The Deafening Podcast Silence
July 10th, 2008 | by Vinny |There are a variety of reasons for a podcast going silent. Some of the more popular ones include:
- podfading: according to allwords.com, “the phenomenon of podcasts disappearing after a relatively short time.” In simple terms, you had a podcast, then you stopped having a podcast.
- creative differences: in certain cases, mostly where podcast duties are shared (such as on TheDaddyDialogues) two or more of the principals may disagree on the creative direction of a show, thus creating conflict and temporarily or permanently halting production. (NB: There is not creative conflict between Roland and I, lest someone jump to conclusions.)
- trademark issues: podcasts are frequently produced under contract for a content provider, such as Mevio. If a producer chooses to sever ties with a content provider, the provider may in fact still hold the rights to the name of said podcast. In such cases, the producer may stop producing the podcast but not stop podcasting. (See The Gillmor Gang)
- lack of organization by the host: Some hosts just can’t get a regularly scheduled podcast organized. They get content where and when they can, and then toss it together into a show. Stay subscribed and sometimes you get a surprise.
- lack of content: There are 4,347,238,541.6 “Lost” podcasts out there. During the WGA strike, most of those podcasts just, er, stopped. While a few attempted to fool us by running 30 minutes of silence with advertisements still inserted, we caught on pretty quickly. (although I did piss off a few Genius Bar dudes by telling them ‘look, the light is ON but it’s not PLAYING! See!?!?)
- life: Sometimes life intrudes.
For example, say you’ve been on the road for work. No no no. Say you’ve been working out of town for an extended period of time, like 9 months. Then, you get sent home. Time to pack up all your gear and go home. When you get there, you move back into your house. With only a few days off, it’s a trial getting moved back in. You have trouble finding things. Important things, like keys, correspondence, documents for work. Then say you sometimes work from home, but there is nowhere in your house to set up your gear to work from home. Thus, you move from room to room trying to find the most comfortable spot. Then, while you’re getting ready to do that podcast that you’ve been itching to do, someone calls you to follow up on that contracted work you promised them. Then ANOTHER client calls for the same reason. A few days later, you look at the calendar and realize “Holy Moly! It’s my anniversary” and you can’t just let that go by. There are people you must celebrate.
You just about get things settled, and you start a new job. It’s a summer job, but still, it gets you out of the house, pays a few bills, and keeps you out of trouble. You know, the kind of trouble you get into when you’re home, alone, with a microphone. Then the most amazing thing happens. You get a call to go and interview for the job. The one that might keep you from having to go on the road again. You take that call, and go on that interview. A few days later, they call you back. They want you to come back and meet with them again. When you come back, we expect a presentation. Not a Powerpoint or Keynote presentation. You. Show us what you got. Manage some people. Teach some people. When that call comes, podcasting becomes a distant memory. You throw yourself at that particular ‘problem’ with all your energy.
So there you have it. Tomorrow I have that second interview. At noon, I’ll be standing in front of 10-12 little people. Their weapons of choice: flutes, clarinets, trumpets, drums. My only defense: a baton and my wits. Who will emerge victorious? Four candidates, nee gladiators will embark on the field of battle. Only one will survive.
Wish me luck. I could use it.
UPDATE September 21: I didn’t get it.
