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Podcasting 2.0 – Overview

Mike Dell
Updated

Get to know Podcasting 2.0 

Podcasting 2.0 is an initiative of podcast hosts, app developers and podcast-space enthusiasts to expand the capability of podcasting by increasing the functionality of open RSS.

Podcasting 2.0  has already had a significant impact on podcasters. The most widely adopted function thus far has been the ability to link a transcript within the podcast RSS feed. This gave Blubrry the ability to allow podcasters to have a closed caption-supported podcast player.

While this is one success, a multitude of new ideas have resulted in massive work to expand podcasting. We will see rapid adoption of new features, each with its own goal, function and ultimately what it achieves for the content creator.

History

From early 2004 to July 2005, there was immense innovation in podcasting, and that innovation vanished in July 2005 when Apple introduced podcasting to iTunes.

Why innovation stalled was simple, Apple determined the trajectory of innovation. That has changed with a huge desire to move the space forward and reclaim the innovation that launched the podcasting space. 

The Future is Now!

Many of the features we describe below are yet to be widely adopted. We are in a chicken and egg era where we have to build the features, get you to use them, and then push adoption as a community. 

Some adoption will happen faster than others. Still, efforts with a new coalition of podcasting companies and app developers have laid the groundwork for an agreed adoption timeline. We at Blubrry are pressing forward.

We are in a unique position in that 85,000 independent podcasts use our PowerPress plugin, and tens of thousands of shows use our internal publisher. We can, as one company, enable more than 100,000 shows to implement these new features.

We will describe the feature, its goal, and what it can mean for you. We will not get down into the technical jargon, as we want to make it easy for you to use and employ on every one of your shows and episodes.

Blubrry Podcasting implementation includes the following Podcasting 2.0 initiatives.

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    • Transcript – A simple way to link to a transcript file, preferably one that has closed-caption support. Accessibility is the primary goal of transcripts, while they do have limited SEO. Providing a transcript with each episode allows you to have closed captions for hearing-impaired listeners. Our Integration with Rev allows the automatic creation of your closed-caption-capable transcript.
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    • Locked – The locked function prevents your podcast from being transferred to another host by a nefarious character. The podcasting space has seen individuals import shows to other hosting platforms and pretend to be the origin point of a podcast, monetizing those shows and essentially stealing content.
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    • Funding – If you have a Patreon, Paypal, Buy Me a Coffee link, etc., the funding feature provides a way to link to those services. In turn, podcasting apps that support accounts that provide a funding link will display that in the app or portal, giving your listeners a way to participate and support your show through your chosen site.
       
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    • Chapters – Up until 2021, chapters were only supported by Apple Podcasts, and the data to create them had to be within the media file. With the advent of the new chapters feature. You can create a chapters file (.json) that you can link to upon publishing through select tools found at NewPodcastApps.com.The benefit of this feature is that you do not need the chapter segments documented upon publishing, only a link to the file. This allows you or your fans to document the segment of your show post-publishing. Chapters then can be displayed by a wider range of playback tools – including web browsers – and images can be retrieved on playback rather than bloating the audio file size.
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    • Location – This allows you to document your show’s physical location. On occasion, when you do your show remotely, this allows you to let people know either where you are talking about or the physical place the show was recorded. Benefits include that third parties can map where shows originate and allow you to collaborate. It allows listeners to look for shows and episodes being recorded in specific locations. And there are potential commercial opportunities where a company may be looking to sponsor a show that is local to them. For many years it has been impossible to determine a show’s origin. This solves this and allows you to be better served as a podcaster by those offering services in your local area.
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    • Text – You may be provided a text or a code to place in your feed from time to time. The text feature allows you to enter that code and have it appear in your feed so that a external party such as Apple or others can verify that you are the owner of the feed.Recently the IMDB announced that they will recognize podcasters as official talent. This allows you to have the same credentials as actors and producers in Hollywood.
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    • Person / Credits – You can now document your role, co-hosts role, guests, producers, etc. While we realize that for many podcasters, you and your co-host make up your entire team, you may have listeners helping with social and or even a full team. You can now give credit where credit is due and, at show and episode level, document your team and those you have on your show. The movies have credits, so podcasts should as well.
      Recently the IMDB announced that they will recognize podcasters as official talent. This allows you to have the same credentials as actors and producers in Hollywood.
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    • License – Establishing copyright or license information for your podcast is crucial for protecting your content or promoting openness. By including details like Creative Commons elements, you can define the terms of use for your show or individual episodes. This step ensures your creative work is safeguarded while communicating any desired usage permissions to your audience.
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    • Trailer – Creating a podcast trailer is a popular practice among podcasters, as it provides a brief introduction to their show. Podcasting 2.0 apps with trailer support enable potential listeners to discover and learn more about the podcast, enhancing engagement and attracting a wider audience. Crafting a captivating and informative trailer can significantly impact the success of your podcast.
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    • Season – Incorporating seasons into your podcast structure offers a myriad of benefits and is now supported by Podcasting 2.0, in addition to Apple Podcasts. Organizing content into seasons allows you to present a more cohesive narrative, making it easier for listeners to follow along and stay engaged. This approach enables you to explore themes or topics in-depth, while also providing natural breaks for both creators and audiences. Embracing a seasonal format can also generate anticipation and excitement for upcoming episodes, fostering a loyal fanbase and promoting long-term success.
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    • Episode – Incorporating episode numbers in RSS feeds is a convenient feature supported by both Apple Podcasts and numerous Podcasting 2.0 apps. By including this information in the feed, podcast apps can display the episode number, eliminating the need for podcasters to mention it in the show notes. This practice streamlines the user experience, making it easier for listeners to track their progress and discover new episodes. As a result, podcasters can maintain a clean and organized presentation of their content, enhancing the overall appeal of their show.
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    • Medium – The feature tells an application what the content contained within the feed IS, as opposed to what the content is ABOUT in the case of a category. This allows a podcast app to modify its behavior or UI to give a better experience to the user for this content. The following are the different medium selections.
      • podcast (default) – Describes a feed for a podcast show.
      • music – A feed of music organized into an “album,” with each episode a song within the album.
      • video – Like a “podcast” but used in a more visual experience. Something akin to a dedicated video channel like can be found on YouTube.
      • film – Specific types of videos with one episode per feed. This is different than a video medium because the content is considered to be cinematic, like a movie or documentary.
      • audiobook – Specific types of audio with one episode per feed or where multiple episodes represent chapters within the book.
      • newsletter – Describes a feed of curated written articles. Newsletter articles now sometimes have a spoken version audio enclosure attached.
      • blog – Describes a feed of informally written articles. Similar to newsletter but more informal, as in a traditional blog platform style.
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    • PodRoll – This feature allows you to recommend podcasts that you love. We provide a widget to share those shows on your website, and the recommendations will also appear in podcast apps. This is your very own recommendation engine. As part of this feature, you can also reference specific episodes on other podcasts or maybe even a side project you have done yourself that has an associated podcast, video, or even music feed.
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    • Block – This feature needs to be used with extreme caution. You can block specific platforms that you do not want your show to appear. Not all platforms though honor the block feature so you may still need to ask the site, app, etc to remove your show listing.
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    • Frequency – This feature allows you to signal how often you’re updating your podcast whether it be daily, weekly, monthly, etc we have made it possible for you to document how often your podcast is updated so that followers on apps can see your update frequency and be able to tell when you next episode is expected.
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    • Social Interact – This feature allows a podcaster to attach the URL of a “root post” of a comment thread to an episode. This “root post” is the canonical location where the comments and discussion around this episode will take place. This can be considered the “official” social media comment space for this episode. If a protocol such as “activitypub” is used or some other protocol that allows programmatic API access, these comments can be directly pulled into the app, and replies can be posted back to the thread from the app itself.
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    • Content Link – This feature indicates that content from the episode can be found at an external location. For example, it could be a link to YouTube or Rumble, which are traditionally located on platforms that do not support the RSS delivery of the content.

      Additionally, perhaps a podcast feed content link specifies a link to deliver a live stream to apps. The content link may also point to YouTube and Twitch versions of the live stream, just in case the listener uses an app that doesn’t fully support live streaming content

    • Sound Bytes – This feature points to one or more soundbites within a podcast episode. The intended use includes episode previews, discoverability, audiogram generation, episode highlights, etc. It should be assumed that the audio/video source of the soundbite is the audio/video given in the item’s
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    • Live – Today, more and more podcasters are going live, recording their podcasts live, and publishing the recorded show as an on-demand podcast. Modern Podcast 2.0 apps now allow listeners to tune in live on the same podcast app/site where they consume your on-demand podcast. This feature will enable you to announce when your show is scheduled to go live, then switch the apps to ‘live mode’ when you update your status from pending to live. Once your live show is over, you can update your show to end, putting the supporting podcast apps back into on-demand mode. 
      The goal is to keep your podcast listeners in the app, and features under development will allow them to participate in cross-app communications.
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    • Value4Value – This is one of the most exciting new features yet and, as far as we are concerned, the most significant opportunity for podcasters to earn additional revenue for the show. We have placed this feature in an experimental zone in both the Blubrry Publisher and PowerPress. We have also partnered with Alby to make it easier for you to get started.The Value model uses crypto as a method to donate to a show. It can be in the form of supporting the show with a donation by the minute and episode or a show-level donation known as a boost.Let’s talk about the crypto component first. The primary denomination is a Satoshi, of which there are 100 million satoshis (sats) in one bitcoin, meaning each satoshi is worth 0.00000001 BTC. For one satoshi to be worth 1 cent, 1 BTC would need to be worth $1 million. As of early 2022, a satoshi is worth less than a 20th of a cent.For podcasters to participate and receive sats, they need a wallet, which is where our partner Alby comes in. They provide you with a wallet to receive sats. You can transfer those sats earned to traditional companies that convert crypto into dollars.Today a handful of apps at NewPodcastApps.com allow a listener to donate sats to your show every minute they listen (5,10,100 sats a minute) or make donations at the show or episode level (1000, 10,000, 50,0000, 100,000 sats) in what is often called a boostgram, aka boosts.
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    • Boostgrams – Allow the listener to send a message similar to an email, but it is accompanied by a donation in sats. Our test so far has seen monthly sat contributions average between $25 and $100 a month from participating audience members. Some shows participating in the value model are earning considerably more.
    • Crypto Stigmatization – with the crypto market in upheaval, many do not want to be involved. My analogy for this is to forget investment. This is not an investment model. This is a model where your listener converts an appropriate amount of Bitcoin into Satoshis and then donates those sats. The value of the sats will change based on the price of Bitcoin, but if you think of Satoshis that can be converted to cash and not an investment model, it will be easier to get your listeners to participate. Real-world financial institution issues with a PayPal donation of $2, you would have 50 cents processing fees going to PayPal. In the value world, using Satoshis, that same $2 donation equivalent in sats would cost mere pennies for the transaction. Everyone wins, and we build a sustainable podcast ecosystem. In the value model, there are splits: each participating app/service takes a small split that the podcast listener funds, usually 1% to 5%. Your participation in the value model supports the app developer/services with ongoing revenue, you help fund the podcasting 2.0 initiative, and you always receive 100% of what the listener intended for you to receive, as the fees are paid by the sender. Additionally, at an episode level, you can designate a guest to get a split of what you receive. For example, when you set up your splits at the show level, you can specify a co-host to get 50%. And then when you provide a split at the episode level, you can designate a guest to get 10%, and, for that episode’s revenue, only you and your co-host split goes down to 45% each and your guest gets 10%.You are providing value to your guest for being on when your audience values your guest and boosts the episode. The Value4Value model works whether you received a 1000-dollar PayPal donation or a 100,000-sat donation. Shows have the option of adding the Value block to their shows. This can lead to substantial revenue, but you must teach your audience the value of the Value 4 Value system and encourage them to use Apps that support the Value block. By using a podcast listener app at NewPodcastApps.com
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    • Value Time Split – This element offers different value splits for a certain period. Start time and duration are supplied with alternative value recipients. The option extends a podcaster’s ability to promote one or more V4V accounts to receive donations. For instance, if you have a music podcast and wish to support your show through donations but also want to promote a musician’s song being played on the show, you can split the value within the podcast to support the musicians while you are playing the musician track.In the same regard, you can support a third party that may have contributed to a segment of your show or even provide value back to a guest who was on your show for a segment. For a detailed breakdown, see this article on Value Time Splits.
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    • OP3 – At present, numerous podcast statistics providers, including Blubrry, offer IAB-certified compliant podcast statistics to measure your podcast. We support a range of redirect prepend services, including OP3 and other platforms such as Podtrac and Chartable. It’s important to note that OP3 is an open platform, and as such, it doesn’t maintain data privacy. When using OP3, your podcast statistics will be publicly visible. However, this service can still be utilized alongside Blubrry services. We advise podcasters to exercise caution when selecting a platform for podcast statistics. Ensure that the chosen platform is stable, offers sufficient capacity, and provides adequate technical support to keep your show online in the event of an outage. Blubrry’s statistics service aims to achieve 99.9999% uptime, with multiple servers across various data centers to ensure your media remains accessible even if our primary data center experiences an outage.
  • Alternate Enclosure – Podcasting is what it is today through the enclosure tag in RSS. When you link your media through either the Blubrry Dashboard or PowerPress podcasting plugin, we insert an enclosure tag in your episode information with the link to the media, the type of media, length, and size. The Alternate Enclosure allows you to link to a secondary file, aka a Video File that would be the companion to an Audio episode. Many podcasters now have a YouTube channel, and the Alternate enclosure allows you to link the episode link on YouTube. Supported Podcasting 2.0 apps will enable listeners to listen to audio, watch a linked video file, or play the YouTube embed. For complete instructions on implementation, see the corresponding support documentation on the Blubrry Dashboard or the PowerPress podcasting 2.0 documentation.

          Read about the Value4Value model at value4value.info

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