Podcasts, the new and improved radio?
What is a podcast? A podcast could be several different things but it is generally a show in which one or more people record themselves talking about a topic or several topics. It is the advanced form of the medium of radio. It is interesting because it is usually hosted/streamed online and FREE.
It is the evolution of radio as very few people listen to talk radio in todays day and age of spotify, pandora, MP3, Youtube and apple music. The installment of LTE has changed the landscape of radio and music all together. LTE allows people to search the web, listen to music and do various things without Wi-Fi. This would be next to impossible 5–10 years ago or at least it was not available to the general public back then. However, the advancement of LTE has allowed anybody from Joe in his mom’s basement to famous musicians or radio hosts in a large studio record themselves playing music, talking about sports, politics, real estate or anything else and stream it to an audience around the world.
The world is truly anyone’s oyster with the evolution of podcasts. Thanks to apple, podcasts are more available than ever. If a podcast generates enough of an audience, it can be picked up and heard on big websites and apps such as iTunes. Where’s my role in this you may ask? Well, I have started and am actively working on a podcast about the Ravens. My podcast is not big, yet but one day it could be with your help!
In Nicole Constables book, “Romance on a Global Stage, Pen Pals, Virtual Ethnography, and “Mail Order” marriages” she talks about the evolution of Mail Order marriages similar to my example of radio to podcasts. She says, “Print media promoted the articulation of nationalism among individuals who would never meet face-to-face and whose identities and interests otherwise”. I post this quote to relate evolution of radio and podcast as she posts the relationship of print media to the internet in terms of mail-order marriages. The relationship is almost identical, print media (radio) laid the groundwork for internet (podcast) to “clean-up” or evolve the pre-existing relationship or phenomenon of mail-order marriages/podcasts.
The podcast community is how people become discovered, it is how joe schmoe becomes Stephen A. Smith or PFT commenter develops and launches BarStool Sports. This examples are predominantly known in the sports world because of the empires they were able to build. PFT commenter was what his name suggests, a commenter on Pro Football Talk. However, after years of great comments on big articles and someone recognizing his genius, he was able to be signed to BarStool Sports. He has one of the biggest followings for his podcast, Pardon My Take. His story is not unique because of the evolution of podcasts.
This is my goal, my dream and my passion. In order to get there, I must do what he did; put himself out there and not be scared of rejection.
