If the soap box defines the image of free speech for the last century, then podcasting is certainly making its claim for the 21st century.
What is podcasting? The best way to describe it is a recorded radio style program that is distributed around the world using the mechanism of the internet. From top rating disc jockeys to soccer mums and average Joes, podcasting is fast becoming an international phenomenon.
The simplicity draws a diverse range of topics and hosts. The power of the technology available through the internet allows literally anyone with a microphone, computer and an internet connection to broadcast their content to a world wide audience.
If you can not find a podcast on a topic you enjoy, then you aren’t looking hard enough, or better yet maybe you need to create it. Comedy shows, movie reviews, technology reports, general ramblings and commentary, there is something for everyone. The majority of podcasts are recorded on home computers and this is what makes it such an incredible medium for news, entertainment and content broadcasting. What you hear is researched and delivered by someone who is passionate about the topic and dedicated to producing each episode.
Podcasting officially emerged in 2004 and soon became its own industry with countless numbers of people around the globe creating an income from what to many is, or began as, simply a hobby.
One of the top ranking comedy podcasts known as Keith and the Girl is created in a New York Apartment. 3 years ago Keith and Chemda were working as party clowns to make ends meet, but can now boast of 1,000,000 unique episode downloads per month. Their daily comedy show is recorded and produced from a bedroom in their home in New York. Subsequently, they are no longer party clowns.
Even Australia has its own podcasting celebrities. Benjamin Grundy from Sydney hosts the Mysterious Universe Podcast covering future science, UFO’s, ancient history and the paranormal. With less than 50 weekly episodes published Benjamin left his job and began pursuing podcasting full time, creating an income to sustain him thanks to his 20,000 weekly listeners from around the globe.
The podcasting wave is still building with people plugging in microphones and producing new shows every hour of the day. But you don’t need to be a ‘creator’ to experience podcasting, you can simply subscribe to countless numbers of podcasts and enjoy as a listener. I personally prefer to listen to content without commercials that is free, only discusses topics I want to hear and is created by people passionate about the same interests as I have.
Adam Purcell: new media junky, podcaster, content creator, designer, entrepreneur, dreamer, and most importantly a husband and a father. Founder of Hungry Dog Media, plus many other projects. 