Top Ten More Misconceptions about Podcasting
My piece, “What Great podcast content is not”, has received a full and apt reply in the form of a podcast by Top of the Pods, (Nov 21) a daily British show by Jon and Rob.
I am honoured to have supplied this talented duo with some material for their show, but you might think from the rather edgy and defensive way that they discuss the various points that, joking and all, they really believe I was referring to them. For the record, I certainly wasn’t thinking of “Top of the Pods” and, as a matter of fact, I wasn’t thinking of any shows by podcasters from these isles.
As I wrote in my original piece, I believe the Brits have radio/audio in our blood, and can take a lead in this field (unlike blogging). Because we have a strong tradition of radio, there’s a natural feeling among the Brits for structure and format. The BBC has perhaps not pushed the boundaries of radio format recently. British podcasts are showing the way with some great experiments.
I don’t really want to join the Great British podcast love-in, but credit where it’s due. At the same time, there’s definitely room for some constructive discussion and review of where we are all heading. We shouldn’t just heap lovey praise on each other the whole time.
In answer to Jon and Rob, I really can’t see anything in my original post that says you can’t have a two person/voice format. Two people talking aboutnothing in particular is a different matter, especially when punctuated by long pauses and errs.
We will have to disagree about using “too much” post-production on the audio. Even British podcasters could benefit from going easy on it. Natural is best. I’m fairly sure that most people will come round to seeing (hearing) it that way soon, too.
So I hope it heals Jon and Rob’s wounded feelings if I mention that, of course, their show has a strong and original format and structure, and that there is a distinct (if rather finely drawn) line between “nothing in particular” and a celebration of banality, such as “Top Ten More Misconceptions about Canadians.”
So there you are boys. I hope you feel better now.
23. November 2005 at 10:34
No problem Hugh, we had good fun recording that one. I was personally getting concerned about our show sounding too polished with the jingles. We had a few emails about this saying that ‘its not podcasting anymore’, this was a way of answering those critics in a fun way.
Most of the production on our shows is all pre-production - all the jingles took ages to make but we can literally just sit and press record whilst triggering off the beds one by one. I’ll then listen back to the show and chop out any naughty bits, normalise the audio then its straight up on the server.
The duo talking comment was about the quote “two people just chatting about nothing in particular” - funnily enough that was going to be our tagline on our website!!!
Thanks for being a good sport, no offence taken and none intended - your blog remains a high quality resource in my RSS reader that I’m glued to every day, keep up the great writing! I’m adding you to our friends section on our blog next time I update the templates too.
Rob
TOTP