Facebook fade

Being a long-time podcaster, I'm quite familiar with the term "podfade." Basically, it's when a podcaster starts to lose interest in his podcast.

If the podcaster maintained a schedule, then the posts start to fall behind. Weekly posts drop back to a monthly schedule, and then degenerate to an occasional post, until finally the whole thing just stops as the podcaster abandons his program.

And, recovering from a major illness, I experienced a little of it myself.

I think though, what I'm really experiencing is "Facefade." I'm not especially upset about the changes to Facebook, I just... don't care that much.

I maintain a number of social media accounts, and try to manage them all as efficiently as possible (thanks Hootsuite!). With the current iteration, I really should go in and sort all of my friends into groups, and reorganize all of the feeds. But I won't. Because some of that sorting out is already happening at the other end, as friends and family put me in the groups they want me in. And because the signal to noise ratio is still pretty good for my unfiltered feed.

And when it comes to posting and checking posts, just like with my other accounts I'm accessing Facebook through an aggregator, so I don't often see the interface that has everyone up in arms. So most of the time, I'm not even on Facebook at all -- I'm just "phoning in" my updates.

So there it is. I still try to do at least one post a day. But my actual presence on the site is shrinking. And if podfade represents a decreasing interesting in podcasting, then I think I have Facefade for sure.

This Week in Law hosts an exception discussion of copyright

Although not a lawyer, I'm a big fan of This Week in Law. Program #62 was particularly outstanding, especially in providing real insight and practical, first-hand looks at the use and value of copyright in a file-sharing world. Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing editor and author, along with Mike Masnick of TechDirt discussed with host Denise Howell and regular Evan Brown how files haring and "piracy" hasn't hurt or devalued their creative content.

Many studies have shown that when it comes to music, a record label's best customers are those who share files. I encourage you to listen to this podcast episode even if you normally don't (or don't think a law-oriented discussion is your cup of tea).

Among other things, Doctorow presents an interesting concept; that the emotional investment companies have in their business models often trumps the practicality of said models. It certainly explains the continued efforts of the RIAA!

Doctorow tells the story of what happened when the E.U. considered changing database copyright laws. In Europe, database information can be copyrighted, giving each information company its own little monopoly. In America, this information can't be copyrighted. Result: In America the information industry grew 25 times over the same period the European information industry declined. Apparently, the only thing that prevented a sharper decline were the investments some European companies made in American firms.

So what happened when the E.U. looked into lifting the copyright restrictions on databases? In reality, everyone could see it was the way to go, but even the companies that invested in the U.S. firms weren't emotionally ready to give up their exclusive control. So the restrictions remain, to the benefit of the U.S. industry, and the detriment of the European.

There's more in this program, such as how the lack of copyright spurs fashion innovation and why link farms don't matter. This is important stuff, and something we should all be informed about. Because the laws being put on the books, and the draconian punishments that go with them, aren't being formed on the reality of the situation, but on the emotional investment of the major players -- and that affects all of us.

WJMA,, VAB - How to unFAIL

Wondering about how to handle updates on the Interwebtubes? Read on.

Yesterday I commented on the lack of coverage for the Virginia Association of Broadcasters (VAB) awards -- from the VAB and one of the recipients, WJMA.

It's easy to point out something gone wrong. It's a little harder -- yet far more productive -- to offer up some solutions. Here is mine.

How the VAB should promote their awards.

1) Post the results on the VAB website (and home page) immediately after the announcement at the conference. This should not be difficult. The winners have already been determined. Just cut and past the list to the home page -- or better yet, have it hidden, ( is the appropriate HTML code, btw) , and just have someone make it live. It should take about two minutes.

2) New media is like working in a sausage factory: it's all about the links. Said list should, at the very least, have a link to all of the winners' websites. Make the call letters the link. It drives traffic to the stations, which gives them an additional benefit for being a VAB member and an award winner.

3) Have a graphic for the award. There should be a simple graphic for the VAB award that winning stations can post on their website. This graphic should come with a link back to a part of the VAB site that explains what the award is, and the criteria for winning. It's good for the stations to have such an image for their homepage, and it helps raise awareness of the award -- good for the VAB.

How WJMA should promote their awards.

Let's assume that the VAB won't be doing their part, so there's no graphic to place on the WJMAFM.com homepage. There are still some very simple, yet effective, things WJMA can do to promote their win (and help themselves in the process).

1) Have a text announcement with a link to the News page. Suggested text:

"Congratulations to Phil Goodwin for winning the 2009 Best Feature Reporting and Best Newscast, Small Market Radio Awards from the Virginia Association of Broadcasters."

At the very least, this will help with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for anyone searching for "VAB, award, 2009" This should take 5-10 minutes.

2) Build an awards page. This will take longer, but well worth the investment. WJMA has a long and distinguished history of winning awards for their news coverage. It's one thing to have a wall covered in trophies that no one can see (although you can kind of see them behind Phil's portrait). It's another to put it all out on the web where everyone can.

At the very least, you could have a simple laundry list in a grid of the dates, awards won, and the winning journalist and story. But it shouldn't stop there.

Whenever possible, there should be a link from the title of the award-winning story to an MP3 of said story. Now to go back and fill in 20+ years of these stories would take quite a bit of time and probably won't be at the top of anyone's "to-do" list. But what about this year's entry?

Phil Goodwin had to create an audio file to submit to the VAB judges, Why not post that on the website? Most of the work's already done. And while creating a full-blown awards web page would take time, for now, a simple text-based page shouldn't take more than an hour. Here's a serving suggestion (this took about ten minutes, thanks to ISSDNTek)

Year	Award
2009	VAB	Phil Goodwin	Best Feature Reporting, Small Market Radio	"Dog Finds Wallet"
		Phil Goodwin	Best Newscast, Small Market Radio	Noon News, 1/15/09

(The links aren't real - it's just to give you the idea.)

Now why is this important? Simple. Ad $$$$.

I could say this is an "award-winning" blog. And it is. I just gave it the "C.E. Conversations Award for Best Blog Written by Two People Named Ken and Ralph."

Big deal.

"Award-winning" is vague and meaningless. A link to a string of real awards by professional organizations is something else again. And if you're trying to persuade someone to sponsor your newscasts, it's a great way to show the value of the investment.

One final thing. I'd change the artwork for the podcast. OK, WJMA still don't have artwork for the podcast, but let's say they had something like the graphic below. (Pretty snazzy, eh? It took about ten minutes with Photoshop.)

I would simply add a line below it, (like I did on the graphic below) and then the award would be front and center on everyone's iPod, or MP3 player, or media player.

(That addition took five minutes. The secret is to save the original as a PSD, so you keep all the layers. Then it's very easy to make changes -- next year I could just change the text to read "2010 VAB Award-winner" and start using that graphic.)

So there it is, some constructive suggestions on how to get the word out without using a lot of money or human resources. And if anyone from Piedmont Communications is reading this, please feel free to copy and paste those images.

I'd love to end the WJMA podwatch!


- Ralph

Day 85 of the WJMA Podwatch.

New Habits Die Hard, Too

Saturday I spent most of the day doing yard work. No problem, I had my iPod and I had some podcasts to get through. I needed to get gas for the lawnmower, so I put my iPod aside, got my keys and hopped in the car.

Along the way to the gas station, I listened to "Whad'ya Know?" and got involved with Michael Feldman's interview with Patricia O'Conner, author of Origin of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language. When I pulled up to the pump, I instinctively reached for the pause button where my iPod usually sits. Not there.

I missed the rest of the interview while I filled up the gas can. And the show was into a new segment by the time I was ready to head home.

Bummer.

Now during this past week, while driving, I listened to a two-hour episode of "This Week in Law," hour-plus episodes of "This Week in Media" and "This Week in Tech" respectively, a 45-minute installment of "In Our Time," as well as some other shorter podcasts, and never missed a word. 

Yet on a 15-minute round trip to the gas station, I only got to hear a portion of a 10-minute interview. Wow. That's why I don't listen to live radio as much. 

Fortunately, "Whad'ya Know?" is also available as a podcast.

I subscribed over the weekend.

 - Ralph

Day 57 of the WJMA Podwatch

WJMA's News Podcasts - Baby Steps

WJMA's news podcasts are improving -- but have they improved enough to stop the podwatch?

Well, let's see. They've added an intro to the news podcast, which helps immensely. Not only does it help identify who's talking, and from where, but it also helps with branding. Because of that intro, played five times weekly for subscribers simply reinforces that information -- which makes their news director (and the station) more valuable.

That's the plus.

But what about the rest of it. You expect a radio station to understand how audio works, but as both Mark Ramsey and Jerry Del Colliano have pointed out, a podcast isn't just recycled audio. It's a different media, which has different requirements (and different ways to be used effectively).

The WJMA podcasts still have minimal metadata. No email address; no URL; not even a graphic. All of which still shows a basic lack of understanding of how the podcast medium works -- and that could be a real problem.

Thought experiment: imagine someone with an extensive theater background who, for professional reason, has branched out into video. You view their video -- it's a stage play filmed with a single stationary camera from the center of the auditorium with no cuts. Obviously, that person's still thinking of storytelling in terms of stagecraft, which doesn't have a one-to-one correspondence to video.

Now imagine that same person positioned themselves as a professional videographer and wants to shoot your business' commercial. If they were a family friend, you might give them a chance. But if you didn't know them, you'd probably want to see their work first -- and them what would your decision be?

Piedmont Communications has received clearance to expand further into the Metro Washington market (DCRTV 4/27). And they've positioned themselves as experts in new media. So what do you think will happen when businesses in this highly competitive market start comparing WJMA's claims against their reality?

Sorry, but I'm going to be just as demanding as those potential new customers. The watch goes on.

 - Ralph

Day 37 of the WJMA Podwatch.

Radio/Podcasting -- Not quite the same, Part 2

Shortly after I shared Mark Ramsey's comments about commercial radio and their mishandling of podcasting, Jerry Del Colliano offered up another viewpoint on his blog Inside Music Media. In his post, "7 Trends Radio Missed" he has this to say:

"Podcasting is personal radio -- the kind that the industry flirted with early in its history and has abandoned today... The difference between radio's version of podcasting and the one I think would provide numerous revenue streams to broadcast owners is the ability to make podcasting a franchise.

Radio missed the podcasting revolution because it doesn't know how to make each podcast a franchise -- funded by revenue derived in ancillary ways (not commercials) and grown by viral social networking tools."

And that's been my point with the WJMA News podcasts. They're not repurposed for the new format. There's no on-air promotion (at least that I've heard). There's no branding. Missed opportunities all around.

 - Ralph

Day 30 of the WJMA Podwatch.

Radio/Podcasting -- Not quite the same

Mark Ramsey makes a good point in a Hear 2.0 post, entitled "Commercial Radio's Podcasting Myth."

The myth of [commercial radio] podcasting is that this long-form way is the way listeners want to consume our content simply because it’s the way they consume our content over the air – a context in which they have no choice in the matter, by the way.

Actually, they do have a choice – it’s to tune in and out, ever-hopeful for a “hit” or “highlight.” And tune in and out is exactly what they do.

When we transform the radio show to the podcast we are thinking about the medium all wrong. In an on-demand world for much of commercial radio, the unit of currency is not the “show,” it’s the “hit,” the “highlight.” Listening to radio over the air is as different from listening on-demand as an album is different from a song.

So let's take a look at our favorite case study, WJMA. They're part of the way there. Their news podcasts are short -- and that's good. But they're simply an excerpt from an on-air podcast -- and that's bad.

As Ramsey points out, podcasts are listened to -- and used differently -- than on-air content. A little bit of shaping would make these news podcasts work effectively as podcasts. They still need a quick intro, a graphic, and some helpful metadata (like station ID, contact info, etc.).

Different media, different requirements.

So we continue to day 26 of the WJMA Podwatch.

- Ralph

Podcast Review: Naxos Classical Music Spotlight

The more you have to work with, the easier it is to produce quality content. And that's pretty much the case with the Naxos Classical Music Spotlight. Host Raymond Bisha takes a recent release from the Naxos catalog (and sometimes from one of their distributed labels) and showcases it in this podcast.

Bisha's an accomplished host and producer -- not surprising from a former CBC broadcaster. In the general course of the program, Bisha plays excerpts from the featured recording interspersed with helpful commentary (and sometimes interview segments with the artist).

Bisha has a near-encyclopedic knowledge of classical music, as well as finely tuned sense of humor. The result is a presentation that personable, informal, and packed with rock-solid information.

So what did I mean about quality content? Well, Naxos has been the number one classical record label in the world for some time now, and just celebrated the release of their 30,000th CD. And it's not multiple recordings of the same old warhorses (like the major labels). Instead, Naxos has been releasing CDs covering all style periods, as well as most countries whose composers write in a classical style.

"Naxos Classical Music Spotlight" isn't a hard sell -- Bisha talks about the recording, plays some excerpts, and lets the listener judge for themselves. Whether you know a lot about classical music, or want to get started, the "Naxos Classical Music Spotlight" is a great place to start.

Be warned, though, it can be expensive. I can trace at least 12 purchases directly back to this podcast!

(And remember -- you don't need an iPod to enjoy a podcast; just a computer.)

- Ralph

Day 15 of the WJMA Podwatch.

Podcast Review - Deutsche Welle: Inspired Minds

There was a time when NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" spent as much time covering the arts as they did politics and business. We still get a token story or two, but art coverage -- especially high art -- has long since been kicked to the curb by most public radio news providers.

Not so Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcasting organization. Their weekly program, "Inspired Minds" provides an in-depth interview with creative artists that seldom appear in American media. Each program host Breandáin O’Shea interviews (in English) an artist, writer, painter, dancer, ? or others in the performing arts. While there's some primary reason why O'Shea's talking to the artist (a performance tour, film festival, new play), there's another purpose as well.

"Inspired Minds" documents some aspect of the creative process that each of its interview subjects uses. What does Joshua Bell hope to accomplish through his performances? And how is that different than the goals of Zubin Mehta? How does Elizabeth George put together a novel, and is it the same as Michael Connelly?

And because the program isn't centered on America, or especially concerned about pop culture, we hear interviews with Swedish crime writer Asa Larrson, German jazz composer Klaus Doldinger, choreographer Gregor Seyffert, South African poet Lebogang Mashile, and more.

Best of all, the program lasts a full fifteen minutes. That means there's time for some intelligent conversation. There's time to discuss complex ideas. There's time to present a well-rounded portrait of the interview subject. There's time.

And because it's a podcast, I can listen to it whenever I want to. I've learned a lot about the arts listening to "Inspired Minds." And I look forward to discovering many more artists, writers, and performers I'll want to investigate.

Danke, Deutsche-Welle!

(And remember -- you don't need an iPod to listen to a podcast)

Day 9 of the WJMA Podwatch.

WJMA, DCD Records, and the transparent podcast

I've spent a lot of time talking about WJMA's podcasts, pointing out areas where I think they might more effectively do their job. So what makes me such an expert? Fair question.

Well, since February 2006 I've been writing, producing, and hosting the podcast for DCD Records (where I serve as president and chief bottle-washer). Like WJMA, we're distributing "The DCD Classical 'Cast" podcast for a reason.

I want to reach classical music listeners (and more importantly, classical music buyers) in a way that's both economical and efficient. The goal of our podcast is to showcase the classical releases from the independent labels we carry on our website, raise awareness of our brand, and spur sales. Has it worked? I think so.

Let me take you behind the scenes a little and you can judge for yourself.

Format: The podcast is approximately 30-40 minutes in length. We play complete movements, but almost never a complete work. The idea is to whet the appetite, not satiate it. (Listen to our current episode, and you'll see what I mean).

There's always an "ad" in the middle of the podcast. I simply reminds listeners that everything they hear is available from www.dcdrecords.com, and if they type a certain code into the coupon field, they'll receive a ten percent discount off their order -- even if other special offers or discounts have been applied (sorry, I'm not going to provide the code here -- you'll just have to listen).

I also ID the podcast after every piece of music. Why? Because repetition is the key to memory. Over the course of a podcast, the listener will hear our brand name mentioned at least four times. After a while, it will stick.

Metadata: I want each episode to be as effective as possible, so I pay attention to the metadata. I make sure the following are filled in:

Name: DCD [three digit show number] - [show title]
Artist: info@DCDRecords.com
Album: DCD Classical 'Cast
Year: [year of release]
Composer: [Me], host
Comments: This program we play: [composer - work]; [composer - work], etc.
Genre: Podcast

And yes, there's artwork attached.

Note the name. Even though we're only up to show #64, by using a three-digit number we ensure that the programs all line up properly in numerical order on media players and software. Without it, shows nos. 1,5, 10, 11, and 20 would line up as 1, 10, 11, 20, and 5.

And the choice of placing our e-mail address in the artist field was deliberate. If nothing else gets displayed, Name and Artist do. So I want the most important info front and center.

Distribution: We continue to seek out podcast directories to place our program with. You can find us on iTunes, InstantEncore, Feedburner, Mefeedia, Podcastblaster, Podcast Pickle, ZenCast, and many others. We also just recently set up a Twitter feed and a Facebook fan page to help generate interest in the podcast and our brand.

So what's been the result? Well, we started off with a monthly podcast and now produce an episode every two weeks because of a corresponding growth in audience. We've seen a definite link between product sold and product featured on the podcast. No, not everyone returns to our site to buy, but that's OK. Because we also have a store on Amazon, and we're the exclusive supplier of many of our labels to Arkivmusic.com -- so chances are, if you're purchasing something we carry, we'll see some money from the transaction regardless of the site you buy it on.

Subscription rates (it's free, by the way) continue to grow at a steady rate, especially over the past year. We've had over 34,000 downloads, and currently average a little over 500 an episode (although our more popular episodes run into the thousands). Now granted, this is small potatoes compared to say, "This Week in Tech" or a more general interest podcast.

But classical customers only make up about 7% of the music-buying market. And this market's small in other ways, too. Many classical titles -- even from the major labels -- only sell a few thousand copies. Add to that the fact that public radio stations airing classical music have an extremely slow rotation -- it's not uncommon to have six months pass before a track is played again. And most classical record review magazines seem to average a circulation of only around 10,000 readers.

So given all that, I'm very happy to have placed our audio calling card/sales catalog directly into the virtual hands of 34,000+ potential customers (even if they only listen to the podcast once, it's still better than the odds for radio). And outside of the recording gear, there's been almost no expense, save time.

I don't have to eat the cost of promo copies and the postage to ship them to 100+ radio stations where they'll sit and gather dust. I don't have to pay for ads in magazines where at a good response rate of 3% I'm looking at an outside total of 30 sales -- doesn't even cover the cost of the ad. I don't have to bother with the expense of trying to place the product in the shrinking racks of record retail stores (nor worry what happens to my inventory when they file Chapter 11).

We're talking directly to our potential customers, and they're responding either through purchases on our site or through one of the sites we supply.

So that's where I'm coming from when I say that WJMA's podcasts aren't living up to their full potential. Even at this stage of the game, their subscription and download numbers should leave us in the dust. If they're not, then something is seriously wrong. Which is kind of my point.

- Ralph


Day 3 of the WJMA Podwatch.

WJMA and the Online Opportunity

Stephen Baker's post "The Online Opportunity for Radio Stations" provides a lot of good information -- and not just for radio stations. Consider this:

Usability. Eliminate the clutter and focus on getting customers to relevant content quickly. I’m still amazed at the complexity and quantity of clicks required to get to target content.

It's making me take a hard look at our website. Can people quickly get to our content within a click or two? And ditto for our favorite subject case, WJMA. A lot of content is front and center on their homepage. And even their red-headed stepchildren (their podcasts) are only two clicks away. But wait -- there's more.

Aggregation. Success in the local market requires that publishers look beyond their own content for relevant stories and information in order to become a local online media hub.

Again, WJMA's site has a lot of potentials. The home page has a local news feed, community calendar, weather, etc. But let's look a little closer. Here's the "Local News" when I checked the site. "Obama in Baghdad" Huh? Is there a Baghdad, Virginia? That feed needs a little tighter focus.

Also, consider this:

Compelling content. Most news/talk radio stations produce extremely relevant content to our daily information needs - traffic, weather, sports scores, etc. - that drive our initial entry to the site and lead us to engage with additional content of interest.

OK, WJMA is technically a music station, but they do produce their own local news, so a lot of this still applies. There's enough of the above-mentioned content to get us to the WJMA site. But where's the additional content of interest? Take, for example, the community calendar. Click on the date, and the day's events pop up. Cool.

But there's no addition content and not a lot of information. For April 7, the event is simply:

"Spring Into Safety Health Fair"
Presented by Culpeper Regional Health System.

Two problems here. First, the link isn't in a different color. I discovered it lead to another page purely by accident. Second, there's no real information here. OK, there's something happening today somewhere in Culpeper. What's the location? What time? What's the theme? Details?

And the most important question, why do have I have to click through another page to get the information? (Remember Baker's recommendation for usability?).

So how does your site stack up? Compelling content, usability, aggregation. I don't have a radio station website, but Baker's post will make me take another look at our own site.

- Ralph

Day 2 of the WJMA Podwatch.

WJMA Podwatch -- Day One

Looks like it's time to start the WJMA Podwatch. Two weeks ago we offered up some suggestions to make the WJMA news podcasts more effective, both for the listeners and for the station. Simple fixes, really.

1. Add contact and identifying info to the MP3's meta data.
2. Add the date to the title so the podcasts would sort properly.
3. Put in artwork for visual reference (and brand re-enforcement) and add an opener so we know who we're listening to and what they're talking about at the beginning of the podcast -- not at the end.

And after two weeks -- the podcasts are now dated. !?!?

Just doing the barest minimum doesn't help -- and this isn't really the barest minimum. So we'll start the clock and see how long it takes to make these MP3s useful to podcast listeners (who have different needs than radio listeners).

So why does this matter? Well, there are lessons to be learned here for any business with an online component (even those not considering podcasts). And a key one is credibility. Piedmont Communications (who own WJMA), addressing current and future advertisers in their blog said:

Using the web to market your business and sell your product can unquestionably be very effective…. Good web design and maintenance are pricey….we should know. We just completed a relaunch of the WJMA FM website. Once you’ve spent the money to gussy up your site, you’ve got to drive traffic to it in order for it to do you any good.

We feel like in our market, and with our listeners, we’ve got the franchise on emotive, engaging advertising that will make people want to visit your website, leveraging your ad dollars and web investment to create sales for you.

I totally agree. They got the concept.

But if I were a potential advertiser, I'd be looking at what Piedmont Communications is doing to drive traffic to their own website. It's the most effective way they can show their Interwebtube expertise -- and provide some hard numbers to their clients.

As Mark Ramsey said in a recent Hear 2.0 post:

The digital elements in [a station's] portfolio are not "non-traditional revenue," they are "new traditional revenue."... Every broadcaster should be restructuring from the ground up around digital opportunities, not simply tacking on digital strategies like so many strips of duct tape.

How well has WJMA incorporated the digital tools of their "gussied up" website into their product? Well, it took them 344 days to go from a placeholder to a functioning website again. Let's see how long it takes to bring their podcasts (which is just one part of their digital initiative) up to current practice. This is day one.

- Ralph

WJMA Podcasts -- It's a start

Just starting a podcast? Read on.

Friday I outlined a few things that WJMA could do to improve their nascent news podcasts. And it looks like they took some of that advice, so I want to give credit for the changes they made. The basics were pretty simple:

Here is the information this podcast should have to make it useful to anyone downloading it. All of these fields should be filled in.

• Name: WJMA Central Virginia News for 3/24/09
• Artist: Phil Goodwin
• Year: 2009
• Composer: Piedmont Communications, Inc.
• Genre: Podcast
• Artwork - an image of the station's logo with some additional element that says "news."

Looks like someone was busy over the weekend. When I opened up the podcast feed this morning, there was information in place! Specifically:

• Name: WJMA News 3-30-09 (different name than I suggested, but no quibbles - it works)
• Year: 2009
• Album: WJMA News (Yes, we know -- it's in the name field. But what's the dial position?)
• Genre: Podcast

It's a good start, but I'm puzzled as to why they stopped there. We still have no context. Where's the station? Who's talking? Who's putting out this podcast, anyway?

IMHO, you should think of a podcast episode like a business card. It should have all the information about the product to be useful, to strengthen the brand, as well as the relevant metadata to help the listener sort the episode in their library.

If I'm searching through my MP3 library by cover art -- there's none. I don't know what this is. Ditto if I try to sort by artist. These are pretty basic things -- and the absence of them has me convinced that the powers that be still don't "get" podcasting. And most likely don't listen to them at all.

It's a simple fix, fellas. Album art, artist name, something to give a location. You could even get ambitious and add an email address in there. Every blank field represents a missed opportunity. It doesn't cost anything to fill in the other metadata fields. Really.

Let's see where WJMA stands next Monday. That should be more than enough time to create and attach artwork, and fill in the missing fields. Are these podcasts half-baked, or just half-done? I'm still optimistic.

- Ralph

WJMA, Hear 2.0, and the Interwebtubes

The other day in my post "Podcast Review -- WJMA News" I offered some solid suggestions on how our local radio station WJMA could effectively repurpose their news reports as podcasts. It's not that they haven't been. News and sports podcasts are part of the new website.

But as I pointed out, audio clips from a broadcast can't just be thrown onto the web. A podcast is a different medium with a different audience and different conventions. Follow them, and your audience grows. Ignore them, and you'll be classed as an out-of-touch amateur.

Yesterday Mark Ramsey did a relevant post, "More Than Digital Duct Tape," on his blog, Hear 2.0. He cites a recent IBM study that shows an anticipated 63% growth in online advertising (and a corresponding drop in traditional media buys) -- and how media companies simply aren't moving to where the advertisers and customers want to go -- that is, online. He wrote:

... the digital elements in your portfolio are not "non-traditional revenue," they are "new traditional revenue."

Any broadcaster - and there are many out there (although not likely to be reading this) - who thinks our solution is to return "to the basics" and stick our communal heads deep into the sand is a fool.

Every broadcaster should be restructuring from the ground up around digital opportunities, not simply tacking on digital strategies like so many strips of duct tape.

This is a time of amazing opportunity if you have the vision and the will to have at it.

You can't think of a podcast as a recycled radio bit (even if that's the source). It has to be reworked for the new media.

Will WJMA make the necessary changes? I don't know, but I'll keep you posted.

We'll make Monday the official start of the WJMA pod watch. It'll end when the WJMA news podcasts have metadata that include appropriate IDs and graphics and a proper intro. The station had a static placeholder on their site for 344 days before the website relaunched. I'm hoping we don't set a new record here.

- Ralph

Podcast Review -- WJMA News

When the new WJMA website launched, I promised to check out their podcasts and report back.

As I said back in September of 2008, the news content of WJMA would be perfect repurposed as podcasts. Looks like they took my advice (I'll add that my consulting fee) and did just that with their news and sports reports.

Unfortunately, WJMA's podcasts have a long way to go -- the same problems that plagued their website's newsfeed in April of 2008 are still with them.

Here's the 3/24/09 episode of the WJMA News podcast. See if the same things strike you that do me.

Personally, this tells me a few things about whoever's in charge of WJMA's podcasts.

1) They have very little idea of what podcasting's about -- and how they differ from radio content. If they did, they would understand that we need some context for this news. There should be an intro at the very least. The FIRST thing we should here is an identification of the station, the locality, the date and the announcer. This MP3 can be downloaded anywhere in the world, at any time. What state are we in? What day is this news for? Who is this guy talking?

Imagine this: a simple music bed of urgent music and the sound of a teletype (retro I know, but effective). Over top of it we hear "This is the WJMA Daily News Podcast for March 24, 2009, I'm Phil Goodwin. Here are the top stories from around Central Virginia." Then move on to the prerecorded stuff. And have the music bed return briefly at the end. Now I can hear when this podcast starts and stops -- so when I'm listening to several podcasts in a row, I know where I am.

Remember -- once I subscribe, it's unlikely I'll return to this podcasting page. So I won't get context from any of the graphics or the popup player.

2) They probably don't subscribe to any podcasts themselves. If they did, they would know that metadata is absolutely crucial. This downloaded podcast has "1653340" as the title. Now when I see that on my iTunes menu, that tells me nothing. There's no date anywhere, nor clue as to origin of this podcast. That makes it a prime candidate for deletion.

OK, fellas, I'll make it country-simple. Here is the information this podcast should have to make it useful to anyone downloading it. All of these fields should be filled in.

• Name: WJMA Central Virginia News for 3/24/09
• Artist: Phil Goodwin
• Year: 2009
• Composer: Piedmont Communications, Inc.
• Genre: Podcast
• Artwork - an image of the station's logo with some additional element that says "news."

Do all of that, and you'll have something useful and more valuable to the listener (sort of the point, dont'cha know).

3) They have yet to see the value -- both in branding and advertising revenue -- of this repurposed content. Look, what's the point of a radio station podcast, anyway? Doing something just because all the cool kids are is no way to run a business. There are solid reasons why a radio station should be podcasting -- three, in fact.

First, a podcast should should reinforce the station's brand. Second, it should engage a new audience on their own terms. Third. it should be a revenue stream for the station.

Adding metadata (which I discussed above) will reinforce the brand.

Meeting the audience on its own terms? Well, how about placing this podcast in a few directories already? Getting a podcast listed on iTunes is not hard -- even I've done it. Twice. 50% of web browsing on mobile devices is on done on iPhones, and 70% of the MP3 players in the world are iPods. They both use iTunes exclusively. Put the podcast where your audience is -- don't make them come to you (because they won't).

Finally, how about some additional monitization? Is the Culpeper Star Exponent paying extra for mention on the podcast? I don't know, but they should -- if account managers are throwing it in for free then it will be very difficult to charge for them or others clients for placement later.

Remember that opening I talked about? How about a brief spot right after the intro and before the news? I'll sit through one ten-to-fifteen second commercial to hear the news. When the news is over, though, I'm outta there. Placing spots at the end (like for said Culpeper Star Exponent) is a bad idea. This isn't radio. I don't have to sit through the ad to hear what's coming up next. I can just skip to the next podcast.

What kind of sponsor would work for a podcast? One that has a web-based business or a strong web-based component, of course. Even if the business is local, this is the perfect media for driving traffic to a website. Why? Because the people listening are already online. Podcast listeners are comfortable with technology, and have no problem navigating the Internet. So give them an easily remembered link, and go.

Oh - and you can also use the comments field in the metadata to provide URLs for the sponsors. An added service -- for a price. (We won't talk about enhanced podcasts that you can embed links into. I think that might be too confusing at this point.)

Fixing these podcasts is a fairly simple task. But it's one that needs to be done -- and not 344 days later.

- Ralph

(Don't know what to do now that the WJMA web watch is over. Maybe keep a running total of consultant fees I should be charging?)

The WJMA Website – 344 Days Later

Longtime blog readers know that we’ve been keeping watch for the return of the WJMA radio website. The earlier version of the site was something of a textbook case of how one can miss the mark moving from one medium to another. And now, after a significant redesign, the site has been relaunched.

So how is it? On the whole, a major improvement.

The Home Page
The home page should make a good first impression -- and it does. All the important information is there – weather, cancellations, music news and an engaging poll question. All pluses. And there’s a calendar with regional events tied to it. Nice!

Across the top, there’s a scrolling picture display, interspersing country artist headshots with photos from the WJMA coverage area. It’s an effective way to tie the station into the locality. My only complaint is the scrolling, which very quickly started to annoy me. And that header is there on every single page. After a while, I had to fight the urge to bail on the site just to make the *#($&@ scrolling stop. I ended up pulling the window down so the header wasn’t visible. Not sure if that’s the solution the station hoped for.

WJMA Country Club
There’s now something for the listeners. WJMA now has a County Club which, in exchange for registration (read: valuable marketing info for the station) you can become eligible for exclusive offers, contests, etc. Very smart.

Disc Jockey Pages
The air-talent page has a little bit of misstep – the main page has the schedule, but no links to the individual bios. That’s about a five-minute fix. The jocks’ bio pages look good. There’s a way on JD’s page to submit birthday notices (gathering more marketing data, very smart). Unfortunately, the “E-Mail J.D. here” text is just that. There’s no link (that’s another five-minute fix).

WJMA News
The news tab has some good features. In addition to the bio of newscaster Phil Goodwin, there’s also a place to submit story ideas. Good interactivity.

The sports page is just a collection of links to the sports team websites of the various schools (the Orange County High School link is currently broken – another five-minute fix). It would be nice if there was a scoreboard with all the local scores aggregated, but this is a good start.

And it looks like they’ll be podcasting their news. I’ll definitely check that out and report on them in another post.

Local Photos

There’s a photo section – another great opportunity for local content. It’s not clear where the images are coming from, though. And there doesn’t appear to be a way for listeners to submit images (which I would recommend reviewing before publication). Another suggestion – how about some picture captions and tagging? Get some SEO going here!

The Community Section
The community pages look good. There’s info on local events, ways for organizations to submit announcements, and a list (with links) of area charities, schools and organizations.

There’s also additional content for country music fans, such as artist links and music news.

And the new website makes it easy to contact account representatives for advertising (they even have e-mail addresses now).

At the bottom of the page, there are logos for Piedmont Communication’s other radio stations, SAM 105.5 and AM1340 WCVA. Don’t bother clicking on them, though – they just go to the WJMA homepage.

All in all, a very nice, professional-looking website. I’m not sure if it was worth a year’s wait, especially as it appears to be somewhat an off-the-shelf solution. But for new listeners and potential advertisers, it presents WJMA in a very good light – and that’s really what counts.

The only thing I find surprising is the lack of ads. Hopefully, they won’t eventually clutter it up like a NASCAR driver’s jumpsuit, but a few well-placed ads should generate a decent amount of traffic. I’ll check in from time to time and see how it develops.

And that’s the end of the WJMA web watch.

- Ralph

You know, I outlined a lot of this back in 2007 "Creating Compelling Content," "Ted Mack's Original Website," "Radio Websites -- Odds and Ends" et al. Wonder if I should submit a bill for consulting?

Podcast Review: Rocketboom

I've been a fan of Rocketboom for some time -- through the tenures of both hosts, in fact. Amanda Congdon initially hosted the program, and many thought the video podcast would fold with her departure in 2006. But Joanne Colan took over, and while the character of the show changed, the quality of the content didn't.

So what is Rocketboom? It's a daily video podcast produced by Andrew Baron that looks at everything going on around the Internet, and beyond. A typical program will have five or six things fired at you in rapid succession. The quick cuts and unusual juxapositions remind me of Tom Chapin's "Make a Wish," or James Burke's "Connections." The pacing is quick, the commentary tart, and the information almost always useful.

Rocketboom doesn't just cover Internet news, however. They also have a variety of contributers that give the program added dimension. Ruud Elmendorp, a Dutch reporter in Kenya, for example, regularly files stories on conditions in that part of Africa. His reports involve a lot of native interviews, and he focuses on stories -- both negative and positive -- that somehow never get covered by mainstream media, but give the viewer a more accurate idea of everyday life.

There have also been reports from Iraq, which again present a different face of the country and the conflict than those we're used to seeing over here. Primarily Iraqis do the reporting, and the stories aren't political -- they're simply focussed on the day-to-day lives of the people.

Rocketboom's most recent innovation has been their "Know Your Meme" segment. This takes a familiar piece of Internet pop culture, like Star Wars Kid, or the phrase "All Your Base Are Belong to Us." the segment then traces the meme back to its origin. The segment also examines how the meme spreads throughout pop culture and takes on the significance it has today.

Rocketboom's a breezy, informative, seemingly stream-of-consciousness (carefully planned to seem so) program that keeps me up to date in five minutes or less.

Thanks, Rocketboom!

And remember: you don't need an iPod to view a video podcast. Just download to your computer and enjoy. You can even watch it right on the podcaster's site.

- Ralph

My Experience with Satellite Radio

When I received a rental car recently (car vs. deer) I had a chance to try out SIRIUS satellite radio. I've ridden with other people who had satellite radio in their cars, but this was the first time I actually got to live with the radio and try it out first-hand.

The first few days were great. There is decidedly more variety to satellite radio than terrestrial radio. I really enjoyed listening to the bluegrass channel, and the other musical genres that terrestrial radio avoids altogether.

But after a while, I felt boredom kick in. Yes, they have the oldies nicely broken down by decade, so I could just listen to music from the 60's, or 70's or 80's -- but it was always the same old chart-topping hits that got played. Basically, I was hearing the songs that commercial radio had burnt me out on through overplaying years ago. I never had an aha! moment when I heard something unfamiliar, or a song I hadn't heard in quite a while.

And there were commercials -- at least during drive time. Within a couple of days, I was doing the same thing I used to do with terrestrial radio. Whenever an ad came on, I punched the preset to the next station. And did the same when that channel ran a spot, and so on and so on.

Some have complained about the sound quality, but that didn't bother me too much -- after all, it's radio. What bothered me more was the repetition. Once when I was tuned to the Blue Collar comedy channel, I heard the same routine driving home that I listened to driving in. And it wasn't that funny the first time around.

I also didn't like the display. I'm not sure if it's the function of the head unit in the car (a KIA Sportster) or the way SIRIUS fed the metadata, but I seldom saw artist names. For the comedy channels, it was frustrating as I seldom knew who was talking. Not amusing.

But the worst offenders were the classical channels. I tuned in to listen to a work only identified as "String Quartet No. 2 in B flat." That was perhaps the most unhelpful ID ever. Thousands of string quartets have been composed since Haydn developed the form in the late 1700s. Telling me the number and key didn’t narrow the field down that much. I needed to know the composer (or at least opus number).

So how composers wrote their second string quartets in the key of B-flat major? Here’s a partial listing: Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf; Charles Liu; Gerald Manning; Giovanni Battista Viotti; Antonin Dvorak; Bernard Romberg; Franz Xaver Richter' Maddalena Laura Lombardini-Sirmen; Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach; Felix Mendelssohn; Ottorino Respighi; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Wilhelm Altmann.

By midweek I was drifting back to some iPod listening. I had some podcasts to catch up on, and the content was fresher. From that point on, it was all downhill. Within a few days, I was back to my old habit of listening to podcasts as I drove. Lots of new information, minimal commercials (if any), and a programming mix uniquely suited to my tastes.

Now to be fair, my wife loved SIRIUS. She really enjoyed hearing her favorite songs one right after the other. So my negative was her plus.

For the most part, though, it was a somewhat disappointing experience. And while I did return to my iPod’s content, there’s something else worth mentioning. At no time did I ever consider just turning on the AM/FM radio to listen to what was being broadcast over-the-air.

- Ralph

Podcast Review - Coverville

One of the longest-running podcasts I listen to is Coverville. Brian Ibbott has been producing and hosting the program since 2004, and it's only gotten better of the last 550+ episodes.

The concept of the podcast is pretty simple: play only cover versions of other artists' songs. Sometimes the cover's by major artist interpreting a colleague's work. Sometimes it's a smaller indie band changing a song around to express their own artist vision

Ibbott, who at one time was a wedding DJ, has an ear for selecting the covers that are worth listening to, and arranging them in a podcast to have some sort of logical and pleasing flow. His goal (as he's said many times), is to present covers that give the listener a different insight into the song. So tribute bands need not apply. Note-perfect covers simply don't appear on this program.

Instead, Ibbott gives the listener rock songs reinterpreted as bluegrass numbers, fast tunes slowed down and slow songs played uptempo. Simple songs are developed into lush, complicated arrangements, and sophisticated melodies are stripped down to their essence.

Along the way I've discovered quite a lot of the artists I know, and found out about quite a few artists I'de never heard of before (but have since sought out to hear more of).

Over the years, Ibbot's developed some on-going themes that also help give the program cohesion. There're the "Cover Story" shows, which take a particular artist and present cover versions of their material. And occasionally there's an Originalville special. Sometimes it's the cover version that becomes the hit, not the original recording -- Originalville features those earlier (and unknown) versions.

Over the past few years, Ibbott's even mounted a Coverville Idol competition, inviting bands to submit covers based around a theme. And there's the year-end countdown of the 50 most requested covers of the year, with Ibbott covering Kasey Kasem!

The program's a lot of fun, and gives you a solid 45 minutes of well-played music -- even if it's not entirely familiar.

Count me as a proud citizen of Coverville -- resident since 2004!

And remember, you don't need an iPod to listen to a podcast. Just download to your computer and enjoy.

- Ralph

Day 333 of the WJMA Web Watch. (No, they don't play covers, either.)

Podcast Review -- Grammar Girl

When people hear that one of my favorite podcasts is all about grammar, I usually get odd looks. Granted, some of that puzzlement is about just the concept of podcasting itself (*sigh*). But mostly folks find it hard to understand that I would voluntarily listen to a show about such a boring subject.

Well, like the concept of podcasting itself, the appeal of something called "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing" might seem puzzling to the neophyte. But it makes perfect sense to those that have experienced it. But (also like podcasting) the best way to understand Grammar Girl's appeal is to simply listen to the program. But if you need some reasons to check it out, here goes:

Grammar Girl is actually Mignon Fogerty, a professional technical writer. Her skill at explaining complex concepts in simple, everyday terms came to the fore with the Grammar Girl podcast. Fogerty has a warm, inviting voice, that always seem to carry a hint of smile. And she's really into the grammar tips she dispenses, and that enthusiasm is infectious.

Plus, Fogerty is scrupulous in her research. In answering a grammar question, she'll often cite several different authoritative sources, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style, and Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage -- especially if there's conflicting opinions on what's standard and what isn't.

But what really makes the program appealing is its inviting practicality. Fogerty's not interested in scolding those breaking the grammar rules. Her goal is to help people understand how grammar works, so they can communicate more effectivel.

The show is tightly scripted, and moves along at a good pace. There's a healthy dose of humor, and Fogerty has a knack for creating mnemonic devices to help the listener remember the concepts she presents.

And if you think I'm odd for enjoying this podcast, know this -- within the first four months of release, Grammar Girl had over a million listeners. Mignon Fogerty's built her single podcast into a thriving network of how-to podcasts (Quick and Dirty Tips), all with the same general character -- informal, friendly, and full of rock-solid information and advice. Plus, Fogerty's book, "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing," shot to the top of the New York Times' bestseller's list.

Considering the size of her audience, and the success of her program and books, maybe when I talk with people who don't listen to Grammar Girl, I ought to be giving them odd looks!

Affect vs. Effect: The aardvark was affected by the arrow. The effect was eye-popping. I never mixed up those two words since hearing that tip. Thanks, Grammar Girl!

And remember: you don't need an iPod to enjoy a podcast -- just a computer.

- Ralph

Day 294 of the WJMA Web Watch.