Contents
A podcast is radio shows that are transmitted online. Anyone can stream audio from home and host a podcast. It can be a whole program, an excerpt from a program, or the edited highlights of a program. Most podcasts consist of one or several hosts and guest discussing different topics. Podcast only seldom focus on music. This is due to copyright law. To use music you will have to pay licensing fees or risk hefty finance for violating copyright law. There is music that is free to use but almost all popular music is copyright protected.
Who uses pod casts?
Pod cast has in many way changed how we consume radio. They have become very popular as people want to listen to something interesting will driving or commuting to work, while excising etc. Podcast allows us to use time that we used to waste to learn new things.
Anyone who want to can become a podcast host. You can focus your podcast on any topic. All you need to start a podcast is a computer or a smart phone and a microphone.
Most early podcast focused on technical news. Finance news soon followed. Today you can find podcasts on almost any topic. You do not need to be able to turn in when a podcast is transmitting to listen to them. Most podcast are available for you to stream to you computer or phone whenever you want to listen to them.
You can often subscribe to a RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed if you want to make sure that you never miss a show. These feeds allow you to download any new shows to your computer automatically so that you can listen to them whenever you want to.
How does a pod cast work?
Podcasters used to make their podcast available as MP3 files. MP3 was a popular format for audio files. MP3 is still popular but other more modern file formats are becoming increasingly more popular. Many pod casters chose to upload their podcasts as video podcast on YouTube. Another very popular platform for podcast is iTunes. Exactly how a podcast work depends on what platform you use. It is easy to view, listen to and publish podcasts in most platforms.
How do you subscribe to a podcast?
How to subscribe to a podcast depends on what type of podcast you want to subscribe to and what platform that podcast is available on. Large platforms like YouTube makes it very easy to subscribe to podcasts. All you need to do is to press the subscribe button and you are done. I recommend that you also click the notification button to make sure you never miss an episode.
If a podcast is available in iTunes then you can chose to get a notification on your phone (or pad) every time a new podcast is available.
Other platforms might work in different ways. Podcasters that upload their podcasts to their own webpage usually offer a RSS feed that you can use to subscribe to the podcast.
What are the benefits of podcasts?
Podcasts allow you to connect to a very large amount of people. They allow you to widen your user group and allow you to build a following online. Podcasts can be a very good way to build your reputation within a certain niche and make you more well known within that niche. It will also allow you new and unique opportunities to advertise to your readers. A podcast allows you to connect to your listeners and readers in a way that is hard to do with only a blog or Ezine.
A podcast allow you to reach out to listeners all over the world and give you access to a potentially very large number of listeners.
Here can I find podcasts?
Probably the largest forum of podcasts is on iTunes. Apple is usually considered the pioneer marketer of podcasts. Many famous stars have started podcasts on the iTunes forum reaching a nice notoriety and new fame thorough the online blogs or radio casts. Other online radio stations also carry podcasts for free or for a small subscriber fee.
Summary
Podcasting is the start of a new media content revolution that is empowering individuals with the ability to globally market their ideas and create a following of like minded listeners. Podcasts allow anyone to compete directly with radio and has dramatically changed the media landscape. With podcasts it is safe to say that anyone could be a star even you. No longer is fame and fortune for the starts with this form of new online radio broadcasting.