Podcasting has become the generic term for creating and distributing audio files for listening on personal computers or portable music players. But what kind of programs are available as podcasts? How do you find more podcasts you will like? Join us this week on SciTech Watch as we explore Podcasting: What's on?
To explore what sort of programs or content we can find available as a podcast, we're going to dissect my own podcast playlist to see what categories the things I listen to fall into. We'll also explore Internet resources to help you find additional podcasts of things you like.
Music
People who create podcasts realized early on that if they played popular music or more
specifically copyrighted music without permission, they would be liable for copyright infringement. Since podcasting is a new technology, none of the existing music-licensing methods accurately apply. So podcasters began looking for musical artists who have not signed on with a major music label and have enough control over their music to be able to grant podcasters the explicit right to play their music on podcasts. Currently, many small music labels are also granting podcasters rights to play music from their stable of artists in a podcast. Music whose copyright holders have explicitly allowed their music to be played on podcasts is known as podsafe music.
I have several music podcasts in my playlist: The Roadhouse, Raven and the Blues, Celtic Music News, Renaissance Festival Podcast, and Knobtweakers. Four of these follow the same format: 5 - 10 songs played in a single podcast, interspersed with commentary from the podcaster. The last podcast on the list, Knobtweakers, a podcast devoted to electronic music, actually puts individual songs out as .MP3 files.
The popular radio program Echoes, which features a wide array of styles, from acoustic to electronic, jazz to space music, avant-garde to rock, doesn't podcast their actual program, but does have a stream of material that they podcast providing short interviews with artists featured on Echoes and snippets of their music.
For a look inside a working band, check out the Lascivious Biddies podcast. These four New York girls produce a regular podcast about their adventures and gigs as a band and always include a couple of their tunes.
Article comments
1 - Lisa McKay
Wow, there's some great stuff to check out here, John, thanks!
I would be remiss if I didn't mention BCRadio which is produced weekly by our own DJRadiohead and features lots of BC insider stuff and much good conversation.
2 - Sam Jack
My favorite podcast for some time has been Diggnation, which is a weekly half hour to hour video of Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht discussing tech news from digg.com. Excellent info, and I'll certainly check out some of this stuff. Thanks!
3 - Eric
Hey, thanks for the mention. There are many other quality MP3 blogs out there for those who prefer styles outside the scope of Knobtweakers. There's a pretty good list arranged by genre at the music blog wiki, and it's getting better every day.
4 - Mark Sahm
John: In what ways do you see independent podcasts being able to generate any revenue in the future? Or do you think that unless you're getting some kind of sponsorship, it will be strictly remain as a free type of service?
5 - George
If you like Echoes, you may also like Ultima Thule, a weekly 90-minute ambient radio show/podcast out of Sydney that's been running since 1989:
6 - Renee
Another great place to find podcasts is Fetching Podcasts. It lists only the best of the best in the categorized directory.
7 - iTunesTracks.co.uk
A New Podcast Directory is the iTunesTracks.co.uk Podcast Directory. If you have a podcast please add it today..
Podcasts are now becomming more in peoples daily life with advances in technology and mobile media players. I see more on them in the future...