To Podcast or Not to Podcast...

[Jack J Ward]

That has been the question of many folks.
Here's some recent discussion on the topic.

Wizzard Media: 1 Billion Downloads in 2007, Podcasting Far from Dead
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives..._1_billion.php

Why we're not there monetizing yet.
http://mashable.com/2008/01/10/the-p...snt-downloads/

J

[audioaddict]

I think it's a debate that will always be around as long as there are independent media sources.

I was reading through those the other day, and the feeling I got from the Mashable post that they would really like to profit from podcasting. I notice when someone is really wanting to profit form podcasting, they tend to be slightly negative towards the medium, or not understand how it benefits because they aren't making anything off it.

Really, I guess it just depends on what you personally want to get back from your podcast. For some it's a side hobby, others a way to get a message out. Still others would really like to make it their day job.

Some just want to pass the profits on, like what you would like to do with your Society Gold idea (if I read it correctly)- which I think is great. From an audio cinema perspective, I think podcasting is a great way to showcase your work, then have either higher-quality downloads or CD's for sale. You can also pick and choose what you put in the feed, that way you are not giving away everything for free. Hook 'em then if they want more? Pay for this subscription/CD.

So many possibilities!

~Dani

[Crash]

I agree , Mashable seemed to be very negative since they wanted everything handed to them without proof that the show would be worth it. Just because you have a busy blog , doesn't mean you will be able to get and maintain an audience.

Monetizing a blog is easy, a podcast however is a different story since people have to download and listen. I have about 300-400 feeds in my reader for blogs, but maybe 30-40 podcasts. I don't even read half the feeds most of the time, but I will always listen to the podcasts.

Mashable walked in with an ego and got told they weren't important, it shocked them.

[AtomicClockwork]

We are the modern day radio pirates...Arrrr me Maties!

Everytime I do a podcast a part of me make believes I'm Christian Slater in "Pump up the Volume".

If you haven't seen it: Rent it!

Also it has a kick ass soundtrack, and Samantha Mathis. How can you go wrong?

[audioaddict]

One of my favorite movies! I haven't seen it in years, though. I wonder if I ever converted it to DVD from video....

Anyway, it seems this is quite the hot topic in the pod-verse:

http://www.podcastingnews.com/2008/0...winer-full-sh/

~Dani

[Rich Frohlich]

We decided to start posting shows from our archives... first of all because we have over 70 shows we can put on line, and second, so that our local audience would have something to listen to if they googled us.

What have we got to lose?

[Jack J Ward]

Yes I'm on a mission. Or rather two.
1. Get Audio Drama (whatever you call it) out there in mass consciousness again.
2. Make it so that folks who want to do it for the love for free, can do that, and those who want to make it their day job, they can do that too.

I don't pretend to believe that it is the golden goose... but there are folks who make a decent living doing webcomics.
There's no reason to think that couldn't be audio drama folk.

I've had people get a little affronted at the thought of me suggesting that a paying model is a good thing.
My question back to them is, "Don't you think that your pleasure is worth paying the artists for their time?" Ideally if enough people bought it, buying a 2 dollar show with a couple thousand listeners per show would be a good paycheque for those who put it together.

I'm not all about the money.
But I would love to see people like Gregg getting the opportunity to do this full time and really see what would happen when he has the time to do what he'd like to do. Hell, you might even see a Red Panda a week at that!
J

[David Accampo]

	Quote:	AtomicClockwork
	We are the modern day radio pirates...Arrrr me Maties! Everytime I do a podcast a part of me make believes I'm Christian Slater in "Pump up the Volume". If you haven't seen it: Rent it! Also it has a kick ass soundtrack, and Samantha Mathis. How can you go wrong?

could this be the common link between podcasters? We all loved Pump Up The Volume?

And Samantha Mathis...?

(Here's hoping podcasting doesn't follow Christian Slater's career trajectory...)

[David Accampo]

	Quote:	Jack J Ward
	1. Get Audio Drama (whatever you call it) out there in mass consciousness again.

This is definitely something I've thought about since we started dipping our toe into the audio drama pool.

We started Wormwood simply because we wanted to tell a story without the sort of production limitations that a film or TV show would have. It could have easily been a novel or a comic book, but I wanted to use podcasting and MP3 technology to self-distribute something on a massive level. And I wanted it to be complete in itself -- not a promo or a cheap or watered-down version of something else.

Thus, audio drama was a natural fit. It allowed us to find new avenues of storytelling, and I just love it.

BUT, what I've noticed is that it's the audio drama community that's embraced us first and foremost. My idea has always been that someone who likes, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Lost or Twin Peaks, would LOVE to download our show and get a similar flavor but in a format that's perfect for listening while you work, excercise, or sit in traffic (I'm in Los Angeles, so this last bit is very relevant).

So I've really been trying to spread the word about our serialized stories, hoping that if we can get people to listen, we can get 'em hooked. I've actually been very active on forums in the comic book industry for this very reason. Given the genre of our show, given the serialized storytelling, given the niche nature of THAT community, I have figured that comics fans MIGHT just be the easiest test cases to cross over and discover audio drama.

I'd definitely be curious to hear what others have done to try to spread the word and get audio drama higher visibility in our on-demand, portable digital media world.

[Jack J Ward]

The biggest issue I find is retraining young minds to listen to stories.
I have a ton of high school students around me all the time as a teacher. They are constantly plugged in to music. The idea of listening to audio stories is alien to them. They don't get why anyone would do that.
Teaching them that sound is not just for music is our biggest challenge.
We've moved from a world of multiple learning intelligences to one that is primarily visual and that's a real handicap.
For everyone!
J