June 29, 2005
NYC Podsquad dot com!
Rob aka Podcast NYC dot net has started a group in NYC for podcasting talent. Go check it out:
Here's a screenshot:
Posted by Steve Warren at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
Odeo and Podcasting
I guess I should document more than just iTunes for my snapshot in time. Here's Odeo's Top 40, plus *my* subscription list, and contacts...
Odeo Top 40 List:
My Odeo Subscriptions:
My Odeo Contact List:
Posted by Steve Warren at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)
iTunes and Podcasting
Yesterday Apple released iTunes 4.9 which includes Podcasting! I'm going to throw up a handful of screenshots of the "early days". On day two here is what the top 100 looks like... I'm not sure, but I believe this represents what people are actually subscribing to, plus some extra manipulation from Apple to push their favored programs to the top.
Posted by Steve Warren at 9:44 AM | Comments (0)
May 8, 2005
Crosspost from NYC Podcasting Association Meetup Group
I worked so hard on this article, I thought I'd post it here as well! I spent a lot of time finding good things to link to in the body of my text. It's not all perfect, as I wrote it late last night, but it's indicative of the style I'm trying to achieve.
The original post can be found somewhere inside this thread about the RIAA:
RE: RIAA on the NYC Podcasting Association Meetup Group
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Here's the full body of my text:
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Does anyone here who's currently podcasting wish they had a bigger audience? Isn't that aspiring to broadcasting (as opposed to narrowcasting?). It seems to me that a lot of people in this group want to reach a wider audience, as opposed to appealing to a niche group.
What's wrong with radio anyway, and why is Adam Curry taking any flack for his new relationship with Sirius? I tend to agree with Mike's sentiments that the KYOU deal sounds pretty lame at first, but that if you *use* radio properly as the marketing tool it has become, you can drive more traffic to your program without giving away your intellectual property rights. Sirius is not "the radio business" as we know it, and is second to XM Radio. Number Two always tries harder, so I think it was a wise move for Adam to join Sirius in their endeavors. I wonder if Adam's going to challenge Howard Stern's Number One position at Sirius by trying harder...
I think the real problem with radio is the companies who have bought up all the bandwidth and control the medium, like Clear Channel. It used to be that federal regulations prevented any one company from owning too many stations in a single market, but in recent history those laws have been abolished by conservative legislation. Clear Channel's failure is because they waltzed right in and controlled the medium too tightly with the intent of maximizing revenue, as opposed to delivering quality entertainment. It's worse than TV these days in the content/advertising ratio, and there's no way to fast forward through the commercials! Clear Channel's stock peaked at close to $90 per share in 2000, and today trades around $30 heading south. What does that tell you besides the US economy is in big trouble?
Personally, I don't think it's in our interest to cling to the term podcasting too tightly. I encourage people to use whatever medium is available to get your program out there. When I first met Frank at the last meeting, we talked a little bit about possible sources of revenue, and I suggested selling CD's of archived programs. To a band, I'd suggest selling stickers, T-Shirts and personalized "collectible" items at your shows and online, while giving your music away for free (or under one of the Creative Commons licenses.)
If you want to talk legal about music distribution, downloading versus streaming is a huge issue when it comes to licensing fees. I wonder what Napster pays in licensing for their Napster To Go program that I subscribe to? They've done their "due diligence" to protect their Windows Media files so that they only last as long as you're a subscriber to the Napster service and paying for the music on a monthly basis. This is kind of like DVD's in that when you rent a disc from Blockbuster or your
local video store, it's *reasonably* protected, even though in both cases it's possible to make near-perfect digital duplications of the content you've borrowed.
If I wanted to create and distribute a music oriented program featuring Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and the file I created was compliant with current DRM standards, could I get a non-profit license for around $300/year (similar to ASCAP's Web License) to distribute my program? Not today, but this is the topic I'd like to discuss at our next meeting.
Also, could I distribute my programs in Apple iPod compatible AAC format (how do you create those again?) or would I be limited to PC only Windows Media Player 10 WMA files? Where is the current state of DRM technology at right now? What's coming in the future? Apple has yet to embrace the music rental paradigm that I currently adore.
Anyway - I felt conspicuously absent from this forum this week, as my day job has taken priority over more intellectual pursuits ;-) I hope we can talk some of this through at the informal meetup on the 19th. Until then, I'll chime in as I find the time...
-steve warren
http://www.interactivenyc.com/blog
Posted by Steve Warren at 1:17 PM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2005
NYC Podcasting Association
I just joined a Meetup group for New York City Podcasters (and the surrounding area...)
http://podcasting.meetup.com/33/
We're having an interesting discussion about the legal issues of playing music in podcasts, a subject I'm pretty interested in. It's a public forum, so go on over and check it out:
http://podcasting.meetup.com/33/boards/view/viewthread?thread=1364957
Here's my latest post framing my position:
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Re: [LEGAL] Music in Podcasts
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Frank said:
In general, podcasters playing music without proper licensing are not criminal masterminds, they're people excited by the possibilities of a new medium who are innocently creating shows with the music they love, not understanding the law. Most podcasters have extrememly small audiences (under 100) and are making no money at all from their efforts. Yes, they are most likely violating the letter of the law - but it is not with malicious intent. And for most of them, faced with the reality of the cost and resources required to be compliant with the law, they'd probably just quit rather than attempt to comply.
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intro
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Well said, Frank. I'm coming from a similar place. To me, the idea of making money from the podcast I'd like to do is irrelevant. At this point, I'd gladly pay money to be able to communicate with others using music as the central topic. I come from punk rock and DIY, and remember a time when college radio defined a genre called Alternative music, because it was actually an alternative to what was getting played on the radio. Today, Alternative isn't an alternative at all - it's mainstream.
Back in my youth, I loved a song by Eugene Chadbourne called "Break the Law Everyday." To me, it meant smoking pot when I felt like it, taking other mind bending drugs too illegal to admit to in this forum, and the occasional theft of a CD from The Warehouse... (okay - so it wasn't so "occasional!") Today I have a family and assets in my name. I don't want to get sued for something stupid like playing music over the internet. I can't afford that kind of a hit.
I'm still a punk, and I hate the mainstream alternative music that pretends to be edgy. I'd rather tell the tale of the New York Dolls, Iggy and the Stooges, and the Velvet Underground. Talking Heads, Blondie, and the Ramones. The Damned, the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks. Black Flag, X, the Circle Jerks, the Minutemen and the Dead Kennedys. Green River, Soundgarden and of course, Nirvana. The end of an era came when Kurt Cobain blew his brains out... he couldn't live with what he knew was about to happen to the music he worshipped, with his wife, or with his drug habit anymore.
I'm talking about the origins of punk rock, the New York scene, the UK scene, the West Coast scene, the Grunge scene, and the end of an era. Those were the times in which I grew up.
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legal and opinion
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Speaking of the legal issues, I have a lawyer and I've consulted with him on this matter. There is no existing license I can get to do what I want to do. You can get a pretty nifty web license for about $300 bucks a year - ASCAP License 2.0, but it only covers streaming, not downloads. Podcasting is inherently a download, which to be legal requires a mechanical license to make reproductions of a copyrighted work.
Podcasting to me, is just a word soon to become extinct. Are you still podcasting if you're streaming onto someone's phone? This is where this game is headed. Is a download subject to the same restrictions, if the download expires due to Digital Rights Management (DRM)? What kind of a license did Napster acquire for it's Napster To Go service? I'm a customer of that service, and let me tell you... IT ROCKS! I'm considering trying something new and doing my show using Skype.
Ultimately, all this concern is futile. Like I used to record college radio with my cassette player, I can record Napster To Go through my headphone output on my laptop. But you know what? I don't. I will remain a subscriber, because the price point is acceptable to me. For the cost of one CD per month, I can listen to whatever I want when and where I want to.
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about me
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I mentioned in the first meeting, but will repeat it here for the record. I work for a company that builds the online music stores for radio stations. I was hired to build the front end software in Flash with a small team of developers, and have since attained the title of Production Manager and am responsible for all of our software development including the deployment of new stations. To see an example of my work, go to the WPLJ Music Store.
It's funny that I've become "that guy" working for the traditional radio business in a Microsoft based DRM environment for that doesn't even support Macs (yet). With that said, I must admit - I *like* Windows Media, but have been struggling to bond with my new iRiver Portable Media Center (PMC-120). I develop consumer software myself, and have a lot of criticism for the current implementation of the software on the device and also for Windows Media Player 10. I've been working with Windows Media Encoder 9 for quite a while though, and think it's pretty easy to use and generates good results. I expect the software to develop over time, and am interested in talking with others about the Windows Media DRM paradigm and the alternatives. I'm a big Linux fan, and still use my iMac DV running OSX at home on a daily basis. We bought a Mac Mini at my office to run out our production files from Flash, and I use that 5 days a week. I dislike the iPod's dominance in the music industry, but respect Steve Jobs' ability to accomplish what once seemed impossible.
My favorite podcasts come from ITConversations, Adam Curry and Dawn and Drew. I've been listening to the podcasts from people in this group, and look forward to giving that feedback personally ;-)
Posted by Steve Warren at 1:07 PM | Comments (0)