Podcasting and Microniche Broadcasting


According to PubSub, as of mid January there were at least 8 million blogs in the “Blogosphere”, and possilby over 24 million (Per Bob Wyman’s comment below, there are now over 9 million being tracked by PubSub). That’s a lot. But only 4% of Internet users use RSS feeds, meaning blogging is still in its infancy.

Podcasting, iPods, and Garage Bands Beat Radio BroadcastingCompare that to podcasting. The technology emereged only last summer, and already almost 4,000 podcasts now exist. It’s clearly an exploding trend that is only just beginning.

Some think of podcasting as an evolved form of radio, others believe it is an evolved form of blogging. Either way you look at it, you’re talking about exploding mediums driven by independent publishers to reach untapped microniche audiences. This can include garage bands.

Brian Albott wrote about podcasting and the radio industry in a Business Week Online article:

A trend is afoot that could transform the $21 billion radio industry. Consider the basics: With no licenses, no frequencies, and no towers, ordinary people are busy creating audio programming for thousands of others. They’re bypassing an entire industry.

Completely true. The potential for garage bands and home recording enthusiasts is enormous, especially at this early a stage. A few random examples of podcast-related initiatives, for those who are intersted:

PodShow - A beginner’s guide to podcasting
iPodder - A software for creating and download podcasts
Curry.com - A podcast created by the creator of podcasts.
Coverville - A podcast of popular music downloaded by 9,000 fans three times weekly.
Indiepodcasting - A site offering podcasting services to garage bands.
PodSafeMusic - A website offering fully legal podcasts of indie music.
IndieFeed - An alternative/modern rock podcast.

Posted to Podcasting by Mike on
March 18, 2005
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Comments
Comment by Bob Wyman on March 18, 2005 @ 12:33 am

Actually, we’re currently monitoring over 9 million blogs (9,006,460)… The 8 million number is old. You can get the up-to-date number anytime you want by looking on our home page at http://pubsub.com.

bob wyman

Comment by Mike on March 18, 2005 @ 9:39 am

Bob,
Thanks for pointing that out, I meant to write “As of mid January” for the 8 million count!

I’ll update the post to include the latest number you provided.

-Mike

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