Podcasting - The Very Beginning
The year of 2005 marked the mainstream emergence of a technology that will make a profound impact on the music industry for years to come. In fact, this technology will make a profound impact on the entertainment industry as a whole. The technology that I’m speaking about is podcasting.
Podcasting, for those of you not in the know, is a technology that allows people to subscribe to media files (both audio and video) published to the internet by podcasters. Podcasters create and upload media to their websites. This in itself is not revolutionary. People have been posting rich media on websites for years. Podcasters take this a step further by creating RSS feeds with enclosures. RSS (which stands for Really Simple Syndication) feeds are simple text files that provide basic information like titles and descriptions for posts made to websites. News organizations have been using RSS for years to syndicate their content to partner websites. In mid-2004 the RSS format was modified to add a field for an “enclosure.” An enclosure is a link to a media file like an MP3 file or QuickTime movie. As soon as this innovation occurred, some enterprising software developers developed software that could recognize and automatically download the media enclosures to a person’s computer. Thus, podcasting was born.
So what’s the big deal? The big deal has to do, in part, with convenience. Where a person once had to check and recheck their favorite website for content, they could now subscribe one time using free software and have the media waiting for them to consume at their leisure. The concept of being able to automatically get content, from anywhere in the world without a heck of a lot of effort is appealing to people. People want media that’s convenient. And that brings me to the second reason why podcasting is such a big deal. By publishing content via the internet, that content is available anywhere in the world that has internet access. This opens up some exciting possibilities for artists accustomed to marketing their music to a local or regional audience. More on that in a moment. Finally, media published by podcasters is generally persistent media. Persistent media doesn’t immediately expire like programming on radio or television or even content that’s transmitted via a streaming webcast. Podcasters generally leave older content in their RSS feeds so that new subscribers to the content can get the new stuff and the old stuff. This approach provides a musician trying to get exposure an opportunity to get people’s attention long after the original media is published.
A Killer Marketing Channel
Podcasting is a killer marketing channel for musicians. In other words, if you’re a musician who’s interested in spreading the word about your music then you need to be involved in marketing your music via podcasting. Let me tell you why.
First off, podcasting is a medium that offers very few, if any restrictions on the distribution location of your content. Anyone with a computer and an internet connection anywhere in the world has access to your music. This differs from the currently accepted channels for music marketing of terrestrial radio and satellite radio. Terrestrial radio offers narrow regional exposure. Satellite radio offers national exposure, but only to subscribers of the particular satellite radio services. Both of these methods are adequate and certainly should not be ignored. But podcasting offers a much wider reach.
Secondly, podcasting is a medium that allows a listener to consume content at their leisure. This provides a decided advantage over the previously mentioned mediums and even over the newer medium of streaming webcasting. The fact is that if you’re an independent musician you need exposure. And you’re only going to get exposure by getting your music heard. It’s a shame that so much independent music that gets played via traditional methods of broadcasting gets missed by music lovers because they weren’t listening at the time and place that the broadcast occurred. Podcasting changes all that. If music is played on a podcast it has a shelf life. Listeners will download content for later consumption while commuting, driving, exercising whatever. The bottom line is that the channel of podcasting gives an artist a much higher probability of getting heard.
Finally, maybe the biggest reason that podcasting is a killer marketing channel is the fact that the network is growing. At this stage of history traditional outlets for new music are disappearing. FM rock stations are moving to talk radio formats. MTV and VH1 rarely play music videos on their main channels anymore. Satellite radio networks are focusing the bulk of their expansion on sports, lifestyle and news programming. Where does that leave independent artists? With airtime for music at a minimum the artists that do get played won’t be new ones and they certainly won’t be independent artists working their way up from the bottom.
The number of regularly produced podcasts in both audio and video form is increasing every day. In October of 2004 there were less than a hundred regular podcasts available. In February of 2005 there were a couple of thousand. At the end of 2005 there are over 11000 regularly produced podcasts. At least a quarter of those podcasts are music oriented and a good percentage of the remaining seventy five percent play some music during their shows. The music played on those podcasts could belong to you or the artists that you represent. I’ll take an expanding channel over a shrinking one any day of the week. An expanding channel means more opportunities for exposure which means more opportunity to gain fans, sell records and do all things that help take musical artists to higher levels of the business.
Ready For Prime Time
All signals indicate that podcasting is ready for prime time. In Mid-2005 Apple Computer officially recognized podcasting by adding a podcasting directory to their market leading iTunes music store. As a result, podcast downloads skyrocketed and interest in the medium increased exponentially. Seemingly overnight, do it yourself indie podcasters were joined by growing numbers of corporate entrants into the market. Rolling Stone is podcasting. BMI is podcasting. Sub Pop Records is podcasting. Johnson and Johnson is podcasting. IBM is podcasting. HBO is podcasting. When entertainment companies and major established corporations recognize the medium then it is officially a serious marketing channel. iTunes has recently expanded their music store to include a separate directory for video podcasts. Demand for video podcasts has grown steadily since the introduction of the Video iPod in the fall of 2005. There’s no doubt in my mind that podcasting is ready for prime time and here to stay.
The Water Is Warm
Given everything that I’ve presented in this article so far I can’t see any reason why musicians and those who promote them would not want to be involved in podcasting. Independent artists more than anyone need leverage to get exposure. Independent artists need to get a bang for their buck. Podcasting provides both. Simply put, you need to be involved in promoting your music via podcasting in order to be competitive in 2006 and beyond. And here’s the best part. Producers of podcasts are glad to hear from musicians. While radio stations, magazines and newspapers typically scorn unsolicited submissions, podcasters welcome a connection with artists producing quality music. In addition there are already a few websites where artists can submit their music to be played in podcasts with just a few clicks of the mouse. Podcasting is an artist friendly medium with thousands of producers glad to hear from artists. Now is the time to jump in because the water is warm.
Making The Leap
Once you have a nice warm and fuzzy feeling about the possibilities of podcasting you’ll probably want to know exactly how you can get involved in this exciting new medium. There are two key things that musicians can do to increase their exposure via podcasting. First off, pick a couple of tracks that represent the band and promote those tracks to music podcasters. Music podcasters are the folks who primarily play music in their podcasts. You can find music podcasters at the Association of Music Podcasting (www.musicpodcasting.org), on the Podsafe Music Network (www.music.podshow.com) and at the Insomnia Radio Network (www.insomniaradionetwork.com) to name a few. You can also find music podcasters on MySpace (www.myspace.com). As I said earlier, the network is growing daily so there will be places for you to connect with groups of music podcasters in the near future.
Once you find the podcasters you want to contact them and let them know which of your tracks is “podsafe.” Podsafe is a music podcasting term that means that podcasters can play your music without fear of retribution from the RIAA. You are essentially giving the podcasters a license to play your music on their podcasts. The typical arrangement involves the podcaster providing links on their website or mentions in the audio of the podcast. It’s a two way arrangement really. You provide quality music that makes the podcast entertaining. And the podcaster directs podcast consumers to your website where you have the possibility of gaining a new fan or selling your music.
If you want to take your entry into podcast marketing to the next level you should think about creating a periodic audio or video podcast to represent your music. The concept behind a podcast for a musical artist should be anything that brings fans and potential fans closer to the artists and their music. As a musical artist you can talk about the influences behind your songs then play the tracks that you talk about. You can provide news and updates on what’s happening with recording, touring, CD releases and anything else related to your music. If you need some more ideas you can check out a couple of popular podcasts created by independent musicians over at The Biddycast (www.biddycast.com) and Brother Love Notes (www.brotherlovenotes.blogspot.com). These podcasts are about artists called The Lascivious Biddies and Brother Love respectively and they represent a format of communication with fans and the music industry that should be part of any musician’s marketing strategy. Think of podcasts as multimedia newsletters that reach out to fans and create a deeper, more lasting connection. Fans that feel more connected will stay in tune with updates and are more likely to recommend an artist to other people.
Tools Of The Trade
Before you can go off and create your own podcast to represent yourself as an artist you need to know a little something about the steps you need to take. First, you need to create some audio or video media. Next you need to subscribe to a service that helps you to create an RSS or Podcast Feed. One service that is very simple to use and inexpensive is called LibSyn (www.libsyn.com) which is short for Liberated Syndication. LibSyn provides everything you need to get started in podcasting with a very simple interface and at a very reasonable price. If you already have a place on your website where you store media files then you can store the files on your website and use a free service called Big Contact (www.bigcontact.com). Big Contact’s web based software allows you to create a podcast channel by linking to the files already on your web server and includes some nice extras like a streaming audio player for your website or MySpace page. If you are on a very low budget, try storing your files for free on OurMedia (www.ourmedia.org). OurMedia is an open source media project that allows you to store audio and video for free.These are just a few of the tools that you can use to make your podcast ready for consumption by the masses.
The Last Mile
The final step in this podcast adventure is a very important one. The step involves marketing and promotion. This is where professionals can help you if they’re willing to get savvy on the world of podcasting. Taking this article to heart is step one of that process. Anyone promoting music, whether it’s a paid public relations professional or the band members themselves should know that just emailing a few podcasters or producing a periodic podcast is not enough. Like anything else, if you want to get maximum results then effort is required.
As I stated earlier, the network of podcasters is growing daily. If you’re submitting music to podcasts you should establish relationships with podcasters. Keep them up to date. Send them fresh content when you have something that you want the world to hear. Be professional and organized. Note the podcasters that you like or have treated you well and reciprocate accordingly. Keep an eye on podcast directories like Podcast Alley (www.podcastalley.com), Podcast Pickle (www.podcastpickle.com) and Odeo (www.odeo.com) to find new podcasts that focus on music. Promoting a band via podcasts is not necessarily very simple, but you get far more attention and more bang for the buck than traditional media outlets.
If you decide to go the way of producing a podcast then there’s marketing work to be done there as well. Leverage existing resources like email lists, MySpace pages and your website to announce to what you’re doing to all of your current followers. Take steps to get listed in all the major podcast directories like those mentioned in the previous paragraph. Submit your feed to the iTunes podcast directory. Mention your podcast and the podcasts that play your music from the stage at your shows.
There’s a lot of work to do but its work that can be very rewarding. You’ll find that attention and recognition are much easier to get in the world of podcasting than they are in the traditional music business hierarchy. And yes you will sell more albums as a result of these efforts. Great services like CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com) make it easier than ever for musicians to get their music directly to the fans. Frankly, I haven’t met an artist yet who regretted making the effort to be involved in podcasting.
Rock On
My hope is that this article was able to educate you and shed some light on the world of podcasting and its possibilities for musicians. The year of 2006 is going to be an exciting one for independent media producers and consumers alike. Those who get on board the train will enjoy the ride. Those who wait in the station crippled by worries about illegal downloading, the RIAA and alienating established media outlets will be disappointed to find that they’ve been fooled again.
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