It is kind of interesting to watch what podcasts come and go, and what shows become popular over the years. With that in mind, I wanted to start tracking and promoting some of the top shows in specific categories in the Podcast Alley directory. For this first round I give you the Top 10 podcasts for the month of May, 2009 - Technology related podcasts!
Top 10 Technology Podcasts for May 2009 on Podcast Alley:
I think this list speaks very well to our current economic times… just think about it for a second…. what happens during a recession and during war times? People like to bunker down, save cash and start enjoying time with family and close friends. These shows prove that! The top 2 shows are about home theaters (getting yours setup to spend time with your friends and family AND saving money on movie tickets too) as well as a couple of shows on switching your computers operating system to Linux, the free alternative to Windows and Mac operating systems.
What Do You Think?
What do you think of this list and the explanation? What shows do you think deserved to be in the top 10 this month? Answer in the comments below!
I was recently reading a blog post on the CNET website titled Getting started with podcasts in iTunes and found one of the remarks by the author quite interesting. He said, “…podcast nerds like myself don’t do enough evangelism around podcasts…”and it really got me thinking. What have I done lately to promote podcasting to people who don’t know about it?
Podcast Alley started as a place for people who knew nothing about podcasting (which at that time was 99.99999% of the population) to find great shows. Over time, it has evolved a bit more into a place for podcasters to share information, tips, tricks and to promote their shows. There is nothing wrong with that, but I might tip-toe a bit back into promoting podcasting as well, for those who may not know about it.
With that said, you should check out the slide show on How to Subscribe to Podcasts in iTunes! For those new to podcasting, you might just learn something :)
We are nerding-out a bit on this featured 5 list of podcasts from Podcast Alley! With names like “PC/Mac Smackdown” (where 2 friends battle it out to see which OS is the best) and “Geekazine Video” (where the host does in depth product reviews to help with your next tech purchase), how much nerdier could it get in here?
Check out the featured geek shows below, you might just learn something.
We all have ways that we like to relax after a hard day at work. Some of us like to dive into creative works, some of us play games and some of us just like to be entertained by TV shows or entertainment news. This week, we have something for everyone in the Podcast Alley featured shows! Lets get started…
If you are into gossip and love to keep tabs on whats going on with women’s issues and trends, you are going to want to check out the LipstickNLaundry podcast. If sitting back and enjoying a more intellectual show is your cup of tea, then for you we have the Levinson news clips and Twilight Series Theories podcasts. In both shows you get deeper discussions on popular tv series & movies like: Twilight, Bones, 24, Star Trek and more!
To round out the family, we have our two final featured podcasts. The first is Scrap Time which, by the name of the show, you can deduce is about scrapbooking. I think you will be impressed by this video series if you have even a little bit of crafting interest. And finally, for the gamers out there we have The Video Game Jocks Podcast. Listen in as the experts give news and opinions on all the latest and greatest games and consoles out there.
The 13th Annual Webby Awards announced Stitcher as the winner of the 2009 People’s Voice Award in the mobile news category. Thousands of fans cast their votes in April to help Stitcher lock its victory over fellow mobile-news nominees The New York Times, NPR, BBC and The Associated Press.
Stitcher, a free app, streams on-demand news, audio shows and podcasts to mobile devices without syncing or wires. You can download the app from their website or if you have an iPhone, you can download it from the iTunes app store.
The company works with a wide variety of key content and publishing partners to provide well-rounded, up-to-date content. “Stitcher allows people to make the most of their downtime by connecting listeners to the information they want to hear, when and where they want to hear it,” said Stitcher CEO and co-founder Noah Shanok.
If you are an independent producer, you can try to contact them via their content providers website if you want to be included in their directory. I found all of the usual media outlets listed there (including CNN and the Wall Street Journal). But also, happily, I found other great indie shows highlighted such as Indie Feed, Old Time Radio Podcasts, PodRunner and many other podcasts you are probably familiar with!
Hats off to the Stitcher team for a great application that highlights the best audio content out there! I have tried many phone applications that allow you to enjoy podcasts (and streaming music), but Stitcher delivers it in an easy to use application that sounds great! I can promise with certainty that this is an application that I will come to use and love.
One of the tricks many podcast producers use to build an audience is to deliver their shows through multiple outlets like YouTube, MetaCafe and Mevio. By allowing access to their shows in more places, there is an increased chance that people will see their shows, like them, and find their way back to the producers website to subscribe. Popular video distribution site TubeMogul even provides a way for producers to upload their content to more than 25 additional sites! However, it seems that there is at least one sour-puss now calling foul on independent producers uploading videos with advertisements in them to their site: YouTube.com
According to a few certainsources out there, top content producers on the YouTube site have been receiving notices “reminding” them that it is a violation of the TOS to put commercials into their uploaded content.
A quote from the Media Week Story:
“We have a policy, and if we discover they are embedding stuff we will definitely let them know,” said Tom Pickett, YouTube’s director of online sales and operations. “We have tried to take a more hands-on approach to see if we can facilitate deals. But they shouldn’t be fearful of getting booted off the site.”
I don’t see this effecting a lot of podcasters out there (unless you are getting tons of views on YouTube and they are featuring you on the site someplace already), but what is the reaction in general to this? Please, comment below! Maybe this is just a sign of the times… I guess everyone has to do their best to try and make that money!
A lot of us get into podcasting to share our passion or expertise about a topic with the world, not to become masters of audio or video editing. But when you are a show producer creating content “for the love of it”, there is usually no other option but to do it all yourself. We have to learn about microphones, mixers, computers, recording software and all of the “what the heck is that” moments that come with it. But we do it because we love it.
If you are motivated enough to get through the technical/hardware setup, you are bound to run into another issue… and that is making your show seem more polished or professional. I know that not everyone wants to sound “like radio”, but most listeners come to expect a certain level of quality from a show, and now there is a service that helps you with this.
The iStock Audio library is something that you are going to want to add to your producer arsenal. They are now offering royalty free stock audio clips for you to use in your podcasts! For as little as $3 (or 2 credits in their terms, currently valued at $1.50 per credit) for an audio loop, you can start to have the tools to make your show more unique, and more engaging! While many users are content with the default sounds that come in Apples Garage Band or other audio applications, sometimes they are just boring or too widely used.
All iStock audio files are 16-bit WAV files so you can import them to your podcast editing software. The only down side I am seeing now is that it is hard to search for clips based on their type (their terminology is ’standard’ and ‘pump’) so you end up finding a lot of expensive clips that don’t do what you want them to do. The 2 Types of Audio Files for Download: Standard:“… a collection of high-quality, affordable royalty-free tracks for multiple use worldwide.”
Pump: “… a collection of full-length tracks by indie artists. They are licensed on a single production basis, but the number of times you can broadcast the production is unlimited. You may need a cue sheet.”
This wont be right for everyone, but this is another one of those sites to keep a link to, because you are bound to need it sometime! So if you have the time and don’t mind spending a few bucks to kick your show up a notch, check out the iStock Audio collection.
After years of being one of the hardest to use and least feature-rich players on the internet, Mevio has finally upgraded their site and with that launched their brand new embeddable player! While the player is not as robust as some of the players out there (for some reason, many players out there try to do way too much and it gets annoying pretty quickly), it does boast some pretty nice features.
Some of the New Mevio Player Features:
Full Screen Option
Previous & Next Buttons (watch other episodes without going back to mevio.com)
Bookmark & Email (using top sharing services)
Embedding into your blog or to social networks
and hidden player controls that truly let the video shine!
Check out a sample of the new player below, featuring the Fit Life with Amy Mac Podcast!
Hats off to the Mevio team for creating a player that podcasters will finally be proud to embed into their blogs and across the internet!
If you are a podcast producer and are interested in getting free hosting, a chance to make money with your podcast and the tools to grow your audience (like a sexy new player for your website) — don’t hesitate to join mevio today!
Blogging and Podcasting have a lot in common. The same things that make blogs entertaining, informational and that convince people to return time and again to read the stories are the same things that work for podcasters. To be honest, the early days of podcasting were essentially just people reading their blogs into a microphone!
With that said I am going to let you in on a little secret that, with you being a podcaster, will help you grow your audience and make them want to return repeatedly. There is a blog by the name of CopyBlogger that all bloggers or podcasters should be subscribed to!
While not every post there can be mind blowing, a lot of times they are insightful and remind us of how to get back to the fundamentals of creating great content. In a recent blog post titled, “Everything You Need to Know About Creating Killer Content in 3 Simple Words“, the blogger, Demian Farnworth, tells us the key:
Be Clear. Be Concise. Be Compelling.
Pretty easy, huh? You might want to take a second now and write that down on a piece of paper to hang in your recording studio. And also, don’t be afraid to join the over 57,000 other people who have tested and believe in the writings of the Copyblogger :) Subscribe to their blog here. (no, I am not getting paid by them, I just believe in their content — see, it works!).
I end with a quote from the Copyblogger post:
“Write with these three words in mind, and anything you publish on the web will rivet attention, stoke desire, and get action.”
Authors find a voice in podcasting! This saying has been used repeatedly (most notably in a New York Times article) in the news when talking about how authors and poets are utilizing podcasting to grow their audience and distribute their written works. And its true, there are LOADS of authors creating new works of art and distributing and/or promoting it through podcasts. Better yet, some authors ONLY distribute through podcasts! In this edition of the PCA Featured Shows we are highlighting some of those shows, new and old, found right here on Podcast Alley.
Give these shows a try today. Have your favorite author podcasts you want to share? Add yours to the comments below! Not finding what you are looking for? Search Podcast Alley for Audio Books to find more 100’s more!
If you like these featured podcasts, subscribe to the PCA Featured Podcasts Feed to continue to get your dose of new shows.
According to a few 
After years of being one of the hardest to use and least feature-rich players on the internet, 
Blogging and Podcasting have a lot in common. The same things that make blogs entertaining, informational and that convince people to return time and again to read the stories are the same things that work for podcasters. To be honest, the early days of podcasting were essentially just people reading their blogs into a microphone!
Subscribe
