Podcasts & Radio Innovation
Have you ever heard of Podcasts? Even if you have, there may be some misconceptions regarding the term so keep reading to find out more about this cool trend that seems to be taking our generation by storm.
Podcasts are episodic, digital audio, series which you can download to your devices and listen to wherever and whenever. They are audio — and sometimes video — files that users upload and download, thus they differ from radio waves and frequencies. They officially started back in 2005 as an extension to the iOS operating system.
To listen to a podcast, all you have to do is download one of the many applications that offer such audio files. If you want to listen to a live podcast, you can visit personal audio blogs and find the streaming you wish to hear or download an app that curates podcasts from several audio blogs.
And why chose one app over another? Well, simply because each one has different tools to offer. Some have tools for shortening silences, some allow you to create your own personal library with customizable content, others offer podcasts and radio in one and others create original audio shows with multiple episodes. These shows have become one of the biggest trends when it comes to podcasts.
Most of the really good applications are not free and usually cost around 3$, while the ones that come free of charge tend to have several pop-up adds and require payment in order to remove them.
It seems quite obvious that podcasts have characteristics from the future as we might imagine it as well as the past. Many people and especially the youngsters are really keen on new technologies, but still love storytelling and music. That’s why podcasts tend to have so much popularity.
We believe that the combination of good content and new technology is the key to audio nowadays. Amazon Alexa, for example, is one of the devices that truly favor podcasts and combine the looks of the radio with the innovation of the computers. People use it while they are doing other things in the house, at work or before they go to sleep they really need something relaxing to hear. We tend to be multitasking creatures nowadays and technology has already realized that by offering us exactly what we need.
Some of the best apps, which have been reigning the past few years in the audio and radio scene are Radio jar, Overcast, Stitcher, Castro, Podcast go, Soundcloud, Pocket Casts, Google play music and of course Spotify, the most famous music app. As for podcast, there are a lot of startup apps, which offer many services to the audience, such as audio stories of any possible topic, audio games, live streaming, audio books, sleep timers, playlists etc.
Stitcher is one of the most popular applications, which provides free online audio streaming and it is available for Android and iOS software. You can download it to your device and listen to audio shows or podcasts through personalized playlists. Stitcher uses a customization algorithm, which remembers user’s listening habits and it recommends specific shows, according to their preference.
On the Greek market, a successful and fresh startup is Radiojar. Radiojar is like a web radio, which combines multiple services, like streaming, automatic flow, statistics, software for broadcasts’ production. It is an online service in which someone can have access through PC or tablet.
All in all, it is clear that there are various options in the market and you can choose the one that suits you best in order to get on board with podcasts and radio innovation. Enjoy!
Team: Viral Vixens- Marina Karvouni, Elena Tsakiridou, georgia flaouna
