Podcast Production Services

2007-03-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

Podcast Production Services President Dan Roberge Radio Interview.

Dan was interviewed about Podcasting on the "Woody Woodland Show" this morning, you can hear the interview HERE

Hope you enjoy it and find it informative.

2006-10-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Will Pod People Feel Microsoft's Love?

By Laurie Sullivan, TechWeb Technology News

Microsoft Corp. might rely on third-party software developers to make podcast publishing and listening easier in its next operating system, media player and Internet browser, a company executive said.

Plug-ins and podcasting tools for Vista will likely come from third-party developers, Aaron Coldiron, a Microsoft product manager, said on Friday at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo in Ontario, Calif.

Although Microsoft has no plans to build a podcast aggregator into Vista, "the company is thinking about it," Coldiron confirmed. "It's on Zune's list of features."

The word came after Los Angeles radio host Leo Laporte rallied podcasters Friday during a keynote speech at the conference aimed, in part, at encouraging the Redmond, Wash., company to add a podcast aggregator and tools.

Colligan.com Inc. CEO and podcaster Paul Colligan said someone at Microsoft advocates podcasting because 250 simultaneous feeds called "Zune firmware .9 beta" recently accessed one of his podcasts.

"They have to put it into Media Player on XP," said Colligan, a developer in Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) program. "Zune could become the hottest thing for podcasters."

Believing third-party software developers could create the podcast tools for both Zune and Vista, Colligan wants Microsoft to handover the project to the MVPs and let them create the $10,000 worth of code needed to make it work.

Vista and Zune might lack the podcasting tools for easy publishing, but Microsoft's Coldiron touted RSS features in IE7 that will send the audio and video files straight to listeners.

IE7 will have a RSS feature with an easy-click button enabling users to save the feeds to their Internet browser favorites, reading each tag similar to a Web page, Coldiron said. These's also an option to have them sync up directly with Outlook.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a feature set that deals directly with podcasts," Coldiron said. "There's a ton of stuff we would like to add, but we are focused now on shipping a good product."

Podcasters would welcome new tools and distribution methods. Bruce Murray, who produces and hosts a podcast called The ZedCast from Canada, said as a listener it doesn't make much difference whether Microsoft incorporates podcasting tools into Vista and Zune.

"As a podcaster it does," Murray said, because it would make it easier for podcasters to reach the millions of potential listeners who have Windows-based computers and media players.

Haywood, Calif., podcaster Sarah Chavis also believes easy-to-use tools in a Windows environment would entice those who are not tech savvy to embrace podcasting.

"Would it grow without Microsoft?" Chavis said. "Of course, those of us in the space won't let it die. But in Microsoft, the ramp up would be a lot faster."

Chris Gondek produces and hosts two types of podcasts for The Invisible Hand from Portland, Ore.

Gondek, who interviews authors of business books, publishes a show in two formats: MP3 and M4P, which podcasters call an "enhanced version."

The "enhanced version," for Apple iPod listeners, lets podcasters add links, cover art, and indexes for easy click-through. The M4P file produced with an Apple chapter tool will only play on QuickTime, iTunes, or an iPod, Gondek explained.

Listen to feedback from podcasters at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo here.

2006-09-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

Surfing the Internet for Spoken Words

New Technology Allows Searchers to Scour
Online Audio, Video to Target Advertising

By WILLIAM M. BULKELEY
September 14, 2006; Page B3

One of the charms of Internet video and audio is that Web sites featuring such offerings are largely free of the advertising cluttering television and radio.

That may be about to change.

Several small companies are starting to pitch advertising links using their software that will search every word spoken in Web-borne video soundtracks or Internet audio programs known as podcasts. The new technology, from companies including Podzinger Inc., TVEyes Inc. and Blinkx Inc., uses voice-recognition software to translate spoken words into text or audio-wave forms that can then be searched.

Identifying spoken content of audio and video clips results in more-relevant results when using a search engine to look for a particular item or topic. From there it is only a short step to also use the new technology to match related advertising with the search results -- much as Google Inc. and others do for searches of text-based material.

Major search portals, including Google, already offer searches for videocasts and audiocasts. But they search for text "tags" -- a few words of summary created by the producers of the content that may not fully describe all the content of the audio or video material.

The new technology makes it possible to take a searcher directly to the portion of a podcast or video where the speaker discusses specific topics of interest, such as mutual funds, cholesterol or Lindsay Lohan. On the side, the search page can display ads supplied by Google or Yahoo Inc. based on the search term, with the site that serves as the host for the search getting a cut of the ad revenue.

Podzinger, of Cambridge, Mass., which provides audio search on its site and for some partners, says the ability to find words in videos fills a huge gap. "Audio and video have been a black space that cannot be discovered by traditional search engines," says Alex Laats, Podzinger's chief executive.

Also, the traditional "tag" searches typically take the searcher to the beginning of what may be a very long audio or video interview, for example, without telling the searcher how to quickly hear or see what they want.

Software products from TVEyes take the Web surfer directly to the place in the video where the search word is spoken in podcasts available at Evoca.com, a podcast-hosting site based in Savannah, Ga. David Ives, president of TVEyes, Fairfield, Conn., says his company's PodScope software also will analyze advertising clips for key words that are relevant to a user's search so ads can be matched with search requests. He says Time Warner Inc.'s AOL is testing PodScope search podcasts.

With the spread of video and audio on the Internet, "The ability to target advertising to content is a major leap forward," says Allen Weiner, an analyst with Gartner Inc. He says it may spur "monetization of video."

Blinkx, of San Francisco, provides search technology to sites like FoxNews.com and Lycos.com. It also sees opportunities to sell search-related advertising for audio and video content related to travel and personal finance.

The new search technology captures only part of the Web's audio content. Podzinger says it is indexing for search some 300,000 regular podcasts, or 30% to 60% of the estimated 500,000 to one million podcasts available on the Internet.

Even the best speech-recognition technology has trouble understanding many speakers. People with accents or colds confuse it. Music in the background causes trouble. Suranga Chandratillake, founder and chief technology officer of Blinkx, says accuracy ranges from 60% on amateur videos to close to perfect for trained newscasters in professional studios.

Searches often return many irrelevant videos. For example, looking for "online investing" on Lycos, which uses Blinkx software, gets 19 results including, logically enough, an interview with a low-priced stock-trading firm but also, inexplicably, a BBC-TV clip about a nurse murdering elderly patients.

Still, the speech-recognition technology picks up many words and takes the searcher directly to the relevant portion of the recording. For example, if a Boston sports fan wants to find out if outspoken Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling has ever opined on New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, he can search the Internet archives of sports-talk station WEEI for "Schilling Brady" and find a link. Not surprisingly, Mr. Schilling thinks Mr. Brady is great: "I'm a huge Patriot fan for a lot of character reasons. Is there any doubt that Tom Brady is going to make the four guys he throws to good?" Mr. Schilling asks.

Bill Alfano, director of marketing for Entercom Inc., based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., says his company started using Podzinger last month at its Boston sports-talk station WEEI because "we were blown away by the technology."

He says it provides a way to let the 100,000 WEEI listeners who have registered at its Web site retrieve segments they might have missed. The station hasn't started to link ads on its Web site to the audio search capability, but Mr. Alfano thinks there is potential. "If Tom Brady says, 'I love to go to the Pro Bowl,' at the end we could run an ad for a trip to the Pro Bowl. People almost expect that," he says.

Mr. Ives of TVEyes says that on sites it has indexed, PodScope continuously looks ahead 30 seconds as a viewer watches a video. Then "it puts a contextually relevant clickable ad near the organic content," without interrupting the video the way a traditional video ad would. He says that "in early tests we find the click-through rates are a multiple" of clicks on random ads.

One believer in the technology is Leo LaPorte, who hosts radio shows and podcasts about technology. Mr. LaPorte, who produces 50 hours of programming a month, plans to start using Podzinger on his sites next week.

With the technology, he says, listeners who want to hear again what he said during a program about Fujifilm's Finepix digital camera, for example, can search and find it. Then the search engine can provide click-through ads from half a dozen photo stores with prices for the camera. "It's considered a service" by searchers, he says, and he can get $5 to $25 each time listeners click on ads after such searches.

Mr. LaPorte says he is hopeful that audio search will boost his revenue from "a couple of hundred thousand a year now to over $1 million a year. For a guy working in an attic, it's a viable business."

2006-07-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

"Now there's an opportunity to use podcasting in the enterprise. Podcasting can be used for audio white papers, meeting recaps, product demos and virtual conferences. Your employees will be able to catch up on their work while commuting to the office (or exercising). They'll love it."
~Razorfish

Many of our corporate clients are finding that not only do their employees enjoy the convenience of podcast, they can also save thousands of dollars in printing and distribution cost of internal material. One client now saves an average of $15,000 a year by switching from printed weekly newsletters to digital podcast.

"Podcasting is just the natural evolution of communication."
~Newsweek

For internal departments and divisions with people scattered all over the country or world, podcasting can help everyone stay up to date and informed. IBM Benelux's marketing dept. uses podcast we help produce to distribute meeting notes and news on a DAILY basis. With their marketing dept. spread all over Europe it is easy for management to be sure everyone has the latest info.

Podcast Production Services can help your company save thousands of dollars every month. We have consultants available to help you find the best way for podcasting to serve your needs.

2006-07-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

UPDATE:

Podcast Production Services has been extremely busy lately with new projects. We welcome three new clients to our family, the lawfirm Wilmer Hale, Tax Foundation.org and Price Waterhouse Cooper.

We are finding that corporate podcasting is catching on like wildfire. It can be used to broadcast internal company info to staff and shareholders, as well as cut down on the expense of print information.

Tax Foundations weekly podcast has already been generating a buzz as noted in this article from The Charlotte Observer:

12:00 pm | New podcast on corporate taxes

KERRY HALL

Khall@charlotteobserver.com

Think the U.S. government taxes American companies too much? Then you may be interested in the debut podcast issued today by the Tax Foundation, a research group in Washington, D.C.

In the podcast, the foundation talks with R. Glenn Hubbard, Dean of the Columbia Business School and former Director of the President's Council of Economic Advisers. Hubbard makes the case that the U.S. corporate tax system is more economically damaging than comparable taxes in other nations.

The interview, titled "R. Glenn Hubbard on Corporate Tax Reform," is available online at www.TaxFoundation.org/podcast.

The foundation plans to publish a podcast each Tuesday.

2006-02-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

Platform nightmares.

I was recently contracted by a start-up to help create content for portable devices. The media was targeted at a few different types of platforms, iPods (video & audio), windows media devices, smartphones ect. They were getting into this with ideas of delivering content across these platforms easily. Needless to say there is NO easy way to do it!

Problems started to arise regarding chaptering. Video set up with chapters only works correctly on ipods, and only video ipods. Also, every peice of media needed to be created in the correct format for the device, so video needed to be created in both mac (m4a + m4v) for itunes and ipods, and wma and wmv for windows media devices, a nightmare right from the get-go. It seems the windows devices, as well as windows media player will not handle m4a or m4v on most machines or devices, and chapters don't work at all. The only way to do "chapters" on wm platforms is to create seperate files and an asf (playlist) file, a process that takes some time.
This proved to be frustrating for my client as these options greatly increased the cost of creating and formating the media, thus denting thier bottom line. Also, the platform problems dont end there, on my end it was even worst! Need to do a video with chapters? Get on the Mac. Need to create WIndows media playlist? Get on the PC... A constant headache.

When, if ever will we converge the multiple format options out there? Is it so hard for itunes to handle wmv and windows media player to handle m4a/m4v? Smooth, consistent, easy content delivery will not be possible until media can be used across platforms and devices and it will continue to take twice the time to produce as long as there is a Beta vs. VHS type thing going on in the world of mobile media.

2006-01-29T10:06:00.000-08:00

The advantages of Podcasting.

I have been working with online, streaming audio since 97 or so. The first time I ever needed to use audio on a site was for a prank call site I was building. The pranks were recorded onto cassette tape and I used to use a homemade 1/4 inch cable to run a line from a Walkman to to my mixing console and of course to my soundcard. The only solution I was aware of at the time, was Real Player. Around '97 Real Player was ALOT more prevalent than it is today. I have always hated it, from the way it sits in your system tray to the way the audio sounds. Keep in mind, this way before broadband was even a thought so the files needed to be optimized for dial-up, meaning I would usually do 2 versions, a 28k and a 56k version. They both sounded like you were listening to a badly encoded mp3 on an ipod turned up to maximum, down the hall and under water. In order for people to listen, they HAD to use Real Player, and they had to wait for the file to download and buffer for quite some time, and most importantly, they HAD to visit the website. Not really an ideal situation for distributing audio files to the maximum amount of users.

From 2002-2004 I produced a weekly 3-hour streaming radio show featuring local bands. The show was distributed as a Windows Streaming Media (.WMA) file. The show was 3 hours, but using compression I could get the file size down to about 40mb, still a pretty large file. Our webhost was a dedicated Windows 2000 server from Managed.com, it wasn't cheap (think $299 a month) We had to use a Windows server so we could take advantage of the windows media streaming server. This was a perfect set-up to handle our bandwidth demands, but again, to listen you had to visit the site, and to find it in the first place you had to use a search engine, and we had to spend ALOT of $ on SEO to get into those search engines.

So how does this relate to the advantages of Podcasting? First and foremost in my opinion is directories. Podcast directories are the rocket fuel of Podcast and in some ways, site promotion as well. Back in the day, when I was creating the above shows, the only effective way to get seen was through search engines (to say nothing of forums and advertising) there was no prank call directory ect. Podcast directories give you the ability to reach millions of qualified leads (listeners) hungry for the content you offer. By simply submitting your podcast to directories you not only reach new listeners and gain exposure for your podcast, you also benefit from having multiple inbound links to your site from each of the directories, thus increasing your search engine rankings in the process. This fact alone give enormous advantages to the podcaster over the person trying to gain listeners for a show on Live365.com or the like. If you have a podcast, you should be submitting your podcast to EVERY directory. Be sure to include a detailed description and keywords so people can find you once you are listed.

Another advantage: bandwidth. Using Bittorrent for Podcast distribution is a great way to save on bandwidth. Read more on using it here.

I also am thrilled with the subscription end of Podcasting as well. The fact that someone can find your Podcast through a directory, and if they like it, subscribe and never have to think about it again, they can listen and enjoy it at thier leisure. More on subscriptions later...

2006-01-25T07:51:00.000-08:00

The all important editing process.

I have been editing audio since I had to cut tape with a razor. Alot of things have changed with the digital audio revolution. Digital editings' greatest advantage over analog in my opinion, is the fact that you can see the wave forms. Why is this the greatest advantage? Well, in the editing process, things can take time, a lot of time. Even for a seasoned pro like me who knows his editor inside and out. Editing takes time. Now, I'm not just talking about editing for continuity, which can be as simple as identifying gaps in the wave forms and easily edited out. I'm talking about what I like to call "NPR" editing. "NPR" editing is the process of removing all of the "ahhs" "and uhhs" and "ummmms" to make the interviewer and guest sound flawless, never reaching for a word on stumbling on a phrase. This isn't easy as when people get nervous, the can sometimes drop an "umm" between every word! Making edits of this nature VERY time consuming and sometimes even a daunting task.

So how does being able to see the waveforms in the audio file help? When I start on an "NPR" style edit, Within a minute or two into it, I can start to see the "uhhhs" in between words because they are usually identical to one another in waveform and usually create a sort of pattern within the speech. Using this methodology, you can cut editing time by 25% to 50% by first scanning through the file and cutting said recognizable waveforms. Sometimes this method alone is enough to make the speaker sound on top of his game. It is, of course, not as easy as it sounds. You really have to be comforatble with the visual side of editing and able to quickly scan a waveforms patterns to have this be effective. Also, there are times that "and" looks just like "umm" and if you are not careful, the speaker might not make sense anymore. This applies to the golden rule of editing, A good edit is one you don't hear. Having years of experience with a sound editor and editing waveforms is a must for it and there is a slim chance a newbie can pull this off.

One technique helpful in this type of editing is the use of markers. Dropping markers while a recording is in progress will save hours of editing. What this means is that while the recording is running, the engineer will "drop" a marker onto the waveform every time they hear the voice talent make a mistake or there is a noice, cough ect. that will need to be edited. In many sound editors, this is as easy as pressing the "M" key when you want to drop a marker.
I once recorded a client reading his Ebook. This was a 250 page book, and this was the fist time he had ever been in a recording studio. I think we spent around 11 to 12 hours with him in the booth. I was recording chapter by chapter, every chapter was its own file. Rather than stopping and doing re-takes everytime he coughed or had a sip of water, I simply let him read, if he made a mistake I instructed him to pause, take a deep breath and begin again, therefore, giving me a chance to drop a marker and mark that edit. Now, sitting there pressing "M" for 12 hours isn't much of a good time, but in a studio situation, you need to be at the console anyway. Of course I don't catch them at all, sometimes you need to do something else for a moment or you simply space out, so everything will still need a careful listen in editing. When it came time to edit, what could have been 2 weeks of editing was cut down to about 6 days. Just by looking at the file I could see 95% of the edits I needed to make, a HUGE advantage over flying blind.

In the world of Podcasting, this type of editing can mean the difference between sounding like a mumble mouthed clutz or the expert in your feild. Some people are natural public speakers and will not make a single mistake, but most of us will goof. Simply recording your vocals into a mic and sending them of as a Podcast without editing is usually a mistake, and the more time out into the edits, the better you will sound. I of course recommend using a professional editor such as myself if you want to truely sound like a pro. The time you save having someone else doing the dirty work will free you up to develop better content for your Podcast.

2006-01-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

Podcasting Grows In Popularity
› › › Entertainment

By Sean Michael Kerner | April 3, 2005

According to new research from The Pew Internet and American Life Project, 29 percent of Americans over the age of 18 with iPods or other MP3 players have listened to podcasts. Pew had predicted the growth early this year after studying sales of portable MP3 players.

Pew estimates over 22 million American adults own an MP3 or iPod player, and more than 6 million of these owners have listened to podcasts. The study surveyed 2,201 people, 208 of whom were MP3 or iPod owners. Pew did not survey anyone under age 18.

The podcasting phenomenon began last year as iPod and other MP3 device users began to broadcast audio files to download onto media devices. Podcasts are based on RSS enclosure technology, and can be subscribed to much as a user can subscribe to a text blog. In fact according to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, there's a direct relationship between blogging and podcasting.

"An impression of mine not backed up necessarily by any underlying data is that podcasting is riding atop the blogging wave," Rainie told ClickZ Stats. "Bloggers in particular have discovered how easy and potentially interesting and potent it is to share their thoughts with others. Podcasting is fuelled partly because it is easy, partly because it allows people to publish material that in the days before podcasting wouldn't have been possible for them to publish. You would have needed to be in a recording studio with a broadcast license to do this, and now you don't."

Both men and women are equally as likely to have tried downloading podcasts. Only 20 percent of MP3/iPod owners over the age of 29 have downloaded a podcast. In contrast, nearly half of those between 18 and 28 have used their device to listen to a podcast.

"It turns out that there are significant and growing numbers of people that want to hear their own voice and think that other people want to hear their voice," Rainie said. "That's why the number of podcasts is growing, and the options people have to download them is growing."

Podcasting's growth of is also based on growth and penetration of MP3/iPod devices, which tends to be more pronounced among younger Americans. MP3/iPod ownership tends to be higher among 18-28 year olds at 19 percent ownership, while 14 percent of 29-40 year olds have such a device. The ownership numbers continue to decline among the older age groups with only 11 percent of younger Baby Boomers (41-50 years old) and 6 percent of older Baby Boomers (51-59 years old) owning an MP3/iPod player.

iPod/MP3 Player Ownership by Age
Age Percentage Who Own
18-28 19
29-40 14
41-50 11
51-59 6
60-69 6
70 and older 1
Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project ,2005

Pew also determined MP3/iPod players are generally owned by more affluent Americans. Thirty-one percent of those with household incomes over 50,000 (18 percent $75,000+; and 13 percent $50,000 to $75,000) own the devices. In households with annual incomes under $50,000, only 16 percent (9 percent $30,000-$50,000; 7 percent under $30,000) have an MP3/iPod player.

iPod/MP3 Player Ownership by Income Level
Household Income Percentage
Who Own
Less than $30,000 7
$30,000-$50,000 9
$50,000 to $75,000 13
More than $75,000 18
Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005

2006-01-24T07:58:00.000-08:00

Podcasting FAQ

Q: What's podcasting?

A: According to Wikipedia, "Podcasting is the practice of making audio files available online in a way that allows software to automatically detect new files and download them." Technically, this is accomplished using RSS 2.0 news feeds to provide information about a collection of audio files in MP3 format. In common use, podcasting is often used to refer to independent audio shows that can be downloaded from the Internet.

Q: What's cool about podcasting?

A: Podcasting lets anybody with a microphone, a computer and an Internet connection publish audio shows that can be listened to by people anywhere in the world. Because the barriers to entry are very low, podcasting is rapidly becoming a popular way for people share audio shows. Podcasts are free and can be automatically downloaded to portable media players, so you can listen to them whenever it's convenient.

Coolest of all is that if you've got a great idea for a podcast, you can probably do it!

Q: What sort of shows are available as podcasts?

A: There are already many types of podcasts, including audio books, music shows, news, humor and sports. Most podcasts are created by amateurs, but there are also commercial podcasts and independently produced podcasts. There are podcasts in Dutch, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Mohawk, Spanish, and many other languages.

Q: Do I need to have an iPod to listen to podcasts?

A: No. The first podcast clients were designed to subscribe to audio shows, automatically download them and sync them to iPods. As podcasting has evolved, podcast clients have become available that work with most portable digital audio players. Many podcast sites support downloading shows directly from the site, and many directories support playing podcasts directly.

Q: Do I need special software to listen to podcasts?

A: No. Many podcasters and directories let you listen to podcasts as streaming media, directly from the site. Podcasting clients are used to streamline downloading podcasts and copying them to portable media players.

Q: Where can I find podcasts?

A: The most popular places for finding podcasts are the directories at iPodder.org, PodcastAlley and Podcasting News. There are many other podcast directory sites. Many podcast applications also include a list or directory of podcasts.

Q: Who invented podcasting?

A: Podcasting is based on capabilities built into the RSS 2.0 specification, which was developed by Dave Winer. Adam Curry catalyzed the podcasting concept in September of 2004, when he released a script that automatically downloaded audio files referenced in RSS files.

While there are many precedents for Curry and Winer's work, they put the pieces together and popularized the idea of podcasting. Because of this, they are generally considered the "podfathers" of the podcasting community.

Q: Do I need to use a Mac?

A: No. You can create and listen to podcasts using Windows, Mac OS X and Linux podcasting software.

Q: What are some of the top podcasts?

A: There are several ways to rank podcasts, and depending on how you rank them, different podcasts come out on top.

* Measuring activity: One way to rank podcasts is by the amount of click activity that they receive at popular podcast directories. Podcasting News' Top 25 Podcasts are ranked in this way. This is an effective way to look at what podcast listeners are interested in, to the extent that site visitors reflect the podcasting community as a whole. It doesn't measure actual downloads of a podcast.
* Measuring downloads: Another approach is to compare the number of downloads that various podcasts get. Because accurate data on downloads is not available for all podcasts, it's not currently possible to rank podcasts in terms of actual downloads or listens.
* Voting/ranking - Another approach is to have users vote on or rate podcasts. This approach provides a measure of a podcast's ability to motivate listeners to vote, but doesn't measure interest in podcasts or actual downloads. Examples of this approach are Podcasting News' Top 25 Rated Podcasts and Podcast Alley's Top 10 list.
* Reviews: There are also several sites that review podcasts. As reviewers become established, they may become an effective way to learn about new podcasts.

What is RSS?

RSS files are text files that contain information about things available on the Internet. For podcasting, RSS files are used to syndicate information about a podcast "channel" (the show as a whole), and also individual podcast episodes. The article Understanding RSS News Feeds discusses how to use them for podcasting.

Q: What can you do with a podcast?

A: A browse through a podcast directory shows the variety of podcasts that are available. Here are just a few things podcasting can be used for:

* On-demand versions of radio shows
* Personal audio blogs
* Audio books
* Music shows
* Audio tour guides
* Educational content that depends on audio (language, music, etc)
* Marketing for musicians
* Distributing sermons and other religious content
* Storytelling
* Sports coverage
* Distributing/synchronizing audio and video files for business.

Q: I've got a show that features top 40 hits. Do I need to worry about copyrights and stuff like that?

A: Yes. The best advice, for now, is to feature independent or Creative Commons licensed music in your podcast. Podcasts are downloads. When people access your podcast, they are copying an audio file from your server to their computer. If your podcast has traditionally copyrighted music in it, you're probably infringing on somebody's copyright.

So check out some independent or Creative Commons music. It's a little more work, but a lot more rewarding for everybody involved!

Q: I'm planning on podcasting some audio books. What software and microphone will I need?

A: Two of the most important things for this are the quality of your microphone and the acoustics of the room you record in. At a minimum, you'll want to have a good mic that you can plug into your computer's input & a pair of headphones. You can record directly onto the computer with Audacity on Windows & Mac, and Garageband is a popular choice on the Mac. Podcasting News has a list of podcasting software.

For more advanced setups, check out the Podcasting News article on setting up a home podcasting studio.

No matter what your setup, the environment you record in can have a big effect on the sound. In general, you'll want a quiet location that is relatively "dead", meaning that it absorbs sound instead of bouncing it back at you. A room with a sofa & a carpet will be a lot less "live" than a room with tile.

Experiment with how close you speak to your microphone, too. If you place the mic further away, you'll get more room noise/sound. If you place the mic closer, you'll get less room sound. If you get very close, though, you may notice that the mic overemphasizes the bass in the speaker's voice.

Q: I want to listen to the my favorite radio show on my iPod. How do I get this as a podcast?

A: Podcasts are published by show creators. If they are not publishing the show as a podcast, there may be legal issues that prevent them from doing so, or they may not see a need for it. You may want to give them feedback via their website, so that they know that there is interest in a podcast version of the show.

You may also want to look into time-shifting radio recording software. An example is Replay Radio. This type of software is designed to let users record radio shows and put them on portable media players.

2006-01-24T06:39:00.000-08:00

Podcast Production Services features a wide range of services. Everything you need to create and deliver your Podcast. From content creation and production to RSS feed delivery and graphic design. When you choose us for your production needs you won't need to look elsewhere for complimentary services.

We offer:
Audio Editing & Production
Syndication & Listing
Intro, Outro's & Promo's
Voice-overs
Audio & Video Podcasting
Free Consultations
Custom Royalty-Free Music
RSS Feeds
Local & Remote Recording
Teleconference Podcasting

Our producers have backgrounds in Music and film production as well as AM/FM and television production.

Our prices are meant to fit any budget and we will work with you to create the best podcast for the money. Please contact us to discuss your podcast and to find out what Podcast Production Services can do for you!

Wondering what a Podcast is and what it can do for you? Podcasts are basically Radio Shows on the Internet. What makes them special is how the Shows are delievered to the user. Instead of "Streaming" audio where the user is tied to thier computers, Podcast take advantage of the vast amount of MP3 players out on the market today, and especially all of those iPod users out there. Podcasts are like Magazine Subscriptions. With a magazine subscription you register for a magazine (podcast) and then every so often the publisher (podcaster) will send one to your house (Granted with podcasts the aggregator goes out and fetches it. Now after the Magazine is delivered, it sits in your Mailbox until someone removes the Mail and puts it on the Kitchen Table (iTunes, your MP3 player). You then decide when you want to read that magazine (listen to your Podcast). You can also cancel any subscription at any time.

First and foremost a Podcast is an MP3 file and all you need to play it is an MP3 player. With the help of FREE software such as iTunes or Quicktime or Windows Media Player - You are already able to listen to a Podcast. You only need an iPod or other Mobile MP3 Player if you want to listen to a podcast while you are working out, driving to work or taking the dog for a walk.... This also means all of your customers and clients have the ability to listen to your important Podcast!