A 'Live' Podcast? No such thing.

There really is no such thing as a 'live podcast' no matter what people might offer.  It's a marketing term trying to repackage a live stream. Internet Radio, if you like. Or an event that's been recorded 'live' and added to an already established Podcast feed.

But it's still not a live podcast, is it?

Firstly, a podcast is a podcast if it has an RSS feed that uses 'enclosures' to push the mp3 files to the listener.  Too technical already?  Maybe.  That's OK.

Juice: a simple podcatcher
for your computer
I'll bluster on for just one more paragraph about RSS if you do't mind...  a user subscribes to the RSS feed and downloads/catches the audio when it becomes available - using iTunes, Juice, your browser's feedreader or maybe Android's Google Listen for example.

So a user, 'a member of your audience', can use their computer or their mobile phone to 'catch' the audio as and when it becomes available - without you having to drag them to your webpage or 'mail list' them.

You provide the content and the listener can decide when to listen to it. Not the other way around.  And it's designed, thanks to the RSS feed, so that listeners don't have to keep returning to a web page to check if there's a new episode available.  That's the beauty of podcasting.

So, if it's you providing the podcast series, it's a chance to put your messages, the key points of your business or website maybe, into the ears of your target audience.  The art of creating an effective podcast is therefore making it engaging and encouraging for the listener to then spin off back into the website past your front page.  Or to push a telephone number to call, or an email address to message.

Yes, yes, I suppose video can also be 'podcasted'.  It's sometimes referred to as 'vodcasting' but it's nowhere near as flexibly engaging as audio [and was never part of the original definition, so there *rasp*]. It still requires an RSS feed of course - the user needs to download the media and take it away with them without having to visit a webpage, don't forget.  But I won't go into RSS feeds again.

The mp3 file:
ubiquitously playable
And if the self-proclaimed social media gurus are to be believed then the average length of video watched via YouTube is around 2 minutes. Not really much time to push your point, inform or educate.  And it's a bugger to get a format right for a whole range of mobile devices.  And where are they going to watch it?

People do not watch their 'automatically downloaded' video whilst driving.

What do you mean why?

It's generally harder to watch video while moving about in the outside world overall, wouldn't you say?  That's just asking for a raft of Darwin Award nominations.

So, yes, Audio is, by far, the superior medium for podcasting. With the mp3. An audio compression format that may have been superseded by other compression formats but never in ubiquity.

Every personal entertainment device can play an mp3 file.

When asking someone if they use podcasting I often get the response that they've moved on to video.  Which almost invariably means that they have a YouTube clip embedded in a web page somewhere.

It's certainly not podcasting. And it's certainly not 'moving on'.  If anything it's a step back.  And it's understandable, too, that people should do this to themselves.  It's a comfort zone thing.  People limiting themselves to what they understand.  And that's OK.
iTunes/iPhone have podcatching
capabilities built in to their software

As far as I'm concerned I'd rather that situation than one in which the internet is flooded with really badly written and produced podcasts.  All those seminars you see advertised on how "You too can podcast" ...? Bit like telling you that you too can create your own promotional video.  On your own. Using free software. Your own script and that HD Camera you got for Christmas.

Have you tried making your own video?

One that other people would watch?  One that wouldn't embarrass you and your business?  One that adds value to your website?

*Shiver*

Talk it over with a professional first.  You'll feel really pleased you did when you get your first podcast series up and engaging your target audience in the interesting things about your business.

Event Podcasting: a great way of promoting & remembering your event. "It'll be like having our own radio station"

This is another great way of using podcasting. And this example is being carried out by experienced podcasters who know how to make an engaging podcast for their target audience.
Amplify’d from www.prfire.co.uk

Fairport and FolkCast create Cropredy Festival podcast

The founding fathers of British folk-rock, Fairport Convention, have teamed up with the UK's top independent folk music podcast, FolkCast, to produce a special online event for this year's Fairport's Cropredy Festival.
A series of audio podcasts - sponsored by Wadworth brewery - will look at the annual festival's four-decade history through the eyes of the members of Fairport Convention, as well as previewing this summer's event with profiles of each of the bands and artists set to appear, including Seasick Steve, UB40 and The Coral.
Then, during the festival itself, there will be a daily podcast featuring interviews and items recorded “live” on the festival field.
Gareth Williams, Cropredy's Festival Director, said: "
It'll be like having our own radio station, broadcasting all round the world, and it'll be a must-listen for all Fairport and Cropredy fans
The podcasts - titled Fairport's Cropredy FolkCast sponsored by Wadworth - will be released weekly from June 13th, with daily shows during the festival, and will be available for free download from www.folkcast.co.uk via www.fairportconvention.com and through Apple iTunes.
Read more at www.prfire.co.uk

Those crazy Swiss and their radio porn...

Along with clocks, chocs, banking and illegally gained cash stashing, is this about to join the national stereotype landscape?
Amplify’d from www.news.com.au
Radio porn versus internet porn - Swiss get rocks off and roll to five hours of erotic beats
Radios - so hot right now ... in Switzerland. Picture: Jeff Darmanin
A RADIO porn show that aims to inspire Swiss couples to make love has been launched by a Zurich radio station.
Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten reported that couples in Zurich looking to put a spark back into their late night love-making can tune into the audio porn show and listen to "erotic music and sounds".
The show, described as "acoustic porn" by producer Oliver Scotoni, airs for five hours from midnight on radio frequency 104.1 or 88.2 megahertz, aims to be a "countermeasure to the internet porn culture".
The show will play soundtracks from 1970s porn movies - which according to Mr Scotoni have more "value" than the "cheap music" in modern porn - along with disco classics such as Love To Love You Baby by Donna Summer.
Mr Scotoni told the paper: "With me, there are no pictures, but only selected acoustics which inspire the audience.
"I hope that as many Zurich people as possible will make love, this would bring a nice energy to the city."
Read more at www.news.com.au

LinkedIn Recruiter Podcast

"A Marvellously Nice Chap"
@LittleSmasher we are currently editing the raw audio from a recording session with Chris Brown, a LinkedIn account manager.  A marvellously nice chap to interview he was too, with some interesting tips on how to optimise one's LinkedIn profile and the sorts of apps that are out there to help one keep, literally, linked in.

The trouble with this type of podcast is that one tends to get distracted by the quality information instead of focussing on the job at hand.  Edit, edit, edit.

Still, it'll be good for the scripting process, I'm sure.  That's later.

Vintage Books understands podcasting

Vintage Books are using podcasting in a great way that supports and promotes their sales. Talking to their Authors and getting them to read passages from their books, or discussing issues raised in their books brings the listener closer to the company's products.

Whether the listener is a regular buyer of books or not, creating this engaging podcast and generating a regular following means that when it is time for purchasing decisions to be made it will be Vintage Books at the top of the list of considerations.

Well done Vintage.
Amplify’d from www.vintage-books.co.uk
The ‘Vintage Podcast’ is a monthly book programme with interviews, discussions and features on subjects ranging from literary fiction to graphic novels, cookery to crime fiction, history and travel to sport, biography and poetry. It comes from the publishers of Sebastian Faulks, Jo Nesbo, Nigella Lawson, Haruki Murakami, Ian McEwan, Joe Sacco, Anne Enright, Mark Haddon and many more.

ITunes button


Vintage Podcast


Podcast 8


Podcast 8
15/04/2011
Featuring: Martin Amis, David Lodge, Evie Wyld, Jane Shilling, Rebecca Asher, William Goldsmith and Annalena McAfee

listen to podcast


podcast nesbo


Podcast 7
17/03/2011
Featuring Jo Nesbo, Michael Longley, Maxine Hong Kingston, Evie Wyld, Kevin Barry, Leo Benedictus and Annalena McAfee

listen to podcast




Brighton Rock VP5


Podcast 5
07/02/2011
Featuring Julian Barnes, Anthony Quinn, Susan Hill and Brighton Rock director Rowan Joffe

listen to podcast



Vintage Podcast 4


Podcast 4
15/12/2010
Featuring Nigella Lawson, Richard Briers, Fatima Bhutto, Blake Morrison, Alison Weir, Danny Kelly and Milton Crawford

listen to podcast


Read more at www.vintage-books.co.uk

Well done that man #Quakebook Pass it on

Been cobbled together by the lovely brother of a lovely lady from Leicester. He lives in Japan and is 'Our Man in Abiko'. He managed to put this together within days of the event with the help of people from all over the world. Yoko Ono contributes. Nice one.

Register your interest for a hard copy. Or just buy the soft copy.

"The Quakebook - A Twitter-sourced charity book about how the Japanese Earthquake at 2:46 on March 11, 2011 affected us all"

http://www.quakebook.org/
2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake
2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake [Kindle Edition]

Product Description

In just over a week, a group of unpaid professional and citizen journalists who met on Twitter created a book to raise money for Japanese Red Cross earthquake and tsunami relief efforts. In addition to essays, artwork and photographs submitted by people around the world, including people who endured the disaster and journalists who covered it, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake contains a piece by Yoko Ono, and work created specifically for the book by authors William Gibson, Barry Eisler and Jake Adelstein.

“The primary goal,” says the book's editor, a British resident of Japan, “is to record the moment, and in doing so raise money for the Japanese Red Cross Society to help the thousands of homeless, hungry and cold survivors of the earthquake and tsunami. The biggest frustration for many of us was being unable to help these victims. I don’t have any medical skills, and I’m not a helicopter pilot, but I can edit. A few tweets pulled together nearly everything – all the participants, all the expertise – and in just over a week we had created a book including stories from an 80-year-old grandfather in Sendai, a couple in Canada waiting to hear if their relatives were okay, and a Japanese family who left their home, telling their young son they might never be able to return."

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the price you pay (net of VAT, sales and other taxes) goes to the Japanese Red Cross Society to aid the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews


8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars
100% of the price of this book goes to the Japan Red Cross Society!, 12 April 2011


By 
Derek J. Johnston "windhoek" (Glasgow) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake (Kindle Edition)
First things first, 100% of the price of this book goes to the Japan Red Cross Society, so please buy it.

The book itself is comprised of lots (about 100) of short stories that focus on many different aspects of the earthquake and subsequent events. Some accounts focus on the role of the media and social networking, some on the earthquake and how it affected them or people they know and others still, on the people of Japan who have shown indefatigable resiliance and unity in the face of, what can only be described as, truly catastrophic events!

There are also various images and illustrations peppered throughout the book which capture moments and ideas appropriate to the book's content.

If you've seen footage of the tsunami and its devastation, you'll understand why there are few first-hand accounts of it included in the book. In fact, most stories are from people who experienced the earthquake from the relative safety of Tokyo or other modernised parts of Japan. There are also some international contributions from people concerned about the people of Japan - sometimes particular people.

At a press conference, the book's editor 'Our man in Abiko' said that if the book is ever revised to include additional content, those who purchased it beforehand won't have to pay again to access it. Instead, it will be available as an update to download and augment the original book.


This book has enhanced my sympathy and affection for Japan and her people, please buy it so she can blossom once again.
Read more at www.amazon.co.uk

Podcasting's coming of age?

Indeed, the hobbyists and enthusiasts who first enjoyed and created podcasts in 2004/2005, just for the mere sake of it, all seem to have disappeared.

Or at the very least, they have turned to other forms of internet social communication to expose their technological know-how alongside their personal vulnerabilities.

Whichever dark, damp corner of the internet that has absorbed them we, at LittleSmasher, hope they're able to download and enjoy the current crop of downloadable episodic audio in the knowledge that without their early compulsions to pursue poorly performed and pitiably produced podcasts none of the current quality might be here at all.

Chris Salmon, from the Guardian, suggests a few podcasts you might like try from this obvious legacy.
Amplify’d from www.guardian.co.uk

Click to download: podcast nostalgia

It's not quite over yet for a tried, tested and trusty format
The buzz around podcasts has calmed considerably over the last couple of years, with social networks and mobile apps capturing the attention of labels and musicians keen to embrace the latest thing. Which is a pity, because subscribing to a good, free podcast remains a terrific way of receiving regular content directly to your computer or mobile.
Happily, there are still some great music-related podcasts which you can subscribe to, for free, via iTunes. One of the best is the Live Music podcast from Australian radio station Triple J. At least once a week, the station uploads live recordings from one of two regular strands. The first, Live at the Wireless, features around 20 minutes of highlights from a concert, recently including performances by the Rapture, Interpol and the National (all of which are well worth hearing). Meanwhile, the other strand, Like a Version, sees acts playing studio sessions that culminate with a cover version. The best features Plan B, who unleashes a cracking reworking of Kanye West's Runaway. Subscribe to forthcoming episodes and download any of the previous 24 from bit.ly/jjjpodcast.
London-based internet radio station RadioNowhere also has a variety of excellent podcasts available via iTunes, at bit.ly/rnpodcasts. Standouts include the weekly Filmic show, which offers an hour of music from soundtracks and scores, and the Christopher Laird Show, another weekly programme with songs from the best new, independent artists. Both shows play tracks in full, something that podcasts often haven't been allowed to do because of rights restrictions. But, given that each of Laird's shows features an interview with a guest artist – this week it was British Sea Power, last week it was the Joy Formidable – it would seem that the industry is offering tacit approval of RadioNowhere's full-songs approach.
With Mumford & Sons and Laura Marling driving a renewed interest in folk, Jon Boden chose a good time to launch his A Folk Song a Day podcast. In June last year, the violinist, singer and Bellowhead member, committed to podcasting a traditional folk song every day for an entire year via iTunes at bit.ly/jbpodcast. And that's exactly what he's done, with Tuesday's a cappella take on Billy Don't You Weep For Me leaving him just 100 days from completing the project.
Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

Learning about the Makuleke People of Pafuri through the editing of another South African Podcast

Kruger2Canyons.com have commissioned LittleSmasher to make another podcast for their website. It features the model of South African land restitution that is the Makuleke concession in the Kruger National Park, now benefiting the people from whom it was taken in 1969.



Interesting stuff.

Amplify’d from www.kruger2canyons.com

K2C PODCAST #1 | Kruger's SINGITA LEBOMBO


"24 hours at a luxury safari lodge"









Kruger2Canyons.com spent a fabulous day exploring and documenting Singita's Private Reserve, deep inside (but still part of) the Kruger National Park on the border with Mozambique.

Read more at www.kruger2canyons.com
 

LittleSmasher was there first!

After six years of podcasting professionally, LittleSmasher proclaims that the medium is still being 'discovered' by those who have an audience to reach.

Amplify’d from www.independent.co.uk


The podcast has a weekly audience of 35,000 and is an important marketing tool
for his live work. "It's nothing like a TV or radio show in terms of
the numbers of people listening but they have chosen to download it and it's
a more intimate experience. This is the thing most responsible for my
audience doubling in size on tour."


Being independently produced, As It Occurs to Me offers Herring artistic
licence. "It's so hard to get on radio and TV and the whole Sachsgate
thing has made it harder to do interesting and challenging stuff," he
says. "The nice thing about podcasts is that if people don't like them
they don't download them. There are no compliance issues."

One of the most successful exponents is Richard Herring, who produces two weekly podcasts

One of the most successful exponents is Richard Herring, who produces two weekly podcasts

Podcasts: Why the future sounds funny

Podcasts are bringing stand-up comedy to new audiences. As the BBC gets in on the act, Frank Skinner and Richard Herring give Ian Burrell the lowdown on downloads

Read more at www.independent.co.uk