Podcast transcripts: should podcasters have control of their own transcript?

• Transcripts of episodes are a good thing. They increase audience participation, help people find your show, and help people retain information: and, as one company tells us, transcripts significantly increase traffic from Google. However, some podcast directories are posting automated transcripts online: which isn’t always welcomed by some podcasters. In a long-form piece of reporting today, Podnews looks at transcripts, why some podcasters want a bit more control of them, and asks who’ll help fix all this. You’ll find it linked in our episode notes and our newsletter - which is where our transcript is.

• The RØDECaster Pro has released firmware 2.1 which offers a set of new features. They’ve added a master bus compressor, broadcast-style level metering (in dBFS, not PPM nor short-term LUFS), and multitrack recording can now be achieved “post-fader”. The companion app has also been improved, including direct uploads to podcast platforms and firmware updating straight from the app itself.

  
  Aug 24 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Inside Podcasting has published an interview with an anonymous insider from Luminary. “The industry is really hard on Luminary. The conversations can be snarky. I don’t think that’s fair. I think Luminary’s potential success would be a big win for the industry. I can’t help but think about Netflix here: they started as a DVD mailing company and stumbled into streaming. Luminary started as a premium podcast company… but what other kinds of business are they potentially going to stumble into?”

• Pocket Casts has confirmed a report in Podnews on Jun 5 that they’ve been removed from the Apple App Store in China. The company tweets that they were removed “by Apple, at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China. We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship. As such we won’t be censoring podcast content at their request. We understand this means that it’s unlikely that our iOS App will be available in China, but feel it’s a necessary step to take for any company that values the open distribution model that makes podcasting special.” Apple Podcasts continues to be available but only carries selected podcasts in the country.

• Issue 4 of Le POD, a free podcasting magazine in French, is under preparation. 5,000 copies are given away in Paris and it’s also available online. Expect des portraits, interviews, enquêtes et des sélections de podcasts sur 52 pages dans un guide format poche avec une ligne éditoriale branchée et décalée - and if you’re keen to promote your podcast or podcasting company, you should contact them.

• Zencastr, a remote podcasting recording tool, has unveiled HD video in a private beta. You can join the queue to test it out by visiting the website. The company also has a new logo.

• Audiomass looks like a good browser-based audio editor. The code is open-source, is just 65KB, and contains a lot of audio effects like compression and reverb. It isn’t, sadly, multitrack: but that’s under development, according to the author, Pantelis Kalogiros.

• TuneIn have added CNN and Bloomberg to their TuneIn Premium Commercial-Free News Lineup. The company points to a 47% increase in news listening year-over-year.

• Spreaker has added JioSaavn to their one-click distribution platform. JioSaavn is the largest audio streaming platform in South Asia.

• ESPN is to use Megaphone for podcast hosting and dynamic content insertion from July. They currently appear to self-host.

  
  Aug 24 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Acast has announced Aclass: Queer Voices a free workshop for queer podcasters. It’s on Wed Jun 17, 6.00-7.30pm ET. RSVP over here

• Android Police, a news website focusing on the Android OS, carries an impassioned opinion piece from David Ruddock that Spotify is holding my favorite podcast hostage with its terrible app. He’s a fan of The Last Podcast On The Left, which is now an exclusive show to Spotify; he posts a lengthy critique of the app’s UX.

Podcast News - with The Jordan Harbinger Show

On The Jordan Harbinger Show Conspiracy theories: want to gently tell that family member where he’s going wrong? Joining Jordan Harbinger is Mick West, who’s written a new book How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect. Listen now

Have You Heard George’s Podcast has become the first podcast outside of the US to win a Peabody Award. The podcast was an independent production for its first season, and was bought by the BBC for season 2. Congratulations, too, to the many other winners of the Peabody Awards.

Waiting on Reparations is new from iHeartRadio: it explores the intersection of public policy and hip-hop music, what hip-hop culture can tell us about our political reality and how this genre has shaped our political future. The first edition, available now, focused on the murder of George Floyd by an officer of the Minneapolis Police Department and how Floyd’s death has highlighted systemic racism and oppression in the US.

Citizen Chef is also new from iHeartRadio. It covers where and who our food comes from as well as the politics, decisions, policies and people that shape our food systems.

The Practical Futurist Podcast interviews our Editor, James Cridland, in its latest episode - James discusses the future of podcasting, Apple and Spotify, and how podcasting is growing.