E-Mailing Your Podcast – PodcastingTricks.com

E-mailing your podcast? Well not really, but there is an argument to be made for supplementing your faith in RSS with a backup e-mail list.

There are many reasons podcasters might want to maintain an e-mail list. All of them relate to marketing and/or promotion of your podcast.

E-mail marketing done right, that is with the complete permission of the recipient, is powerful. Not only can you use e-mail to remind your listeners that you have a new show available for download, you can parlay the relationship into additional marketing opportunities for your show and your sponsors.

But there’s another technical reason to build an e-mail list. What happens if your RSS feed somehow gets toasted? Let’s say your provider shuts down or you lose your domain. How will you contact your audience to let them know you have a new feed? The problem with relying 100% on RSS is that no matter what you’re doing, having all your eggs in one basket can lead to a seious mess.

I use Constant Contact to manage my e-mail list and handle my outbound e-mail notifications and marketing. On my iLifeZone website, I have a place for listeners to sign up for e-mail updates. I let them know when I post a new episode and for those who opt in, I pass on marketing messages from my sponsors.

It cost me $15 per month to maintain this service but I feel like it’s a good investment, given the time and energy I’ve put into building an audience.

There are other ways to accomplish this. A company called Feedblitz will send e-mail for you for free. Another called GetResponse is a fee-based competitor to Constant Contact.

Give them all a try and let me know what you think. My e-mail address is info@podcastingtricks.com.

Yahoo RSS – PodcastingTricks.com

Thanks to Jason Van Orden’s upcoming book “Promoting Your Podcast,” (I have a review copy and will provide my review here next month) I learned about a new place to promote podcasts.

Yahoo has a fairly new service called Yahoo RSS Media Search. According to Yahoo, the search results are based on ID3 tags, show titles, show notes and any other text associated with your podcast. The service is free and you can submit your podcast feed to Yahoo RSS Media Search here.

Podcast Consulting Service – PodcastingTricks.com

I am announcing a new consulting service today. I normally charge $200-$250 per hour for my in-person podcast consulting. But if you want to have help setting up, writing, producing, hosting, promoting or delivering your podcast or you just want to talk about anything related to podcasting or new media in general, I am available for $100 per hour. Let me know if I can help.

Call me toll free.

Audio Units In GarageBand 3.0 – PodcastingTricks.com

An Audio Unit is a software component that manipulates audio data. It may generate, modify, amplify, or perform other processing on an audio data stream. In simpler terms, AUs are plug-ins that work in conjunction with various programs like GarageBand 3.0.

If you’re a GarageBand 3.0 user, you have access to some very powerful AUs that were inherited from Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack and Logic.

Many users never see or use AUs because they’re somewhat hidden from the casual GarageBand user. To get to the AUs, double click any track on the far left of the GarageBand interface. You’ll see all the settings for that track. From there, click on the triangle next to “Details…”

Once you’ve located the AUs, you can apply these effects on a track-by-track basis to enhance the sound of your podcast.

If you’re not an experienced audio engineer, you may find the names of some of these powerful filters confusing. Here is a simple explanation of each of the 12 Apple AUs.

1) AUBandpass cuts higher and lower frequencies and lets the middle ones through.

2) AUDynamicsProcessor is a compressor/limiter that affects the dynamic range.

3) AUDelay is an echo effect.

4) AUGraphicEQ is an equalizer that allows you to control the volume level of up to 31 frequency bands. If you can identify problem frequencies, you can reduce or eliminate them using this filter.

5) AUHiPass allows only higher frequencies to pass – opposite of AULowPass.

6) AUHiShelFilter allows you to raise or lower the volume of high frequencies.

7) AUPeakLimiter is a compressor/limiter effect that allows you to set the maximum volume. This is one of the easiest ways to controlling clipping.

AULowPass allows only lower frequencies to pass – opposite of AUHiPass.

9) AULoShelFilter allows you to raise or lower the volume of low frequencies.

10) AUMultibandCompressor allows you to compress the dynamic range according to frequency.

11) AUMatrixReverb is an advanced reverb control effect.

12) AUParametricEQ lets you control the frequency and the bandwidth to be boosted or cut.

If you want to learn more about the advanced features of the plug-in architecture surrounding AUs, visit, the Apple Developer Site.

Confused About Audio Formats? – PodcastingTricks.com

Here’s a partial list of common audio formats that may impact podcasters, their name, origin date and general info.
1) Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) 1997
AAC is a lossy format also known as MPEG-4 AAC. Supports multiple compression rates (best known for iPod use).
2) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) 1999AIFF is a lossless format. It’s the original, uncompressed Mac sound file format. Used in programs like Soundtrack Pro.
3) MPEG-1 Level 3 (MP3) 1993
MP3 is a lossy format and is best used as a final delivery format for everything from music to podcasts.
4) QuickTime Audio (MOV) 1997
MOV is a lossy format virtually identical to MPEG-4 in different multimedia wrapper.Windows Media Audio

Podsafe Music – PodcastingTricks.com

“STEP AWAY FROM THE ROLLING STONES CD!”

Okay maybe that was a bit dramatic, but this post is all about podsafe music and keeping your podcast legal and free of musical copyright violations.

You can’t just drag any old song into your podcast as background or intro music. The person(s) who wrote that song, and own the publication or copyrights to it, have complete control over that material. You must have their written permission to use their song, or you may be guilty of a copyright violation. Penalties can be very severe so take this seriously.

While you can obtain a license to use well-known artists’ music in your podcast from places like ASCAP, SESAC and BMI, it’s extremely expensive and outside the budget of every podcaster I have ever met.

There are other ways – I will cover all of them over time but in this post I will discuss what is called “podsafe” music. This is music that has been cleared for use in podcasts, typically by independent or emerging artists. Podsafe music producers often (but not always) use a Creative Commons license to authorize the use of their music and make it available for little or no cost in MP3 form over the web.
The problem with podsafe music is finding it. There is a company called Podshow that offers podsafe music but I find their site to be confusing and the access to important information like licensing terms to be hazy at best. So I prefer to scour the Internet for podsafe music that I know is legal and that can be downloaded.

Here are a few of my favorite sources for podsafe music.

*Subpop Records -
“While we’re unable to give you blanket permission to use any ole song you want from our catalog, you may incorporate any of the songs that are freely available as MP3s in the multimedia section of this website http://www.subpop.com/scripts/main/multimedia.php into your podcasts. HOWEVER, we do reserve the right to change our mind about the availability of any song for any reason at any time. Fickle, no?”

*Podsafe Audio -
“This site aims to provide a location where musicians can upload music under the Creative Commons License for use in Podcasts, Mashups, Shoutcasts, Webcasts and every other kind of ‘casting’ that exists on the ‘net…”

What’s the next step in podsafe music? I’d like to see something like iStockPhoto for podsafe music. Let me know if you find it.

Five Tips To Improve Your Podcast Recordings – PodcastingTricks.com

1) Quiet your room. Turn off anything that makes noise or that isn't necessary. This might include loud clocks, fans, radios, TVs air conditioners, etc. Hang blankets or other heavy bedding on walls to absorb sound reflections. If you can afford it, buy professional acoustic materials that are designed to absorb sound.
2) Keep all devices at unity. Don’t add additional gain unless necessary on any device.
3) Install a pop filter. It will reduce the popping sound you normally make when saying words that have a strong "b" or "P" in them.
4) Good mic technique always helps and sometimes, the simplest mic technique is a smile. Even though your listeners can't see it, they can hear it. Also be sure to stand up whenever possible. It gives you better air.
5) When you are finished mixing audio, use a normalize filter to master your sound by boosting its level to the maximum amount you can without clipping. This will ensure your listeners won’t have to reach for the volume control to hear you.