iTunes 4.9 Makes An Impact
I'm not even close to being one of the first people to react to the release of iTunes 4.9, but that doesn't mean I don't have an opinion. So for whatever it's worth, here it is.
I downloaded 4.9 to my wife's computer as soon as the word hit and then fired the program up to see what they had. As a podcaster, my first concern was being able to find MY podcasts and make sure the links and information are correct. To my great relief I did find my podcasts present, but most of my feeds were buried in the "Audio Blog" category. Thankfully, my NY Minute podcast was properly categorized under Travel. Not surprisingly, that's the only one that has seen a significant jump in subscribers, nearly doubling my audience. My other 'casts have seen a small bump, but if folks can't find them in iTunes then how can I increase listenership as a result of the new release?
One thing I'm planning to do is put together a quick guide to finding and subscribing to my podcsasts in iTunes so that folks who want to use iTunes have as little pain as possible. I figure that doing this comes with the territory of promoting a podcast. I am a bit perturbed though, as are many others, that Apple has created a proprietary XML format which producers must use in order to keep their feeds properly tagged and organized in iTunes. It would take a ton of work for everyone to rework their RSS to match Apple's requirements. Why not make a move like Odeo and allow producers to claim and manage their own feeds? Because Apple loves acting like a closed book. For now, Feedburner customers will have the option of having the Apple tags inserted on the fly. Thank you Feedburner! But what about folks that manage their own RSS feeds? They're getting the shaft and Apple is practically forcing them to use Feedburner if they want to have their podcasts properly categorized in iTunes.
So it's a mixed bag. The launch of iTunes 4.9 means more options for listeners and a generally larger user base for podcasting. That's a very good thing. The proprietary xml format and miscategorization of podcasts are bummers with a capital B. As a committed podcaster, I'm going to have to live with it though.
I downloaded 4.9 to my wife's computer as soon as the word hit and then fired the program up to see what they had. As a podcaster, my first concern was being able to find MY podcasts and make sure the links and information are correct. To my great relief I did find my podcasts present, but most of my feeds were buried in the "Audio Blog" category. Thankfully, my NY Minute podcast was properly categorized under Travel. Not surprisingly, that's the only one that has seen a significant jump in subscribers, nearly doubling my audience. My other 'casts have seen a small bump, but if folks can't find them in iTunes then how can I increase listenership as a result of the new release?
One thing I'm planning to do is put together a quick guide to finding and subscribing to my podcsasts in iTunes so that folks who want to use iTunes have as little pain as possible. I figure that doing this comes with the territory of promoting a podcast. I am a bit perturbed though, as are many others, that Apple has created a proprietary XML format which producers must use in order to keep their feeds properly tagged and organized in iTunes. It would take a ton of work for everyone to rework their RSS to match Apple's requirements. Why not make a move like Odeo and allow producers to claim and manage their own feeds? Because Apple loves acting like a closed book. For now, Feedburner customers will have the option of having the Apple tags inserted on the fly. Thank you Feedburner! But what about folks that manage their own RSS feeds? They're getting the shaft and Apple is practically forcing them to use Feedburner if they want to have their podcasts properly categorized in iTunes.
So it's a mixed bag. The launch of iTunes 4.9 means more options for listeners and a generally larger user base for podcasting. That's a very good thing. The proprietary xml format and miscategorization of podcasts are bummers with a capital B. As a committed podcaster, I'm going to have to live with it though.
Recommend Podcast NYC To Your Friends
posted by PodcastNYC.net at 4:52 PM
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