Today I am blessed to interview the man who helped invent podcasting. Many people know him from his time as a VJ on MTV but there is so much more to Adam than his leather jacket and golden locks of hair.
- Born in Va but moved to the Netherlands when he was 7. He built his first transistor radio when he was 15, and by 16 was a station announcer for a hospital. He later worked on Dutch Pirate Radio, and Radio Decibel in Amsterdam.
- He's also worked part-time in a computer store where he built his own modem.
- Yes, he was on MTV as a DJ from 1987-1994.
- Seeing the power of the Internet he started OnRamp which turned into Think New Ideas. 1996 Adam Curry served as CTO of Think New Ideas. He built websites for Budweiser, bud light, and put together the first Live Stream of the Grammys. (the sponsor was one of the first digital cameras).
- Podshow (a podcast network, later renamed Mevio) was launched 2004 to 2014. It focused on selling ads for a cast of podcasters.
- In 2005 hosted a show on Sirius Satelite Radio that spotlighted podcasts.
- In 2007 he launched the No Agenda show with John C Divorak which uses the value for value model.
He's part pirate, part broadcaster, part nerd, and part businessman, he's the Podfather, and today we are talking podcasting 2.0
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Topics Covered With Adam:
The problem with podcasting networks ( 7:20)
The history of the No Agenda Show (14:50)
What is Podcasting 2.0 and how to get started (27:05)
Does Bitcoin Confuse You?
Anytime we learn something new it may be stressful. You may feel stupid if it doesn't makes sense. Don't feel bad. We all had to learn how to tie our shoes, and it took some practice. If some of today's conversation went over your head that may be perfectly natural. The Podcasting 2.0 Team is working on adding some documentation, and some processes to starting even easier.
What is the Podcast Index?
The mission and goal of podcastindex.org is:
- Preserve podcasting as a platform for free speech.
- Re-tool podcasting to a platform of value exchange that includes developers with podcasters and listeners
As podcasts began to get de-platformed from places like Apple, Patreon, YouTube, Adam wanted to create a central database of podcasts that nobody owns. It is financed by receiving a small portion of bitcoin from each listener, and it uses the value for value model. With this in mind, podcasters could support the database through donations as well.
What is Podcasting 2.0?
In the past, people wanted to replace RSS ( the technology behind podcasting) and replace it with technology that might be more flexible. This would be a huge undertaking as podcasting is built on RSS. Every app, media host, etc uses RSS. Adam thought, “Instead of replacing RSS why not just make it better?” Podcasting spent quite a few years where further functionality was not developed. the podcast community was at the mercy of Apple. To the best of my knowledge, the last development of podcasting was in 2017 when Apple release new features including episode numbers, an Apple Summary field (which is now being retracted) and Apple Title (different than the actual title), and new categories.
Apple implemented subscriptions and channels which enable podcasters to sell podcast episodes (that Apple will take 30% of the revenue, and you won't get access to any of your customer's information). During this implementation, a large number of podcasters had issues with their podcastsconnect.apple.com portal.
From what I digest, the podcasting 2.0 initiative is to quit waiting on Apple, implement a few new features, and get all the media hosts and apps to adopt, and eventually, Apple would want to implement the changes that the podcast community has put into place (instead of the other way around).
Listen to Podcasting 2.0 Podcast
You can manually subscribe to their podcast using their RSS feed http://mp3s.nashownotes.com/pc20rss.xml
Check out New Podcasting 2.0 Apps
How Does a Podcaster Make Money?
The podcaster sets up a “Node” which is continuously on to receive any bitcoin that was sent to them. They then can have that deposited into a wallet (online or app) that they can tie to their bank account.
I went the voltage route and from what I understand that is the “deep end of the pool” where using a service such as Satoshi stream is less complicated (and less expensive) but they take 4% when you remove your cash. James Cridland from Podnews.net has an article explaining how to set up your podcast using Satoshi Stream.
I went with a Volage Node ($17/month) and didn't know I was jumping into the deep end. So as I learn more about this I will pass it along.
What I've Done So Far
I have an account at coinbase.com which is a place where you can buy cryptocurrency.
Strike is a wallet that makes it easy to transfer crypto. (You get $5 for using my link https://supportthisshow.com/strike )
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Mentioned in This Episode
