Digital Audio World

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

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Apple Turnover

So Apple is gathering the posturing attorneys to protect the term iPod: Podcast Ready has been served with a 'cease and desist' letter, saying that the terms "'podcast ready' and 'mypodder' consist in substantial part of Apple's iPod mark, and contain Apple's POD mark in its entirety."

Lots of discussion on the Yahoo podcast board - not everyone things that Apple will get away with this. After all, "podcasting" and "podcast" are words that entered the English language before Apple released iPod.

Keep watching - this could get interesting. See the letter from Apple here.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Old-Time Radio Style Alive and Well in the Podcast World

Check out the interview with J. Marcus Xavier of "The Silent Universe" in the most recent Tim Gonzo Gordon Podcast Show.

It's a fun behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a podcast with voice actors, sound effect, music and a script.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

64 Reasons Why (and How) Small Business Should Be Podcasting!

Learning, Networking, Web Traffic, Branding, Promotion, Positioning Yourself as a Leader

Why podcast? As a small business, if you're considering all of the various reasons to podcast, let me help you. I've put together a special report that has 64 Reasons!

Here are the first ten:
  1. Drive more traffic to your site.
  2. Increase your brand recognition.
  3. It's easy.
  4. It allows you to discuss ideas and concepts in detail with other people that you might not have normally been able to.
  5. It will increase your visibility.
  6. I will increase your networking opportunities.
  7. You'll meet people who come across your podcast that you never would have met before. One or two of them will open doors for you that you didn't even know existed.
  8. Promote your product.
  9. Promote an affiliate product.
  10. If you create a popular podcast, you can use a variety of methods to monetize it.
To get the remaining 54 Reasons Why (and How) Small Business Should Be Podcasting, click through to the subscription op-in page for the Podcast Info newsletter. Not only will you get the report "64 Reasons Why (and How) Small Business Should Be Podcasting" but you'll also get "Podcast Best Practices" and "Ten Ways You Can Post Audio Online."

What the hell? Do it now!

Friday, September 15, 2006

Starbucks Podcast Reviews Taste Bitter

Here's a surprisingly refreshing review of a corporate podcast: Podcasting dregs: Starbucks grinds out surprisingly flavorless product by Steve Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.

Too bad he doesn't offer advice on how to cure the coffee blues in this particular 'flavorless' corporate podcast.

Here's how I'd fix it:

First, DON'T DO THE INTRO ON THE FRICKIN' TELEPHONE!!

Jeez, this is such a cheap and easy cure, it's amazing that such a deep-pockets company such as Starbucks can't figure this out. Either they don't have anyone in-house that knows what they're doing, or the professional podcast producer they've hired is really, well, unprofessional. I'd never let that kind of lousy sound quality pass out of my studio that's for sure (hint, hint!).

In listening to Episode Two, the lady host (what the hell's her name, anyway - don't they even think to let us know that up front?) is doing the interview from a telephone and talking to a guy who sounds like he's also on a telephone, but perhaps in a studio. His quality is fairly good, but still not excellent quality like it should be.

I don't get it.

Next, take the damn microphone out to some stores. People who sit and drink lattes and half-caf vanilla espressos all day long at Starbucks must be pretty big fans of the store and certainly have some interesting content. Yeah, it'd take a little more work, but - once again - this is STARBUCKS, fer Chrissake. Do some interviews and get some unique content.

The interview with the coffee barista comes off as flat and scripted, instead of spontaneous, fun and unscripted. I guess it's hard to make a professional podcaster out of a coffee barista, but you can certainly hire a professional announcer to handle the hosting chores.

Other elements:

Music - lame. Who's elevator are we on? (echoing Steve Johnson's comment) Why can't they feature some of the music available at Starbucks? Surely they can afford the music licensing rights.

Features: hmm. Not much thought here. Entertaining with coffee? Interview with a barista? These all ooze corporatism - after seeing the Starbucks segment on 60 Minutes I don't think Founder Howard Schultz would buy into all of this mostly non-listenable content.

What about a history snippet? A coffee myth-busting feature? Coffee factoids? Something besides 'coffee talk.' How about chat about some of the cool music that Starbucks sells? That's GOT to be worth some chat time.

Bottom line: next time try for more good content, less corporate shilling.

Overall grade: C-

For a corporate podcast, even this is (so far) a non-starter. Unless they perk up their presentation and polish the audio quality, they'll continue to pale against some great hobby podcasts - which are much more entertaining and of higher audio quality.

I wonder. Should I tell them I'm available to consult?

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Andy Wibbels Interview

Andy recently released his book on blogging called "Blog Wild! A Guide for Small Business Blogging."

In a meandering interview, Andy talks about corporate and small business blogging, his upcoming WordPress blogging teleseminar, and the courge of the bloosphere - splogs. It's all on the most recent edition of the Tim Gonzo Gordon Podcast Show.