Digital Audio World

Musings and information on podcasting, digital audio, online streaming audio and home studio recording from Tim 'Gonzo' Gordon of DigitalAudioWorld.com

Friday, April 28, 2006

No More Online Streaming MP3 Recording?

Time-shifting technologies that allow you to record streaming MP3 audio and listen to it later may be banned or heavily regulated under a bill introduced by Senators Feinstein (D-Cal.) and Graham (R-S.C.)and majority leader Bill Frist (R- Tenn.). This according to the Washington Post, which says that the bill is aiming to copyright holders as satellite stations move into digital music distribution: EFF: DeepLinks.

Damn. Could be that a lot of us who like to record streaming MP3 audio to listen to at a more convenient time will be shut out. The wild wild west of the internet is becoming fenced in, much like the wild west of the 1800s. It won't be long before we're being taxed for every little thing that we purchase online.

You'll never guess who's behind this push. Doh!

"Record industry executives want so-called "parity" among the different download platforms. They argue that the new devices XM Radio is bringing to the market that allow customers to save songs on the receivers without paying for the download rip off the copyright holder," the article states.

So if you're 'recording' a live streaming MP3, you're actually 'downloading' the song, which makes it theft. Listening to it doesn't. Recording it off the radio doesn't. Recording it from a friend's CD might. Or might not. Not too clear on all of this.

Lawyers and corporate mouthpieces are parsing language here, all in search of another snippet of the $$ that changes hands when popular music finds fandom. Is it 'downloading' or is it 'listening,' or is it 'enjoying a performance?'

No matter what you call it, the fans are ultimately in control. We choose what to listen to and pay for. We decide if we like something or not. We are the ones who fork out the dough for tunes. And the record companies are finding out that the more control we have (ie., being able to download favorite singles instead having to buy a whole CD), the less money they'll make. They're even trying to push the average cost of singles up past 99 cents.

Corporate record goons are losing control and are hounding around for any scrap they can pick up before it vanishes. They can dress it up in any language they want, but it's all about the money.


Go listen to Tom Petty's "Joe:"

my name's Joe I 'm the ceo
yeah, I 'm the man
makes the big wheels roll
I 'm the hand on
the green light switch
you get to be famous
I get to be rich

Well, listen to the whole damn "The Last DJ" album. It pretty much tells it like it is. I think it's actually a documentary.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Podcasting Numbers Disputed

In a post at Geek News (Geek News Central Revealing Technical News and useful links) new research numbers from Forrester Research are called 'invalid' by Todd Cochrane. He backs up his claim with oodles of numbers from podcast listener tracking they've done.

Essentially, the new(disputed) report, according to Charlene Li, says that "survey showed that only 1% of online households in North America regularly download and listen to podcasts."

But the podcast world looks to disagree, saying the numbers are way too low.

Over the past year, there have been a number of well-publicized reports with wildly disparate numbers on the podcast audience.

Hell, it's the damn internet. You can track anything. Why is figuring out the number of regular podcast listeners a problem?

Maybe it's the term 'regular' that's throwing everyone.

Besides, we all know that when it comes to surveys, we Americans have been trained to fib a little. Hell, I remember Chicago columnist Mike Royko always urged his readers to lie to pollsters just to skew the results.

Nothing wrong with a little subversion.

I think I got off track on this post. Late at night; that's what I'll blame!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Podcasting: Hot or Cold?

Is podcasting really cooling off? Or is it just maturing and evolving?

Is there going to be a big split between the 'hobbyist' independent podcasters (who started the whole enchilada) and the corporate podguys?

A short article from Red Herring - RED HERRING | Podcasting Cools Off - shows that venture capital to podcasting is on the downtick, but ad projections are rising significantly.

More to the point, Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome.com makes a good point when he comments that there is no 'Google' AdSense for podcasting. Yet.

So while podcasting grows into the stratosphere and the corporate bigwigs try and figure out what to do with this new medium and how to reach their audience, the venture capitalists are peering at podcasting with a careful eye. Where is the money to be made in podcasting?

Methinks it will come from the companies that help others make their podcasts work: from creating great content, professional sounding programs, tip-top search engine optimization, blogging and pinging and making it easy as pie for the end user to podcast.

Monday, April 03, 2006

International Podcast Expo Set for April 21 - 23, 2006

Penny Haynes is promoting her International Podcasting Expo coming up in April. Yes, I'll be taking part. It's a place where you can meet other podcasters, learn more about podcasting and become part of a great community. And chances are good that I'll be offering a special deal on Podcasting Adventures Online during the expo. Mark it on your calendar - April 21 - 23, 2006.

Around the clock International Podcasting Expo, with a 24-hour-a-day Live Podcasting Marathon for 48 hours with your favorite podcasters, all at an ONLINE Virtual Expo Center!

Admission is just $10 and I am confident that you'll more than make that up with the great information on podcasting you'll get - not to mention several great deals that will come up during the course of the event. Take a look here...
Podcasting Poised to Take Over World

Okay, not the entire world, but it's becoming apparent that podcasting is more than just a hobby and more than just a way to spread good content around. Podcasting is much, much more. I caught wind of a podcast presentation from the folks at iMedia Connection.

If you aren't hip to iMedia Connection, you should be:

http://www.imediaconnection.com

One of the top ranked sites for online multi-media, marketing, strategies, research, podcasting and industry issues, iMedia offers perspectives that will help you in your marketing efforts as well as keep you up to date with what's happening in the online media world.

And check out this podcast - a one-hour symposium on where podcasting is headed. If you want to keep abreast of the racing heartbeat of podcasting, you owe it to yourself to listen to this (opens new window):

http://www.imediaconnection.com/podcast/iMediaConnection_Podcast_048.mp3

If you are considering getting into podcasting now but are hesitating, sit down and listen to this presentation. It's about an hour long and worth every minute. I think you might even want to listen twice.

By then, you are probably going to want to get a podcast up and running right away. However, it's not necessarily that easy or quick. Not to say it's hard, but there are hurdles which you'll have to get by.

I can help. Podcasting Adventures Online is designed to help you get podcasting and get past the technical details in short order. But beyond that, PAO has a special module designed to help you create killer content. The Constant Killer Content System is a step-by-step method of corraling great content from a variety of sources. Check it out and learn more here.