Welcome to 'Transmitting to Earth'. I'm Charssun and I'll be your host. This blog and podcast is a byproduct of VoyagerRadio.com and is intended to provide the most timely information about this Internet radio station. It is also intended to be a fun and accessible electronic journal with commentary focusing on Internet radio, podcasting and webcasting issues and technologies, music, and some of my other interests. I also offer personal perspective about being an Internet radio broadcaster (and podcaster).
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Internet Radio Includes Podcasting: Agree or Disagree?Someone recently attempted to spam the Internet Radio Lovers, a forum on Yahoo!Groups that I moderate, with an advertisement announcing the addition of a new audio stream to their streaming audio website. As I was rejecting the ad, which was adding no apparent value to the ongoing dialogue about Internet radio on our forum, I noticed that the webcaster had added a postscript to his message, in which he had placed the following statement: "BTW, podcasting is not Internet Radio." To which I feel compelled to respond: I beg to differ with you, sir. I've considered this matter before, months ago, when I was initially deciding whether to include discussions about podcasting in our Internet radio forum. I quickly reached the conclusion that podcasting could (and should) most definitely be considered a form of Internet radio; this is the first protest I have heard on the matter thus far. Perhaps it should be known that the webcaster who'd made the statement against this notion is working with a successful and popular streaming audio venture, also referred to as an Internet radio station. Perhaps this fellow has come to think of Internet radio, which has been tethered to the web for so long, as belonging exclusively to the streaming class of media. I've always thought of Internet radio as exactly that, Internet radio. It's an online form of that broadcasting media we call radio. Any venture that utilizes the Internet to deliver more than a passing resemblance to terrestrial radio can be referred to as Internet radio, whether it be streamed or downloaded audio programming. Not convinced yet? Think of it this way: TiVo. Do you stop referring to television programs as such once they're recorded to a personal video recording device such as a TiVo? I'd guess not, since most people still consider digitally recorded programs to be television. Someday that may change, when viewers are able to directly download programming from the Internet (legally) without even bothering with a TiVo or a t.v. So the term Internet radio can include both audio that is streamed and audio that is transferred to your desktop computer or portable MP3 device through a method we've come to refer to as podcasting. That's my take on this - what's yours?
Comments:
I'd say that there is a need to differentiate the terms "radio," "podcast," and "webcast."
Of course, having said that, my own podcast includes the word "radio" in the title... so I'm contradicting myself straight away. However, I have to consider this: "Radio" is a medium that depends on the transmission of radio frequency wave through the atmosphere. "Podcasting" is a recorded media file that is automatically transmitted to the recipient through the internet via RSS. There are no radio waves involved (take that, KYOU), so it's not radio. "Webcasting" is a stream of media file that only delivers to the recipient that part of the file that's needed at that moment. It doesn't remain on the recipient's machine (barring special software that records it) and it's not acquired via an RSS feed, so it's not a podcast. It doesn't depend on radio waves, so it's not radio. Of course, there is the "vernacular" definition of the word "radio" to consider... but I would have to say that when discussing the media, I'd want to be specific. Also, that allows me to continue calling my podcast "The MWS Media Radio Show," since I do follow a kind of traditional radio broadcast template... I talk, I play music, I talk some more, I ask for money ;-) I have a streaming station, and I have a podcast. I tend to refer to them as different things that are complimentary to one another, when I mention them together. Thanks!
Thank you so much for your comments, Matthew. I agree with your thoughts on the term radio; it applies to the transmission of radiowaves through the atmosphere, thus the phrase "on the air". At this time, it's not accurate to apply the term to streaming audio, podcasting, or any form of webcasting. Yet it may in the future, as all of these forms of transmitting audio data will be transmitted via radiowaves once again. In fact, WiFi already enables this, though most listeners are still strapped to their desktops in some way.
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I've grown to accept the term Internet radio radio because I find it difficult to explain the concept of streaming audio to new and potential listeners. It's much easier to describe it as Online or Internet radio. I'd bet my bottom dollar that most listeners aren't overly concerned about the way the audio is delivered, as long as it's delivered to their ears in a convenient, simple, and reasonably quality manner. Besides this blog, a narrative blog called something that happened, and various other projects, I also moderate a discussion forum: Please consider subscribing to engage in a dialogue about all things having to do with Internet radio! |
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We are officially podcasters now that we have revitalized and reintroduced our downtempo show Tempo of the Down, this time around as a podcast. Now showcasing independent downtempo we've been granted permission to offer for download, Tempo of the Down is our entry into the future of Internet radio.
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