Podcast Nation

iTunes Refuses Podcaster Application

2008-09-23T11:23:00.003+01:00

Podcaster is a brand new Application that allows you to subscribe, manage, stream and download podcasts directly to your iphone and itouch. The problem is that iTunes are refusing to distribute it. They say "Since Podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes."

This is being strongly rejected by the creator of Podcaster as "there are numerous apps that duplicate the functionality of other apps. For example, any calculator app is duplicating the functionality of Apples calculator app. Any app that tells you the weather is duplicating the Yahoo weather app. Any app that let's you listen to music is duplicating the iPod portion of the iPhone."

It seems that without public support, or some persuasive negotiations with Apple this neat little application will be left without a distributor, if you want to find out more information on this story, follow iphonepodcaster on Twitter and read more about this unfolding saga at almerica.blogspot.com and maybe even lend your support.

ADM Announce "Bylaws"

2008-08-13T22:57:00.002+01:00

The Association for Downloadable Media have announced their final review draft of the bylaws in time for NewMediaExpo in Las Vegas:

The laws of California, within which the Association was created, required special review against our mission, proposed organization and charter. We also reviewed similar organizations such as the IAB and integrated language that would best serve our industry specifically. We incorporated the best approach that we think will keep ADM strong, productive and able to weather the process of growth with little to no bylaws amendment for the foreseeable future.

Bylaws can be tedious and dry. When you get a chance grab a strong pot of coffee and give it a go.

The full bylaws are available here: http://tinyurl.com/5zzm47

Delia Derbyshire - Electronic Pioneer

2008-07-22T09:50:00.003+01:00

Born in Coventry in 1937, Delia Derbyshire became one of the 20th Century's most influential electronic composers and musicians. She worked for many years at the BBC Radiophonic workshop, creating new sounds and themes. She is also famous for arranging the score for the unmistakable Dr Who theme and is still name-checked and covered by modern electronic artists such as Aphex Twin and The Chemical Brothers.

This is from an article on the BBC website about an archive of newly found recordings.

"A hidden hoard of recordings made by the electronic music pioneer behind the Doctor Who theme has been revealed - including a dance track 20 years ahead of its time.

Delia Derbyshire was working in the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop in 1963 when she was given the score for a theme tune to a new science fiction series.
She turned those dots on a page into the swirling, shimmering Doctor Who title music - although it is the score's author, Ron Grainer, who is credited as the composer.

Now David Butler, of Manchester University's School of Arts, Histories and Cultures has revealed for the first time the existence of 267 tapes found in Ms Derbyshire's attic when she died in 2001.

They were, until last March, in the safekeeping of Mark Ayres, archivist for the Radiophonic Workshop - and have lain unheard for more than 30 years.

Amongst the recordings is some ethereal whooshing from a 1969 production of Hamlet at the Roundhouse in London; an extraordinary kit of parts for one of her most-admired pieces; and the theme for a documentary set in the Sahara which shows how she used her voice as an instrument."

Podcasting In China

2008-07-01T10:22:00.002+01:00

I saw this very interesting article at Podcasting News ...

As mainstream media promotes itself to new heights (depths?) over the upcoming summer Olympic Games in Beijing, and with the International Olympic Committee raising hackles with its severe restrictions on blogging, podcasting and new media, it seemed like a good time to look at citizen media efforts coming from China itself. This week’s edition of the Beijing Review, an english-language publication about China, has an article about the growth in the use and popularity of podcasts in China.

The article talks about the proliferation of blogs and bloggers in the country. They cite statistics from November 2007 that “one of every 30 Chinese citizens or [one in] four netizens was writing his or her own Web log.”

Indeed, a flurry of blog, video and podcast activity by citizen-journalists in China cropped up in the aftermath of the devastating May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province. Blog, video, and podcast entries have progressed over the past six weeks from posting information about the disaster, to using these new media for inspiring and coordinating disaster relief efforts.

The article continues,

“Podcasting, which emerged at the end of 2004 in China with the launch of the first site in this regard, is also gaining popularity at a speed faster than that of any other Web service. According to official statistics, there were more than 200 podcasting sites in China in 2006, registering more than 10 million podcasters and having a viewership of 76 million. A lot of emergencies, news and gossips [sic] have been recorded live and made known to the public by home videos posted on the Internet. Prominent examples in recent years include those about the infidelity of a famous TV sport anchorman, which was brought to light by his wife at a public gathering, and a pet cat being tortured by a cruel man.

“Due to the large number of users and wide coverage, blogs and podcasts have also become major outlets of public opinion. Many bloggers and podcasters use their posts to discuss public affairs, raise suggestions and air complaints. At the same time, a growing number of officials have opened blogs to do real-time communication with the public, which is widely hailed as a new way of government transparency.”

The Beijing Review article says that most blogs and podcasts created and consumed in China, however, tend more toward entertainment than public opinion, government transparency, or citizen reporting of local news as in the Sichuan earthquake.

Podcast Ads 7 Times As Effective As Television Ads

2008-04-28T09:44:00.006+01:00

New data from Podtrac and TNS suggests that podcasts may be a much more powerful advertising platform than television.

The companies studied podcast advertising from February 2006 to March 2008 across multiple product categories and ad types. Unaided awareness for podcast ads was 68%, compared with 21% for streaming video and 10% for television.

"The studies showed a 73% increase in likelihood to use or buy an advertised product," said Velvet Beard, vice president at Podtrac. "The studies showed that 69% of audience members have a more favorable view of in-show advertisers."

"Podcasting delivers a level of end-user engagement that is rare in today’s multi-format world," said Paul Verna, senior analyst at eMarketer.

There are many reasons why podcasts could be more effective than television. People are sick of the barrage of ads on television, so they routinely tune them out. Podcast advertising is typically much less intrusive than television advertising. It also has the potential to be much more targeted and relevant.

Because these stats come from Podtrac, a company with a vested interest in podcast advertising, marketers are likely to want to see these numbers independently reproduced.

Article taken from Podcasting News

Podshow lays off 30% of its workforce

2008-03-17T15:03:00.002Z

According to a report from Podcasting News, Podcasting startup PodShow has laid off one-third of its staff.

PodShow, the San Francisco-based online-video network best known for launching the career of CNET’s Natali Del Conte, is laying off about 20 employees, or as much as 30 percent of its staff.

“There are no secrets, only information you don’t yet have,” is the slogan for former MTV VJ Adam Curry’s podcast. Curry, a PodShow cofounder, didn’t show up to deliver the bad news about the layoffs; we’re told he left that to middle managers.

None of the heavily hyped podcasting startups in the U.S have delivered on their promises, despite a one-year jump on the mainstream competition and inexorable trends driving people to podcasts and other Internet media.

It will be interesting to see how companies based in the UK will take on the wealth of new media opportunities.

Queen Elizabeth 2.0 - A Right Royal Podcast

2007-12-23T13:56:00.000Z

Elizabeth Windsor, Queen of United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and sundry other remnants of the once British Empire, has moved into podcasting, starting her own YouTube channel and offering podcast downloads from her official website.

"I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct," she said from her Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

"That it is possible for some of you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us."

Clips from garden parties, state visits, prime ministers, investitures and a day in the life of the Prince of Wales will all be available to watch on the channel. (BBC)

88% of UK Internet Users Have Broadband

2007-11-21T16:58:00.000Z

The BBC reports that broadband penetration among UK internet users has risen.

"Almost nine out of 10 UK net users are connecting via broadband services, official figures reveal.

Information gathered by National Statistics (ONS) for September show that 88.4% of Britons are choosing to use broadband rather than dial-up.

The statistics show that 49.2% of those connections are for services advertised at two megabits per second or faster.

The figure for September is only slightly up on the June total of 86.2%, but indicates a 26% rise over the last 12 months.

The statistics show that broadband has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity among net users since services started to be available and affordable.

As recently as April 2003, ONS reports, 81% of people went online via dial-up modems and only 17% had broadband.

The statistics also offer a breakdown of the speeds that people have signed up to, and show that the proportion of people on higher speeds - between two and eight megabits per second (Mbps) - has grown. Only 4% of those questioned were using services faster than eight Mbps."- BBC.

Around 10m households, or 40% of UK homes do not have internet access.

Guardian Unlimited joins UKPA

2007-11-16T15:54:00.000Z

Another major media corporation has joined the UK Podcasters Association - Guardian Unlimited. At the same time, they have joined the Radio Academy, strongly signifying their further ambitions in the area.

Head of audio Matt Wells said:

"We are now a significant force in quality speech programming, with hundreds of thousands of downloads a week. For the first time, the BBC has a serious rival in this area. It makes sense to have a seat at the top table at the leading radio industry organisation, and also to be a major player in the only body that represents podcast producers in the UK."

The Guardian's audio department produces Football Weekly, one of the popular football podcasts in the UK; a daily news show, Newsdesk; Media Talk and other specialist weekly shows, and the award-winning Muslim podcast Islamophonic.

Dean Whitbread, Chair of UKPA, said:

"UKPA is pleased that Guardian Unlimited has joined our organisation, the first major publisher to do so.

With a strong tradition of liberality and independence, Guardian Unlimited considerably adds to our presence and gravitas in the online media rights space. We now represent a truly diverse grouping of professional individuals, companies and media corporations, as well as passionate, unpaid enthusiasts, and our strength is our ability to speak up for all those involved in online media.

Our key roles remain to promote and protect the UK community's interests across
the fascinating and dynamic emerging online media landscape."

BBC Launches Music Podcasts

2007-11-11T22:30:00.000Z

The Guardian reports that the BBC will include 30 second music clips in their music podcasts from 12th November 2007.

From Saturday, November 17, the portfolio expands to offer podcasts including Folk & Acoustic with Mike Harding from Radio 2, Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone from 6 Music and the Asian Network Chart. 1Xtra has podcasts from a range of music genres including hip hop, dancehall and garage.
The BBC has done as much as Apple to establish podcasts within mainstream media in the UK, by promoting audio and video podcasts as part of a two year long "trial" which ended in July. Many podcast producers, including news publishers such The Guardian and the independent radio sector have voiced concerns that the state-sponsored media giant has distorted the podcasting world as it does radio and television.

It is not yet known what clearances are being used for music usage or what regimes will be applied in this still confused area of online rights and revenues. MCPS-PRS who collect royalties on behalf of writers and publishers issue a podcast licence, as do PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) the UK broadcast royalties collection society representing many music labels; this year PPL introduced the use of 30 second clips for registered broadcasters. The BBC traditionally strikes its own deals with Performing Rights Organisations, often at rates well below those paid by smaller commercial corporations.

Podcast Nation Goes Ning

2007-10-15T19:22:00.000+01:00

Podcast Nation, the UK's most complete and up-to-date podcast directory, is to develop its community using the now well-established Ning network, at http://podcastnation.ning.com.

Podcast Nation Editor-in-Chief Mark Crook said, "Podcast Nation is a great way for both finding and promoting podcasts, and by developing our community at Ning, which has proved itself as a flexible and reliable system for building social networks, we can put podcast producers and listeners together. We've always been behind building communities - we were one of the principal sponsors of this year's highly successful PodCamp UK - and this takes us further down that path. I'm really looking forward to seeing what people will do with these powerful tools."

The UK Podcast Forum is also moving to run on the same network.

UK's First Podcaster Quits Podshow

2007-09-27T13:57:00.000+01:00

Martin Devaughan aka Green Dragon, producer of popular five days a week podcast show Bite Size Bonus, is leaving BTPodshow, the UK version of Adam Curry's venture capital-backed US podcast business, after less than a year.

Devaughan, 48, helped to make music history when unsigned band Koopa entered the UK charts earlier this year, thanks to exposure in his podcast. He began podcasting in October 2004, and claims to be the UK's first ever podcaster, making the switch from radio and club DJ and artist management to become one of the UK's best known podcasters. He was BTPodshow's first significant signing in 2006.

"I felt the time was right to move on, not only for the show but on a personal level." he said, "Being asked to join BTPodshow was an honour, but I'm afraid not all I had hoped for was delivered."

Devaughan is to produce a completely new show for rival TPN - The Podcast Network.

"Some people may see the new show as me jumping ship from Podshow to TPN but this certainly isn't the case." Devaughan stated, "TPN has allowed me more freedom in my contract, with no network exclusivity to restrict me working as and where I want." He has also agreed to take over as host for an already establish TPN podcast, the Monday TPN Rockshow, adding "The rock show is a podcast I've been subscribed to since it first started and really enjoyed the format and when the last host left I thought it was the end of the Monday show, but when TPN offered me the slot how could I refuse the chance to bring my voice to such an exciting, much loved show."

PodShow Goes TiVo

2007-09-21T21:05:00.000+01:00

Just in from TechCrunch:

"Adam Curry's Podshow will formally announce an alliance with TiVo next week that sees PodShow content becoming available to TiVo’s 10-12 million users in the United States.

According to our source, the news is planned to be formally announced the day before the Podcast and New Media Expo to maximize Podshow’s coverage during the event. At this stage there is no word on the deal from Podshow itself, although others have noticed the tie-up prior to today, and a TiVo page for Podshow is already available here.

We’ve also heard rumors that Podshow may announce a new round of funding next week alongside the TiVo announcement. There is no confirmation at this stage and we are waiting on a response from Podshow."

UK’s Largest National Radio Company Joins UK Podcasters Association

2007-08-31T16:39:00.000+01:00

Commercial radio giant, GCap Media, operators of radio stations such as Capital Radio, Xfm and Classic FM has joined UK Podcasters Association, in a move that spearheads the radio industry’s integration with digital and online media. GCap is the first radio/media company to join the UKPA, which has been attracting broadcast professionals since it started in April 2006.

The move by GCap Media, who produce more podcasts than any other media company in the UK, is recognition of the role podcasts are playing in the modern media landscape.

Speaking about GCap Media joining the UKPA, Chairman Dean Whitbread said:

"This is a major endorsement of the UKPA's work and status as the leading body to establish podcasters' rights. The UKPA represents its members’ interests to regulators and would-be legislators. We've done a lot of work to establish podcasting as a medium in itself and we are really pleased to welcome GCap as a prominent member from the radio industry. It shows that they recognise both the value of the Association and the importance of podcasting. This can only be good for all."

John Hirst, Head of GCap’s podcasting company, Creation, said:

“Over the past three years we have seen millions of consumers subscribing and downloading compelling podcasts from our radio stations and our customers’ websites. We create podcasts for our radio brands, our commercial clients and other third party customers, such as The Sun. It’s now part of our core business and content offering to consumers and commercial customers alike. We are delighted to join the UKPA as it’s a neutral body set-up to support all podcasters.”

Women and Oldies Top UK Web Users, Say Ofcom

2007-08-23T11:27:00.000+01:00

"The net, mobile phones and MP3 players are revolutionising how Britons spend their time, says Ofcom's annual report. It reveals that older media such as TV, radio and even DVDs are being abandoned in favour of more modern technology.

Surprisingly, it also shows that women, in some age groups, are the dominant web users and older web users spend more time online than any group.

Among children it showed that web and mobile phone use is growing at the expense of video games.

The average Briton now spends 50 hours per week on the phone, using the net, watching TV or listening to the radio. However, the mix of how much time is spent on each one has changed radically over the last few years.

Daily mobile phone use is up 58% on 2002 and, over the same period, net use has grown 158%. By contrast Britons spend far less time watching TV, listening to the radio or chatting on a fixed line phone.

The report revealed big differences in the technologies that different sectors of the population prefer.

For instance, among Britons aged 25-34, women account for 55% of the time this group spends online, said the report.

The 16% of the over-65s that use the web spend 42 hours per month online - more than any other age group.

Children are in the vanguard of the move to make more of new media. The report said that 75% of 11 year olds have their own TV, games console and mobile phone." - BBC News Online.

Podcast Figures Rise With Digital Radio

2007-08-16T14:00:00.000+01:00

BBC News reports extensively on the growing numbers of people using digital and online sources to access their radio output, with the number of podcast listeners up from 1.9m to 2.7m.

Rajar the industry analysts say that radio listenership as a whole is up, with 91% of the UK population listening. Mobile usage is also up by 27% since the end of 2006. Commercial radio has its highest listening figures for four years with a regular audience of 32m, and the BBC's digital-only radio networks, including 6 Music and 1Xtra, now have a combined listenership of 3m people.

New UK Video Podcast Channel To Launch

2007-08-15T13:18:00.001+01:00

Wil Harris, known widely as the UK tech writer who also co-hosts of Leo Laporte's weekly podcast This Week In Tech (TWiT) is to launch a new video podcast channel in September 2007, called Channel Flip.

The network will focus on the 18-35 male demographic with shows covering technology, video games, indie music, DVD releases, skateboarding and men's fashion.

Channel Flip shows will be offered via a combination of online (one platform named was Blip.tv) and downloadable formats. The hosts are all British, but Harris says this venture isn't meant to be UK-specific in any way. After the initial launch, Channel Flip's plans include launching shows covering fitness, food, and digital photography. - Wired.

Cliff Richard In Your Podcast, Madam?

2007-07-25T08:54:00.000+01:00

A long campaign by the British music industry to extend the copyright period in sound recordings from 50 to 70 years has been rejected by the UK Government after the House of Commons Culture Committee's previous recommendation to the contrary, which means that very soon, it will be legal to include hits from the late 1950s in podcasts without paying royalties.

"Under current rules, performers can earn royalties for 50 years from the end of the year when a sound recording was made. In comparison, novelists, playwrights and composers enjoy copyright protection for their life and 70 years afterwards. The copyright protection for performers in the United States is 95 years from release and in Australia it is 70 years. The industry had called on the British government to lobby the European Commission to extend the term to at least 70 years." - Reuters.

"The UK is a world-beating source of great music, so it is frustrating that on the issue of copyright term the government has shown scant respect for British artists and the UK recording industry," John Kennedy, head of the IFPI body which represents the international recording industry, said in a statement.

"Some of the greatest works of British music will soon be taken away from the artists who performed them and the companies that invested in them."

The BPI, body representing 70% of the UK record business, will now take the case to Europe.

Read the full text of the decision here, which includes recommendations for new media.

Podcasting Grows Metrics

2007-07-16T18:10:00.000+01:00

The internet has a new association with a new acronym, the ADM - Association for Downloadable Media.

Key players from many sides of the podcasting industry, including Apple Inc., BlogTalkRadio, Kiptronic, Wizzard Media/LibSyn, NPR, Nielsen Online, Personal Life Media, Inc., Podbridge, PodTech, PodShow, Podtrac, Porter Novelli, Rev3 and Vogele & Associates have taken on the task of standardising podcasting, along the lines of "related industry organizations, publishers and agencies such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA)."

Five initial committees will be formed immediately to address: advertising standards, measurement, outreach/education, terminology and membership. Membership application is now open on the ADM Web site at www.downloadablemedia.org.

Nominations for the executive seats, advisory board and committee chairs will take place this summer.

MCPS-PRS Get Copyright Rate Endorsement

2007-07-16T16:17:00.000+01:00

The UK Copyright Tribunal has returned its decision in relation to the rate paid to songwriters and composers when their music is used in online music services.

The Tribunal has endorsed a settlement agreement negotiated in September 2006 between the Music Alliance - representing composers and songwriters - and the majority of the online music industry. The Tribunal concluded that this agreement, freely made between these parties, should be the basis for the template for online licensing in the future.

The Tribunal decision confirms that songwriters, composers and their publishers should receive 8% of gross revenues from online music service providers for on-demand services including downloads and subscription streaming services, 6.5% of revenues for interactive webcasting services and 5.75% for non-interactive webcasting. The concept of minimum royalties for all types of online use has been strongly confirmed, which was a key part of the Music Alliance’s case to protect its members’ rights and revenues.

Steve Porter, Chief Executive of the Music Alliance said: ‘This is a great result for music creators. We are happy that the Tribunal has endorsed our approach to the licensing of music used in online services.

‘The uncertainty has finally been removed and we have a template for the future that recognises and affirms the value of the creative process to the online music business.’

4Digital Group Wins UK Digital Radio Licence

2007-07-06T08:43:00.000+01:00

Channel 4 have won their bid to broadcast 10 new national digital radio stations, the media regulator Ofcom has announced. A large amount of their output is destined for podcast. The new service will provide podcasts from at least nine providers, expected to include the Financial Times newspaper, Sky News, publisher EMAP, Virgin Radio, Walt Disney and the Carphone Warehouse, and include services specifically for mobile phones.

This is a major success for the terrestrial UK broadcaster which had staked a lot on winning the bid and moving into radio. Like the BBC, Channel 4 has a core public service remit, although unlike the BBC their revenue is derived from sponsorship and advertising.

UK Podcasters Get Unsigned Act Into Charts

2007-06-19T22:20:00.000+01:00

UK band Koopa have once again entered the top 40 in the Official UK Singles chart, thanks to a promotional campaign which utilises the coordinated efforts of UK podcasters. Their latest single 'The One-Off Song for the Summer' charted at number 21 in the Official UK Top 40 on Sunday 17th June, and is currently at number 15 in the Official UK Download Chart.

Martin Devaughan of Green Dragon Media, the man who first introduced Koopa to podcasting as a way of promoting their material, said:

"I think this is a big achievement, charting not just in iTunes, but in a country's national chart. It's directly led to the band supporting INXS this Thursday 21st June at the Hammersmith Apollo in London."

Koopa said, "That's a whole ten places higher than our last single 'Blag, Steal & Borrow' and meant we achieved our aim of become the second unsigned band to get into the top 40... as well as the first! ... So THANKS!"

Google Buys Feedburner

2007-06-02T10:56:00.000+01:00

After rumours dating back over a year, finally the news has been released - via CEO Dick Costolo's blog, with the headline: "It's Tru-gle!" that Google have bought Feedburner. The deal is said to be worth US $100 million.

Costolo said the overlap between FeedBurner and Google is "almost perfect . . . really an identical fit. It's a natural fit. It's a great opportunity to combine our vision."

Feedburner run an estimated 60% of all RSS - RSS traffic currently accounts for 10% of internet.

UKPA Members Get AIM Podcast Licence Discount

2007-05-18T18:32:00.001+01:00

UK Podcasters Association announced today that they have come to an agreement with AIM the UK-based Association of Independent Music which allows their members preferential access to AIM's podcast licence.

For the first time UK podcasters have unlimited access to full length music tracks from top artists such as The White Stripes, Paul Weller, Bloc Party, Echo and the Bunnymen, Dizzee Rascal, Mylo, Basement Jaxx, Editors, Stereophonics, Coldcut to use in their podcasts.

This gives UK Podcasters a unique opportunity to re-write the rules for music podcasting, opening the door for podcasters to move legitimately into traditional broadcast territory, which will hasten the shift towards media on demand.

The AIM podcast licence covers over 30,000 tracks licensed by the UK independent music industry and includes labels such as V2, XL Recordings, Studio !K7, Cooking Vinyl and Beggars Group.

Unlike other podcast licences, the AIM podcast licence ensures that the labels and the artists will be paid as a result of podcasters using their music, and allows for the use of the full track. Radio stations typically remove music from their podcasts.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication, the underlying technology used by blogs and podcasts) delivered content now accounts for 10% of all internet traffic.

Alison Wenham from AIM, said:

"AIM’s licence allows full tracks to be used in Podcasts, which is what consumers and Podcasters want. In the UKPA, we have a partner who appreciates that music should be properly licensed. There are opportunities for the independent sector and the pioneers of podcasting to use a library of over 30,000 full length tracks (and growing rapidly) from some of the premier independent companies and artists, to come up with imaginative programming and give the fans what they want.”

"This is a step forward for the whole of music podcasting in the UK," said UKPA Chairman Dean Whitbread. "It raises the bar for music podcast programme making. Working with the AIM licence is about being responsible with other people's creative work. UKPA upholds the principle of maintaining the value chain of music, and making sure that the rights of musicians and artists, and the industry which brings their music to us, are respected.

"Podcasting can make a real impact on music sales, but this has to be done in a responsible way. UKPA is committed to working with AIM and other organisations and businesses to develop legal music podcasting in the UK."

UK Music Label Sells Vinyl-MP3 Hybrid

2007-05-15T00:09:00.000+01:00

A UK label based in Leeds, First Word Records, is selling vinyl records that include downloadable MP3s.

First Word's primary customers are DJs, an often challenging market for record labels... The records are beautifully packaged, double-weight vinyl discs that come with a unique code. With the code, buyers can download an unprotected, 320Kbps MP3 version of the music, to use however they like.

DJs and audiophiles will always want the top end of quality, so they will buy physical media, but for convenience you can't beat a digital file.

First Word cofounder Aly Gillani explains the DRM-free approach in terms that echo those of consumer advocate. "Once a customer has paid for the track they should be free to play it in any player," he says. "Making a legal, paid-for version of the file less useful than a copied or pirated one doesn't make sense." - Wired.

Amazon Podcast Network To Rival iTunes?

2007-05-10T00:07:00.000+01:00

"Giant online retailer Amazon.com has launched a series of original podcasts showcasing books, music and general news.

The four inaugural podcasts – which are available through iTunes – include: Amazon BookClips, Music You Should Hear, Significant Seven and Amazon Wire.

The company expects to offer several additional channels in the coming months to "meet its customers' increasing demand for rich content related to the products they shop for every day on Amazon.com," the company said.

Amazon BookClips will be a weekly podcast offering a look at soon-to-be-released audiobooks, incuding scheduled looks at forthcoming titles from Walter Isaacson and Mary Higgins Clark.

Music You Should Hear will be a free, weekly MP3 podcast in which listeners will also receive an MP3 recording featuring complete songs from developing and indie artists, selected by Amazon's music editors.

Significant Seven will be a monthly podcast. Book editors from Amazon.com will talk about seven of the most exciting upcoming books before they are released.

Amazon Wire will be a news and entertainment show. Distributed twice a week, this podcast will feature interviews with leading authors, actors, directors and musicians. Amazon Wire will feature Ralph Nader, John Malkovich and Dolores O'Riordan.

Amazon's news emerges as strong rumours continue to claim the online retailer plans to launch its own competing service to iTunes." - Macworld

Podcasters Promote UK Podcasting

2007-05-02T00:33:00.000+01:00

Your very own unique, comprehensive and stylish podcast directory, Podcast Nation, today launched an initiative with web marketing agency Cheeze showcasing the best in UK podcasts. At the Internet World Expo, Earl's court, Jamie Riddell’s well received Web 2.0 keynote speech covered podcasting, social bookmarks, UGC, CRM, Second Life and Twitter.

Dean Whitbread from Talking Voices and the UK Podcasters Association said:

What I really like about this compilation is that everyone seems to find something different to say, not only about their own podcast and reasons for doing it, but about the wonderful world of podcasting and potential for the medium.

In my own 2 minutes at the end, I give a strong shout out for PodcampUK and a direct appeal for sponsorship and involvement. Let’s hope this succeeds in boosting this excellent cross-community grassroots project in the UK.

Let’s also hope that the CD, with it’s nod towards user-friendly convenience in a conventional format, succeeds in presenting UK podcasters as the gifted, hardworking and eminently sponsorable bunch we truly are." - Talking Voices blog.

http://podcastnation.co.uk/tasters/

MCPS Begin Music Downloads

2007-04-20T20:01:00.000+01:00

MCPS, the UK's performing rights organising and "one half" of the MCPS-PRS Music Alliance, has it's own "podcast". In a surprise move described by new media commentator Adrian Pegg as "Gamekeeper Turns Poacher" MCPS is running a new monthly series featuring the work of new members, giving out web addresses including bands' MySpace sites.

This represents a major turning point for music in the UK. MCPS-PRS are at the business of administering the rights of recording artists, writers and publishers, and with reciprocal agreements to collect and distribute mechanical (sales of objects, ringtones or downloads) and performance (broadcast time) royalties in most countries worldwide, many individual UK livelihoods and businesses are sustained by their royalty-collecting and payments.

These are audio downloads and not as yet RSS-driven podcasts - there is an RSS icon, but there are no files in the feed - and in an obvious nod towards piracy prevention, they are encoded at very low quality, 56kbps, and at a sample rate of 16khz. Nonetheless they represent a respectable showcase, the listening experience let down only by the lack of audio fidelity. The podcast also repeatedly explains the function of the Music Alliance and promotes the work they do.

More interestingly as far as the music business is concerned, these audio downloads are validated at the outset by both organisations. Presumably these non-DRM files also include permission from the music publishers, who have traditionally been the slowest to agree the release of any music on the internet for free.

The first podcast features music from The Dials, Audiocalm, My Pet Junkie and Mr Fogg, and the second, Chinchwoo, Part Time Heroes, Dumb Instrument and Ripchord.

Husband And Wife Hit Headlines

2007-04-15T15:43:00.000+01:00

Report by BRENDAN deROODE WEST, reporter at Philadelphia, USA newspaper the Evening Sun, who writes a good account of English/American husband and wife podcasters Paul and Judy Hutchinson and their popular podcast, Total Podcastrophe.

Awareness of the success of podcasters and podcasting as an enterprise is growing in the old media. Journalists are starting to notice that something highly creative and organised and communicative is going on under their very nose, and reporting on it. We can expect to see more reports like this as the traditional media catch on.

Total Podcastrophe website.

EMI Remove DRM

2007-04-03T10:16:00.000+01:00

In a move which changes the landscape for legal digital distribution of music, the world's third biggest record company EMI announced yesterday that it is making non-copy protected, high quality versions of it's music available via many online sites, including the iTunes store. "Premium" tracks encoded at 256kbps will retail at 99p (US $1.29), 20p more than the established 128kbps DRM-locked tracks, and will be freely transferable and playable on multiple devices. iTunes users will be able to upgrade previously purchased music for 20p (30c) per track.

"Consumers tell us they would be prepared to pay a higher price for a piece of music they can play on any player," said EMI boss Eric Nicoli. "We have to trust our consumers," he said. "We have always argued that the best way to combat illegal traffic is to make legal content available at decent value and convenient." Apple supremo Steve Jobs, who on February 6th wrote an "open letter" to the music industry appealing for DRM systems to be discarded, shared the platform with Mr Nicoli and said: "This is the next big step forward in the digital music revolution - the movement to completely interoperable DRM-free music."

He added: "The right thing to do is to tear down walls that precluded interoperability by going DRM-free and that starts here today."

US Webcasting Decision To Impact Podcasting?

2007-03-06T09:22:00.000Z

US Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) ignored the International Webcasting Association and other bodies, when on March 2nd it announced its decision on Internet radio royalty rates, instead adopting the "per play" rate proposal put forth by SoundExchange (the digital music fee collection body created by the RIAA).

The new announced royalty rates would seem to make the Internet radio model unworkable. The rate increases over the coming years but for 2007 they are $0.0011 ($0.0019 in 2010) per track streamed to one user. RaIN (Radio and Internet Newsletter) have worked out that for one month this would cost the AOL radio network $1.65m. This could kill Pandora (based in the U.S.) and make Last FM the only choice for social networking radio.

Equity Union In Landmark Podcast Deal

2007-02-26T09:09:00.000Z

Actors who performed in an audio podcast of 70s cult sci fi show Blake's 7 will receive royalties following a landmark deal between union Equity and indie B7 Productions.

The agreement, said to be the first of its kind in the UK, provides for a royalty share on net revenues generated via podcast downloads, audio streaming online and subsequent CD release. The deal also provides for minimum session fees, rehearsals, overtime payments, holiday pay and assignment of rights.

The terms of the podcast agreement can be used as a minimum template for future agreements on any podcast productions. It will be sent to the Personal Managers' Association, the Association of Voice-over Agents and the Co-operative Personal Managers Association.

"Equity is responding to the new media environment," said Equity assistant general secretary Andy Prodger. "This is a significant agreement that will enable independent producers to capitalise on the burgeoning opportunities whilst providing a greater transparency in commercial dealings with performers to the mutual benefit of both parties.

The recording of the Blake's 7 podcast serial finished in December 2006 and is expected to be available online in April with a release on CD in June. - Rob Shepherd, Broadcast.

DRM "Not Fit For Fish"

2007-02-15T07:44:00.000Z

"Almost two-thirds of music industry executives think removing digital locks from downloadable music would make more people buy the tracks, finds a survey. The Jupiter Research study looked at attitudes to Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems in Europe music firms.

Many of those responding said current DRM systems were "not fit for purpose" and got in the way of what consumers wanted to do. 54% of those executives questioned thought that current DRM systems were too restrictive. Also, 62% believed that dropping DRM and releasing music files that can be enjoyed on any MP3 player would boost the take-up of digital music generally." - BBC

New Sony Recorders: 375 Hours Continuous Audio

2007-02-07T04:37:00.000Z

"Podcasters are likely to spontaneously combust when they set eyes on the newest digital voice recorders from Sony Japan. Also known as IC recorders, Sony’s models use proprietary compression technology for impressive quality, while allowing for extremely long recording times.

The newcomers are the ¥25,000 ICD-SX77, with 1GB of memory onboard, and the ¥20,000 ICD-SX67, which has half the storage space. As with previous IC recorders from Sony, these will be available outside Japan in a few months, albeit at around double the price.

Both machines use Sony’s own LPEC codec – an acronym for Long Term Predicted Excitation – allowing the 1GB model to squeeze in up to 375 hours of audio on the lowest setting. Even at top quality, it still manages over 17 hours. And we’ll conveniently ignore the fact that the juice in the rechargeable batteries will stretch only to around 24 hours.

Thankfully, the recorders can play back MP3 files as well as LPEC audio and software is included for editing LPEC recordings that allows data to be exported in the more universal MP3 format.

On the hardware front, the SX67 and 77 use the same three-microphone arrangement we’ve seen before from Sony to lay down full stereo recordings. A stand with a standard camera screw for attaching to a tripod is included to make it simple to position a recorder next to a musical instrument or performer. Perfect for bootleggers then."

- J Mark Lytle, digitalworldtokyo.com

Cheeze Acquired By Digital Marketing Group PLC

2007-01-30T10:16:00.000Z

One of the UK's most podcast-friendly businesses, Cheeze, has been bought.

Acquisition of two companies for £24m creates leading UK digital direct marketing platform

Digital Marketing Group plc ("DMG" or the "Group") today announces the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of two leading UK companies, Cheeze Limited ("Cheeze") and Alphanumeric Group (trading as "Jaywing"), for a total initial consideration of £24m, comprising cash and shares. The acquired companies' management teams will continue to develop the businesses within the Group with further consideration shares and performance options in the group dependent upon future growth. These cornerstone acquisitions follow on from the Group's listing on AIM and acquisitions of HSM Ltd and Scope Creative Marketing (trading as "Dig for Fire") in October 2006.

Joost In Time? Broadcasters Get Nervous

2007-01-17T08:40:00.000Z

Sending shivers down the spines of broadcasters everywhere, the founders of Skype now look set to change the TV map as they did telephony, as their much-previewed Venice Project hit the streets yesterday, re-titled Joost.

The BBC's famously "objective" reporting deserted it as their correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones stated, "But the big question is what is there to watch? So far, it is hard to see a compelling reason to switch on to Joost, which will be a free service supported by advertising."

Citing BTVision, Channel 4's 4OD service, and Babelgum as likely competitors, there was no mention of the original features or the different take on TV which Joost seems to offer, nor the developers' previous form, which would seem to indicate that Joost may just have a very good chance of re-inventing online entertainment.

Music Industry Moves Towards Podcasting

2007-01-03T18:28:00.000Z

"Sony BMG has decided to dip its toes into the world of podcasted music with its recent agreement with marketing agency Rock River Communications Inc., making it the first (and only, for the time being) major music label in the US to license music for podcasting.

While you may not have heard of Rock River Communications, you will most likely recognize what they do. The agency creates promotional mix CDs for companies like Volkswagen, The Gap, Verizon, Chrysler, and more to hand out at retail stores and dealerships. Rock River, in an attempt to move past CD-only distribution, is now creating promotional podcasts for Chrysler and Ford Motors.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford and Chrysler are both paying Sony BMG a flat fee to license music for podcast distribution for one year, no matter how many copies are downloaded. On the customer's side, the podcast will be free and can be kept forever. Rock River says that they are in talks to license music from more music labels in the future for podcasting." - Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica.

Andrew Gowers' 54 Things

2006-12-08T07:50:00.002Z

In a his long-anticipated report to the UK Government, former Financial Times editor Andrew Gowers has created disappointment in the British Music industry and hope among comedians and mash-up artists, by recommending that the copyright term in sound recordings be kept at 50 years, but that copyright exception is made "for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche". Uncontroversially, a private copying exception that will allow for legal format shifting is suggested. Currently, ripping legally-purchased CDs and transferring them onto any device, including computer or iPod can result in prosecution.

The Open Rights Group welcomed the Gowers review.

Matt Black from Coldcut said,

“The only people to benefit from term extension would be the giant traditional media groups - artists would actually benefit more from letting music enter the public domain. Extending copyright term for past works amounts to revising the deals made with artists without their consent. Who would sign a deal for a term of ‘50 years or however long we want to make it by lobbying to get the law changed’? The conclusion of the Gowers review that copyright term should not be extended is the correct one; we should not follow the lead of the US who have submitted to corporate demands by Big Media. Here we can recognise that music is a key part of our culture, (and, indeed, a key export), that recycling is a natural part of musical creativity and that not extending the existing copyright term will promote the creation of UK music.”

Peter Jamieson, BPI Chairman said,

"We will continue to make the case to the UK Government for term extension. As Mr Gowers says, the decision on extension is ultimately for the European Commission and we will be putting our case vigorously when it reviews the relevant directive next year. Gowers commissioned Cambridge economic research to argue the case against term extension; but this analysis completely fails to address the central argument of discrimination against sound recording copyright inherent in the current system.”

Radio Clash writes:

"...if "tranformative works" applied to mashups and cutup culture, and the effect across the industry if these suggestions are taken on board by the government? At the moment bodies such as the MCPS-PRS look down on what it calls 'unlicensed interpolations'; but if sampling is (preferably) allowed in the same US 'Fair Use' provision, or at least made less painful, that would be a great step forward...interesting that the Gowers Review recognises the issue that here in the UK the copyright law is way behind the US in this regard."

Bye Bye, Britcaster, Hello National Grid

2006-12-02T17:47:00.000Z

Popular UK forum Britcaster is to close 15th December, it was announced yesterday. Neil Dixon the man behind it, who now works for PodShow in the UK, has decided to pull the plug after two years.

A new forum, National Grid, is already in existance, set up by the UK Podcasters Association.

This UK Community Podcast forum is open to podcasters from anywhere in the world.

Sony Podcast Award

2006-11-29T08:53:00.000Z

Next year's Sony Radio Awards will include The Internet Programme Award, which has been created specifically for streamed, Podcast and download programmes. UK Podcasters Association has been pushing for recognition, and a category to include podcasting.

"We now have a more level playing field," said UKPA Chairman Dean Whitbread. "Thanks go to Trevor Dann, head of the Radio Academy, who had the far-sightedness to organise a meeting with us on his first day in the job, and who persuaded me to join his organisation. It remains to be seen whether the award will go to one of the usual high-profile media suspects, or whether the judges will look at the great range of independently produced content that's out there."

UK Recording Industry Loses Copyright Term Extension Battle

2006-11-28T06:55:00.000Z

"The British record industry has lost the fight to extend copyrights on sound recordings from 50 years to 95 years. Artists and record labels have been lobbying the government in an effort to bring copyright protection into line with United States copyright law.

In December 2005, the Chancellor of the Exchequer asked Andrew Gowers to lead an Independent Review to examine the UK’s intellectual property framework. Today, the Telegraph reports the Gowers Review has found little evidence to support record companies claims they will be deprived of profits that otherwise could be used to reinvest in new acts. The review will recommend against an extension of copyright terms but the final decision rests with the government. Music industry insiders are calling it a blow to the record industry that will detrimentally impact the income of artists in their old age. Recordings out of copyright will enter the public domain and be available for anyone to use or exploit for non-commercial and commercial purposes." - Dave's Imaginary Sound Space.

BPI
BBC
Open Rights Group: Release The Music

US Research Shows Podcast Usage Up

2006-11-26T08:28:00.000Z

Research shows that 12% of the 207,161,706 estimated internet users in the US now downloads podcasts, reports The Pew Internet and American Life Project. However, whilst the variety of podcasts has proliferated, only 1% download a podcast on a daily basis - unchanged since February.

"15 per cent of online men say they have downloaded a podcast compared to just 8 per cent of online women, the report reveals. In addition, those who have used the internet for six or more years are twice as likely as those who have been online three years or less to have downloaded a podcast (13 per cent vs. 6 per cent)."

Ofcom End iTrip Ban

2006-11-24T00:38:00.000Z

"Certain FM transmitters, which can be tuned to spare frequencies, will be legal in the UK from 8 December. Ofcom (national regulator) will also remove the need for a licence to use Citizens' Band radio. The devices fell foul of the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949, which forbids the use of radio equipment without a licence or an exemption. But strong consumer demand for the devices led Ofcom to rethink the legislation." (BBC)

UK Podcasters Prepare For PodcastCon

2006-11-17T09:12:00.000Z

From the length and breadth of the UK - and several other places besides - UK Podcasters prepare to assemble for November 18th's PodcastCon, the UK eqivalent of the Podcast Expo, held this year in Shoreditch, London.

Sponsored by Cheeze Media, the adventurous and podcaster-friendly digital agency headed by Jamie Riddell (accent on the second syllable, please) the conference promises something for all types of podcaster, with an extensive programme, and live music sets from well-known "podsafe" artists.

Panellists include: US podcaster C.C. Chapman, Nicole Simon from Cruel To Be Kind, Tom Hall from Lonely Planet, Guillaume du Gardier from Edelman, Heather Gorringe from Wiggly Wigglers, Suw Charman from Open Rights Group, Chris Vallance from BBC,
Neil McIntosh from The Guardian, John Buckman from Magnatune, famed UK podcasters Martin Devaughan, Mark Hunter, John Buckley, and MCing the whole event is "Podcast" Paul Nicholls (UK Podcasters Association).

Podcast User Magazine Hits 100,000 Downloads

2006-11-02T17:08:00.000Z

Free online publication Podcast User Magazine, currently available only as a PDF, has reached 100,000 downloads, reports co-founder "Podcast" Paul Nicholls.

Issue #10 is online today, inlcuding a report from Podcast Expo and a preview of PodcastCon UK.

The Podcast Network Sign Two Major Podcasters

2006-10-30T15:03:00.000Z

The battle of the Podcast Networks is hotting up, Australian-based The Podcast Network today announcing two major new signings.

Brian Ibbott, winner of the 2005 Peoples Choice Best Music Podcast, today joins The Podcast Network with his daily entertainment show, “Today in Music History.”

Acting as a perfect slice of Podcasting every weekday, Ibbott’s latest show is a short, sharp and sweet hit of music, trivia and information that is great to dip into at any time of the day – stuck in traffic jam, waiting for a bus, or enjoying your tea break.

“TPN was a natural fit for a daily show like ‘Today In Music History’,” Ibbott points out. “They were the first commercial podcast network, and their experience in promoting podcasts under their umbrella is unrivalled. I look forward to presenting my show to a whole new audience of music and podcast lovers alike.”

“Brian was one of the first podcasters to make a truly great music show with Coverville,” enthuses Ewan Spence, Executive Director and Head of Music at The Podcast Network. “He still is a genuine trail-blazer, and to bring this unique and exciting show, and its host, to the Network has long been a personal goal. I can’t wait for our listener’s reaction to the news.”

Iain Foulds, the man behind the Unsigned Rock Podcast, is the latest signing to The Podcast Network. Taking the chair to host the Monday and Thursday shows on the TPN Rock show, Foulds brings a strong following from his previous show of audience and bands

Having started in March 2005, TPN Rock has evolved from a single show to a well-respected brand name in the online rock world. As it moved from a single show to a powerful brand name, TPN Rock fans have continued to ask for more music for their MP3 players and computers.

“Till now I have been leaving the audience wanting more,” pointed out Ewan Spence, host of TPN Rock and Executive Director of The Podcast Network, “but Iain’s show was so close to the style of TPN Rock, and because we get on fantastically well, the obvious solution was the way forward.”

“Working with The Podcast Network will allow me to give bands and artists more exposure, and that can only be a good thing,” Foulds comments. “Everyone I get in touch with about the podcast immediately realises the potential, and can’t wait to get involved. I’m sure The Podcast Network, Ewan, and myself can provide even more opportunities and exposure for these unknown, unsigned and under-appreciated bands to be heard around the world.”

Libsyn Acquired In Puff Of Smoke

2006-10-27T08:01:00.000+01:00

Wizzard Software (OTCBB: WIZD) announced today that it has agreed to acquire Libsyn, the world’s largest podcasting network. Following the acquisition, Libsyn will maintain its independence and continue to grow its successful brand and loyal podcasting community, empowering podcasting everywhere.

The Libsyn network broadcasts over 42 million podcast downloads per month to at least 13 million people worldwide. In 2006 alone, Libsyn has had over 360 million audio and video podcast downloads. "Just this month, our network has broadcast over 7 million hours of content and that does not even include traffic from our newly launched LibsynPro business service," says Dave Chekan, CEO and co-founder of Libsyn. "We’ve had several investment offers in the past and we chose Wizzard due to its expertise in speech technology, its passion for podcasting and its desire to make money for our independent content creators."

"Libsyn is on a mission to empower the content creator in this new age of independent media by creating unique opportunities to share advertising revenues with its podcasters," says Chris Spencer, CEO of Wizzard Software. "By joining forces, we can provide Libsyn with the operating capital it needs to continue its impressive growth, increase capacity and maintain its dominant status in the industry while at the same time expand our revenues by helping podcasters monetize their shows through unique advertising and sponsorship engagements." - PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)

Roy Wood was unavailable for comment, but his spokesperson said, "Roy will be letting the bells ring out for Christmas this year as usual."

50% Of UK 'Not Interested' In Internet

2006-10-26T08:50:00.000+01:00

Research conducted by Point Topic in the first two months of 2006 show that around half of UK households do not have internet access and are not intending to get it, despite the slew of free broadband offers available. Most new broadband connections are simply replacing existing dial up. According The Register, 44 per cent of UK households don't have net access and views are becoming more entrenched. 44.8 per cent of those households don't think the net is important at all (another 29.8 per cent think it's not very important). And 70 per cent of those households thought it unlikely, or not very likely, that they'd get online.

Two thirds of households surveyed don't have a PC, and alternatives aren't considered very attractive. Only 14 per cent of non-access households rated a TV or mobile phone as a good alternative to PC-based net access. Email-capable phones, games consoles, and PDAs rated even lower.

Apple's iTunes FairPlay "Cracked"

2006-10-25T00:41:00.000+01:00

"The code that prevents music downloaded from Apple's iTunes store being played on any portable player other than an iPod has been "cracked". Apple has not commented on claims that Jon Lech Johansen has "reverse engineered" the FairPlay system. Prominent hacker Mr Johansen has made a name circumventing software used to restrict the use of digital media. His company, DoubleTwist, said that it planned to license the code to other digital music player manufacturers.

"There's a certain amount of trouble that Apple can give us, but not enough to stop this," Monique Farantzos, managing director at DoubleTwist told Associated Press.

"We believe we're on good legal ground, and our attorneys have given us the green light on this."

At the moment iTunes controls 88% of the legal music download market, while 60% of those possessing a portable music player own an iPod. - BBC

Green Dragon Signs To BT Podshow

2006-10-25T00:12:00.000+01:00

The UK's first podcaster, Martin "G.D." Devaughan, has signed to BT Podshow.

"I don't see any reason to defend my decision, in fact I'm celebrating it," he said. "I deal with contracts each and everyday due to my status as head of a record label and to be honest the BTPS is fair less demanding than I had envisaged. Hopefully others will now be able to announce their signing too."

Martin, 47, began podcasting October 2004 from Typhoid Towers, Anglesea, Wales, near to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Global Music Revenue Down As Digital Rises

2006-10-13T14:56:00.000+01:00

Sales of digital music in the first half of 2006 rose 106% to US$945 million when compared with the first six months of last year. Globally, digital sales now account for 11 per cent of the total recorded music market worldwide, up from 5.5 per cent in December 2005.

The US is still leading the digital revolution, with 18 per cent of recorded music sales now being made through digital channels. Digital music sales in the US increased by 84 per cent to US$ 513 million in the first six months of 2006.

Digital music also accounts for a significant part of the overall market in South Korea (51%), Japan (11%), Italy (9%) and the UK (8%).

The explosion in digital music services, spurred by consumer demand and a widening array of delivery channels, has seen online and mobile music sales grow from $US134 million in the first half of 2004 to US$945 million in the first half of 2006.

In Japan, Italy and Spain mobile dominates the digital market, accounting for 85%, 76% and 78% of overall sales respectively. Online downloading is more prominent in markets such as the UK, Germany and the US, where online sales account for 70%, 69% and 64% of digital sales respectively.

Physical music sales declined in the first half period, down by ten per cent worldwide. This led to total music sales falling by four per cent in the period to $8.4 billion in trade values (US$13.7 billion in retail values). Piracy and competition for consumer spending contributed to the first half fall.

There was growth in some markets, such as Japan (12%), South Korea (5%) and Australia (6%), counter-balanced by declines in Germany (-4%), the US (-7%) and France (-9%).

Notes:

Physical sales include: singles, LPs, cassettes, CDs, DVD Audio, SACD, MiniDisc, DVD, VHS and VCDs.

Digital sales include:

Online: single track downloads, album downloads, music video downloads, streams

Mobile: master ringtones, full track audio downloads to mobile, ringback tunes, music videos

Subscription: online and mobile subscriptions

IFPI excludes midi files (monophonic and polyphonic), ringtones and non-artist related content sales from these figures.

IFPI figures are collected from IFPI members (physical sales) and major record companies (digital sales) and include an estimate for non-reported sales, effectively representing 100% of the market.

Source: IFPI

UK Podcasting Numbers

2006-10-10T13:46:00.000+01:00

In his own Britcaster forum, Neil Dixon, who has been working for Podshow in the UK, gave an outline of the state of UK podcasting and indications of the UK audience size.

"What UK podcasters feel is a 'respectable' audience is significantly lower than what US podcasters are happy with. Top UK independent podcasts are pulling in 65-80k file requests a month, and there's very few of them (anyone know a UK indie pulling 100k+ ?). Then there's a big gap down to a handful between 10-20k per month and a whole bunch at well under 5k. Top US indie podcasts are, of course, into millions of requests per month. We have had to re-adjust the watershed of what is considered a successful show once a true clear picture of the average UK podcast audience space started to emerge.

Combine those numbers with so many UK podcasters stating that the majority of their audience numbers are from outside the UK and you have a bleak picture of the current UK-based audience pool for an independent UK podcast. These are real numbers as supplied by podcasters themselves, not speculations."

You Goog

2006-10-09T22:44:00.000+01:00

Google Inc. said Monday it agreed to acquire privately held YouTube Inc., the No. 1 Internet video-sharing site on the Web, for $1.65 billion in stock. On Monday, the boards of both Google and YouTube approved the terms of the deal, which was announced after the market closed.

Google said YouTube will continue to operate as a separate entity. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

"Together, we are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in a written statement. - MarketWatch

What's A Podcast, Mum?

2006-10-04T22:50:00.000+01:00

What are the pretty things, Mummy?

40% of online Britons receive news feeds, but 67% did not know that the official term for this service was Really Simple Syndication, terms such as podcasting and wikis are still meaningless to many, said Alex Burmaster, internet analyst with Nielsen/NetRatings. 57% of online Brits said they did not know that the acronym for it was Instant Messaging means IM. 35% of online Brits had heard the term podcasting but didn't know what it meant, and a quarter had never heard of it. Similarly with blogging, 34% said they had heard of it but weren't sure what it meant. 68% of those interviewed possessed an MP3 player, only 20% owned iPods - the biggest selling digital music player.

WIPO Treaty Comes Up Roses

2006-10-03T14:27:00.000+01:00

After months of coordinated effort, pressure brought to bear on WIPO has paid off for activists, and at the last minute, two important revisions have been made to the revised Broadcast Treaty. Importantly for podcasters,

"It has also been decided that the treaty will now take a signal-based approach instead of the messy, dangerous rights-based approach that is used in the current treaty text. This, too, is good news for the Internet community, and reflects the concerns raised by many WIPO member countries at last month's meeting." - Gwen Hinze, EFF

UKPA Chairman, Dean Whitbread, said:

"We've pushed the issue of podcasters' rights into the highest level of UK government in a positive way. Podcasting is not just about making money, it's an important social freedom, and UKPA has played a part in safeguarding that freedom."

PodShow Bags Another $15m

2006-09-30T08:58:00.000+01:00

"PodShow Receives $15M From Leading Venture Firms as Company Accelerates Its Growth on the Internet and Beyond - Lead Investor DAG Ventures Joins Original Investors Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia and Sherpalo

September 29, 2006. PodShow, Inc., the digital media entertainment network whose properties include PodShow+, PodShow Podcast Network, PodShowPDN, Podcast Alley, Castblaster, the Podsafe Music Network and, most recently, BTPodShow, today announced that the company has raised a second round of venture funding from new and original investors, totaling $15M, led by DAG Ventures. This announcement comes on the heels of the BT PodShow (www.btpodshow.com) press conference where the companies disclosed plans for a co-branded service for the UK and Ireland that goes beyond the Internet to include initiatives like BT Vision, a television-based home entertainment initiative." - MARKET WIRE

BBC Beds The Beast

2006-09-28T18:57:00.000+01:00

BBC has announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft to develop its digital services. The publicly owned British broadcaster, which has done much to promote podcasting as well as a range of other new media services, is also set to work with Real Networks, IBM and Linden Labs, makers of the virtual world Second Life.

According to their own report of this news, "potential areas of collaboration include search and navigation, distribution and "content enablement". However, any procurement of new technology with the company would be subject to regulatory approval."

BBC director general Mark Thompson said there had been unprecedented rates of change in technology.

He said: "To ensure that the BBC is able to embrace the creative challenges of the digital future, we need to forge strategic partnerships with technology companies and distributors for the benefit of licence payers."

Bill Gates said: "Microsoft's strength is in driving digital innovation, and our vision is to open up rich, new consumer experiences that allow people to enjoy digital content anytime, anywhere and on any device.

"This vision fits squarely with the BBC's charter to lead the industry in delivering content that is compelling and accessible." - BBC

Gervais Stops Podcasts

2006-09-22T20:40:00.000+01:00

Ricky Gervais is to stop making his comedy podcasts, saying he wants to "knock it on the head for a while before everyone hates us".

The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts, which also featured The Office co-writer Stephen Merchant and producer Karl Pilkington, were downloaded nearly eight million times.

The first 12 shows were available free but fans had to pay for the second 12.

"It's getting ridiculous and someone has to make it stop," Gervais said.

"I was trying something out. I wanted to see if I could cut out the middle man and make podcasting a commercial concern. Karl never has to work again and I believe that maybe he won't," he added.

The show largely consisted of Gervais and Merchant teasing Pilkington for his idiotic ideas, including his regular Monkey News bulletin of stories about apes. - BBC

BT PodShow Launches In UK

2006-09-14T08:22:00.000+01:00

With the much-trailed arrival of BTPodshow, Adam Curry and Ron Bloom have launched the UK-specific version of US PodShow Network.

BT PodShow will initially launch by inviting UK talent to contribute to The Show. It will expand in the future to become an extensive source of entertainment, featuring thousands of hours of material both by established artists and mainstream media outlets as well as by individuals and independent producers.

BT PodShow will provide users with their own personal online media centres where they can post their own content and interact with others locally and across the globe, both benefiting from and creating great entertainment. Users will also be able to enjoy their favourite shows on any connected device, from PC to mobile and even TV. Converged services such as BT Fusion and BT Movio have already shown that traditional barriers are coming down and it is expected that some BT PodShow content will feature on BT Vision. - MARKET WIRE

Disney, Pixar, Touchstone, Miramax: Coming Soon To An iTV Near You

2006-09-13T07:17:00.000+01:00

Surely you've enough room for a wafer-thin iPod?

Hot on the heels of months of speculation and rumour, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced yesterday the launch of a product - dubbed iTV - a wireless device for streaming music and video between televisions and computers - and a film download service delivering content by major US film and TV companies. The iTV box is small and will retail for under £200. Video will not be subject to DRM restrictions and will be able to playback on different systems.

At the same time, various tweaks in size and capacity to the iPod range were announced. Apple is also updating the iTunes music store to include graphics and animations.

eMusic Launches Unrestricted European Downloads

2006-09-12T16:10:00.000+01:00

The world's biggest online retailer of independent music has opened a European store offering unrestricted downloads. eMusic is the second most successful download site in the US after Apple's iTunes Music Store, and will sell tracks from 8,500 independent labels.

The subscription-based site will offer MP3 recordings that work on all digital music players, including Apple's iPod. But eMusic has not struck deals with major record labels, who say their music must carry digital restrictions.

eMusic plans to sell music across Europe, and has employed music journalists to help confused customers navigate their way through its varied collection. Users will be able to choose between three subscription levels, offering 40, 65 or 90 downloads each month. If the maximum number of downloads per month is used, the cost of each track will be under 25p. Apple's iTunes service sells songs for 79p each.

Unlike other subscription-based download sites, such as Napster, tracks downloaded from eMusic will not be deleted if a customer cancels their subscription. - BBC

http://www.emusic.com/

Podcasters Unite To Resist WIPO

2006-09-10T06:23:00.000+01:00

In Geneva tomorrow, Gwen Hinze from EFF is presenting a joint statement from podcasters from around the world. This piece of internet history is an attempt to make sure that the development of the Broadcast Treaty into internet broadcast/netcast/webcast does not wipe out grassroots podcasting.

UKPA (UK Podcasters Association) has been working for months with the Irish PodRepBod, the German Podcastverband, the Open Rights Group in the UK and the EFF in the US to resist aspects of the Broadcast Treaty, which many podcasters, podcast users and a growing number of politicians feel are inimical to the healthy development of grassroots new media culture. The issues are about copyright, and the ongoing ownership of content.

Many podcasters fear that the Treaty is giving broadcasters the upper hand when it comes to rights, and creative people everywhere are becoming wary of blanket licenses which remove their rights in the small print - YouTube and MySpace have recently attracted widespread criticism and some legal action.

Activists are also pushing for recognition of Creative Commons licenses in the Treaty - millons of people who self-publish, webcast, and podcast use these licenses for their content; CC is a widely understood and established system which must be respected.

The campaign has unified podcasters globally, particularly in the UK, Eire, Germany, and the US, in a common cause, to influence the outcome of this looming - and binding - international legislation.

Podooch Makes UK Podcasting Simple, Affordable

2006-08-15T12:29:00.000+01:00

Sonique, a London-based technology company is launching Podooch.com - a website which allows anyone to create their own podcast without the need for any technical knowledge or podcast software. The site is aimed squarely at the non-specialist and allows anybody with a web-connected computer to upload a podcast or vodcast (video cast) within minutes.

Podooch.com gives users full management of their podcasts enabling the scheduling and release of new episodes and also archiving old episodes. Other features of the site include a free month trial, unlimited bandwidth and disk space, a personal microsite, a complete content management system giving users the power to schedule the launch of their podcasts and full statistics of each podcasts so users can see how well their podcast is doing. Best of all, podooch.com is advert-free.

Podooch.com Creative Director David Sloly said, "People are making content and sharing that content all the time. Now for the first time, through www.podooch.com, people are able to share that content with the world easily and quickly without any knowledge of computers, RSS feeds or complicated software."

Corporate Podcasting Summit Set For 2007

2006-08-05T10:30:00.000+01:00

The Corporate Podcasting Summit, a podcast conference that focuses on business podcasting, has announced plans for events in London, UK and the US East Coast in 2007.

At the inaugural Corporate Podcasting Summit, held in San Francisco, June 2006, there were speakers from Whirlpool, the host of the Disneyland Resort podcasts, BEA Systems and Keane, as well as from technology companies such as Audible, Feedburner, Pheedo and ListenShare.

Summit organizers are looking for a number of case studies, expert speakers, and enterprise podcasters from the public and private sectors for the 2007 shows.

Topics addressed at these summits include:

What you need to get started - and how much it will really cost you in time and money

Integrating a podcast into an existing web presence and getting executive support for your podcasting initiative

Adding a podcast to your marketing mix

The licensing, copyright and legal issues to be aware of

Measuring Return on Investment, and Return on Influence

Using podcasts to speed up internal processes

More information is available at the Podcast-Summit.com site. (when it finally comes back to internet life...)

Via Podcasting News.

Zune vs iPod: Microsoft Take On The Icon

2006-07-22T09:16:00.000+01:00

Microsoft has confirmed the rumours that it is developing "a number of music and entertainment devices" the first of which could launch by the end of 2006.

"Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products," said Chris Stephenson, the firm's general manager for marketing. "We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow customers to explore and discover music together."

Apple currently enjoys 50%+ of digital music players and iTunes Music Store has a 70% share of the music downloads market.

Ofcom To End iTrip Ban

2006-07-14T23:38:00.000+01:00

The iTrip and other low-powered FM transmitters which broadcast MP3 audio over very small distances, are to be legalised by 2007 by Ofcom, reports the BBC.

The Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949 currently forbids the use of radio equipment without a licence or an exemption.

International Herald Tribune Launches Personalised Audio News Feed

2006-07-13T10:30:00.000+01:00

IHT claims it is the first English language website to launch a service where audio articles are 'dynamically generated' using the voices of professional readers. The site - which receives 2.7 million unique readers a month - is using audio versions of its text stories for the news service.

Articles are converted into audio by a web speech-enabling service provided by Swedish company ReadSpeaker. Visitors to IHT.com can either stream stories or download articles from the site.

The service also allows the creation of a personalised audio feed - either to iTunes or other podcasting software - from 16 different news categories such as business, arts and leisure, sports, editorial and commentary.

Last week BBC director general Mark Thompson announced plans to offer 'personalised' radio online, to allow audiences to create personal radio stations. UK broadcaster Channel 4, which recently launched an online radio station, has similar plans to create a 'user unique' radio service. - Oliver Luft, via Journalism.co.uk

Ofcom Chairman Objects To EU Podcast Regulation

2006-07-08T01:02:00.000+01:00

LORD CURRIE, the chairman of Ofcom, hit out yesterday at European Commission proposals that could lead to regulation of podcasting, saying that the market was too diverse for tighter controls. In April Ofcom expressed its objections to European proposals to regulate video weblogs, and Lord Currie said yesterday that this also applied to the diverse nature of podcasts.

Ofcom believes that regulation of these markets would be too complex and practically impossible because of the number of sites that would have to be regulated.

The EU move comes as the Commission seeks to update the 17-year-old Television Without Frontiers Directive and includes for the first time rules to govern “non-linear audio- visual services”. - Amanda Andrews, Times Online

See also the Open Rights Group wiki page on the directive.

BBC To Offer Personalised P2P Radio

2006-07-04T13:26:00.000+01:00

"The BBC wants to allow audiences to create personal radio stations from its content, its director general has said. The planned service, provisionally called MyBBCRadio, was revealed by Mark Thompson at the Radio Festival in Cambridge.

It aims to give audiences more control by combining existing services such as podcasts and the BBC Radio Player.

It will be part of the BBC's iPlayer, a free service which will also offer seven days of BBC TV on demand.

Thompson said MyBBCRadio would use peer-to-peer technology to provide "thousands, ultimately millions, of individual radio services created by audiences themselves".

The BBC hoped to share these ideas with the commercial sector, he added." BBC

In May, audiences downloaded 4.5 million BBC podcasts.

US Government Asks Internet Users To Comment On Net Future

2006-07-03T08:03:00.000+01:00

How do you see the future of the internet and its governing body, ICANN? The United States Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is asking for your comments. Offer closes on 7th July 2006, no purchase necessary..

SUMMARY: The United States Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) seeks comment on the continuation of the transition of the technical coordination and management of the Internet domain name and addressing system (Internet DNS) to the private sector. In June 1998, the Department issued a statement of policy on the privatization of the Internet DNS, which among other things articulated four primary functions for global Internet DNS coordination and management, the need to have these functions performed by the private sector and four principles to guide the transition to private sector management of the Internet DNS. On June 30, 2005, NTIA released the U.S. Principles on the Internet’s Domain Name and Addressing System further elaborating on these issues. The Department of Commerce seeks comment regarding the progress of this transition and announces a public meeting to be held on July 26, 2006, to discuss issues associated with this transition.

DATES: Comments are due on or before July 7, 2006. The public meeting will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on July 26, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by U.S. mail to Fiona Alexander, Office of International Affairs, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room 4701, Washington, DC 20230. Paper submissions should include a three and one-half inch computer diskette in HTML, ASCII, Word or WordPerfect format (please specify version). Diskettes should be labeled with the name and organizational affiliation of the filer, and the name of the word processing program used to create the document. Alternatively, comments may be submitted electronically to DNSTransition@ntia.doc.gov. Comments provided via electronic mail should also be submitted in one of the formats specified above. All comments will be posted to NTIA’s website at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/dnstransition.html.

France: Apple-Eating Monopoly Busters

2006-06-30T17:05:00.000+01:00

France's upper and lower houses, the Senate and the National Assembly, have voted in favour of a bill that forces Apple to open up music bought from its online store so that it can be played on personal music players other than its own iPod. The bill might also affect Sony and Microsoft who can be now be forced to share their proprietory DRM systems.

Apple has previously threatened to withdraw from the French market calling the law "a state-sponsored culture of piracy".

UK Government Resists EC Online Regulation

2006-06-30T12:11:00.000+01:00

"A UK government minister has claimed that Europe's attempts to regulate online content are badly planned and potentially damaging. The British Government has launched a fierce attack on the European Commission over proposed legislation that seeks to regulate online content.

Existing Television without Frontiers (TVwF) regulations cover traditional broadcasters, and set minimum standards for advertising and the protection of minors. The EC wants to extend them to cover online audio-visual content, including new media broadcasting and emerging technological platforms.

The UK Government called the proposals "ill thought-through and ill-conceived" on Thursday, and said that the proposals would inhibit economic growth. Tom Espiner, ZDNet UK

British Company Sells Astonishing Korean PMP

2006-06-29T08:11:00.000+01:00

British company Advanced MP3 Players have brought the iubi Blue to these shores, a product with practically everything in portable video and audio that stops short only of cleaning your teeth.

The iubi Blue supports virtually every video codec including MPEG 1, 2, 4 DivX 3.X, DivX 4.X, DivX 5.X, Svid, WMV9, H.264, AVI, OGM, WMV 7, 8, MOV and Real video. Videos and movies run at 30 frames per second with support for 720 x 480 pixel playback (8Mbps). Along with multi-codec support (MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, L- Pcm), the player also features a surprisingly effective stereo loudspeaker – a real alternative to listening via headphones, utilising 12mW per channel sound output with Wolfson 3D sound enhancement technology.

The iubi Blue also supports direct AV recording using its internal MPEG4 encoder. Record straight into MPEG4 (640 x 480 30fps) from your TV, DVD player or VHS player, allowing you to record up to 75 hours of video footage.

With the addition of bluetooth and USB on-the-go (no need for that pesky PC) a hard drive of 30GB and a price tag of under £250, the machine lacks only WiFi, or it would surely take the King Of Gadgets prize, and video podcasters would never ever look back...

Nokia Release Podcasting Application

2006-06-22T12:01:00.000+01:00

Nokia have finally released the BETA of their Podcasting Application for the 3G N91 handset - "multimedia computer" - which sports a 4GB hard drive, 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, easy computer synchronization with Windows Media Player, dedicated music keys and wireless LAN support. The Podcasting application "allows you to play previews while tracks are downloading, download multiple podcasts simultaneously, and even multi-task while downloading in the background. Also, you can personalize the application by adding new podcasts and directories, share and import OMPL files, and interact via mobile Internet links to add comments to podcasters blogs or websites. Podcasts downloaded from the PC can also be transferred to the mobile device."

Cult UK Podcaster Roger Smalls has been using one of these devices since early June 2006.

European Podcasters Team Up To Lobby WIPO

2006-06-18T13:36:00.000+01:00

UK Podcasters Association has been joined by the Irish Podrepbod and German Podcastverband to lobby WIPO in a pan-european effort to assert podcasters' rights at the WIPO meeting in Barcalona Wednesday, June 21st.

There is an online petition here - the text follows:

To: World Intellectual Property organization (WIPO)

This is a petition to the World Intellectual Property organization (WIPO) regarding the Broadcast Treaty as it affects podcasting and podcasters.

This treaty as it stands gives broadcasters (not creators or copyright holders) the right to tie up the use of audiovisual material for 50 years after broadcasting it, even if the programs are in the public domain, Creative Commons licensed, or not copyrightable.

We consider this to be an infringement of the right of the originator of a work to determine its form of licence, future usage and copyright status.

Further, the extension of the Broadcast Treaty to include Podcasting does not take into account the many forms of the new medium of podcasting which do not correspond to broadcast models. We uphold our right to be different from broadcasting and therefore subject to legislation which takes these differences into account.

We, podcast creators, producers and supporters of the global podcasting community, earnestly request that WIPO respect, acknowledge and include the following in any revision of the Broadcast Treaty:

- Broadcaster copyright cannot overrule podcast copyright or other licence

- Podcasting is not broadcasting and the two must not be conflated (forced together)

- The wishes of the creator regarding their rights in their work must be respected

- Creative Commons licences, GPU licences, "free forever" licences (in whatever form) are legitimate and must be upheld in perpetuity.

WIPO Puts Podcasting Back In Firing Line

2006-06-16T21:42:00.000+01:00

From BoingBoing: WIPO meets to screw up podcasting, Barcelona, June 21

The United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization has called a last-minute meeting on June 21 in Barcelona, out of the normal diplomatic venues to try to ram through the Broadcasting Treaty. This treaty gives broadcasters (not creators or copyright holders) the right to tie up the use of audiovisual material for 50 years after broadcasting it, even if the programs are in the public domain, Creative Commons licensed, or not copyrightable.

The Barcelona meeting brings together lots of latinamerican broadcasters -- who no doubt love the idea of a new monopoly right that they get for free merely for broadcasting a work. Bringing these casters in is a way of undermining the effective opposition to the treaty that's come from countries like Brazil and Chile.... This meeting is especially deadly, because it looks like they're trying to sneak podcasting back into the treaty, after agreeing to take it out at the last big meeting in Geneva.

The good news is, it's open to the public. If you're a digital rights activist in Barcelona -- or just someone who cares about how big corporations are taking away your rights to use works freely -- then you need to be at this meeting.

JICWEBS / ITG Agree RSS Metrics

2006-06-12T06:45:00.000+01:00

The following press release from ABC Electronics: JICWEBS ratifies ITG metric recommendations including new metrics for RSS

On 3rd April 2006 JICWEBS (The Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards in the UK and Ireland) met with members of the ITG (Internet Technical Group), to discuss a number of recommendations to help improve on and evolve existing measurement metrics, and to review recommendations for new metrics.

The following RRS metrics were "ratified" by the two groups:

Volume metric: RSS REFERRAL IN - the first Page Impression served to a valid User as a result of that User’s click on a link in an RSS feed

Reach metric: UNIQUE RSS REFERRAL IN USER - Any valid User that has made an RSS Referral In

Reach metric: UNIQUE RSS USER - any valid User (measured by Cookie) that has requested an RSS feed from the source site

The metrics discussed include PDFs and Podcasting:

Downloads (including Podcasting)

More media owners are offering content that can be downloaded by the user, and then used later offline, either on their computer or on a separate device such as an MP3 player e.g. an iPod. Hence the term “podcasting” has been coined for certain downloads of video and audio clips. The ITG has not yet concluded its discussion on this subject; however, a definition and measurement methodology is close to being agreed for recommendation to JICWEBS.

Apple To Sell Ringtones, Ebooks Via Wireless iPods

2006-06-08T07:15:00.000+01:00

Apple Computers are on course to take a chunk from the mobile phone networks' lucrative ringtones business, as the US Patent and Trademark Office published this patent application which (according to the Register) "describes an iPod that's fully wireless enabled - but envisages it as a portable shopping cart rather than a device for sharing media.

It's sure to be read with great interest by lawyers at the giant cellular phone carriers. It also describes a method of tagging a digital media file on one device and network and downloading it to another device on another network. That's very similar to how Sprint and Verizon - to name but two - allow you to buy a song over the air, and then tag it for downloading to your PC when you get home."

MPs Demand Enquiry On MP3s

2006-06-05T08:30:00.000+01:00

The All Party Parliamentary Internet Group has released its report on online downloads and has called on the Office of Fair Trading to "hasten the introduction of labelling regulations that would let people know what they can do with music and movies they buy online or offline. This would ensure that it was "crystal clear" to consumers what freedom they have to use the content they are purchasing and what would happen if they do something outlawed by the protection system."

They also called on the Department of Trade and Industry to look into the prices charged for the same digital content, such as music tracks, in different countries.

Suw Charman, executive director of the Open Rights Group which campaigns on digital rights issues, said the organisation was pleased that the MPs had made a series of "sensible recommendations". But, she added, the group could have gone further to combat the ways that copy protection systems impinge on rights to use copyrighted material protected by law.

For instance, she said, UK law allows people to make copies of parts of copyrighted works for the purposes of critiquing or reviewing them. "That's an exemption thwarted by DRM systems," she said. "The technologies are extending beyond the law they are supposed to uphold." Increasingly, said Ms Charman, consumers were bumping up against DRM technologies as they use digital media such as downloaded songs. She said that DRM was less about protecting copyright and more about creating a system in which people rent rather than own the media they spend money on. "We think people rightly feel that once they buy something, it stays bought," she said. (BBC)

Broadcasters Not Podcasters, says UKPA: Music Alliance Review “Podcast Rules”

2006-06-01T11:39:00.000+01:00

The UK Podcasters Association met Tuesday 30th May with the MCPS-PRS Music Alliance, the two principal UK music licensing and royalty collection agencies at their Berners Street offices. The objectives of the meeting were to establish working contact, indicate the important differences between UK podcasting activities and formats and broadcast, discuss access to the licensed music catalogue to which they act as gate-keepers, and to give direct feedback on their podcast music licence. The meeting was a fair and frank exchange of views conducted in a friendly and supportive way by both groups.

UKPA is greatly concerned by the imposition of format restrictions applying to all podcasters who pay for the licence, and the results of the Podcast Nation poll on this hot topic were presented to and welcomed by the Music Alliance as valuable feedback.

UKPA's view was that imposing restrictive controls developed from the broadcast media model, rather than taking a new sheet of paper for a new entertainment and business model, was preventing take-up of the license as in its current draft, and the MCPS-PRS podcasting licence could inhibit the development of new content formats and stifle a nascent industry.

The Music Alliance’s podcast licence was initially released in March 2006 and, because of a number of vague and imprecise clauses contained within it, appeared to be attempting to set up a licensing scheme for all podcasts, including podsafe and speech-only podcasts. This was later withdrawn by the MA, but a large proportion of the 300 or so independent UK podcast producers remained concerned that in order to play the mainstream music the Music Alliance control, they were being forced into adopting a set of “rules” controlling the way they create, adapt and release their content and this proved to be the rallying cry that launched the first UK representative body for podcasters.

“We are interested in working with the Music Alliance to improve their understanding of podcasting, podcasters, and to evolve a model of licensing which strikes a balance between their concerns and ours” said Dean Whitbread. “We would like to be able to pay a reasonable fee, without worrying about restrictive "rules" whilst we pioneer, develop and exploit new commercial formats. If they let us do that, ultimately they'll make a lot more money out of us.”

Taking scales of economy into account is also an issue. Since its inception, the cost of the licence has risen from £200 pa to £400 pa, and the licence has expanded from 2 to 30 pages which may now mean the independent podcaster has to take legal advice which will add several hundred pounds to the licence cost. As commercial broadcasters who benefit from advertising revenue move into the medium, there is a real danger that the small percentage (estimated 20%) of would-be commercial independent podcasters who might wish to play MA-licensed content could be priced out of the market.

The MCPS-PRS was firm in its view that the record labels were the ultimate gate-keepers to the content and their concerns needed to be addressed. It was agreed that there is an educative role for the UKPA to explain to publishers and record companies that podcasting is not file sharing – podcasters are program-makers - and opportunities to explain the differences will be sought.

The advantages of including MA-licensed repertoire within podcasting were laid out, and UKPA accepted the great benefit of a one-stop licensing shop which removes the need to negotiate with multiple content owners. On the other hand, the huge influx of artists self-licensing their work into “podsafe” podcasts was potentially fuelling an alternative to existing rights organisations.

Podcasting actually boosts sales of licensed music. Before the vast majority of podcasters went “podsafe” some played licensed music and the bands played noted spikes in sales on service such as iTunes. “Bands which might never have got a record deal are now generating sales and significant income from plays on “podsafe” podcasts which tell the listener where to buy the music – direct from the band and cutting the middle man (the record company) out of the loop completely,” said Paul Parkinson.

Discussed at some length were the anomalies which the widely-adopted Creative Commons licenses bring to the exclusive nature of MCPS-PRS licence schemes, MySpace, and other artist-driven variants of online music, and the difficulties in establishing an effective global scheme, which is currently being researched by the MA. Marla Shapiro reported that the MA were planning to release a General Entertainment on Demand scheme later this year.

UKPA presented the case for podcasting as a medium in itself, establishing the major differences between the original programmed content of the majority of UK podcasters and radio stations re-purposing broadcast content. Podcasting started with individuals creating fresh and exciting content breaking the mould of the stale audio and video formats. Podcasting now has been seized upon by broadcast radio as a way of regurgitating their shows on a time-shift basis.

In 2006 independent UK podcasts deliver in multiple media to hundreds of thousands of listeners in more than 100 countries. Independent UK podcasters have invented new styles of content, provided very specialised niche shows (knitting, anyone?) through to mass appeal shows covering technology, soccer, parenting, and of course, music. UKPA requested recognition in the licensing scheme of individuals, small groups, communities and small-to-medium sized businesses who were now using and creating successful podcasts using different commercial models to those that applied to established traditional businesses.

The Music Alliance accepted the need to distinguish between the small-scale, amateur enthusiast “bedroom” podcasters, new podcast businesses, and the commercial broadcasters’ use of the medium, but it was also clear that they had not seen very much hard data on UK podcasting from UK podcasters. It was agreed that working contact would be established between the two organisations on this basis.

Representing the UKPA was Dean Whitbread. Businesses who are also UKPA members were represented in the room by Paul Parkinson from Podcast User Magazine, Paul Pinfield from Pinnacle Media, and Mark Crook from Funk. Also present were Ben Brassington from Harbottle and Lewis, and Louise Ferguson from the Open Rights group. This group met with Jez Bell, Online Director, Marla Shapiro, Broadcast and Online Projects Director, and Chris Morrison, Online Licensing Manager.

UK Radio Plunges Deeper Into Podcasting

2006-05-23T23:08:00.000+01:00

"Chrysalis to push podcasting" announces this Times headline.

Chief Executive Richard Huntingford said that Chrysalis "was keen to exploit further its key radio brands through the launch of internet services, such as podcasting. The group, which already offers a subscription podcasting service for LBC, priced at £2 a month, is planning further online services on its other radio websites. Chrysalis will exploit podcasting for its key radio brands such as Galaxy, Heart and LBC."

National Consumer Council Copyright Poll

2006-05-12T09:34:00.000+01:00

Chris Williams at The Register reports on the National Consumer Council (NCC) commissioned poll on copyright. Fifty-nine per cent of respondents thought copying their own CDs was perfectly legal, and 55 per cent said they have done so.

In a blow to Sir Cliff Richard's campaign to extend the copyright (now expiring) in his 1950s recordings, the NCC also sniped at industry moves to push for an extension on the rule which states that copyright lapses on sound recordings after 50 years. Submission author Jill Johnstone said: "Current terms already provide exessive protection of intellectual property rights at a cost to consumers."

Podcast Day 2006

2006-05-11T13:36:00.000+01:00

Podcastday 2006 is a conference on 24th of May in Cologne, Germany and the organizers are asking podcasters to send "cover art" to publicise their podcasts at the event.

Send an image (max 800×600) to nicole.simon at podcastday2006.com

Redrafted Broadcast Treaty Threatens Podcasters

2006-05-06T18:14:00.000+01:00

This post by Jen at Britcaster, sent by Glyn Wintle at http://openrightsgroup.org regarding DRM and the newly redrafted Broadcast Treaty:

"The Broadcast Treaty allows people who transmit content to assert a 50-year monopoly called a Broadcast Right over its copying, retransmission, and so on, even if there's no copyright, or a license from the copyright owner letting you copy the content. The "fair use" exceptions for the Broadcast Right are totally different from the rights for copyright. DRM used to protect Broadcast Rights is illegal to break. That means that if your podcast is hosted by someone other than you, your Creative Commons license is invalid -- they can prohibit your listeners from copying, transcoding, or passing on your podcast. It means that if you download audio from the net -- including other podcasts - and include excerpts in your own podcast, either relying on fair dealing or Creative Commons licenses, you're no longer legally in the clear.

If you operate a service that aggregates, indexes, translates, subtitles, or makes other transformative use of podcasts, you're no longer in the clear. If your podcast relies on search-engines to index it so others can find it, you're screwed.

Glyn"

UK Podcasters Association Opens Doors

2006-05-06T07:27:00.000+01:00

The first national membership organisation for UK podcasters, the UK Podcasters Association, has opened its doors for membership.

While podcaster forums are debating the style of the website and the details of terms and conditions, UKPA Secretary Mark Crook reports a steady flow of applications. "It's like having a pair of nice new shoes," he said yesterday, "Which look great but need walking in. The more paths we follow, the more comfortable they will become."

This historic event was covered in New Media Age. There is a podcast interview here by Hugh Fraser from ID3 magazine.

We Media Global Forum

2006-05-02T07:00:00.000+01:00

Large, well-funded, high-powered discussions by media corporations are nothing new, but the frequency of such events around internet-based citizen media is growing, as is their scale. We Media is responsible for Global Forum 2006 a two day shindig hosted by the BBC and Reuters, with attendees from the UN, Google, MSN, Al Jazeera, the controller of BBC1, and actor Richard Dreyfuss.

An interesting fringe meeting looks like the closest your average podcaster is likely to get.

Guest speakers: Dr Chris Yapp, Head of Public Sector Innovation, Microsoft, Suw Charman, Executive Director, Open Rights Group, Ben Metcalfe (benmetcalfe.com / backstage.bbc.co.uk), and Michael Tippett, founder of nowpublic.com.

Listen to the unedited, 67 minute recording here.

Further comments on the meeting here.

21st Century Creativity in a Copyright World: How Can the Potential Be Realised?

2006-04-27T10:59:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday 26th April, World Intellectual Property day, UK podcaster Dean Whitbread contributed to a seminar organised by QUT Law Faculty's Intellectual Property: Knowledge, Culture, and Economy Program, in conjunction with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation. This groundbreaking event took place in Second Life, the online multiplayer virtual world created by Linden Labs and was entitled:

21st Century Creativity in a Copyright World: How Can the Potential Be Realised?

The participants were able to interact using Second Life's self-designed avatars and TeamSpeex, an audio conferencing application which enabled most of the assembled participants to speak to and hear each other in real time.

Listen to the audio from the event here (60 minutes - 50 MB)

"The rapid pace of technological change that we are experiencing requires us to always be aware of the balances inherent in copyright law; we must attempt to provide adequate protection to copyright owners, while at the same time allow for a rich culture of experimentation and innovation. Particularly, we must be careful not to close off new avenues for expression and creativity before they have a chance to develop. Join us for a discussion of the current context, covering fair use/fair dealing, blogs, mash-ups, parody, and much more.

"Virtual worlds are becoming increasingly popular and diverse. As more and more people are becoming involved in these virtual spaces, we are changing the way we think about place, social relationships, economics, property, and many other aspects of social life. The immersive nature of these worlds challenges us to consider questions of space . .the experience of presence (or being there) and copresence (being there together). (Ralph Schroeder, Being There Together). These worlds provide an excellent opportunity for interaction, learning, and research, as well as raising some very interesting questions about culture, regulation, property, and society." - Nic Suzor.

Speakers included:

Richard Neville
Toby Miller (UC Riverside, QUT Vice Chancellor Distinquished Visitor)
Professor Brian Fitzgerald (QUT)
Professor Mark Perry (UWO)
Peter Coroneos (Internet Industry Association)
Mia Garlick (Creative Commons)
Dean Whitbread (funk.co.uk)
Dr Axel Bruns (QUT)
Anne Matthew (QUT)
Nicolas Suzor (QUT)
Dilan Thampapillai

UK Podcast Advertising Experiment

2006-04-25T18:32:00.000+01:00

UK podcaster "Podcast"Paul Nicholls is running podcast advertising for his Birmingham law firm, Smith Jones Solicitors. "I don't think it will work," he said, "but that's one of the reasons I am trying it," he observed wryly this afternoon.

His pioneering venture to introduce podcast advertising for his law practise involves ten well-downloaded UK podcasts including 20 second soundbites, which he is producing and providing.

"Podcasters get £200 per placement, plus £50 per referral to incentivise them. I am almost 100% certain that we won't get any of those, but I am interested in seeing the impact this has on podcasting, and on podcast advertising. Obviously, it raises the profile of the firm by virtue of being so unusual."

You read it first at Podcast Nation

UK Media Magazines Feature Podcasting

2006-04-21T19:14:00.000+01:00

This week saw feature articles on podcasting from two major UK media magazines, Campaign and Broadcast. Both broadly favourable, they deal with podcasting from their different perspectives in similar ways.

Marketing Week looks to be moving even closer to the UK podcast pulse, as they plan to publish a UK podcast top ten in their new interactive section, launching next month.

UK Podcast Advertising

2006-04-11T09:09:00.000+01:00

UK company Cheeze Media are building BLAD "the web's biggest directory of blog and Podvertising opportunities." They have already signed up Comedy 365 and are looking for commercial-minded blog and podcasts.

The Cheeze.com website does not specify the kind of advertising to be placed nor the expected revenue to be derived.

Not a blad idea.

8 Million Britons Seek Podcasts

2006-04-10T18:19:00.000+01:00

Research has found that nearly eight million Britons "will go in search of a podcast in the next six months" according to the BBC, a far greater number proportionately than US podcast users. "The huge discrepancy between the figures for the US and the UK could point to relative differences in listening habits, online dexterity or even national character" says the article.

"The survey of 5,000 US consumers by Forrester found that 3% had tried listening to a podcast. Of them, 2% had experimented with audio downloads but did not listen on a regular basis. Fewer women download and listen to podcasts.
There will be just 700,000 diehard downloaders in the US this year; a tiny audience compared to the 25 million people who tune into stations run by traditional broadcaster National Public Radio (NPR) every week. The report says that it will take a long time for people to ditch their transistors and join this small group of breakaways because downloading programmes is complicated and content is sparse. However, the good news for broadcasters is that the people who persevere gravitate towards audio from established radio stations rather than relative newbies.

The Forrester survey backs up some of the findings in a report from another research firm, BMRB. Its survey looked at digital consumption in the UK. It also found that podcasts are the preserve of young males. But it predicts a much quicker uptake of podcasts in UK households, with around eight million adults logging on and walking away with their favourite radio programmes in their pocket by September this year."

UK Podcasters Meet BBC

2006-04-09T12:27:00.000+01:00

Conrad Slater (left) and "Podcast" Paul (right) observing BBC Television Centre in April sunlight

A group of UK podcasters spent two hours in deep in the bowels of BBC Television Centre yesterday discussing UK podcasting. Chris Vallance of Radio Five Live's Pods and Blogs invited British podcasters to discuss podcasting, broadcasting and where the two might meet up.

We were joined by Rhod Sharp, host of "Up All Night", BBC radio producer Dominic Laurie, and Rebecca Myatt from World Service Outlook who expressed her interest in finding podcasts for their audience of 140 million.

Present at this historic event were a mixture of podcast producers from businesses deriving income to passionate enthusiasts, all reporting rapidly quickening growth in the podcast phenomenon, which was attributed partly to the BBC's recent promotion of podcasting. There are well over 250 active UK podcasters right now and it was acknowledged that it is beginning to emerge as a source of talent with new ideas and voices emerging.

Inital talk was about the freedom and independence enjoyed by the podcasters as opposed to the relatively tight restrictions which apply to BBC podcasters. Rhod Sharp described podcasting as being "six feet under the totem pole" as far as the BBC were concerned. Paul Pinfield made the point that the BBC set globally acknowledged standards. Chris Vallance played some podcasts from Germany and Pakistan, making the point that these were genuine voices, untouched by editorial considerations or censorship, and speaking in a natural way that non-broadcasters use.

There was discussion about how the BBC is set up to respond to and deal with citizen-submitted media from mobile phones, etc, with the example given of images coming in from July 7th London bombings. The BBC podcast "experiment" was debated, and issue of MCPS-PRS podcast license was raised, the BBC not yet aware that such a license exists. Rhod Sharp commended the Creative Commons concept as a flexible and easy to understand licensing system for UK citizens which could be easily adopted.

What made podcasting different was it's genuineness and intimacy, said Janet Parkinson from Flashing 12, a self-confessed hobbyist. Responding to emails and having interaction with your audience was crucial, she said. UK podcasting output is distinctive, has good production values, and does well internationally, observed Neil Dixon. The Britcaster forum which he runs was was intelligent and remarkably "troll free"; he acknowledged that he had to deal with spurious entries to his British listing from people who wanted to be in the "British only" listing and noted one new addition per day. Paul Pinfield who spoke of his interest in the business side of podcasting and offered his view that podcasting would soon replace local radio, which was "total crap". There was strong group of music podcasters present.

Dean Whitbread talked about the empowerment of podcasting, where the writer producer and editor has the advantage of being able to vary formats and combine media in original ways, adding different kinds of material to the same RRS feed. I asked whether an independent podcast used by the BBC would automatically be covered by existing BBC agreements regarding music licensing - the consensus was yes, it would be. Mark Crook pointed out that as podcasting was now on school curriculums, we could expect to see more young people becoming podcasters as they learn to use the tools.

As the discussion ended, the quietly smiling 23 year old Phil "Bitjobs" from Birmingham was spirited away into the bowels of BBC "looking for somewhere domestic" to shoot for a TV interview.

After the meeting we were joined by filmmaker Conrad Slater, and Adrian Pegg, as the debate re-convened in local Shepherds Bush pub the Defector's Weld for a Britcasters get-together. The jolly-up centred around the benign figure of Neil Dixon who set up the Britcaster forum one year ago.

In this recording, Chris Vallance interviews the assembled podcasters, as with multiple recording devices, they record him interviewing them. At one point Podcast Paul's microphone is clipped to a pint of beer, and my Sony Minidisc recorder is balanced on a sauce bottle.

There is widespread praise for Roger Smalls, Neil Dixon describes himself as the Daddy and confesses to many moods, Podcast Paul admits that UK Podcasters are Radio Caroline, Paul Pinfield talks business and praises Vobes, Deek Deekster gives bandwidth and expresses his pleasure in finding folk music in urban Isington, Janet describes her fascination for podcasts from other countries for learning about other cultures, as global podcast culture emerges - her magazine Podcast User has been going three months and is now being downloaded in 80 countries. In the longer version, Conrad Slater talks about and demonstrates the creative use of a small stereo condenser microphone.

Edited interview - 14:49

Unedited interview - 19:24

David Bowie Podcasts

2006-04-07T08:40:00.000+01:00

David Bowie, Brixton-born art rocker and well-known supporter of internet music, has started a podcast channel and his first offering is an interview with his favourite band, Secret Machines.

"Regular visitors to these pages will know all about David Bowie's and Secret Machines' respect for each other. David has been praising the band since a journal entry in October 2004 and Brandon Curtis of Secret Machines had some lovely things to say about DB as recently as last week. (03.16.2006 NEWS: BOWIE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON SECRET MACHINES)

To celebrate the release of the latest Secret Machines album, Ten Silver Drops, David has interviewed the band for an exclusive BowieNet podcast." - from DavidBowie.Com

BitTorrent Bite Back

2006-03-29T04:18:00.000+01:00

In a classic case of "do not blame the messenger for the message", Torrentspy, the company behind BitTorrent have moved to prevent the system being declared illegal in the USA, the BBC reports.

BitTorrent has become a widely used online system to get hold of very large video files as the technology is very efficient at splitting up and sharing data. Ira Rothken, Torrentspy's lawyer said Torrentspy had cooperated with Hollywood in removing objectionable links to torrent files and did not actively promote copyright infringement. "It cannot be held 'tertiary' liable for visitors' conduct that occurs away from its web search engine ... This appears to be the first case where major Hollywood studios are suing a search engine that does not even link to any files copyrighted by Hollywood. 'The MPAA is in essence trying to outlaw the torrent file format."

Since November last year, the global recording industry the global recording industry launched its largest wave of legal action against people suspected of sharing music files on the internet, targeting 2,100 alleged uploaders using file-sharing networks in 16 nations including the UK, France, Germany and Italy. File-sharers in Switzerland, Sweden, Argentina, Singapore and Hong Kong are also facing cases.

The number of cases brought by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) outside the US since March 2004 now stands at more than 3,800. In the US, civil lawsuits have been brought against more than 15,597 people since September 2003 and there have been at least 3,590 settlements.

Several popular US podcasts use the BitTorrent system to deliver their content, including Evil Genius Chronicles. UK podcast Fetish Radio also uses BitTorrent.

French Tell Apple, Sony, Microsoft: Open Up

2006-03-21T17:03:00.000Z

"The French parliament has backed plans to give consumers more choice over music downloads from the internet. MPs backed a draft law to force Apple, Sony and Microsoft to share their proprietary copy-protection systems by 296 to 193 votes. The aim is to ensure that digital music can be played on any player, regardless of its format or source.... Currently most online stores lock consumers into their own downloading systems and players, such as with Apple's iTunes and its iPod. The French bill says that proprietary copy-protection technologies must not block interoperability between different systems." - BBC

iTunes not only leading the world in digital downloads, accounting for 70% of music sales globally, but it is also the most-used point of access for podcasts, and although hard data is hard to come by, the f1 podcast makes this assessment:

"iTunes is by far the most popular podcatcher among my listeners (currently over 27,000 hits compared to under 5,000 for iPodder Lemon, the next most popular client)."

It remains to be seen whether this French law will translate into the kind of EU-wide antitrust pressure that Microsoft has experienced, or impact the UK.

Podcast Advertising Model: The "One Penny Podcast"

2006-03-19T08:38:00.000Z

Taking his cue from the Million Dollar Homepage, Jon Watson has come up with a model for podcast advertising:

The problem seems to lie in the amount of advertising time available on a podcast. The current models being tossed around are typically a short 5-10 second bit at the beginning or the end of the show OR a longer, 30-second piece in the middle of the show. That's about all the advertising space there is to sell in a typical podcast and advertisers and podcasters disagree on how much it's worth. I want to increase the time available to be sold.

If podcasters were to focus on quantity rather than quality, that creates a lot more advertising 'space' in the show. I'm going to test out a model where advertisers can get three spoken lines into my JaK Attack! podcast for one-cent per download. How's it work? Simple - you send us $5 and three lines of text. We'll speak those three lines during the show somewhere and you're guaranteed that show will be downloaded at least 500 times in the first 30 days.

At the moment this system relies on the Podcaster speaking the lines submitted in an improvised way within the recording. It is not clear whether advertisers will be able to submit their own short recordings for inclusion in the podcast.

UK Podcast Licence Poll

2006-03-17T14:03:00.000Z

This is for UK podcasters only and refers to the licence which MCPS-PRS Music Alliance have proposed to implement. In the main this seeks to establish a licence to use MCPS-PRS-registered music in podcasts, with (apparently) plans to extend this to voice-only podcasting, and to establish a set of "podcast rules".

Please read the PRS website for details. You might also want to refer to this forum in which UK podcasters discuss some of the issues involved.

You may only vote once on each question. Please add your specific comments below. Thanks for your input.

Please vote on the following podcast "rules" as laid out in the licence:

Podcasters shall

Podcasters shall not

And finally:

MCPS-PRS £200 Annual UK Podcast License

2006-03-16T01:37:00.000Z

This press release from MCPS-PRS, the two main recognised UK copyright and repertoire institutions, dated 3rd March 2006, recently appeared on the PRS site. The licensing scheme as presented is said to have started on March 1st.

According to the MCPS-PRS scheme, the minimum fee for using licensed music in podcasts will amount to £200 per year. Even if podcasters use totally podsafe (royalty free) music and record their own voice, they will soon be subject to licensing and have to pay to podcast for the rest of 2006.

Podcasting licence

The MCPS-PRS Alliance has launched a new licensing solution for music podcasters. The joint MCPS and PRS scheme allows podcasters access to the global repertoire of musical works represented by the Alliance – some ten million musical works – granting the necessary writer/publisher permissions for inclusion of their works within the podcast.

The license is the first serious attempt by a European collecting society to support the growth of music podcasting.

The license is being made available until the end of 2006, during which time both podcasters and the Alliance will learn more about each other’s needs. A more complete scheme is planned for launch in early 2007.

"Podcasts that generate low levels of revenue and usage are also catered for by the Alliance. Podcasting is being incorporated into the updated Limited Online Exploitation Licence (LOEL) being launched in the second quarter of 2006, where royalty rates begin from as little as £50 a quarter.

Non-music podcasts (e.g. predominantly speech with very little music) will be licensed under a new on-demand scheme for non-music services which is being prepared for launch at the end of April 2006."

PRS-MCPS have also introduced a set of "podcasting rules" which if applied strictly will impact upon podcasters' creative freedom and could restrict the development of new content formats:

"Podcaster shall:

obscure at least 10 (ten) seconds at the beginning and end of each individual track played in a podcast with speech or a station ID;

deliver podcasts only in their entirety, not individual tracks or portions of a podcast;

ensure that music constitutes no more than 80% of the total length of any Programme;

ensure that the podcast is at least 15 minutes in length; and

take all reasonable steps to ensure that individual tracks within a podcast are not capable of being ripped and that metadata or other information or data transmitted or downloaded by the podcaster is not used to identify recordings for download from unauthorised databases or sites.

produce podcasts that contain recordings from a single artist or that have more than 30% of the musical works written by the same composer or writing partnership;

play any individual track more than once in any single Programme;

provide an electronic guide to the podcast which contains tracks played and corresponding times;

insert any flags or other markers in the podcast which may directly indicate or which may be used to indirectly infer the start and end point of tracks or segments of copyright content;

incorporate repertoire works into advertising; or

use the Repertoire in such a way as may be taken to imply that any goods or services are endorsed, advertised or associated with the Repertoire or any artist whose performance is contained on the Repertoire or any other party who owns rights in connection with the Repertoire. "

(my emphasis)

What immediate impact this will have on UK podcasting remains to be seen, with many podcasters using music outside the MCPS-PRS repertoire, and many others either unwilling to pay or unaware of any obligation to pay for the use of copyright material in their non-commercial , low distribution, non-revenue generating podcasts.

LINKS: Dutch record companies say no to podcast licence - 7th November 2005
BMI Launches New Songwriter/Artist Podcast; Licenses Podcasters in Nationwide Initiative (USA) - 9th May 2005
U.K. indies deliver universal podcast license - 12th May 2005

BBC White Paper

2006-03-14T13:08:00.000Z

This BBC article is mostly about the UK Government's White paper (i.e.new laws proposed) about BBC funding, but the background is interesting:

The BBC lets radio listeners hear most radio programmes on-line, through its Radio Player, and they can download and podcast much of the material too.

It has been testing a video version - the Interactive Media Player - and ITV is linking up to do the same. Sky viewers can download films and sport material.

DVDs sell in their millions, but some media companies now also offer video-on-demand - "libraries" of films and programmes which can be watched by via cable or on-line, either on subscription or for a one-off charge.

Broadcasters are also rushing to put their content - or whole channels - on mobile phones and other devices, such as the Play Station Plus or the Video iPod. Imagine how much life will change when the speed of broadband quadruples and there's almost infinite storage space on devices like iPods and PVRs. Seventy per cent of homes have access to digital TV.

These technology developments are changing viewing habits, particularly among the young. The two channels that have dominated viewing for 50 years have shed millions of viewers. BBC One has just recorded its lowest ever peaktime rating. Its chat show Davina and a Panorama special on the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes attracted less than 12% of the Wednesday night audience. ITV1's share of viewing fell to 21% last year. In 2000, it was 29%, and it's not that long since it was over 40%.

How many viewers will the two "big" channels have by 2016? What devices will they be watching them on? And what does that mean for the TV licence fee, when every home is a digital home?

And, what will new laws mean for the humble UK Podcaster?

We The Media: The Growth of UK Podcasting

2006-03-10T05:53:00.000Z

Dan Gillmor, author of We the Media, director of the Center for Citizen Media wrote this BBC article. I responded below:

Blogging, podcasting and the growth of citizen-driven media is the first full flowering of the internet and the best application of the word "interactive" yet devised in my opinion. The most exciting aspect of this is the way that it allows individuals to add their uncensored voices to the mass media.

In April/May 2005 having blogged for a year I decided to podcast the UK elections 5/5/5 at five.org, using audio and video, focussing on local issues, interviewing the local candidates, talking with voters and political luminaries such as Robin Cook. As a result, I received this comment:

Thanks for making available these series of podcasts with the candidates in my constituency - much appreciated. I'm planning on listening to each one before casting my vote on Thursday. I've been away from Islington a lot recently so I've managed to avoid any direct canvassing from the candidates - and election flyers are not something I read. Hence your podcasts will probably be my primary tool for making the decision.

--
Posted by Ollie to Five at 5/3/2005 10:59:53 PM

This made my month-long efforts worthwhile and convinced me of the social usefulness of the genre.

I agree that we are now seeing only the beginning of this great upsurge as people pick up the tools and use them. Increasing diversity of voices and views can only benefit communities.

The next phase will be very interesting indeed as podcasting differentiates itself from broadcasting and downloading - it is neither ! - and the self-organising of the UK podcast community so that heavy-handed, badly informed licensing doesn't hinder this important cultural development in will prove to be very important.