Podcasting

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Podcasting is something that is sweeping the world with popularity. When people first hear the word podcasting, they usually ask, “What is podcasting?” Podcasting is defined by Wikipedia (an online dictionary) as: the distribution of audio files, such as radio programmes, over the internet using RSS syndication for listening on mobile devices and personal computers. A podcast is a web feed of audio or video files placed on the Internet for anyone to subscribe to, and also the content of that feed. Podcasters' websites also may offer direct download of their files, but the subscription feed of automatically delivered new content is what distinguishes a podcast from a simple download or real-time streaming .

I went to Yahoo and typed in podcasts and got over 55 million pages to search through. There are many different types of podcasts; such as entertainment, news, food, music etc. Anyone can find a podcast that they will enjoy and relate to. Some daily news shows are actually broadcasting through podcasts as well as on television.

With my love of music I enjoy the musical podcasts the most. Charlie Chapman (C.C. to all his friends) currently hosts two podshows, both playing nothing but unsigned and upcoming artists. His original podshow is Accident Hash http://accidenthash.podshow.com/ which he plays a variety of music on, but mainly the heavier loud stuff. Many of his listeners were commenting on how much they liked the mellower music when he would play it, which is why he started his second podshow U-Turn Café http://u-turncafe.podshow.com/ .

He gets his music from a website called Podsafe music. The site is designed so that artists can submit their music to be played on podcasts and so that podcasters can find new music to play.

Both of his shows have become a huge success. He has people from all over the world listening to his shows. He gets fan mail and phone calls from everywhere. One night someone from Ireland called him and they chatted on the phone for well over an hour.

When asked to describe podcasting in his own words he said, “Audio and video content on the web that you can get delivered directly to you and enjoy whenever you want. Think of it as Tivo for web content. Radio as we know it is doomed and podcasting is going to have fun kicking the sh** out of it. As more content gets produced more and more people are going to realize that they don’t need a TV or a radio. That they can get all the entertaining and informative content they want on the web through podcasts.”

His explanation for what got him started in it is, “I got an iPod and in researching software and stuff for it I came across the concept of Podcasting. Since I had blogged for several years it seemed like a no brainer extension of that and so in December of 2004 I did my first Reality B***hslap Radio. It quickly took on a life of its own and then I got into the concept of Podsafe Music and some people told me I should try a music show so I did. And well…the rest is history.”

His response to the question of did he ever think it would become as big of a part of his life was, “No. Not at all. I knew it was going to take some time and be yet another thing I was in to. In fact I remember Laura [his wife] shaking her head and going “oh great another hobby.” So it’s obvious neither of us thought it would get to the point where it is right now.” Like many things he has become involved in, it starts as a hobby and something fun and turns into a huge part of his life.

He listed some of his favorite things about podcasting; “Getting artists thanking me for playing their music. E-mail from complete strangers who had some sort of emotional connection to a show, tune or subject that comes up on my podcast. Discovering and sharing new music with the world. Meeting such a diverse and great bunch of new friends that I might never had.” The only thing he said was something that he dislikes about it was that “The fact that I don’t have nearly enough time to do all the adventures that I want to. If this was full time I could really make a difference.”

He has had many adventures already though. He went to a podcasters expo in California. He recently was a key note speaker at a conference in Atlanta. In May he is the key note speaker at a conference in Germany.

He said his favorite experiences so far have been, “There have been so many, but feeling like a rock start while in California for the Podcast Expo was a definite trip. Everyone knew who I was and it was great to meet people left and right. That was fun. Pulling off the Brother Love & Chance concert at the expo was cool as well. I want to do more of that!”

As much fun as he is having doing it, he knows that this will not be a life long thing for him. When asked if he thinks he will ever stop podcasting he replied, “Oh I’m sure at some point it with either evolve into something else or go away, but for right now I don’t want to think about things like that. It’s going to change a lot of things.”