I May Even Dress Up Like Johnny Fever
September 6, 2013 7:00 AM Subscribe
I have been toying with the idea of starting a music podcast. I know absolutely nothing and own absolutely no equipment. Hit me with the practical reality.
I'm thinking of a radio-station form kind of thing - just playing music - but with a quirky theme (all nautical/boating/maritime/etc. related, so everything from Great Big Sea to folk to yacht rock). Would I have to get rights to everything, or would just announcing "that was Great Big Sea with...." and listing the credits on a web site cover it?
Also - exactly what kind of tech could I get away with? I'm assuming a microphone to record me, and then some way of editing the bits with me and the mp3s of the music together, and then the software to upload them all to...something.
And that "something" is - how do you "publish" a podcast? Just put it on a web site and hope people link to it? Send it in to some list somewhere?
I will indeed be tracking down a copy of "podcasting for dummies," as that's about the level I'm at, but am also interested in others weighing in. On anything - frequency, length, etc.
I'm thinking of a radio-station form kind of thing - just playing music - but with a quirky theme (all nautical/boating/maritime/etc. related, so everything from Great Big Sea to folk to yacht rock). Would I have to get rights to everything, or would just announcing "that was Great Big Sea with...." and listing the credits on a web site cover it?
Also - exactly what kind of tech could I get away with? I'm assuming a microphone to record me, and then some way of editing the bits with me and the mp3s of the music together, and then the software to upload them all to...something.
And that "something" is - how do you "publish" a podcast? Just put it on a web site and hope people link to it? Send it in to some list somewhere?
I will indeed be tracking down a copy of "podcasting for dummies," as that's about the level I'm at, but am also interested in others weighing in. On anything - frequency, length, etc.
I don't have any suggestions on the technical/legal side of things, but if you do any talking, please make sure you get a good mic and work on having good sound. Also take advantage of the fact that you are not broadcasting live, and can do a little editing. If you do any interviewing, wear a headset and test your levels so you and the other person are balanced. There is even an app that you can use afterwords to even the levels out - the Levelator. I hate podcasts (I'm looking at you, Marc Maron!) where the interviewer and interviewee volumes are so different that I cam constantly fiddling with my ipod volume.
posted by radioamy at 7:45 AM on September 6, 2013
posted by radioamy at 7:45 AM on September 6, 2013
On the mic front, you can get pretty good quality out of USB mics these days. Professionals will poo-pooh you, but I'm actually getting good work out of a Blue Yeti right now. There are certainly less expensive but still pretty good options.
A computer. Doesn't have to be super current or expensive.
Software. You can get by with Audacity, which is free, and has probably a six- to eight-hour learning curve to get what you need out of it.
Rights. To be honest, I think you're pretty much boned here: radio stations pay licensing fees, and substantial amounts of money to industry associations like ASCAP for the rights to play music. Even restaurants and bars have to pay to play music. If you're really, really worried about it, I'd say don't get into podcasting, or do a lot of due diligence with small labels to get permission first. If you're like 90% of the music podcasts I listen to, just go for it and devil take the hindmost.
Tumblr is a pretty popular place to filter podcasts through; in your shoes, I'd pay for my own hosting to have a permahome for the files, and a Tumblr blog to promote them. I don't know enough to say whether or not the quasi-legal aspects of this would make going through iTunes a bad idea.
Most of the music podcasts I know will just run the track list (some with approximate start times) in the blog post that accompanies the 'cast going live. Being a nerd, I take a screenshot of the track list and make it the album art for the MP3. But then, I am a nerd.
posted by Shepherd at 8:57 AM on September 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
A computer. Doesn't have to be super current or expensive.
Software. You can get by with Audacity, which is free, and has probably a six- to eight-hour learning curve to get what you need out of it.
Rights. To be honest, I think you're pretty much boned here: radio stations pay licensing fees, and substantial amounts of money to industry associations like ASCAP for the rights to play music. Even restaurants and bars have to pay to play music. If you're really, really worried about it, I'd say don't get into podcasting, or do a lot of due diligence with small labels to get permission first. If you're like 90% of the music podcasts I listen to, just go for it and devil take the hindmost.
Tumblr is a pretty popular place to filter podcasts through; in your shoes, I'd pay for my own hosting to have a permahome for the files, and a Tumblr blog to promote them. I don't know enough to say whether or not the quasi-legal aspects of this would make going through iTunes a bad idea.
Most of the music podcasts I know will just run the track list (some with approximate start times) in the blog post that accompanies the 'cast going live. Being a nerd, I take a screenshot of the track list and make it the album art for the MP3. But then, I am a nerd.
posted by Shepherd at 8:57 AM on September 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
I use this headset for podcasting. It works well for the price.
posted by griphus at 9:35 AM on September 6, 2013
posted by griphus at 9:35 AM on September 6, 2013
It was published a few years ago, but mathowie posted an article titled "Everything I've Learned About Podcasting Over the Last Four Years"
posted by terrapin at 10:32 AM on September 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by terrapin at 10:32 AM on September 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm thinking of a radio-station form kind of thing - just playing music
You would need to get rights to everything you played that was not out of copyright. This is likely an ASCAP license. Information here.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:14 PM on September 6, 2013
You would need to get rights to everything you played that was not out of copyright. This is likely an ASCAP license. Information here.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:14 PM on September 6, 2013
Yeah you're relatively screwed on rights. Apple can and might just refuse publish your casts if you blatantly use a bunch of protected music, especially if you publish a track list and put yourself in the Music category. And then someone may send you a cease and desist letter and ask you to take it down. However, my old music podcast used to seek out and play songs that newer bands had put for free online themselves either on bandcamp or their websites. We stayed anyway from anything classic or on major labels. We made our policy clear during the cast and never had any problems. Also there are many, many music podcasts at this point so maybe the space is no longer really particularly policed.
Getting a cast into itunes is complicated too. It's been a long time since I taught myself how to do it, but I doubt its gotten any easier. At the very least in involves buying both a webdomain and space to host the audio files. Or going with one of those podcast hosting places, which can be its own set of headaches.
Other than that though, I would recommend using Garageband or the PC equivalent. Heck you dont even really need a mic to get started, just talking right into your laptop sounds OK (not great but OK for just brief rambles, especially if you lay down backing music).
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:27 PM on September 6, 2013
Getting a cast into itunes is complicated too. It's been a long time since I taught myself how to do it, but I doubt its gotten any easier. At the very least in involves buying both a webdomain and space to host the audio files. Or going with one of those podcast hosting places, which can be its own set of headaches.
Other than that though, I would recommend using Garageband or the PC equivalent. Heck you dont even really need a mic to get started, just talking right into your laptop sounds OK (not great but OK for just brief rambles, especially if you lay down backing music).
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:27 PM on September 6, 2013
Response by poster: (face falls)
Damn, the rights-getting would be a beeeeeeeg problem for what I had in mind.
Back to the drawing board. Thanks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:33 PM on September 6, 2013
Damn, the rights-getting would be a beeeeeeeg problem for what I had in mind.
Back to the drawing board. Thanks.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:33 PM on September 6, 2013
Response by poster: I mean, I'm marking this "resolved" because the initial idea I had is pretty much bust, but I'm not giving up on the general "hey, a podcast" idea as such yet. I just need to figure out more about what I'd want to say. My initial "hey I can play radio station DJ like I did when I was ten" idea ain't gonna fly, though.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:34 PM on September 6, 2013
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:34 PM on September 6, 2013
The fact is, you can play a bunch of obscure songs, even older ones, and nobody's really going to say boo. If you want to play hits of any kind though, it could be bad.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:40 PM on September 6, 2013
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:40 PM on September 6, 2013
This is purely anecdotal, but I have heard Jonah Ray (who has started this podcast) speculate a number of times that there aren't music rights problems if you're providing commentary about each song- ie, at some point, you talk over the music about the music. (I am not a lawyer and this may be totally inaccurate!) I haven't listened to this podcast, so I don't know how he ultimately solved the problem. It's possible the podcast now focuses more on guests and their music, rather than playing random obscure music submitted by bands and individuals.
posted by Secretariat at 8:04 AM on September 9, 2013
posted by Secretariat at 8:04 AM on September 9, 2013
Response by poster: ....I think I have another idea anyway that wouldn't involve music and would definitely be okay.
It will be a LONG time before it comes to actual fruition, but I've definitely entered the "feasibility-testing" phase.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:30 AM on September 12, 2013
It will be a LONG time before it comes to actual fruition, but I've definitely entered the "feasibility-testing" phase.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:30 AM on September 12, 2013
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