Per Axbom
More and more coming across "podcasts" that can only be listened to on a specific platform, not in my podcatcher (any app for listening to podcasts via RSS feeds).

If a podcast doesn't disclose its RSS feed, is it really a podcast, or just an audio show that happens to be published on a specific platform?

In my mind podcasting is about the listener experience and mode of consumption as much as the production experience. If I can't listen to it like I do 99% of all podcasts, then for all intents and purposes it is not a podcast.

I know most people don't think about RSS feeds at all when listening but I had to mention it here as it's the mode of distribution that makes everything I just mentioned possible, with regards to freedom of listening where I want. Not where someone else wants.

#podcast #podcasting
Akkoma

Feb 3, 2023 at 11:36amWeb
Show threadPer AxbomFeb 3, 2023
Very happy to see how much in agreement we all seem to be about this. Of course I expected nothing else from the fediverse 😊

@clacke @mrundkvist @danjac
@RogerBW
@vv0r
Show threadPer AxbomFeb 4, 2023
Speaking of podcasts, I had missed how @pluralistic has recently written about exactly this.

"Where others were cautious, Spotify was reckless. It bought popular podcasts and podcast networks, then severely enshittified their programs by locking them inside Spotify's walled garden. Audience numbers plummeted, demoralizing podcast creators who were uninterested in the future date when Spotify and its Magic Underpants Gnomes would figure out how to wring more money out of the tiny cohort that stuck around."

Yes, even the Obamas broke off their deal with Spotify.

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/27/enshittification-resistance/

#podcasting
Pluralistic: Podcasts are hearteningly enshittification resistant; Red Team Blues excerpt (27 Jan 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Show threadMarcia DarlingFeb 4, 2023
@axbom @pluralistic I mean did anyone really think it would work? Limiting the number of places we can listen to something to one (!) is not a way to grow an audience.
Show threadJerry D. Harris 🦕👣Feb 4, 2023
@AuntyChrist @axbom @pluralistic I feel entirely the same way about streaming services.
Show threadPer AxbomFeb 4, 2023
@dinogami

And e-books that disappear unless I use a specific reader 😢

@AuntyChrist @pluralistic
Show threadMichal Bryxí 🌱Feb 4, 2023

@axbom @pluralistic The other day I read somewhere:
- A thing that you can listen to only on one place - Audio show.
- A thing that you can listen to through any platform you like - Podcast.

Spotify never had podcasts. It converted them to audio shows (or whatever would the correct other term be)

Show threadManuel *hunting Eudaimonia*Feb 4, 2023

@axbom

I am a Spotify premium user. I like the service but for music only (and there are a lot of things really lacking as well).

I noticed, once a podcast made the move to Spotify I won't listen to it again. Period.

The multi-track experience is so abysmal that it's no fun using Spotify for music, audiobooks and podcasts at the same time. Listen to a playlist, that's fine. Listen to a podcast/audiobook, jump to music, jump back is the horror.

@pluralistic

Show threadMichael KleinhenzFeb 4, 2023
@mmorschel @axbom @pluralistic +1. I don't understand why Spotify is dumping millions on podcast shows while seemingly does nothing about user experience for podcasts. It's abysmal. And it's even worse for audiobooks. I get "Audiobook Radios" and random mixtapes of chapters offered. They just don't care.
Show threadDreaFeb 4, 2023
@mmorschel @axbom @pluralistic I used to love Spotify but when they made this foray into podcasts my homepage became nothing but podcast suggestions. All the music discovery got buried. Moved to Apple Music and much better experience.
Show threadRoy WigginsFeb 4, 2023
@mmorschel @axbom @pluralistic same here, if a podcast doesn't show up in Pocket Casts it's dead to me, even though I pay for Spotify. The BBC also has been experimenting with making some of its podcast feeds app-exclusive
Show threadMatt WillemsenFeb 4, 2023
@axbom @pluralistic #enshittified
Show threadsamFeb 4, 2023
@axbom @pluralistic there are numerous shows that I stopped listening to because they walled themselves off on a specific platform. It’s not even about money - I pay for premium content from several places (slate, cafe, patreon), but the key is that the let me listen on my podcatcher of choice (overcast)
Show threadDeiimFeb 5, 2023
@axbom @pluralistic love the apt turn of phrase "severely enshittified" but I'd like to see us generally move toward using "plantation" as a metaphor in place of "walled garden". #DigitalCaptives #AlgorithmicSlaves
Show threadclacke: exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛Feb 3, 2023
@axbom Not a podcast, just an audio show.

Apparently most people who don't care disagree and call Spotify audio shows podcasts.
Show threadMartin RundkvistFeb 3, 2023
@axbom Not having an RSS feed is a self-defeating strategy even if you get paid by the platform you're locked into.
Show threadLyle, a walking haunted houseFeb 3, 2023
@axbom 100%. If it doesn't have an RSS feed, its not a podcast.
Show threadMark GardnerJun 1, 2023
@x1101 @axbom Feel free to circulate this #podcast == #RSS graphic #meme I did a few months ago
Show threadLyle, a walking haunted houseJun 2, 2023
@mjgardner @axbom 10/10, will share a lot
Show threadNate Hanson Feb 3, 2023
@axbom I was just nerd-ranting about the power of RSS the other day. People don’t realize that a technology from the 90s that hasn’t been updated since ‘09 powers much of the internet. If someone wants to monetize their RSS feed (podcast) I say power to them, but do it limiting the number of feed items accessible in the RSS file. If someone wants more episodes, then have them pay for the archive. This model stays within the structure that RSS already gives us. #Podcast
Show threadMarc with a CFeb 4, 2023
@axbom @natehanson I was also discussing RSS recently, and lamenting it’s fall. Google pretty much killed RSS when they shut down their Reader platform, and most bloggers (and content consumers) at the time heavily relied on RSS to promote/find content. But I had no idea that podcasts relied on it for distribution! Long live RSS. Forever may She reign.
Show threadInfrapink (he/his/him)Feb 4, 2023

@marcwithac @axbom @natehanson As a matter of fact, the definition of a podcast is "material distributed over RSS". That's it. That's was a podcast #actually is.

You may notice there's no mention of audio in there. That's because a #podcast doesn't have to have any audio! Podcasts can also be videos, or images, or text, or anything else that can be represented by an electronic computer. Audio is the most common use, but it's not the definition.

Show threadalexcFeb 3, 2023

@axbom Sadly, now Apple is no better https://basta.substack.com/p/the-absolute-audacity-of-apple-podcasts/comment/12215504

It seems like it’s not as egregious as initially thought, but it does seem like BigTech wants to redefine podcast to “audio shows I listen to over the internet”.

The question though is if creators will really oppose this since this change might remind them of the big paydays Netflix and co. offered to celebrity showrunners and directors and that Spotify is trying to emulate with Rogan and Gimlet shows.

Ben Brouckaert on Substack

I have never heard of (nor can I find anywhere) Apple providing hosting for $20/year. Where is this listed? I am scouring the Podcast Connect site and don’t see anything other than adding premium content to existing shows.

Basta’s Notes
Show threadforestineFeb 4, 2023
@axbom a lot of people calling videos that are not podcasts ‘podcasts’ as well
Show threadNEightFeb 4, 2023
@axbom it's only a podcast if it comes from the RSS region of France. Otherwise it's just a sparkling audio show. ;)
Show threadM. FiorettiFeb 4, 2023

@axbom

"most people don't think about RSS feeds at all "

is a major problem of the WHOLE web, not just podcasts.

It's disgusting how much credit a TOTAL FALSEHOOD like "RSS died when #google killed Reader" gets, even among so-called "experts"

Using RSS would solve a non-negligible part of the problems created by today's social media, from #addiction to #fakenews, #polarization and #surveillance

in case anybody is interested to know *why* I say so, help yourself:

https://stop.zona-m.net/tag/rss

RSS

Stop at Zona-M
Show threadChristian KentFeb 4, 2023
@axbom Podcasting has to be from the MP3 RSS region, otherwise it's just sparkling audio
Show threadEd WebbFeb 4, 2023
@axbom I’m with you. I use the RSS Radio app and it gets almost everything I’m interested in. Only recently I looked for a pod I heard about and it couldn’t find it. So they lost a potential listener.
Show threadkoboldskindFeb 4, 2023
@axbom If something doesn't have an RSS feed it shouldn't be a periodical format on the Web. App-only podcasts are just as bad as "blogs" that only post updates on Facebook. Why do people volunteer to be locked in a walled garden?
Show threadPer AxbomFeb 4, 2023
@koboldskind Completely agree.
Show threadkennon Feb 4, 2023
@axbom oh, totally agreed. I keep hitting that lately as well and it drives me Barry.
Show threadGarth KiddFeb 5, 2023

“If a podcast doesn’t disclose its RSS feed, is it really a podcast?”
— @axbom

No.

Show threadSchreiniJun 2, 2023
@axbom https://chaos.social/@Cs137/109807721970900332
Schreini (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Lessons learned at #fosdem... Thanks #CastoPod

chaos.social
Show threadRusty RingJun 2, 2023

@axbom Hate that. This is the same thing that killed ebooks and cable television: channeling. It's backdoor capitalism: rather than competing for an open audience, these platforms try to come out ahead by tanking their competition.

I've dropped favourite podcasts when they signed exclusive contracts with a single platform. If I can't get it into my streaming application, I won't listen.

Show threadGracjan NowakJun 3, 2023
@axbom Preach! The main appeal of #podcasts for me is their open nature. Listeners can choose whether they want to listen to a podcast in Overcast (me), Pocket Casts, Castro, AntennaPod, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or something else. Podcasters can choose how they want to host their creations plus if and how they want to monetize them. We’re free of any single company’s terms of service, surveillance and lock-in. Let’s not ruin that!
Show threadMax Leibman has moved!Jun 3, 2023
@axbom My opinion: a publisher can put a podcast on YouTube, but it is impossible to put a podcast ONLY on YouTube, because then it isn’t a podcast. Ditto Spotify, etc.
Show threadDaniel Howard 🌻Jun 3, 2023
@axbom is only a podcast if you listen on an ipod, of course.
Show threadAmanda CarsonJun 4, 2023
@axbom If it doesn't have an RSS feed it ain't a podcast. If it's exclusive to a particular platform it ain't a podcast it's just spicy audio.
Show threadAllen but one of the good onesJun 4, 2023

@arush @axbom it is depressing to me how many of my friends think "podcast" means "YouTube of dudes with big microphones and all the accessories doing a talk radio"

And when I try to get them to listen to real podcasts, or even just mine, they complain that they couldn't find it on YouTube. Smart people, with degrees, and highly technical jobs in academic fields.

Show threadPer AxbomJun 4, 2023
@uastronomer

That is disheartening.

@arush
Show threadPhilip Mallegol-HansenJun 4, 2023

@axbom IMO the “podcast” label requires that it works technically like other podcasts, via RSS.

But of course as you know, most people don’t care or understand the distinction.