In 2001, when I first became aware of the Podcast concept, it was still called Audioblogging, and was very clunky (basically there were no ‘podcast clients’ or iTunes, it was just an RSS feed with an audio enclosure.)  The adoption of RSS itself was in its infancy, years before the ubiquitous became standard on all sites.  I was not particularly taken with the format, as there didn’t seem to be any practical use for it beyond repurposing pre-existing media into a format that didn’t really have any easy way to consume it.

The podcast format didn’t really start to break through until Adam Curry (@adamcurry) began pushing it as an original content format with his Daily Soure Code series, still going strong.  But it wasn’t until April of 2005 when Apple added native podcast support in iTunes 4.9 that there became any chance of the format growing.

I really started paying attention to the format as a potential channel for compelling original content in 2006, when someone at work introduced me to Joe Vella, a long time jazz new media guy (remember JazzOnln.com? That was him) who found himself wanting to create content for the web that was intimate and told a story in a way that had been lost since the consolidation of radio.  We started doing a series for Yo-Yo Ma

Anyway, I’ve always been interested in storytelling, so in 2006 when someone at work

At work, I’m the guy in charge of podcasts.

I know in my day-to-day interactions with people, I talk a lot about Content being very important and a driver.  Ironically, my blog has not been the best example of that.  I do have a lot to say, and I will be posting here more regularly in order to say it.  A lot of my musings can be found via Twitter, and there are many many links that I’d like to be able to comment on flowing through the Linkblog on the side, powered by my Delicious.com account.

To start down the path, here’s a video by Christopher Penn that summarizes in a remarkable manner the reason why your business should (or should not) be in the podcast world.

Important points: Metrics don’t matter, reaction matters.  Podcasting is easy.  Focus, focus, focus.

Link: Christopher Penn at the Inbound Marketing Summit

1. go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
the first wikipedia article you get is the name of your band

2. go to random quotes: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
the last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your
first album.

3. go to flickr’s “explore the last seven days”
http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

From Vicki at Planetary Group

OK, I like the guy and he has good ideas, but I don’t know about this one… Now, if it came with a free miniature PDF file…

Seth Godin, Marketing Action Figure - Archie McPhee®

Some quick notes. Has been covered before, but whats a blog without redundancy. Music biz would do well to read.

• ask users what they want, what they expect, what they love and what they hate
• dont ever “protect” users, especially from themselves. Users dont need us, we need them.
• make your process transparent
• your true evangelists should be your best friends
• enable and encourage your users to be part of the discussion
• get the @#%! out of the way

See that receipt there on the left?

That’s PAYOLA.

Microsoft and Epic Records to Offer Ongoing Exclusive Entertainment Content on Xbox Live
The online entertainment network features Natasha Bedingfield as first Artist of the Month, and offers music videos and Game with Fame sessions.

REDMOND, Wash., and NEW YORK — March 16, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. and music giant Epic Records today announced an agreement to make available a full year of exclusive artist content and high-definition music video downloads free for all Xbox 360™ gamers. Over the next year, Xbox 360 and Epic Records will showcase 12 up-and-coming artists through the Artist of the Month (AOM) program via the Xbox Live® service, the first and only unified global online entertainment network. Through the alliance, millions of Xbox Live members can enter a monthly sweepstakes with a prize of gaming against some of the hottest musicians through the Xbox Live Game with Fame™ program.

“This program really taps into the passion and excitement that surround both video gaming and music,” said Cory Llewellyn, vice president of Epic Records Digital Marketing and Promotion. “We are excited to bring our strong roster of developing artists together with Xbox Live for a variety of great experiences for consumers.”

Read more about why my friend Cory is so good at his job at microsoft.com.

I know its work-related and I know its self-serving but dammit i dont care, I’ve got the #1 record on iTunes!

Yo-Yo Ma & John Williams iTunes Sessions with music from Memoirs of a Geisha

As some of you may have read, Microsoft is playing nice with the web (for once) and adopting Mozilla’s “Syndicate” image as their RSS button. This is a good step toward further interoperability and generally making things less confusing for those who arent so RSS-savvy, as well as finally getting rid of those ugly-as-sin orange RSS buttons ().

Instead, what we use now is this:

Courtesy of mattbrett.com

However, realizing that it’s still that ugly orange, Matt has been kind enough to create a ton of downloadable versions of the icon in EPS, GIF, AI, PSD formats, for your own custom color coding.

They’re all available at FeedIcons.com

I’ve already switched over, as you can see from the menu bar.

Here’s an idea that needs to happen:

I want a web service that will import my netflix queue and tell me which movies are on cable within the next week, so if there are films that i dont care about the 5.1 or bonus features i can record them on my tivo and clear out my queue.

Someone, make it happen!

Happy Jewmas!

If you’re into music at all, run don’t walk to

The only music recommendation engine I’ve used that gives me music I

A) Like and
2) Haven’t heard of

New find: The Kin.