Podcast Posting

Excerpt from iTunes:

SUBMIT PODCAST - Submit your podcast feed URL to the iTunes Store here. You can also find this link by going to iTunes Store, navigating to the Podcasts directory, and clicking on the Submit a Podcast link.

METADATA - Your podcast’s metadata includes all of the information that describes your podcast for the potential subscriber, as well as for the iTunes search and browse infrastructure. The podcast’s category and subcategory determine where the podcast will appear in the browse tree. The title, author, description, and (up to 12) keywords are indexed by the iTunes search engine and used to determine relevance when compared with terms entered by the user in the Search iTunes Store box. A high percentage of users look for podcasts via search. If you don’t have good, robust metadata, your podcast will not turn up in many searches. And when users do find your podcast, they may not have enough information to decide whether to subscribe.

MULTIPLE PODCASTS - If you have multiple podcasts listed in the iTunes Store, the iTunes staff can create a single page that lists all of them in one place. We call this page an “artist page.” Note that a podcast can only appear on one artist page.

To request an artist page, navigate to one of your podcasts, click on Report a Concern, and select Remove a Podcast. In the dialog box, explain that you would like an artist page, give us the exact name of the artist (please don’t include “Inc,” “LLC,” etc.), and list the exact feed URLs or links to your podcasts.

COVER ART - Attractive and interesting cover art attracts new subscribers to your podcast. Podcasts must have good cover art to be featured on the Podcast main page or the Store main page. Most good podcast images include an image as well as a title, brand, or source name. A 300x300-pixel JPG is the recommended size and format.

EARN MONEY!? You can earn a commission on sales of songs, movies, tv shows and audiobooks purchased by customers who linked to the iTunes Store from your web site — even when your link leads to a free podcast. When you sign up as an iTunes Affiliate, you are given an affiliate tag to embed in your web links.

SERVER - iTunes does not host or cache podcast XML or media files. Podcasters host their own media files and RSS feeds on their own web servers, or by contracting with a 3rd party for hosting provider. The iTunes Store houses a searchable directory of podcasts, to which your podcast feed can be submitted.

Excerpt from Bad at Sports (http://badatsports.com/aboutus/origin/) regarding posting process:

Tom:
What is Libsyn?

Duncan:
Libsyn is the web host for our shows and RSS feed. They provide our system of distribution and the blog.

Tom:
Do you need an ipod to listen to the show?

Duncan:
Nope. You need an Internet connection and speakers. Just click the “Play” link on the blog or our home page.

Tom:
What software / hardware do you use to make Bad at Sports?

Duncan:
Hardware- (A combination of the following) A TASCAM DAT Tape Recorder, 2-4 Shure SM58/57 Microphones, A Nuros Digital audio recorder, a Spirit Portfolio mixer, and an M-Box.

Software- (A combination of the following) ACID, Sound Forge, Audacity, and Pro Tools.

Tom:
How long does it take to put a 1-hour show together from getting the tape to uploading and firing the email blasts?

Duncan:
There are four principle members of Bad at Sports and at least ten contributors.

It is hard to say how much time the contributors spend but Richard,
Amanda, Kathryn Born and I spend somewhere between 5 to 30 hours each week managing Bad-at-Sports-related things. Whether that is editing, scheduling, blogging, writing, seeing shows, making phone calls, traveling between shows/interviews/functions, and dealing with the email blast. It is a lot of work. A single show might come together over the course of four days or it may take months to schedule something. There is one artist/writer we have been working on scheduling for 7 months and won’t get on the “air” until September (if we are lucky).