iPodarmy

iTunes 4.9 was released yesterday and it’s pretty darn cool. It has a few minor problems, but in general I really like getting my podcasts right in iTunes like that.

However, even with the podcast directory, I don’t see iTunes as the best place to find content. I’ll be using Odeo for that.

Odeo is to iTunes in a way Flickr is to iPhoto for me. Not in the way they function really, although Odeo is alot like Flickr, but that they serve two different purposes. iTunes is my playing / catching application, and I’m hoping Odeo can be my social/network/find content application. It looks pretty good so far.

I really like the functionality of iTunes as it relates to podcasts and the social aspect of Odeo is nice too. Two great tastes??? We’ll see.

Overall it’s a nice little service/application. I wasn’t able to get into the podcast creation stuff, as that’s not ready yet, but I did take a spin around everything else. Here are my first impressions.

Notes and Observations

• The design and interface are slick. Is pink the new pink?
• It’s kind of like Flickr. You can make comments and tag podcasts with your own tags. I really like the tag based organization as it opens up a whole new way to find podcasts. This is a killer feature.
• I really like the listen features. It’s nice because it makes it easy to kind of, well, browse and “try before you subscribe.” This, again, is killer—I like to be able to easy listen to a show, before I decide I want to add it to my download queue.
• The queue is kind of neat, it allows you to add individual podcasts without subscribing. This would be good to line up new shows to check out.
• Adding a show was pretty easy and allowed for a bit more in the way of describing a show (via tags, etc.) than most other directories out there.
• You can look at other people’s profiles and see what channels and shows they are subscribing to or have in their queue, where they’ve made comments and what those are and what, if anything, their producing. This is another nice way to discover something new. You can check out what your friends or people with similar tastes have found.
• You can then add them as a contact (again ala Flickr) to help keep track of what their up to.

I think in general the most impressive part of Odeo was the way it helps you find new shows to listen to. The fact that you can tag and comment on shows, as well as listen to and line up shows to check out are like nothing else that I’ve seen. I can see those features being very useful.

I also quite liked all the user features. If they can get a community going around it, it could be a very, very good thing.

This week’s show is a bit shorter than last week. There’s some great stuff in there though. With the CBC Radio 3 podcast coming out recently it’s given me a new way to find great new music. Thanks to Peter for hooking me up with that information. I’ve found some good stuff already.

As always, if you’ve got a line on some good music, for the show or otherwise, please let me know. Hope y’all like this one. I’ll be back with another in a few weeks.

Link: Podcast #5 : June 10, 2005 (41 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 29.65mb)

Playlist

• “Clowne Towne” by Xiu Xiu (live) [Info]
• “Dirty Lives” by Love As Laughter[Info at Sub Pop]
• “Body Technology” by Femme Generation [Info via CBC Radio 3]
• “Through The Broken City” by Bend Sinister [Info via CBC Radio 3]
• “Our Song” by Ripley Caine [Info via Staccato]
• “R.F.O.” by Fug [Info]
• “Cheer Up Baby” by Dolour [Info]
• “Be Movie Bass Music” by Kobayashi [Info]
• “Run” by Sonny Jim [Info via Staccato]

My Odeo Channel

I’ve been reading recently about Odeo a podcasting service that proclaims to be:

making it easy for you to discover, create, and subscribe to fresh, independent audio content for your iPod (or whatever MP3-player-type-deal you prefer).

There has been quite a bit of hype surrounding Odeo, and based on these screenshots it looks pretty nifty. I wonder though, is it too late? Apple has said that they will add podcasting functionality to iTunes so I’m sure many will use that as their default “podcatcher.”

What about creating content? Well, I use GarageBand and Audio Hijack and contrary to some popular belief, it was pretty darn easy to get it going. I plan on doing something more pofessional down the road, and Odeo seems like it would be a backwards step for someone like me.

But who knows, it looks nice and may have some features that are of benefit that I don’t know about. One thing I wish it had was a better way to find music for podcasting. What’s out there now is pretty lame.

I wish Odeo luck and will give it a spin when it’s out, I just wonder if they were a bit too slow getting it out there.

Howdy y’all. Yes, I’m back with another podidlycast. This time I’ve got really great stuff for y’all. It’s been crazy the last few weeks, but I’ve managed to come through it with quite a bit done, a lot learned and some good music found and ready to share. I think this one is the best yet! Oh and I hope y’all don’t mind f-bombs. Adults (or really ornery kids) only on this one.

Enough blather, check out the ‘cast and, please, let me know what you think.

Link: Podcast #4 : June 10, 2005 (42 minutes | 96kbps mp3 | 30.29mb)

Playlist

• “Straight Outta Compton” by Nina Gordon [Info via Jeff. Thanks bro!]
• “Touch You Touch Me” by Hot Hot Heat [Info]
• “No Natural Law” by The Catheters [Info at Sub Pop]
• “Protection Act” by The Cops [Info]
• “Hope” by Under Electric Light [Info via Vu D’ici]
• “Heartless Romantic” by The Dears [Info]
• “Hurt Mutant” by Climber [Info]
• “Too Mean Mix” by No-Fi Soul Rebellion [Info]
• “Entertain” by Sleater-Kinney [Info]
• “Foundation” by A Gun Called Tension [Info]
• “Midnight Service at the Mutter Museum” by The Murder City Devils [Info]

KEXP, which is the only music-based “radio” station I feel is worth listening to at all, is in the middle of their summer pledge drive. It’s a time when, as listener supported media, they ask their listeners to become “members” of the station and donate some money to help keep the cogs running.

It’s actually a great time to listen also. You get to hear all sorts of testimonials from people who listen to the station and you get to learn a lot about how independent, audience supported media works and the struggles they face. See, with all the media consolidation going on, a station like KEXP is very rare. They don’t have advertising (although it wouldn’t bother me if they did) and they have the freedom to play the music they want to play—which is the key, and the reason why I hope they never go away.

Read more…

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the last month trying to find good music that is podcast friendly, legal to freely share and/or “podsafe.” To be quite honest it’s been a struggle, but it has gotten easier as I’ve discovered new ways to find good music to add to my podcast. It’s not not exactly easy but it’s manageable and seems to get better as the days tick by.

I really wish I’d known many of the avenues to find podsafe music a few weeks ago though, so I thought I’d take a few minutes and write up some of the things I’ve learned. Below are several things you can try, and a few places you can look, to find good podsafe music. As always, when in doubt check with the artist or label before you assume something is podsafe, I can’t guarantee everything you find from these tips is legal to share.

Read more…

[Via Corante & Matt May]

While we’re unable to give you blanket permission to use any ole song you want from our catalog, you may incorporate any of the songs that are freely available as MP3s in the multimedia section of this website into your podcasts. HOWEVER, we do reserve the right to change our mind about the availability of any song for any reason at any time. Fickle, no?

This might end up being really big news and I for one am very, very glad to hear it. Sure, it’s a little wishy-washy, but at least they’re thinking about how podcasting and the like can actually help their business. I mean, for me anyway, the objective is to find and share great music. If there are record companies that put out good music that are willing to join in, I’m very excited about what I can legally do with my own podcasts. Oh, and they’ve got an RSS feed to help get new tracks out. Killer, that is!

You can expect some Sup Pop music in the next podcast I do.