Venerable open-source audio production software Audacity has had an official update. Now at version 2.0.6, the program used by many podcasters on Mac, Linux and Windows, has had some bug fixes along with a few changes to the UI:
Cut and Delete options have been moved to the top of the Edit menu.
Transport menu has been changed to offer a single Play/Stop button.
A “Play/Stop and Set Cursor” option for leaving the cursor set where playback was halted has been added.
Keyboard preferences have been redesigned and made searchable.
A new “Mix and Render to New Track” function has been added to the Track menu.
“Move Track to Top” and “Move Track to Bottom” options have been added to the Track drop-down menu.
A “Delete Label” function has been added to the context menu.
The “Snap To” option offers a choice of snapping to the closest or prior position.
The Truncate Silence effect has a new “Truncate Deleted Silence” setting.
The VST Effects dialog has been redesigned and VST effects now support standard FXP presets.
I guess it’s always good when podcasting gets some exposure from sources outside of the echo chambers that usually cover podcasting news. But it can be a mixed bag when those sources step in and cover our beloved medium. Sure, this coverage brings new eyes (and new ears!) to podcasting, and potentially to our shows. But the focus of the coverage can be shallow, usually sticking to firebrand topics like money and famous people.
An article was recently published by The Washington Post titled Podcasts are back – and making money. Nothing gets a mainstream publication more excited about podcasting than mentioning the fact that big-name celebrities are now podcasters and the Post article name drops its fair share (Adam Carolla, Snooki, Steve Austin, more). But the real lede the article wants to drive home is that, as the title suggests, podcasts are back! And they’re MAKING MONEY! I bet most people who read Podcaster News probably feel like podcasting never left. And most of us know that while it is possible to make money in podcasting, it’s really not that simple. The article cites statistics like the number of iTunes podcast subscriptions in 2013 (over 1 billion!) and that PodcastOne sells “millions of dollars” worth of ads thru its podcast network. I’m sure these big numbers will help to make a good impression on those who are just learning about podcasting for the first time. But they’re more the exception than the rule.
This coming Tuesday, September 30 is the first ever National Podcast Day. As the NPD website explains:
National Podcast Day is dedicated to promoting podcasting worldwide through education and public engagement.
There is National IPA Day, National Waffle Fries Day, National Pancake Day, and National pretty-much-anything-you-want Day. In the summer of 2013, Steve Lee (founder of NetCast Studio) heard a radio announcement for National Senior Citizens’ Day. Thinking that was pretty cool, it begged the question of why wasn’t there a day of celebration for podcasting. That’s when Steve said to himself “Let’s create National Podcast Day!”
September 30 was picked as the date for National Podcast Day because it’s the day before October, the month that many cite as the unofficial anniversary of podcasting’s beginning in 2004. A lineup of events is planned to help usher in National Podcast Day, starting on Sunday, September 29, including a webinar on audio production hosted by Mike Russell from Music Radio Creative, an official announcement livestream as well as two local podcast meetups in Omaha and Cleveland.
In this edition, I decided to step away from the relative comfort of my dedicated production studio and go basic, recording only with my iPad and a free app called Recorder. I did this as an exercise to show that it isn’t really necessary to invest in a mountain of gear just to get your voice committed to disk. I also give a simple explanation of a podcast publishing setup that, while hardly optimal, could technically allow you to publish a podcast (including getting that podcast into iTunes) without spending any money on web hosting.
Edison Research, a survey research company, recently published a report called “Why Podcasting Is Bigger Than You Think.” This report expands on the “Share of Ear” survey conducted earlier this year, where Edison reported that approximately 2% of all daily audio consumption is devoted to podcasts. And while on its face, that 2% value may seem insignificant, Edison explains:
In Edison’s recent edition of our Share of Ear study, we released a graph showing that nearly 2% of the total time spent listening to audio was devoted to podcast listening. There were some who may have seen that figure and thought it small. It is not small. Certainly, as a “share” of audio, you can compare it to the share of a popular television show and see straight away that we are talking about significant consumption. But we also have to look at the fact that podcasts are not consumed by 100% of Americans (even if they were, by the way, a 1.7% share of ear would still be remarkable). In fact, if we deduct the persons from this statistic who don’t listen to podcasts, we get a very notable figure indeed.
Pam from Hip to Be A Square podcast has stitched together a show about many different topics. It is about quilting and crafting. It is also about things that geeks and nerds would find interesting and relatable. The podcast even has Helper Cats! Everything gets put together in a similar way to how little pieces of fabric are turned into a quilt. Her tagline says it all: “Quilt long and prosper.”
When did you get started in podcasting? Can you give us a brief history of your podcasting experiences between then and now?
I started my current podcast in October of 2010, although I’d had experience previously as producer/speaker on another podcast. I first discovered podcasts just after my daughter was born in 2006, when maternity leave from my full-time job left me feeling out of touch (and too many re-run episodes of Law & Order were not helping!). I started listening to a podcast about science fiction literature and television on the recommendation of a friend, and heard their call for female voices to help with the “on-air” reviews. I’ve loved science fiction since I was a kid, and thought, “Why not me?” So I worked with that team for about a year and a half, and then it podfaded. Around that time, I started listening to quilting podcasts, which is another hobby of mine. After a year or so, one of the podcasters put a call out for other listeners to start more quilting podcasts, and again I thought, “Why not me?” and voila! Hip to be a Square was born, “your place for things quilty and geeky”.
What inspired you to become a podcaster?
Aside from the narcissism of thinking, “Why not me?”, I was looking for a way to keep a diary of sorts to track the quilts I was making. I had kept up a mommy blog about my experiences in raising my kids when they were really young, but I got sick of hearing myself say “gosh, motherhood sure is hard!”, so I started writing more about what I was sewing. I was really not sure how a visual medium like quilting would come across in an audio format, but I thought I’d give it a shot! My podcast has become a bit of a weekly diary about projects I’m working on, with a smattering of product reviews for quilting tools and patterns. I’ve also started talking more about what I’m reading, recipes I’ve tried, struggles with depression and anxiety, and fitness updates since I’ve recently lost a of weight.
How did you come up with the name of your podcast? Can you tell us about how that relates to the topics you cover in your podcast?
As a nine year old nerdy girl, I really felt like Huey Lewis and the News was speaking to me with their song “Hip to be Square”, and at that time I in my quilting career, my quilts were mostly made up of squares I sewed together. I think my original idea was to show every how awesome quilts could be even if they only had squares in them. Eventually I realized there really are a lot of interesting shapes out there like triangles and rectangle and even an odd hexagon or circle, so my quilting repertoire has grown, but I still love the name for the nerdy connotations.
What words of wisdom would you share with women who are thinking about starting their own podcast?
Don’t overplan your podcast, and let it evolve organically. When I first sat down to record, I had a list of topics that was supposed to carry me though the first 4 episodes, and I talked so fast and so briefly about each topic that I covered them all in 22 minutes. And that included an introduction of who I was and my sewing history! I was so inspired by other quilting podcasters that had research topics like the history of a particular technique or quilt style, and I desperately wanted to emulate them. I came to realize my niche in the microcosm of quilting podcasts, though, was being the girlfriend you sit next to who makes funny comments under her breath and tells a LOT of stories about her cats and why she loves Han Solo and Captain Picard. Some of my favorite podcasts have been ones where I’ve skyped in another quilting podcaster and we do my episode together, but all the listeners get to eavesdrop on our conversation.
I’ve seen a lot of podcasts, both quilting and other lifestyle ones, that podfaded because the effort involved in researching or producing (like adding sound effects or bumper music) got to be too much for a one-person operation. We just want to hear your voice!
Keri Hoffman, chief operating officer at Public Radio Exchange recently published an article on the business aspects of podcasting. It’s an interesting read and will surely provide some new insights to both new and veteran podcasters alike. The article is broken down into a series of major points, covering everything from media hosting to monetization.
Hoffman notes how, when PRX first ventured into podcasting, the state of media hosting was abysmal. Fortunately, that’s changed for the better over the years. Regardless, she has some good advice to create, “…a podcast feed that points to a stable place.” And when looking for a hosting provider, “Basic metrics like number of downloads and subscribers are how you will measure your success. If your host doesn’t offer these, walk away.” And perhaps most importantly:
If your podcast feed is not a domain you control you may have trouble upgrading or moving to a new publishing platform in the future. If your show URL is something like – www.mycoolpodcast.podcastcompany.com, you may have a tough time extracting your feed since it is tied up with the domain of your host. Potentially, you could lose listeners in the transition. The best way to avoid this problem is to purchase a domain name and then use that for your feed.
Podcast host and live-streaming company Spreaker has provided some new features to users of its Pro service. Now, these users can fully customize their RSS feeds, including their iTunes tags. Previously, Spreaker would automatically fill out those tags using information entered into a show’s profile page. From the Spreaker blog post linked above:
Users with every Pro plan, from On-Air Talent to Station, now you can manually customize your RSS feed!
Have complete control over your distributed content’s presentation and iTunes page.
All of you, including Free Speech users, can already copy and paste the RSS feed link we provide directly into your iTunes page or favorite feed burner. The link will automatically extract the information you provided on your show’s Spreaker page and use it on your iTunes page.
Now, Pro users can modify this information. In your show’s edit page, select RSS Feed Customization on the menu at the right. Switch the toggle to MANUAL. You can edit the title, subtitle, summary, image, and much more.
Big news about your iTunes cover art. We ‘ve just been notified that Apple has gone big — I guess you could say the “big Apple.” Apple has notified us that new iTunes album art specs have a minimum image size of 1,400 x 1,400 pixels* (which is what it has been in the past) to a maximum 2,048 x 2,048 pixel size cover art in JPG for podcast feed and podcast episode images. Apple is still recommending the 1,400 x 1,400 size, but, hey, a little flexibility is always nice, right? We’ll be updating the plugin specs on our site, but we wanted to let you know ASAP.
Apple is “not” recommending you save your image art in .png (portable network graphics) format, but if you can’t resist .png needs to be RGB (red, green and blue color model) only. That’s straight from Apple folks!
* Specified image sizes are in pixels — a picture element for digital imaging. The size of the image file on a disk is expressed in terms of “kb” (kilobyte) or “mb” (megabyte).
If you look on any sites like Reddit or certain Facebook groups, or private forums there is a practice that is happening. Groups are agreeing to trade podcast reviews in iTunes (in many cases without listening to the show). Most feel because “everyone” is doing it, it must be ok. They are motivated by the ends (their podcast being in the new and noteworthy section of iTunes) justifying the means. Everyone wants to get pushed to the front of the line. Don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t? I just feel people may be missing the bigger picture.
In the long run, this is a bad idea. Please bare with me and let me share some history with you.
A Bit of History
Dave Jackson Playing Fat Fish Blue in Cleveland, Ohio
I’m going to relate this to my musical background. There was a club in Cleveland, Ohio called Fat Fish Blue. When I formed a band, that was my target. That was my dream to some day be at THE Fat Fish Blue. We could’ve started knocking on the door the minute we had enough songs to play a full night, but we chose to wait. Much like your podcasting audience, you had one shot to impress Fat Fish Blue (and we didn’t want to waste it). Instead of sending in our demo we played small clubs, free fundraisers, and dives. We practiced a lot. On break we met with the audience and developed STRONG relationships so they would follow us to the next gig. Three years into the life of the band, we were like a well oiled machine. We made the cover of the entertainment section of the local newspaper (pretty cool). We opened for national touring bands. We submitted our demo to Fat Fish Blue, and they booked us – because we were good. I am SO GLAD that we didn’t submit the demo we made when we first started. We weren’t very good.
Do you know what? When you first start your podcast, it may have a lot of room for improvement. You may not have found your voice. You’re missing some polish. You are missing the icing. A cup cake without icing is a really bland muffin.
Think of all the American Idol winners. There may be three winners who have had extended careers. Why such a small number? Because they were pushed to the front of the line without the development that comes through time. They haven’t established that fan base through gig after gig. I haven’t heard much from the David Cook camp these days have you? When you artificially inflate your iTunes rankings you are doing the same thing. Your podcasting fame will be over before you can say “Taylor Hicks.”
Good marketing only allows people to find out you have a poor product faster.
There is a saying: Good marketing only allows people to find out you have a poor product faster. Getting into iTunes “New and Noteworthy” prematurely may be the worst thing that happens to you. People find you, they hear your inexperience. They hear the lack of confidence and organization. They hear the poor microphone choice. They hear the utter lack of originality and they tune out. Later when someone asks if they’ve ever heard your show they answer, “Yeah, it sucked.” Thanks to your “hustle” you’ve let more and more people know your show is not ready for prime time.
Remember word of mouth works both ways.
To this you say, “That’s OK Dave I’ll just change my shows name and resubmit again. I’ll buy enough reviews to push me back to the front of the line. Really? How about taking that effort and putting it into content that will IMPACT your audience? Create content that MOVES them to WANT to review you. Remember the old Smith Barney commercials (OK, of course you don’t) there was a phrase, “At Smith Barney we make money the old fashion way we earn it.” The best practice in the long run is to earn your podcast reviews.
Let’s look at Radio. I wasn’t around for the 50’s, but books and movies make it sound like the listeners were drawn to the personalities. Fast forward 65 years and you have no personality and for the most part less and less listeners (once you start listening to podcasts – you don’t go back). People would gather in their living rooms to listen. They had everyone’s attention. The Radio industry was mesmerized by the connection that the DJ had with the audience. They were amazed at the emotions that musicians evoked in their fans (causing them to faint). They pushed more and more advertising into the airwaves watering down the product. What was wrong with a little more more advertising? “Everybody was doing it.” They focused on profit. It became less about the music, and much, much more about the business. Creativity was squelched, and musicians who don’t fit a certain mold never stood a chance of being heard. All in the name of money, Radio was put on life support with no doctors and no cures in site. As someone who lives in the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I can personally say the music stations are unlistenable. If I have to hear “Two Tickets to Paradise” one more time I will seriously consider ending my own life. The platform has lost a large chunk of its power.
Review Swapping Hurts iTunes
What does this have to do with New and Noteworthy? Because when you join a forum and everyone agrees to write glowing reviews of each others podcasts it is false advertising. The people who use New and Noteworthy to find good shows, will find it less useful. Instead of finding engaging content they find (as Steve Jobs put it) “Amateur Hour.” New and Noteworthy will lose it’s integrity (and as podcasters we all know – all we have is our integrity).
On and Off the Chart in the Blink of an Eye – More History
Back around 2007 when PodcastAlley.com was THE place to get ranked. A very high profile Internet marketer used his giant email list to send him from zero to the #1 spot overnight. The podcast community thought, “Who is THIS guy?” We had never heard of him. I tuned in. The podcast was horrible. It was all about HIM and how awesome he was. There was zero value. It was awful. It was so obvious this person was clueless about his audience. The next week he fell completely off the chart – never to be seen again. Just to be clear he went from the number one position to completely off the charts. If he had waited and figured out what his audience needed, and made a good show, he may have been the talk of the town. Instead he fell off the podcasting planet. When you spend money, promise reciprocal reviews, or whatever you’re using for compensation for reviews in iTunes you are doing yourself, and podcasting a disservice. Just because “everybody’s doing it,” does not make it OK.
One Important Question
So you bribe your way on to new and noteworthy. That exposure lasts for two months. Now what? In the end it’s your content that keeps people coming back. Yes podcast promotion gets people to your website, but its your engaging, impacting, entertaining, and valuable content that keeps them coming back. Is your plan to work the kinks out in front of your now larger audience?
So I Should Never Ask For A Review in iTunes?
No, not at all (and if that’s what you’re thinking you need to go read this again). Let your audience review you because they are inspired (not some stranger who you are trading reviews with or paying a fee). Earn your reviews.
Long Term Podcasting Growth
While you may think that what you’re doing is best for YOU (and in the SHORT term it is), in the long term you get more people finding that your podcast is half baked. Finding a good podcast becomes synonymous with “finding a needle in a haystack” and new and noteworthy becomes a joke (some might say it already is).
As podcasters we need to think outside of our shows, and make sure that podcasting as a whole provides value to the audience. Without our audience – we have nothing.