I mentioned in my New Media Resolutions post at the first of the year that I want to do whatever I can to improve the quality of audio on line and in downloadable media. I was reminded of that “cause” this past Sunday morning by the folks at, well, Sunday Morning. The CBS show presented a piece on how vinyl records are becoming “cutting edge.”

Just as I pointed out in January, the sound of what is being sent into the cloud needs to improve, if for no other reason than to avoid trying to figure out how to cram a “record” into your iPod. Seriously, for those that are my age, it’s unfair for us let those brought up on listening to audio in the mp3 format think that’s the best music can sound. For those that have never heard the sound of a vinyl LP you owe it to yourself to hear all of what the artist labored to put into the music, especially the parts the mp3 format has had to discard.

I know, I know, you’re going to say that the human ear can’t detect the difference between a vinyl album, a CD, MP3, WAV, etc. I’m sorry, I disagree. I hear a difference. And it’s especially noticeable in the MP3 format, the most popular format for portable devices and online streaming. The reason it is the most popular, if you didn’t already know, is that it is the smallest file size. An MP3 file is a fraction of the size of, say, a WAV file. File size is directly related to download time.

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Downloading today’s available update to the Apple TV (aptly named “Take 2″), I can now experience within my living room, the promise that was buzzing about at last month’s MacWorld conference.  That is, the Apple TV may very well revolutionize the way we consume (and track!!) downloadable RSS media.

These are tall words.  You’ve probably heard this story before (the Roomba will revolutionize home cleaning? Pet owners might disagree);  but let me explain the two reasons why:

1. Watching and listening to podcasts is straightforward and simple.   Quick navigation leads to consumption without the prior subscription hassles.  Devices need not sync.  Desktop media management disappears, just sit back, and watch or listen.  The navigation of popular and featured content is a snap.  When (if?) Apple comes out with a qwerty entry device instead of the painful text entry process via the super-simple remote, we might soon easily explore the over 125,000 available subscription points within the podcast directory.

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Last month I had the pleasure of participating in the Mac Podcaster Meet-up at Macworld Expo. We had a great discussion (as Matt was so kind to mention), and one of the points we touched upon was that many of us “long-time” podcasters haven’t seen much subscriber growth in the last 12 to 18 months. We developed our audiences early, and subscriber numbers have basically stayed the same. This means our attrition matches growth almost exactly, and nearly all of us on the panel were seeing it.

A listener wrote me recently with a potential solution: ask your audience to evangelize your show. It’s so simple, really, and I’m surprised more of us aren’t already doing it. We all know that we are creating content in perhaps the most engaging media type ever, and while we’re all busy here trying to figure out how to (properly) use that engagement for advertising dollars, etc., we can also use it to further our reach. If we simply ask our audiences to tell their friends about our shows, even going so far as to explain that you don’t *need* an iPod to view/listen, it could really help. If only 10% of the audience does it, and they each tell two people, and only half of all the people told stick around, that’s a 10% increase in listener/viewership. That’s huge!

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I just tripped across the Custom Content Conference being held this March in New Orleans. It is targeted at brand managers and ad folks who may be considering creating their own serialized web content or new media/social media channels. I thought I’d mention a few of the companies who have already ventured in to this arena, and hopefully you may have some more to add to the list.

Whole Foods has been doing this for about a year with both audio and video podcasts, all of which are produced using in-house talent. Scott Simons, Regional Marketing Director, hosts the Secret Ingredient show. There has been discussion on the Yahoo Videoblogging List about this show and the opportunities to also integrate both freelance produced content as well as user-generated content. Word on the street is that Whole Food is not interested, preferring to control the show in-house. It’s a full service blog-based site, with comments accepted and RSS. Visitors can manually download the flash version of the episode, though that is not playable on most MP3 devices.

American Express last year launched LX.tv which is a combination traditional web site and video blog, using the “new” part of the media and not so much the “social” part of the media. It is Flash-based, which makes the site a bit slow for my tastes, but does allow the designers to create a very rich, urban mood and feel. They use freelance contributors and the episodes focus on restaurants (AMEX merchants) and celebrity/social life. You can get an RSS feed, and in their grab the embed code for each episode, but the flash programming makes that part very cumbersome and the interface is elusive unless you know what the little icons represent. Viewer comments are not accepted.

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This year, I will…

…do everything I can to make the adoption of “new media” as easy for everyone as possible. We “early adopters” can’t forget that most folks are still digesting the internet as a whole, much less all it has to offer. There is so much more going on than Google, iTunes, and text messaging.

…remember there is a difference between sending a message and conversing. Spend more time talking face to face or on the phone with people. Text, e-mail, etc. are great for quick thoughts but can never replace the emotion of a great conversation.

…work to improve the quality and the content in my writing. I write more now than I have in years and I want my blog posts to be more than articles. I want them to inform, inspire, and entertain all at the same time. (Okay, this one is going to take a lot of work.)

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I recently attended the “Podcast and New Media Expo” in California and the issue of using the name “Podcasting” was up for discussion again, however, this year some speakers went to the length of declaring “Podcasting is Dead”. Perhaps supported by the fact that for next years Expo, the term “Podcast” has been dropped from the show title - it’s just the “New Media Expo”.

Now this is nothing new as the topic of “Podcasting” terminology was actually brought up in Leo Laporte’s keynote from last year, when he suggested that the name “Podcasting” was bad for the industry.

Since then, negative connotations with “user generated content”, the detrimental effect of not having Microsoft fully supporting podcasts (although this seems now to be resolved at least for the Zune 2) and the general misunderstanding that podcasting was only available on iPods, all seem to have validated Leos suggestion on calling for a terminology change.

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I had a friend return from Phoenix yesterday very upset with her investor and his total disregard for their partnership agreement. In fact, she’d tried to get him to sign the agreement before production commenced on her video podcast. But the lure of private jet travel to an exotic location to film several episodes of her new show got in the way of finalizing her deal.

It seems she’d found someone to bankroll her podcast and before she could complete production on all of her shows, he pulled the plug. Beyond having an understanding of how they would  monetize said content in the digital domain, they had a huge disagreement on the rights and who owned them in this new digital domain. (He might even continue the show - her idea - with another host for all she knows.) Moreover, to make her deal even more complex her show was going to be marketed and potentially sold in television syndication, too. So perhaps that should have been a separate deal altogether, or should it have been?

That raises another interesting question. Who ultimately owns the rights to your show if a Network or Cable outfit wants to migrate your content from the Web to television? (As my partner Richard wrote about in his posting below, it may all be moot once Apple TV converges all content to one programming module.) But it is absolutely essential that if you have partners, that ownership is very clear from the get-go. It’s easy to understand the migration from TV or film to podcasting, but even then I’m sure we’ll start to see messy lawsuits once podcasts become more and more monetized by sponsors and/or ad sales.

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I’ve just wrapped up a project that had me working alongside some great folks. One of which I’ve now…gulp…convinced to start podcasting. This guy is a nut and really needs an outlet for all the creativity. Whether the content of what he and a friend create will attract an audience is obviously yet to be seen. But that’s not really the point.

For years I’ve been asked what it takes to “be on the radio.” For those same years I’ve always given one of two answers (Three, if you count the “What are you nuts?” answer.); go to college and get a broadcast degree with an eye toward being a more well-rounded person and to have a fall-back or hang out at a local radio station and get to know the people. Radio folks are pretty open to teaching and love to help people “pay their dues.” Both answers always came along with the “work hard, it’s not for everybody and prepare to eat a lot of mac and cheese” warnings. It also had to sound just a bit harder than it was. C’mon, I had to justify the fact that it’s a blast getting paid for never really growing up.

So, when Jerome asked me, all I needed to say was, “Do you have a computer?” Okay, technically, podcasting isn’t broadcasting, it’s more narrow-casting. But, you can develop the same skills and have the same fun with a whole lot less effort. What followed were many more questions that I was happy to say I had the answers for, thanks in part to fellow members at the Association for Downloadable Media.

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Being in the online advertising market for over 10 years, it is evident that there are a big changes happening. Last month at the most recent ad:tech in New York all the talk was around the need for ‘new’ online advertising products. Video on the web took center stage. In fact, the biggest elephant in the room was the horrid nature of pre-roll video in today’s web video content market. Everyone was just shrugging their shoulders, “Yeah we know it (pre-roll video) is ineffective and produces a poor user experience, but there is nothing else available”. This was the general sentiment among top advertisers and online media vendors such as Ogilvy, GM/Planworks, Fox, P&G, YouTube, NBC, etc.

New Models Coming

The public secret today in online advertising is that PPC based advertising is saturated. Banners are sliding into the land of irrelevance. As more and more online advertising dollars flood into the online sector, new advertising media will capture most of the revenue. What will the new advertising media be? It will be in the form of “Vertical Media” and “Social Media”. We are already seeing a flourish of vertical ad networks developing. Social networks are where the most exciting and relevant digital advertising solutions are developing. Social networks have unique micro-targeting capability and amazing behavioral measurement capability. The big question is, “What is the ad unit?” It’s targeted Microcontent. The growth in microtargeting networks is outpacing the inventory of Microcontent. There isn’t enough inventory of Microcontent ads. This is causing huge dissatisfaction among microtargeted community users who are jammed with irrelevant video ads.

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‘Dancing With the Stars’ crowns a speedy winner. –USA Today

Spice Girl Mel B loses ‘Dancing With The Stars.’ –Daily Telegraph (UK)

These two headlines really drive home the point of “knowing your audience.” Same story…different audience. If you’re podcasting, video podcasting, blogging, or even writing a letter for that matter, you probably know who your audience is…at least you should. You’re half way there.

While in radio I’ve had the chance to work with some really great talent. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with some talent that, in the beginning were very mediocre and became great. Most of them were dedicated to getting better and were anxious to find new ways of doing it. You know, finding the big “secret” to fame and fortune. Well, here is the big secret….ready?

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