By Rich Category Requiem of the Outcast Episodes Main Podcast Though originally this aggregator was available only to Mac users iPodderX is now available for Windows users as well making it an affordable option for people looking for a podcatcher that goes above and beyond the simple downloading of MP3 files To subscribe to a podcast using iPodderX simply follow these steps when you ve identified a podcast you want to subscribe to 1 In your browser Control click Mac or right click Windows the pod cast link and choose Options Copy Link 2 In iPodderX click the Add a Subscription Feed icon This icon looks like a newspaper with a plus sign and is located in the top left corner of the interface as shown in Figure 1 6 The Subs
32. yer with your computer s media player and now yov re podcasting on the go Download Juice from juicereceiver sourceforge net After you install it subscribing to feeds is a simple process Follow these steps if you don t have a specific podcast in mind 1 Click the Podcast Directory tab Juice comes preloaded with a variety of the more popular directories of podcasts 2 Navigate through the directory structure Click the name of the directory to see the choices offered In some cases you may need to click a subdirectory to see additional podcasts gt Podder Podcast recelver v2 1 Bat File Edit View Tools Help Downloads Subesiplions Podcast diecie Gleenup OG oDDD a Name a State MB cation Lucky Bich Rado Subacibad feedburner com LuckpBitchRado Newdy Subs feedbuiret com itrmahans Subectbad senmi Subscibed pedoasia mis cennected om v Subecibed A8 coverde cosAn e xn Croemast Kristopher Smith Subscribed 2 puires com eracast Digtal Photogaphy Tios From The Top Foot Subscibed 8 3 bpsiramthetopticer com wpes2 php idaae and thoughts liom an EdTech Subecibed 25 faadsfeadduiner com tlogepat shaiecki Ol Wave Radix New All s Music Subscribed ERB fends fesdduiner com ont One BigHeed Subscribed 111 8 feeds feedbuiner YeqVorabudary com Neviy Subs QO yayeocadulery blogspot com atom mal Xplaneflado Subscribed 135 xplanazine com planaradiasindexxrd Episode State tore
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