Podcasting Bible

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Podcasting Bible

Steve Mack and Mitch Ratcliffe

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Podcasting Bible

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Podcasting Bible

Steve Mack and Mitch Ratcliffe

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Podcasting Bible Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-0-470-04352-3 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Library of Congress Control Number: 2006939591 Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

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About the Authors Steve Mack has spent more than a decade at the forefront of the digital media industry. He is a principal at LUX Media (www.luxmedia.com), a firm specializing in interactive media design, live event and a/v production, encoding, hardware and software implementation, and training. Through its 501 division, LUX also offers hosting and consulting services targeted at progressive non-profit organizations. Previously at RealNetworks for five years (http://www.real.com) as executive producer and media lab manager, Steve worked with high-profile customers and partners to create cutting-edge programming and presentations. Steve has produced some of the largest and most prestigious Internet broadcasts, including U2 live from Notre Dame (Yahoo Internet Magazine’s “Top of the Net for 2001”), the ACLU 2004 Members Conference, President Clinton’s inaugural address, and the first public live Internet broadcast of a Seattle Mariners game in 1995. He has authored a number of books, including Streaming Media Bible (Wiley, 2002) and Hands on Guide to Webcasting (Focal Press, 2005). He also writes for numerous publications. Before his current career in interactive media, Steve was a professional musician who traveled the world and released five albums’ worth of material with critically acclaimed Irish rock group That Petrol Emotion. During this time he built, owned, and operated Bang Bang Studios in London, a commercial 24-track recording studio where he produced and engineered hundreds of releases. He is still active in the music industry as a producer/engineer and performer. Mitch Ratcliffe is co-founder of several startups and an accomplished Internet executive. His most recent company, BuzzLogic, where he invented a technology for analyzing influence and value in social networks, recently launched its first product. His consulting business, Internet/Media Strategies Inc., has worked with America Online, EarthWeb, Audible, Time Warner, ZD Net, Comdex, and SoftBank, among others. Mitch led the development of the ON24 Financial iNetwork, the first streaming news organization, from 1999 to 2001. He also developed and managed the ZDY2K Web site, a source of Year 2000 information and commentary on the ZD Net supersite. His Audible program, Adventures In Technology, was one of the first downloadable spoken word series about the evolution of media in the Internet era. Mitch has served in numerous editorial positions with the likes of Digital Media and MacWEEK. He is the co-author of three books published by Random House, and his work has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, PCWEEK, PCWorld, In-Formation, National Review, and Feed, among others. He is a widely quoted commentator on digital technology and the networked economy. He represents SoftBank on the board of Electric Classifieds and Match.com. He is a member of the board of advisors for several early-stage companies, including commercial wiki developer Socialtext and music training developer iVideoTunes.

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Steve Mack: For Erin, Shilo, and Maggie. Did it take as long this time? Yes, it did. Mitch Ratcliffe: For Geneva Ratcliffe, who has grown up in cyberspace, her brother Taylor, maker of stories and other grand inventions, and their mother Kiera, my partner in all things fair, foul, and daring.

Credits Acquisitions Editor Kim Spilker

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Quality Control Technician John Greenough

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Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley

Cover Design Michael Trent Cover Illustration Joyce Haughey

Vice President and Publisher Barry Pruett

Wiley Bicentennial Logo Richard J. Pacifico

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P

odcasting is a relatively new field, and it’s still undergoing many changes. What started off as a cool way to combine a bunch of existing technologies into a nifty way to distribute audio files has turned into a worldwide craze that now encompasses video, images, and other data types, and is used in education, government, and major corporations. It’s safe to assume that the next few years are going to see even more changes in the field. Currently, there are more podcasting business startups than you can reliably count, with more appearing each day. Each one has its own particular twist on how it is going to serve the podcasting community. Not all of them will be successful; this is just the business reality in any growing field. The same goes for podcasters. Each day brings tens if not hundreds of new podcasts into existence. While we’re incredibly excited about the level playing field that podcasting brings, we’re old enough to know that this excitement level can’t last, and that many folks are going to realize that maintaining and updating a podcast requires time, effort, and most of all, passion. We sincerely hope that if you’re passionate about something and want to share your passions with the world, this book helps you do so. We’ve tried to keep the information in this book as evergreen as possible. We try not to recommend any particular vendors, because their pricing models and service records may have changed by the time you read this. We do, however, try to go into detail about the business of podcasting, the basics of digital media production, and the options available to you as a podcaster. This information is much less likely to go out of date. After reading this book, you should know how to calculate the investment in time and money that building a podcasting business requires. You should know how to produce a good sounding audio podcast, and a good-looking video podcast. To this end, we’ve included many worksheets and step-by-step examples for you to follow. If you want to find out more or learn more about a particular aspect of podcasting, plenty of reference books on the market will serve you well. This book, however, should give you a firm theoretical foundation for everything you need to know about podcasting. Because the world of podcasting is changing and growing so rapidly, we can’t hope to be completely up to date. However, the process of creating a podcast and building a business remain the same, and the basic rule still applies: Create a good-quality program, and your audience will find you. We can’t tell you what to make your program about, but we hope we can help you produce it to a high standard and grow it into a viable business.

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Preface

Mac versus PC The “pod” in podcasting obviously refers the ubiquitous Apple iPod, but podcasting is by no means limited to the Mac platform. Currently, an unusually high percentage of podcasters are on the Mac platform when compared to the general public, but this is bound to change. Of course, if you talk to the people at Apple, they’ll tell you that everyone will be on a Mac someday! We’ve tried to remain as agnostic as possible, including screen shots from both platforms. We both work on both platforms. We’ve tried to avoid using keyboard shortcuts because of the difference between the platforms (Option+click versus Ctrl+click). We hope that this won’t interfere with your enjoyment of the book.

How to Get the Most out of This Book The sections and chapters of this book are organized so that the neophyte can take it from the beginning, step-by-step. However, each chapter should also stand on its own, so if you really want to learn about one thing in particular, skip straight to that chapter and find what you need.

Icons: What Do They Mean? Throughout the book, you’ll see icons that point out certain details in the text. While they are relatively self-explanatory, here is what each indicates:

TIP

Tips provide extra information about certain topics, or provide special workarounds or alternatives to a listed procedure.

NOTE

Notes are for background or supplementary information that may not be crucial to the understanding of the concept, but they’re interesting nonetheless.

CAUTION

Caution icons generally mean you should be paying attention. This icon points out crucial steps or possible pitfalls.

CROSS-REF

Cross-Ref icons point out where you can find additional information about a topic elsewhere in the book.

How This Book Is Organized This book is organized roughly in the order in which a podcast production takes place. While everyone’s production chain is slightly different and there may be some overlap between sections, for the most part the sections should make sense.

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Part I: Podcasting: Where It Came from and Where It’s Going Part I sets the scene for the rest of the book. It talks about the early days of podcasting and how existing technologies were combined to create the current phenomenon. It also includes an introductory chapter that shows you how to explore the world of podcasts that’s already out there.

Part II: Podcast Production Part II talks about how to record audio and video for a podcast. It covers all the tools you need, the basics of audio and video production, and the techniques that the pros use to get the best quality.

Part III: Encoding You’ll soon find out that the raw audio and video files you create using the knowledge you gain in Part II are too large to distribute on the Internet. Part III talks about the theory behind encoding and the various tools used to reduce the file sizes of podcast files.

Part IV: Distribution—Making Your Podcast Available to Your Audience Part IV discusses distribution of your podcast. One of the great things about podcasting is that it doesn’t really require any specialized equipment or software to distribute. However, as your podcast grows, you need to be aware of the potential costs that may arise and what your options are.

Part V: The Business of Podcasting Of course, the end goal is to quit the day job and be paid to talk about what you’re most passionate about. That’s why you’re starting your podcast, right? To do this, you have to build a business, and you have to understand the principles underlying building a successful podcasting business.

Part VI: Case Studies The final section of the book includes a few case studies. These are three different real-life examples of how podcasting is being used today.

Appendix and Glossary Appendix A offers some helpful podcasting resources. We also provide a glossary of terms.

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Getting in Touch with the Authors Before you write, check the book’s accompanying Web site for tips, tricks, FAQs, and other useful tidbits at www.podcastingbible.com. You can also reach the authors via e-mail. Mitch can be reached at [email protected], and Steve can be reached at [email protected].

Have Fun Remember: Successful podcasts are ones that are based on passion. The daily care and feeding of a podcast can require lots of time and effort. Make sure you’re creating a podcast that you look forward to doing, not a responsibility that adds more stress to your already busy life.

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What a long, strange trip it has been. After the last two books, Steve promised himself he’d never write another book during the summer. But then his fiancée completed her degree, their cabin in Montana sold, and his consulting business took off like never before. Oh well. There goes another summer. The same goes for Mitch. What seemed like a good idea in the beginning of 2006 took on a completely different look when his latest business venture, BuzzLogic, was ready to launch and proceeded to take up all his time. There went his summer. Our names are the only ones on the cover, but this book certainly could not have been written without help and input from many people. Mitch has been active in the podcasting community for years. Steve was a relatively recent convert, but jumped in feet first and has been trying to tread water ever since. We’d like to thank all of the fine people at Wiley who have helped us get this book finished: Michael Roney, the original acquisitions editor, Kim Spilker, who took over the reins, and Marty Minner, our esteemed editor. Gwenette Gaddis Goshert patiently corrected our grammar. Travis Petershagen, our technical editor, has been an endless source of inspiration and organization. We didn’t do this alone. Michael Lehman helped out, contributing to Chapters 15 and 16, and contributed the Microsoft case study. Erin Weible contributed the Ontario Science Centre case study. Andrew Fry helped with Chapters 20 and 22. Thank you all; you’re all knights in shining armor as far as we’re concerned. Steve Mack and Mitch Ratcliffe

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Preface ..........................................................................................................................................vii Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................................xi

Part I: Podcasting: Where It Came From and Where It’s Going . . . 25 Chapter 1: Stars Being Born Every Day ........................................................................................27 Chapter 2: Podcasting’s Meteoric Trajectory ..................................................................................37 Chapter 3: Exploring the World of Podcasting ..............................................................................47

Part II: Podcasting Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Chapter 4: Defining Your Podcast ................................................................................................69 Chapter 5: Audio Production Tools ..............................................................................................89 Chapter 6: Basic Audio Production ............................................................................................121 Chapter 7: Advanced Audio Production......................................................................................141 Chapter 8: Video Production Tools..............................................................................................173 Chapter 9: Basic Video Production Techniques ..........................................................................185 Chapter 10: Advanced Video Production Techniques ..................................................................211

Part III: Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Chapter 11: Encoding: An Overview ..........................................................................................231 Chapter 12: Encoding Tools ........................................................................................................247 Chapter 13: Basic Encoding Techniques......................................................................................257 Chapter 14: Advanced Encoding and Authoring Techniques ......................................................291

Part IV: Distribution—Making Your Podcast Available to Your Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Chapter 15: Distribution: An Overview ......................................................................................311 Chapter 16: RSS (Really Simple Syndication) ..............................................................................319 Chapter 17: Finding a Home for Your Podcast ............................................................................345 Chapter 18: Distributing Your Media File....................................................................................367

Part V: The Business of Podcasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 Chapter 19: The Basics of Podcasting Business............................................................................379 Chapter 20: The Subscription Business ......................................................................................393 Chapter 21: Making Advertising Work........................................................................................407 Chapter 22: Alternative Business Models ....................................................................................423

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Chapter 23: Rights and Responsibilities: Licensing Music and Managing Your Liabilities ............441 Chapter 24: Corporate and Institutional Podcasting....................................................................459 Chapter 25: Promoting Your Podcast ..........................................................................................473

Part VI: Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493 Chapter 26: Podcasting from Home: The Dawn and Drew Show ................................................495 Chapter 27: Channel 9: Humanizing the World’s Largest Software Company ............................501 Chapter 28: A Museum’s Experience: The Ontario Science Centre ..............................................509 Appendix A: Podcasting Resources..............................................................................................517 Index ..........................................................................................................................................527

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Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Part I: Podcasting: Where It Came From and Where It’s Going

25

Quick Start: Getting Started with Podcasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Podcasting Process ........................................................................................................2 Before You Start ....................................................................................................................2 Finding and Subscribing to Your First Podcast ......................................................................3 Recording Your First Podcast ................................................................................................4 Editing and Encoding Your Podcast ....................................................................................10 Putting Your Podcast Online................................................................................................15 Summary ............................................................................................................................23

Chapter 1: Stars Being Born Every Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 What Is Podcasting? ............................................................................................................27 Why Podcasting Is Different ................................................................................................30 A Podcast for Every Listener................................................................................................31 Summary ............................................................................................................................35

Chapter 2: Podcasting’s Meteoric Trajectory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Digital Audio Grows Out ....................................................................................................37 It came from planet RSS ............................................................................................39 The last yard, via USB................................................................................................40 What podcasting is not..............................................................................................41 Transition State: From Curiosity to Phenomenon ................................................................42 Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond ............................................................................................44 Summary ............................................................................................................................45

Chapter 3: Exploring the World of Podcasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 The Basics of Listening ........................................................................................................47 Choosing Your Podcatcher ..................................................................................................49 Downloading and Installing a Windows Podcatcher............................................................50 Downloading and Installing a Macintosh Podcatcher ..........................................................57 Subscribing to Your First Podcast in Juice ..........................................................................58 Subscribing to Your First Podcast in iTunes ........................................................................62

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Contents

Portable and CD Playback ..................................................................................................63 Where to Find Podcasts ......................................................................................................63 Searching Podcasts ..............................................................................................................64 Summary ............................................................................................................................65

Part II: Podcasting Production

67

Chapter 4: Defining Your Podcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 It’s All About Your Passion — No, It’s Not ..........................................................................70 Making your choices..................................................................................................70 Why, why, why? ........................................................................................................72 Is there anybody out there?........................................................................................75 Addressing your audience..........................................................................................79 Formats: The shape of your podcast ..........................................................................80 Growing a Long, Long Tail ..................................................................................................83 Summary ............................................................................................................................88

Chapter 5: Audio Production Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Using Basic Production Tools ..............................................................................................89 Microphones ............................................................................................................90 Pickup patterns................................................................................................90 Dynamic versus condenser mics ......................................................................91 Other types of microphones ............................................................................94 Mixing Desks ............................................................................................................99 Monitoring (headphones and speakers) ..................................................................100 Signal processors ....................................................................................................103 Equalization (EQ) units ................................................................................104 Compressor ..................................................................................................104 Effects units ..................................................................................................104 Audio interfaces ......................................................................................................104 Soundcards....................................................................................................104 External audio interfaces................................................................................105 Recording devices....................................................................................................106 Audio-editing software ............................................................................................108 Additional tools ......................................................................................................109 Cables............................................................................................................109 Pop screens....................................................................................................111 Mic stands, clips, suspension mounts ............................................................111 Using Telephone Tools ......................................................................................................111 Skype ......................................................................................................................112 Gizmo ....................................................................................................................113 Understanding the Recording Environment ......................................................................113 Sound treatment......................................................................................................114 Studio layouts..........................................................................................................115 Single operator ..............................................................................................115 Talent + engineer ..........................................................................................116

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Contents

Equipping a Studio on Any Budget ..................................................................................116 Cheapskate ($0) ......................................................................................................116 Novice (