I got an email from someone struggling to start their podcast, "The biggest issue I’m dealing with is psychological: the show is not coming together in the format that I really wanted—and at this point there seems to be nothing I can do about that— but that, combined with fear, uncertainty, and doubt, and the inevitable self-comparisons to what others are doing as well as my own personal expectations has quite frankly got me a little bit paralyzed. It’s like I’m on the firing line, I’m locked and loaded and I’ve got a good site picture, but I just can’t get myself to pull the trigger because I’m afraid of the kickback."
I attended the On Air Festival in NYC in New York City where what some might describe as "Procasters" were in attendance. When I went to talk to people instead of finding people who spoke into microphones I found:
Producers
Editors
Writers
and I was amazed to find that:
Some episodes of Radiolab take up to two years for ONE episode
Missing Richards Simmons took one year to produce
You can create an entire season of a podcast using 5% of the budget of a TV pilot.
Advertisers want more stats even though podcasting is providing more data than they've ever received.
Start With the Story
Dan from Sporkful had a great talk and explained how it took him nine years to make his podcast his full-time job.
Kristen Meinzer from By the Book podcast (which reviews self-help books) explained how she took a book review and worked a story into it.
Special thanks to Monica Rivera from the You Wanna Do What Podcast for being my tour guide
SPONSOR: Alitu Web Based Podcast Maker
It's a web app, where people can log in on their web browser and then use it to edit and produce their podcast episodes. Mobile app coming soon too.
Podcasters record their show as normal, then upload their recordings to Alitu. Alitu then processes, levels, converts them all, pieces the clips together, adds your theme music automatically, and publishes the episode, direct to your podcast host. If you need to edit out any mistakes, then you can use Alitu's custom podcast editing tool to do just that, before creating your finished episode.
The idea behind Alitu is to make Podcasting and quick and simple as possible, removing a bunch of the tech barriers and to let you concentrate on the bit you do best – talking about something you love!
It can take an interview where each person records their side of the conversation, and it will combine them together (how cool is that?)
I mentioned how I started adding chapter marks in the mp3 file, and I wasn't sure if any apps even used these chapters. It turns out there are more software titles that recognize these than I originally thought Overcast used them (and not much else). It turns out that MP3 chapters can be displayed with Instacast, Overcast, Downcast, Podcat, Pocket Casts and iCatcher!.
On Android you can use Podcast Addict, which supports chapters in all file formats (MP3, M4A/MP4, Opus, Ogg, etc.), uPod to display chapter marks with URLs and images in MP3 and MP4 files, the open source AntennaPod supports chapter titles with URLs in MP3, Opus and Ogg Vorbis files and Pocket Casts supports MP3 chapters.
Apple Has Too Much Power?
With Apple threatening (and then rescinding) to pull people from Apple podcasts some people were really upset and stated we should take steps to remove Apple of it's power.
I've been around long enough to remember podcasting before Apple added podcasts to iTunes, and that gave podcasting a boost in the arm. When they added the podcast app to be native to their operating system. Yahoo, Microsoft, Odeo, Google (multiple times) have created and deleted a podcast directory.
With Spotify spending a TON of money, I say if you want to "topple" Apple I have a two-word plan: STEP UP. Don't create software that doesn't have half the power of the current leading titles step up and provide all the current features AND THEN SOME. Create something that makes it easier for the listener (Which is what Apple did).
For those that think Apple has too much power, feel free to remove your show from their directory if you hate it so much. Apple is giving best practices on how to get the most out of their software and they are complaining. Back in 2012 some consultants came up with a "file for download only" strategy that was REALLY STUPID in 2012 (and just Hideous in today's terms) and Rob Walch from LIBSYN said, "This is a bad way to use LIBSYN," and some people didn't listen. Those are the people I am helping today and they say, "Wow, I didn't realize I was missing so much syndication...."
Apple is giving us suggestions on how to use their software, and some people are going to listen, and some people are not.
Question of the Month
What is your crutch word, and what did you do to get rid of it? Contact me and let me know (Preferably in audio format)
I was on the Podcasters roundtable with Ray, Bandrew talking burnout. We talk about
The Signs of Burnout
The Sources of Burnout
Solutions to Burnout
SPONSOR: Alitu Web Based Podcast Maker
It's a web app, where people can log in on their web browser and then use it to edit and produce their podcast episodes. Mobile app coming soon too.
Podcasters record their show as normal, then upload their recordings to Alitu. Alitu then processes, levels, converts them all, pieces the clips together, adds your theme music automatically, and publishes the episode, direct to your podcast host. If you need to edit out any mistakes, then you can use Alitu's custom podcast editing tool to do just that, before creating your finished episode.
The idea behind Alitu is to make Podcasting and quick and simple as possible, removing a bunch of the tech barriers and to let you concentrate on the bit you do best - talking about something you love!
06:13 A peeve is defined as "a source of annoyance or irritation." Today we are talking Podcasting Pet peeves, but not just pet peeves but your TOP pet peeves. When you listen to a podcast and you hear this you reach for the unsubscribe button.
I launched a new show in January for those who want to learn about podcasting in bite-sized chunks. It's called "Your Podcast Consultant" and you can find it at www.podcastconsultant.com you can subscribe to the show in Apple or Google, Spotify
In the past when I created three test shows on Anchor, the only sponsor I was offered was Anchor (so what was described as a way for Anchor to make money, seemed to be yet another way for Anchor to lose more money). I mentioned this in an article and video I created. When I logged into my Anchor Sucks (IMHO) show, I was surprised to see that Squarespace and the Black Tux wanted to sponsor a show that only had 70 downloads. Black Tux is .02 per downloads. Squarespace is .0175 per download and Anchor is .01 per download. If I included all three (which would mean a minute of 90 seconds of ads in my show) I would make almost .05 per download. Assuming an audience would sit through so many commercials. A show with 150 downloads would make $7.13 per episode.
Anchor.fm is a free podcasting platform that makes creating a podcast super easy. That's the good news. In fact, I feed anchor has probably helped create a few meetings at podcast hosting companies to talk about their user interfaces. There is a dark side to Anchor, and that's what I'm here to talk about so you can make an informed decision.
Before we go any further, I need to disclose I work for a competitor for Anchor and that's a shame. I've been in the podcasting space since 2005, and who I work for has nothing to do with this article. It has to do with the people I help move off their platform and are surprised to find out they gave away control of their show to Anchor.
Anchor and Their Free Business Model
Over the years I've seen many companies try to use the free business model for podcast hosting. Here is the plan:
You sign up for free
You grow your audience
The podcast host runs advertisements against your content to pay for the bandwidth
The idea being the podcast host makes money, you get free hosting, and we are all happy. The truth is this is what happens:
You sign up for free
You grow your audience
You move your show to a new host so you can keep the advertising money
Free is Not a Good Business Plan
Companies have come back to this model time and time again. Here is a quick history lesson:
Audiometric.io 11/ 2012 – 8/2014 (21 months before being purchased by panoply and taken off the market)
Opinion Podcasting 11/2015-10/2017 (23 months)
Zcat 1/2016 - 1/2019 (36 months)
That is an average of 43 months. It's even less if we were to removed Mevio who went through 38.8 million dollars.
Anchor was funded in 2015 and purchased by Spotify in 2019 (42 months) who had received 14 million.
I always find it odd that I have to try to convince people that a company that does not charge for their service often goes out business.
Things You Should Know About Anchor.fm Before Signing Up
Other media hosts allow you to add three categories for Apple Podcasts. Anchor only provides one. So instead of being listed in Business, Technology, and Science, your show will just be listed in Business.
Anchor Doesn't Inform Their Customers About their Choices
When you click on the button to “Make your podcast available on all major platforms,” there is no mentioning that clicking that buttons will block your access to additional Apple stats in podcastsconnect.apple.com. There is no pop up that alerts you that it will block your access to additional stats in Stitcher.”
That is not mentioned anywhere. Anchor has control of your show under their Apple ID, and some sort of ID for Stitcher.
Someone who is brand new to podcasting may not understand RSS and how syndication works, and are not likely to know that Apple and Stitcher offer additional stats from your media host.
So does this mean that Anchor is making it "easier" to syndicate your show (which they do), but they are preying on the uninformed? Keep in mind, that all it takes to list your show in Apple or Stitcher is the ability to fill out a short form (so it's not like Anchor is doing heavy lifting here).
iTunes Owner Email
The email listed in your feed for iTunes Owner is not the YOUR email that you entered in your anchor account. The email in your feed is some randomly generated anchor.fm email. I tested mine and sent an email thinking they may forward any email coming to the anchor.fm account to my email listed in my Anchor account. It’s been 24 hours, and I feel it’s safe to say that I’m not going to get that email. This video shows this in more detail.
Things you should know about Anchor.fm before Using
The email listed in your feed is the email address Apple uses to contact you if they want to feature you, or if there is an issue with your feed. It appears I’ll never get those emails.
Acnhor.fm email listed in my feed instead of my email
Another example: I was playing with Radio Public’s new Podcast Website tool. I put in my Anchor RSS feed and it sent a link to the anchor email to verify the account. I never got the email and consequently couldn’t play with the tool. Again, Anchor is controlling my options.
When I emailed their support they were able to update my email (four day turn around on the email) but why is it set that way in the first place? Again, a brand new podcaster won't know this, and won't be getting their email.
They Change Your File Format
If you upload an mp3, your file will come out as an m4a. That's fine, and I understand that. This doesn't seem like a big deal. However, if you leave your media host and try anchor for two months creating eight episodes. If you feel you've made a huge mistake, and you try to go back to your old media host (which has your old mp3 file still) they won't be able to pull in your information from your feed without issues.
The files won't match up, and instead of just importing the episodes you did on Anchor, it will duplicate all of your past episodes. I've said it before, what I upload is what I want to download. I understand that if they insert ads they are going to change the file name and format.I'm talking I uploaded an mp3, and an m4a came down. Call me nit-picky, but I want the file I uploaded to be the one that downloads.
Their Podcast Litter Is Getting in the Way of Good Shows
In a recent story by Daniel J. Lewis, he mentioned how 57.7% of Anchor users had three or fewer episodes, and 41.7% had no published an episode in three months.
As anchor has made it easier to start, and because it's free, many people jump on the Anchor bandwagon thinking this is the road to making money only to find making money quickly in podcasting is very hard.
Consequently, these people quit podcasting. If this was a paid media host when you quit your files would be removed, and your feed would become invalid. This would lead Apple (and other apps) to remove the show from their directory.
As Anchor is free, their podcast stays there potentially until someone at Anchor decides to remove it (if ever). This means that while Anchor may brag about having the most new podcast in Apple, they are also creating a substantial amount of "Podtrash" which are shows that quit and just stink up the place.
Their Players Point Back To Anchor
If you embed an Anchor player on your website, if someone clicks the share button on the player it creates (for example) a tweet but the link is back to your Anchor website (not your website). So your driving more traffic back to Anchor - not to your website.
Example of a tweet generated by an Anchor player with a link back to Anchor
Their Service Staff is Hit or Miss
In adding the ability to earn money from podcasts, I looked into Anchor's monetization tools. They use stripe. I already had a stripe account. Anchor wanted me to create a new stripe account. I emailed their support and got the typical automated answer (that's fine), but then I got another automated answered that said, "You asked a question about Stripe try these links for answers." I appreciate the automated effort, but the links didn't answer my question and I never heard from an actual person (and figured it out - when you try to add stripe, stripe will realize you already have an account and tie your current stripe account to Anchor)
If you want to leave their service, their tech support is good at adding the "301 redirect" to your show. This allows you to bring your audience with you (but if you had them submit your show to Apple and Stitcher you don't have access to the additional stats on that platform).
When I sent an email about the email being wrong in my feed, it was resolved in four days from the original message.
Anchor Stats Are Very Basic
I Understand that I'm not paying anything for their service but their stats are basic. It shows you the number of downloads and if that is all you need that is fine.
Stats breakdown in Anchor
Just know that other companies show you what countries your audience is in, and what apps they are using.
Libsyn Stats Showing User Agents
Currently, as more and more podcast hosts are becoming IAB compliant (the industry standard) there has been no comment on if Anchor will pursue this certification. W
You Can Get a Sponsor
It is true Anchor provided a sponsor for my test show. This may have your thinking Anchor has a business model. However, when I started my test shows on Anchor the only sponsor available was Anchor.fm.
So what was supposed to be a way for the company to make money is another way for Anchor to lose money.
Anchor is paying $10 for every 1000 downloads. That calculates to .01 per download. According to Libsyn.com one of the largest media hosting companies the median number for podcasts is around 170 downloads per episode. So you will make $1.70 per episode.
While $1.70 is better than a poke in the eye (most things are), this is not enough to buy a 20 Oz bottle of mountain dew at my local gas station. You're going to need to build an audience for this to create any kind of serious income.
They Take Credit For Things They Don't Do
When anchor launched their website stated they would submit your show to places like Overcast and Pocketcast apps. Both those apps pull from the backend of Apple Podcasts. This happens automatically and Anchor has nothing to do with it.
Conclusion
If you are happy with:
Giving up access to your stats in podcasts connect
Giving up access to your stats in stitcher.com
Having very basic numbers
A company that hasn't made any profit
A company changing the format of your file
A company that stops you from receiving email
Is not always forthcoming with information
Then, by all means, use Anchor and have fun creating you podcast. I just wanted you to go in with your eyes open. For more information on what I look for in a podcast media host see www.podcastmediahosting.com
