With the rise of podcasting, many individuals and
organizations are finding that podcasting is a great way
to distribute information, from music and comedy
shows to talk shows, even podcast news. CNET is one
of the groups that is distributing a news podcast. CNET,
being an online technology site, naturally found a niche
distributing a tech news related podcast. CNET’s recent
podcasts covered such topics as viruses that attack cell
phones, problems with Google’s software, China’s web
restrictions and the “Great Firewall of China”, and the
FTC’s attack on spyware. These news items were
distributed in a sound file called an mp3 file that is
downloadable to a listener’s computer for listening
whenever they wish. While these files were available
straight from CNET’s site, the majority of them are
shared through the use of an RSS file. An RSS file is a
small piece of XML coding that is downloadable by
programs designed to read it. These programs are called
podcast clients, and the user can input the address of the
RSS files that hold the information on the feed. The
feed will contain links to the media files of the podcast,
and will download the new updates automatically.

More sites than CNET are finding that podcast news is
an expoitable technology. The British Broadcasting
Corporation podcasts some of it’s programs, as well as
the US radio network NPR. The NPR, because its work
is created by a variety of different groups, treats
podcasts differently from show to show. The NPR show
“This American Life” distributes a podcast of the show
through a site called audible.com, which allows feed
listeners to subscribe to the feed for a small fee and
download the show . The NPR Hourly News show, on
the other hand, shares a short 5 minute broadcast that
summarizes the news for free. Since the NPR is taking a
radio show and converting it into a file that is
downloadable by the user, little is lost in the translation.
The sound is designed to convey the entire story, and so
podcast subscribers are able to treate the podcast as
nothing more than TIVO for the radio. ABC’s podcast
of the news show Nightline, on the other hand, is
simply the sound track from the television show. This
has been one of the criticisms of the Nightline podcast,
because by merely stripping the sound from what is
designed as a television show, much information is not
given to the users. Listeners have problems telling who
is who because they miss the visual cues that were
supposed to be there, and there is no truly easy way to
convert the shows. For this reason, some news shows
have been moving from audio podcasts to video ones.
They can take the video information directly from the
show that is broadcast, lower the visual resolution to
shrink the file, and distribute it online as a podcast.

A Podcast RSS feed is what allows the entire system to
function. To begin at the beginning, a podcast is a
regular distribution of audio or visual files, called
episodes, to a users podcast client. The people who use
a podcast are called subscribers, and the podcast client
is what allows them to subscribe to a feed. The podcast
client is a program that connects to the internet, looking
for a specific file the user has subscribed to, or told it to
look for. That file is an RSS feed, a machine readable
piece of coding that sends information back to the
podcast client. RSS feeds can be used to distribute
many kinds of information, and were originally used for
blogging and distributing blog posts to subscribers. As
time went on, however, a few people had the idea of
enclosing information about media files within the RSS
feed so that software could be written to find that
information and download the files described.

The Podcast RSS feeds became a hit, and podcast
clients were quickly written to allow people to use the
new encoding. Podcasting became a means of quickly
and cheaply sharing episodes with subscribers. Rather
than requiring subscribers to visit the site that hosted
the files everytime they wanted to know if a new
episode was released, users could rely on the podcast
client to do the work for them, keeping track of
numerous podcast rss feeds that interested them and
downloading the files to be viewed when they wished.

Podcast RSS feeds are now used to distribute a number
of different types of podcasts. Some producers use it as
way to share a comedy or news program that they
produce, others podcast in order to share music files
they create, and some podcast to share video files they
have created and to showcase their work. Podcasting
allows the producers to become radio or television stars
without the large investment in time and money that
wuld be required to do that. Because podcasting has
such a low entry cost, requiring little more than a server
and a domain to host the site and a way to record the
media, thousands of people who otherwise would not
have a chance to work in a media environment have a
chance to do so through their podcast rss feeds.

In this way, podcast RSS feeds allow media publishing
over the internet at a fraction of the cost of other forms
of media distribution, permitting people with much
smaller budgets to compete in some way. However,
podcast rss feeds are also attracting more established
companies and groups as well, bringing people from
NPR radio stations and news organizations like CNN
who use podcasting as yet another means to distribute
their product to end users.

A podcast directory is a listing of syndication feeds that
link to a podcast. They are often organized by category
and topic, and allow the user to find a feed that podcasts
about almost anything. Just as search engines help
people find sites with the information they need, a
podcast directory presents a searchable list of podcasts
users can subscribe to. Users may even be able to play
the available feed episodes from within the site.

Unlike most search engines, though, a podcast directory
rarely searches out and finds content on its own,
automatically. All the feeds are either contributed by
users who want people to find their podcast, or added
by the staff. Nearly anyone can set up a podcast, but
gaining visitors can be difficult, and so podcasters can
submit their feeds to the directory to gain readers.

Since its so easy to make a podcast, a podcast directory
often uses ways to separate the very good feeds from
the ones people do not enjoy as much. A directory may
have a ranking system, feature certain special feeds on
the front page, or even allow visitors to comment with
their thoughts on a feed.

Visitors to a podcast directory can thus add their own
podcasts, search for feeds on topics or regions that
interest them, and even comment on those they like or
dislike.

The podcast for This American Life allows listeners to
download the the shows and listen to them at their
discretion. The This American Life team contracts with
a site called audible.com to distribute the shows to
listeners who want to hear them. Despite calling their
offering a podcast, however, it is not, at least in the
normal sense of the word. A podcast refers to an online
setup with an RSS feed that is regularily updated, can
be subscribed to, and provides links to sound or video
files that can be downloaded and watched by the
subscriber. Audible.com and This American Life do not
offer that. Instead, the show’s team allows audible.com
to receive money for allowing listeners to download the
sound files to the computer from audible.com’s web
site. The only RSS file involved is one specific to the
user which allows that user access to the shows they are
interested in. Even odder than charging for a supposed
podcast, the sound files downloaded are tied to the
specific user who downloads them. Unlike the vast
majority of podcasts, which allow the files to be
distributed and redistributed as the end user wishes,
without placing limitations on such, the This American
Life podcast restricts the file to a single user.

The podcast for This American Life misses the point of
what a podcast is intended to be, the free distribution of
information. The This American Life team is exploiting
the term podcasting, and the credibility and hipness that
is associated with the term in order to boost their own
popularity.

On the other hand, the podcast for This American Life
may be where the rest of the industry is headed.
Although the technology was first adopted by
independent media groups that enjoyed it because of the
low cost of distribution and the close possible ties to
end users, that may change when podcasting becomes a
wider phenomenon. If podcasting is adopted by more
mainstream, corporate entities, the face of podcasting is
likely to change to one where a profit plan is required.
Audible.com’s plan of forcing users to subscribe and
pay for the feeds they want may be the way the
corporate world decides to latch on to and use
podcasting. The advantage of podcasting, direct
distribution of the media files to the user’s home
computer quickly and easily, is not lost if the system
moves to one revolving around profit.

Regretfully, the podcast for This American Life is
probably an example of what podcasting will be in a
few years. As much as locked media files that restrict
distribution may be repugnant to many of the free
information activists that curently dominate podcasting,
there is little to stop those who want to use the system
to make a profit from doing so.

Its easy to find and download a free podcast. The best
way to find free podcasts is probably to check a podcast
directory. A podcast directory is a listing of many,
sometimes thousands of different podcasts. The podcast
directory will usually organize the podcasts by topic and
genre, making it easy to find the type of podcast that is
sought. In addition, podcast directories often allow the
visitors to comment on the podcasts listed, and provide
a list of the favorite podcasts on the site, making it easy
for users to find the best podcasts available. These
podcast directories can be used to browse through,
introducing users to many different podcasts they
otherwise would not have found.

Once a podcast has been found that interests the user, it
is necessary to download the free podcast. The vast
majority of podcasts will be free, but there will be a few
that may cost a small amount of money. The process to
subscribe to and download the podcasts is the same in
either case. First, a podcast client needs to be found and
installed. There are many free podast clients available,
all providing a slightly different user interface and range
of options. They come with many different names, such
as Podscape, or Nimiq, and searching for ‘free podcast
client’ or something like it will turn up many
possibilities. When the podcast client has been
installed, inputting the feed address will allow the
podcast to be downloaded. The podcast client will
check the address given for a small, machine readable
file called an RSS file. This file will contain
information about the podcasts, perhaps some text
about the individual episodes, as well as the location of
the episode file. Once the podcast client has been
located the file referred to in the RSS feed, it will be
downloaded and stored on the users computer until the
want to view it.

Sometimes, of course, access to a personal computer is
not available, but it is still necessary to check a certain
podcast. Fortunately, many podcast directories offer
built in podcast readers in the site. Not only do they
often show each recent episode that is available, they
may also offer a way to view or listen to those podcast
episodes from within the site. By using the viewer
contained within the site, it is no longer necessary to
even download the podcast episodes. However, the
ability to move and share the episodes after
downloading is one of the wonderful things about
podcasting. The files can be placed on almost and
media player, ranging from iPods to the new Play
Station Portable. This flexibility is one of the reasons
podcasts have succeeded, despite other technologies
like streaming music and video. The desire of
consumers to have control over technology cannot be
over estimated.

A podcast client is the software used to access and
download podcasts. Podcast clients are also known as
media aggregators, programs designed to automatically
access an online file, or feed, and download the audio or
video file associated with it. Hundreds of these
programs exist, with names like IpodderX, Juice,
Nimiq, and PodSpider. These podcast clients are easy to
find, and because there are so many available for free, it
is easy to find one that suits an individuals needs and
style. These programs run on the users computer,
periodically downloading a small RSS file from sites
that it has been told to monitor. The file tells the
program about an audio or video file stored on the
server, and the podcast client then downloads that file
for the user to view or listen to.

The podcast client thus allows the user to view
information on a wide range of topics from their
computer, without even using a web browser. Just like
blogs let people find writers they enjoyed for any niche
topic they were interested in, podcasts let people do
them same for audio and video. Its as if a thousands of
radio and television channels were created to serve
every possible interest, and more were made every day.
Using the podcast client to access and download the
files makes it as easy to keep up with the sites one likes
as it is to publish the feed.

Many music podcasts are available online for
downloading; if one wanted to find, for instance, a hip
hop mix podcast, there are a few sites available to help.
The first possibility would be to go directly to a site
which creates one and subscribe to it using a podcast
client which automatically checks the feed for new
episodes and downloads them for the user. If, however,
one did not know of any hip hop mix podcast sites, or
simply wanted to find new podcast sites, the best
possibility would be to check a podcast directory, a list
of podcasts that can be browsed.

Hip hop mix podcasts could easily be found at one of
these podcast directories. A podcast directory stores
lists of podcasts which have been submitted to the site,
and categorizes them by genre, type of podcast, region,
and other meta data. To find a hip hop mix podcast,
visiting a podcast directory and checking under music
podcasts, and then under hip hop music would find
many podcasts which play that type of music.

The hip hop mix podcast could then be subscribed to by
inputting the feed address listed into one of the many
podcast clients. The music will come in episodes, the
name for each downloadable portion of a podcast. Some
of these podcasts may feature independent artists,
musicians trying to break into the music industry who
have chosen podcasting as a way of sharing their music
and gaining a following. Others may be remixes of
popular songs that have been changed in some way to
give a different feel to the music. Often, the artists may
already be established, though, and they still see
podcasting as a way to introduce themselves to a larger
audience. They may grant rights to pay certain hip hip
songs to a podcaster, letting them play the music as part
of their mix distribution while requesting a link to a site
where more information can be learned about the artists
and music can be purchased. Artists that have done this
include alias, edan, outerspace, RA the rugged man,
roots manuva, and outer space.

A large number of podcasts featuring hip hop mix
podcasts are actually radio stations, however. These
broadcasters have found that podcasting their shows
and selections is an easy way to reach more listeners
and gain a greater audience. These podcasters can reach
more people easier and cheaper than they can by
playing hip hop mix music over the airwaves in their
local areas. Playing hip hop music over the internet is
probably the way many future artists will do their work,
and there are many ways available even now that they
can do so and make a profit. For instance, some
podcasts are designed to work on a payment basis. A
hip hop artist who wished to share his music could
charge for addition to the feed list, then issue a unique
feed address to the user, allowing them to hear new
pieces of hip hop music released. The hip hop music
file could even be designed so it could not be copied
and used by another user at a different computer, to
ensure that the artist could maintain control over his
work.

Many podcasts are available to subscribe to and watch
in a variety of genres, and one of these is the comedy
podcast. Every small scale wannabe writer has a chance
to become a comedian through podcasting, since the
low entry cost allows people to start podcasting with
minimum effort and money. To find some of these
comedy podcasters, check a podcast directory. A
podcast directory is a listing of many, sometimes
several thousands, of podcasts submitted and divided
into categories. A podcast directory will probably have
a large number of comedy podcasts available to
subscribe to.

These comedy podcasts are usually created by a small
team of people who do the work in their free time, as a
hobby, not as a source of income. Because it is a hobby,
they’re more willing to give the work away for free, for
nothing more than recognition, probably in the hopes
they can parlay that recognition into a more mainstream
job. Some more corporate groups also put together
comedy podcasts, however. The satirical comedy web
site TheOnion.com puts out a regular comedy podcast,
featuring readings from their fake news site.

Placing a comedy podcast on the Internet has several
advantages for the creators. They get to showcase their
work, easily distributing their art to many people. This
following is likely to be be unusually passionate,
following the artist with more enthusiasm than the
artist’s average audience. The comedian has a chance to
be more open with the audience, engaging in a sort of
dialogue with them. The comedian broadcasts the files,
which enter the computer of the user, already a more
personal level than simply hearing the jokester on the
radio or on television. Compedy podcast subscribers
will often then write back to the podcaster, or leave
comments on the blog which often accompanies a
podcast site. This can give them a degree of input and
connection with the writers of the comedy podcast that
is far removed from other styles of comedy distribution.

The writers and producers of a comedy podcast thus
benefit from several advantages of the podcast form. It
is cheap and easy to set up, and uses a distribution
mechanism that is also easy to use. The way the podcast
form is designed, as well, creates greater connection
between the producer and the subscribers. The comedy
writer has a greater ability to interact with the
subscribers and to find out what they appreciate or do
not. Because podcasting is so simple to get involved in,
requiring only a small investment to get started, many
amateur comedy writers have begun starting their own
shows and distributing the feed. It is likely, because of
the unique connection podcasting offers between writer
and listener, that we will see at least some of these
amateur comedians make the leap to the professional
stage.

A podcast is an easy way of distributing media files
over the internet, and this article will tell how to make a
podcast. The first thing necessary is a domain, and a
host on which to store the media files for the podcast.
Getting a domain is simple and easy, there are many
domain registrars that can register a domain for
someone for a small fee. Some of these domain
registrars are GoDaddy.com, Dotster, or Network
Solutions are some that provide domains. The domain
registrar will, for a small fee, enter the chosen domain,
provided it is not being used, into the computers that
form the backbone of the internet. These computers will
be told where the domain is located on the internet;
what host it is that holds the domain’s information. In
order to give them that information, the name servers
that are held by the host need to be associated with the
domain. Once the domain is in place, a good host
should be found. The host that is chosen should offer a
large amount of both disk space and a much larger
amount bandwidth. Disk space is neccessary because
the site which holds the podcast will be storing large
media files; audio or video files that take up a lot of
space and are difficult to compress. The large
bandwidth is necessary because transferring these large
files many times to many different people will use up
the quota quickly. A good amount of diskspace would
be several GigaBytes, bandwidth should be in the tens
or hundreds of Gigabytes. Once the host is set up, it
should offer you a couple of addresses called
nameservers. Inputting these server addresses into the
site where the domain was registered will complete the
domain setup and allow the site to be found on the
internet.

The next step for people who want to know how to
make a podcast is installing the software necessary to
maintain the podcast. A small piece of coding called
dircaster.php can be used to set up a basic level of
podcast. Dircaster.php can be found easily by searching
for it in any search engine. Once it is located, it should
be edited to reflect the particulars of the domain and
uploaded to the site. Dircaster.php will generate an RSS
file, or feed, that tells the subscriber about the new files
available for downloading. To begin podcasting, create
the audio files that should be podcast, fill in the
information about the file such as date, author, etc, and
upload them to the same directory that contains
dircaster.php. You now have a podcast, and all that is
needed is to publicise the address of the file
dircaster.php. To update the podcast with new
information, just upload the new files. Other things to
make the podcast better might be a site that contains
information about the podcast, but it isn’t necessary.

Many music podcasts are available online, distributed
by podcasters who want to share their collection with
the world. Some of these are distributed by independent
musicians, groups or individuals who enjoy creating
and sharing their music but have a small fanbase. For
them, a podcast means closer contact with their
listeners, and the blog that usually accompanies a
podcast often allows for the comments and opinions of
the listeners to be shared with the musicians. The
listeners often appreciate this close contact, and some
become resentful when their favorite groups gain
widespread popularity. Musicians may find that the
music podcast they share is a way to build a following
and gain an audience that is loyal to them. Since many
of the musicians who podcast do so as independent
artists who lack the sound the music industry is looking
for or simply haven’t been noticed yet, a music podcast
may build a following that attracts attention to them and
gives them an entry point into the music industry.

For others, a music podcast may be the chance to
become a dj, and the episodes they share will contain
mixes of different songs, highlighting obscure yet
accomplished artists and taking their listeners on a tour
every episode. These amateurs podcast merely because
they enjoy the activity, as most independent podcasters
do. Yet another type of music podcast, however,
involves the online radio station. While some radio
stations have taken the leap to the internet by offering
streaming connections to their current playlist, others
have accepted the podcast as a way of sharing their
music. Such a style is very similar to the amateur dj, but
brings a level of professionalism that is not found with
the amateur podcasters.

A music podcast may also be a way to sample works by
more well known artists before purchasing. Some
musicians and groups will podcast their new music, or
portions of the new pieces, in order to peak interest in
the songs before release. Fans get to listen to the music
and find out what they might like before purchasing the
whole album. A possibility, however, is that music
podcasts become subscription based, and musicians
begin charging for access to the feed. The online sale of
music has proved its popularity, with Apple’s iTunes
reaching its one billionth paid download recently. A
music group could conceivably offer a feed to its fans
that they could pay for, and regularily update it with
new songs that would be downloaded directly to the
fan’s computers Although this distribution model is not
yet in place, it seems to fit with the over all trend.
Already, some nonmusic groups have agreed to podcast
their files, on the condition that a paid subscription is
bought.