The Importance of Podcasting 2.0

There are several reasons to support Podcasting 2.0. For Photations it offers an environment of safety for our content. It is maintained as an open directory. In addition it is a method for funding our site and art projects with direct support from people who enjoy it.

Environment of Safety

When the topic of free speech comes up, people usually begin to roll their eyes and think of it as some right wing conspiracy “Someone or group is going to take away my speech rights”. I think most people on social media support the ability to remove other people’s content that they disagree with. That we should build tools that only allow people we want to have a voice be able to speak. While this all may sound good to some, I could not think of a more dangerous tool.

Some would say, “well times has changed” or “we would never use tools that removes content promoting LGBTQIA”, “We have learned and moved on”. While we might have moved on not every one else has. Several countries still ban LGBTQIA content and anything that supports what they consider alternative lifestyles. They require that the large name brands both social networks and computer companies, prevent this content from reaching their country and they comply. They also don’t let their citizens come out freely.

These tools exist already, and while you may think your community would never get removed or flagged as problem account. In reality it’s far too easy to get blacklisted, especially by a relatively small mob of trolls.

I don’t trust social media networks, I may use them, however I would not be surprised if one day I find my account suspended, by accident or by a troll farm, or even people who don’t like the cultural topics we explore and try to understand. Photations is geared towards education especially historical education. History can be brutal and not everyone would want to shed light on topics we may discuss. This is why it is so important to us not to be at the mercy of social media companies. Who will remove accounts at the slightest hint of controversy to make themselves look better and more righteous.

Open Directory

Podcasting 2.0 is an open directory. Free of social media control. Anyone can download the database of podcasts to do with as they like. An app could search the public 2.0 database and make their own collection of podcasts just about pottery art. Or a website could pull a list of podcasts just on automotive podcasts. Everyone can create their own specific niche collection, but they can start with accurate and complete directory to build from. Not one that is a closed system. Not one that can remove access to the public at any time especially when incentivized monetarily. Closed system never survive. They may be profitable for a very small percentage of people but eventually people just move on. People left AOL to view the open web. People left My Space, people exodus in large numbers from Instagram and Facebook periodically but more frequently. I have also never heard someone say they liked Facebook, and most people I know have tried to delete their accounts several times. Open systems always comeback and will always win over tightly controlled and walled garden experiences that attempt to lock people out.

Funding

Podcasting 2.0 brings a new element which is funding. With Podcasting 2.0 application listeners can pay for every minute of audio they listen to. They can choose whatever amount they want to stream back to the podcaster or even choose to stream nothing back. This is important because it gives podcasters and artists a way to make money that does not rely on social media networks and ad revue and constantly changing algorithms. For the producer/creator revenue from advertisements were pitched as an easy way to make money doing the things we love. However, this has quickly become not the case. Automated ad placement creates ads of products you’ve already purchased. This usually creeps out the viewer because they feel as though they are being monitored and it wastes the advertiser’s money showing an ad to an already converted consumer.

Contextual ads were promised to be more accurate and that viewers would love viewing ads specific to themselves. I feel this is an excuse for laziness. Using contextual ad advertisement companies can sell a large number of ads without having to take the time to place them in the appropriate location. When I buy a photography magazine, I actually want to see the ads for lighting equipment, new camera announcements or printer features and rental photography studios. These ads were all handpicked and placed to make sure the ad fits with the standard of the magazine and is of interest to the viewers who would buy the magazine. This was all done by teams of people with thought and care.

When I visit a photography website with contextual ads, I get Ibuprofen ads from my last search for headache medicine, even though I already took the medicine for my headache. This is an example of a wasted ad that the advertiser loses money on. I also get unwanted ads, telling me to download this app to speed up my computer, or my computer is under attack. Clearly bloatware that would slow my computer down for no real advantage. However, for the less technical savvy these things would sound good. When I used to run ads, I had to allocate at least 2 hours a day blocking advertisers that were misleading, providing harmful software or not appropriate for my website. I would block by domain, subject and keyword. Even with all this moderation, the largest online ad network could not stop these ads from showing up and every day I would have to re-block them.

This is why viewer support is so helpful. With podcasting 2.0 and a Podcasting 2.0 app you can stream Satoshi’s while you listen to the podcast. A Satoshi is 1 millionth of a bitcoin. This means that 1 US dollar equals about 2,752 Satoshi’s. Podcasting 2.0 players let you customize your donation level most people donate 100 satoshis for every minute listened. Which means for an hour long podcast the listener would donate $2.18 USD for that episode.

This means that the content produced has a better chance of supporting its self then on social media networks. On YouTube a video has to get 1000 ad views for in the best-case scenario get $5 USD if you’re a high-end YouTuber. The important caveat is that you have to get 1000 “AD” views. YouTube does not always play an ad at the beginning or for of every video. A lot of times YouTube will wait before showing an ad. Meaning that even though it’s getting video views it’s not getting Ad views, so those views are generating no monetary value. It does give value to YouTube, however. The video keeps people on their site so that there are more opportunities to display ads, just not ads that would help the producer / creator of that video.

Social Exposure

Spotify has a closed system for podcasting. You’re not allowed to have your podcasts anywhere else for public viewing or listening. However, Spotify rarely pays its creators a reasonable rate for the exclusivity. They pay a few podcasters a large amount of money to influence and give the impression that by joining your podcast with Spotify there’s a chance to make money. However, for those who don’t have contracts with Spotify directly it is rare they get anything substantial. In fact, those that lock their podcast behind Spotify’s closed network lose out on discovery that can come from anywhere on the open web.

In addition to this Spotify does not view its creators and producers as someone who deserves to be paid. In fact, according to their staff, if you want to get paid for the art you spend time and money and practice on you are “entitled” and you really deserve nothing in return. If you don’t believe this then listen to the dialog in the audio clip below. It is from Ashley Jana asking Jim Anderson one of people responsible for building Spottily for reasonable pay per song stream.

Original Story:

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2021/06/29/spotify-executive-entitled-pay-penny-per-stream/

Audio:

https://youtu.be/rrmWJruDAoU

Unfortunately this is not just the culture at Spotify but the culture at YouTube and Facebook/Instagram as well. Let the people do all the work, creating content and art but then the social media companies get all the money. We see a few creators on the top making a living and think if we just work harder we can too. This was the lie and if we take a better look at how many creators actually make some sort of payout verses the amount of creators who never get anything we would see that the deck was stacked against us from the start and it was by design.

Your Value

You can still help, even if it’s not financially. Testing out Podcasting 2.0 Apps can be fun and you might find one with features you never thought possible. Try making your own podcast you can do it alone or with friends, but do it for fun and to learn. You can leave the door open for donations or ad revenue maybe both. But you are the value and are in control of the things you create. Social Media want your work but, they don’t want to pay you for it. So always re-evaluate. Is this deal selling the farm for some magic beans that will do nothing. How much time and effort does it take to create? If the platform doesn’t value it or shadow bans you and you have no way get viewer reach. If so then leave that platform. Because it’s just using you and selling the idea that success is possible if you just work harder when it has no intentions of giving you a fair shot.

Visit http://newpodcastapps.com/ for more info on supported apps. Visit https://podcastindex.org/ for more information on Podcasting 2.0. and if you would like to add your podcast feed directly to the Podcasting 2.0 database (podcast index) follow this link to submit your feed https://podcastindex.org/add

Help Photations by visiting PhotationsDonations.com