We talked about the comments we made about PodPing on the Podcast Insider show with Angelo Mandato, CIO of RawVoice Inc. / Blubrry Podcasting. Also a lot of other podcast related things. It was a fun conversation for sure!

Also, be sure to check out NewPodcastApps.com for all the Podcasting 2.0 powered apps and things out there.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com. Go there and subscribe!

Episode Notes – Tag Experiment Part 1 – PHD164

May 9, 2021EpisodeMike Dell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:03 — 13.8MB)

content:encoded tag –

Today I talk about Episode Notes tags (Show Notes). This is part 1 of an experiment. Please email me mike@mikedell.com and let me know what app or apps you see this in and what tags (at the top of this text) you see and where.

This is a LINK to something cool.

https://mikedell.com

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com. Go there and subscribe!

The Podcast Landscape is Changing – PHD163

April 30, 2021EpisodeMike Dell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:44 — 17.2MB)

One thing you can always say about how podcasting works, it’s always changing. The last couple of weeks it seems that there is a sort of shift in how it works on basic levels. Or, does it work the same and only some apps are changing?

Apple changed Subscribe to Follow for free podcasts.
Apple added “Subscribe” for premium podcasting.
Spotify say “Me too!” and adds Premium Podcasting for a very limited number of people.
Apple may have changed how their app works when it comes to “followed” (ie. subscribed) podcasts work. *still not sure about that
Apple really hid the “Add show by URL” function in Apple Podcasts.

What do we indie podcasters have to do to insure our shows remain free of gatekeepers and the cancel culture?

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com. Go there and subscribe (or Follow)!

Apple Paid Subscription Podcasts – PHD162

April 24, 2021EpisodeMike Dell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:55 — 21.9MB)

Apple announced “Subscriptions” after changing the name of subscribing to a free podcast to “Follow”. We have more details about that system. Today I will attempt to tell you, technically, how this is going to work and what it will not do.

What it is…

Apple Podcasts will allow you to create a show that is a paid subscription only available on Apple Podcasts.
You can do free episodes and paid episodes in the freemium model.
You can do a Paid Subscription only (with or without a free trial)
Apple will take 30% (the same as Apps and Books)
Costs $17 a year (as far as I know at this time) to participate.

What it is not…

It is NOT a replacement for your RSS based free podcast
It will not distribute anywhere outside of Apple Podcasts
It is not free podcast hosting (you still need a place to put your mp3 files for a totally free RSS based show)

What does it mean for your current podcast?

Nothing really.
You could use an Apple-only show to give paid subscriber bonus content that they must pay for.

Apple announced a lot of other things in both the Tim Cook public announcement and in the Briefing that podcast hosting companies go to go to after that announcement.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com. Go there and subscribe and/or Follow!

Airing My Top 10 Podcasting Grievances – PHD161

April 15, 2021EpisodeMike Dell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:04 — 23.9MB)

I put on my Grumpy Old Man hat on today. Here are the top 10 things that bug me about podcasting and podcasters these days…

10. WordPress.com is NOT the same as WordPress.org.

9. People that use “POD” to mean Podcast.

8. Companies that want to change the word “Subscribe” to Follow.

7. No Tech Support for some podcast directories and apps. They blame the podcast hosting companies for any issues.

6. So-called Podcast Consultants.

5. Podcasters that focus too much on one platform.

4. People who think Apple and others can do no wrong.

3. People that say they know how many Subscribers (or followers) they have total. It’s an unknowable stat for the most part.

2. BAD ad insertion in podcasts.

1. YouTubers saying they have a PODCAST on YouTube.

Bonus: Of course, Spotify.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com. Go there and subscribe!

More Podcast Namespace Talk with Andy Lehman – PHD160

April 5, 2021EpisodeMike Dell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:29 — 25.2MB)

I love it when people correct me! Andy Lehman tells me all about what I didn’t get quite right about the Podcast Namespace.

Andy is the guy that does the Podcast Namespace WordPress Plugin, an Add-on to PowerPress to add more namespace tags to your RSS feed. – https://github.com/Lehmancreations/Podcast-Namespace-Wordpress-Plugin

Andy also does a podcast called Dudes and Dads Podcast – https://dudesanddadspodcast.com/

We had a great chat.

** The Podcast Namespace is a project of podcastindex.org

Andy’s plugin adds (or improves) the following tags:

Channel Tags

Locked
Funding
Contact (Currently only Feedback and Abuse)
Location

Item Tags

Transcript (only json format, to use set a custom field on your post of “transcript” and a value of the url)
Chapters (only json format, to use set a custom field on your post of “chapters” and a value of the url)
Person (use the custom form in the post to set the people)
Soundbite (use the custom form in the post to set the soundbites)
Location
Season
Episode

If you get value from this plugin and want to toss a few dollars my way you can support the podcast I produce and Host, via paypal Support me

To install this Plugin, you have to download the zip file here: https://github.com/Lehmancreations/Podcast-Namespace-Wordpress-Plugin/releases/tag/v1.3 and side-load it by following these steps.

Go to Plugins > Add New
click ‘Upload Plugin’
Click “select file” and select the zip file you downloaded.
Click install now.
Click Activate

You will find the channel level tags in the WordPress settings > Podcast namespace menu.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com. Go there and subscribe!

Podcast Namespaces in RSS – Explained – PHD159

March 21, 2021EpisodeMike Dell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:14 — 26.8MB)

In the history of podcasting, there have been a few Namespaces added to RSS to make podcasting work. Apple added the <itunes: > namespace, Google added the <googleplay:> namespace and even Blubrry added the <rawvoice:> namespace. Now there is a new one done by independent podcasters, app developers, companies and other interested people called the <podcast:> namespace. It’s done by the Podcast Index people at https://podcastindex.org.

I explain what a namespace is and go over the new tags being added by the “podcast” namespace.

Below are some of the new podcast namespace tags that have been adopted or suggested. See an updated list and other info here: https://github.com/Podcastindex-org/podcast-namespace

Phase 1 and 2 Adopted:

<podcast:locked>
<podcast:transcript>
<podcast:funding>
<podcast:chapters>
<podcast:soundbite>
<podcast:person>
<podcast:location>
<podcast:season>
<podcast:episode>

Phase 3 Proposed: (still open)

license
ID
platform
social
category
content
previous URL
alternate enclosure
indexers
images srcset
contact type
value
valueRecipient

How Podcasting Works – Back to Basics – PHD158

January 30, 2021EpisodeMike Dell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:15 — 24.9MB)

Today I want to go back to the REAL basics of how podcasting works.

So, without going into a history lesson, podcasting has worked the same way since it started 16 years ago. (some say longer).

So. Back to the basics:

Podcasting is just Blogging with Audio. To create a podcast post, you create a blog post (no matter where you are publishing, the basics are you are making a post) and you attach a link to an audio (or video or whatever) file to that post and publish the “item” to the RSS feed.

RSS feeds are Fancy text documents that contain information on each “item” (which is the post + the link to the media file). A feed can have many “items” or posts or episodes. But each ITEM can only have one media file link (enclosure).

Think of a feed like a radio frequency. People tune in to your “feed” to hear your show (or station). If they just listen for a while and then go to the next station. If they subscribe, that is very much like setting the preset for your Frequency. You want them to subscribe.

Back in the day, people didn’t have computers in their pocket that were connected 24/7 to the internet. Podcasting was invented because of this. People would download mp3s (music or voice recordings) and then sync it to their MP3 player. (that was a separate, non-connected to the internet) That way they could take their music or talk content with them. But getting that content was a manual process. You downloaded (and waited for a LONG time for it to download) and then you could put it on your player and take it with you. When people got always-on the internet (That wasn’t a thing in 2005 for many people) they needed a way to download stuff in the background when they were not paying attention. That is where the RSS feed and “Podcatchers” came into being. You would “subscribe” to the feeds of your favorite podcasts and your computer program, the podcatcher, would check those feeds from time to time to see if there was a new “item” or episode in the feed. If there was, your computer would download the file and it was waiting for you the next time you plugged your mp3 player in and it synced to your player. Of course the iPod was the most famous mp3 player. Hence, Pod (for iPod) and Casting (for Broadcasting). People could “broadcast” to the iPod. Cool huh?

Fast forward to today. It still works sort-of, the same way. Only now, everyone’s mp3 player is part of the computer they have with them at all times, the smartphone and the internet is on all the time. There are podcast “Apps” which are the podcatchers. You can still subscribe to a podcast via the RSS feed and your phone’s app checks that feed and when something new is added to it, it PULLS the file to your phone for offline listening. This is exactly how the old system worked other than the fact you don’t have to sync it to your player because your player is also the computer. BUT, you can still listen to a downloaded file when you are not connected to the internet. Like while traveling in a bad cell area, away from wifi or on an Airplane.

BUT now, there is another way to listen. You can do what is commonly called “Streaming” but is really, downloading while playing or a progressive download. Some apps (what I call the not quite real podcast listening apps) that the service that owns the app downloads the file and then does a true stream to your phone. This is fine as long as you have a good signal to a cell tower AND you have unlimited internet. AND that service doesn’t go down (it’s been known to happen).

The basics are still there.

Here are the things you need to make a podcast work.

A place on the internet to store your mp3 files. (Podcast Host) and a place to generate the RSS feed and to make a post for the episodes. (Just a fancy text file on a server somewhere)

With that valid RSS feed, you can submit that to the directories and apps. Currently, the important ones are Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon and Podcast Index. As long as you are in all or most of those, you will also be in a lot of smaller apps. A lot of apps use the Podcast Index or Apple to supply their directories for people to find your podcast.

Everything about your show is based completely on the RSS feed. The Title of the show, the descriptions of the show, the title of the episodes, the “shownotes” (blog post) content, The artwork for your overall show, the artwork for the individual episodes (which is more work than it’s worth, See: post i did on artwork) and your connection to subscribers. All these things are Pulled (not Pushed) to these places by those places. You can not “push” your show out to these places or your subscribers. Your subscribers and the apps/directories PULL your shows LISTING from your feed.

The best way I found is to host your files on a reputable Podcast media host (Of course I recommend Blubrry Podcasting). Build a WordPress blog (that is what WordPress is, a blogging software) and use the PowerPress plugin (by blubrry) to generate the RSS feed for you. That is exactly what I do on my 3 podcasts. You can use any podcast host with PowerPress. WordPress based websites are cheap. As long as $10 a month at Godaddy, Bluehost, HostGater and A2 hosting (my favorite, click the link in the sidebar for A2 hosting). AND the bonus is you are building your podcast on your domain and platform and not on someone else’s platform.

This podcast is posted on PodcastHelpDesk.com. Go there and subscribe!