The Magic of Podcasts

One of our assignments in Music Production II is to create a podcast. What is a podcast and how can it help me? Podcasts have been around for a while, so it’s not the latest in technologies. However a podcast can be many things that can help promote your music or you as an artists.

Radio shows have been around for a long time. A successful radio show follows a formula. At a certain time the show is presented with music. Then the show is announced followed by a catch phrase or introduction. Podcasts are very similar. The primary difference is a podcast been be fed through a RSS code imbedded within the podcast. A user signs up for the podcast and every time the users turn on their computer the RSS feed checks to see if they have the latest show or episode.

Using our skills as musicians and artists, we can take advantage of podcasts. Let’s say the band is playing at a club. Or are they? How would the listener know if it’s a club, or the basement? They don’t. As a podcast creator you can build an illusion of a club by using background sounds and adding a little bit of effect. Isn’t this dishonest? This is exactly what a radio show was in the 1940’s. Either Bob Hope or Bing Crosby would be on a stage in New York and people would add sound effects in the background to create an illusion of location.

So where does the social media part come in? I will save that for the next entry. For now think about how you can construct a podcast, and how would you create a radio show type illusion.

Prof. T.