Podcasting, at least etymologically, will soon be 20 years old. In 1994, the first mentions on forums and articles on the Internet of the term “podcast” appeared, which was soon sponsored by former MTV video jockey Adam Curry. Curry went on to become one of podcasters’ best-known innovators; so much so that it ended up being called “The Podotet” (Godfather of the podcast). Well, today Curry wants to reinvent the audio format, channel or distribution system. Everyone, let him call the podcast whatever he wants.
The controversy surrounding the form and content of podcasts is something that, while deep down seems only important to podcasters and coffee-loving listeners, has largely shaped the current content distribution chains on the Internet.
Podcasting has grown in the shadow of RSS and its distribution. “Without RSS, there is no podcast”it was said in the most orthodox podcasting sanctuaries, as Emilio Cano, aka Emilcar, Curry’s colleague in Spain, told us some time ago in hypertext.
But over time, this has changed. Apple first developed podcasts through iTunes and later through Apple Podcast. So much so that its API is still the largest distribution system that other apps drink from to play podcasts. The problem is that the growth of the format, as well as the advent of traditional media and radio, has meant that it is no longer solely based on RSS.
Spotify, Apple itself or iVoox in Spain are increasingly promoting exclusive podcasts., seeing it as an opportunity to attract an audience, which is especially true in Spotify’s strategy of recent years, which has made millions on investments such as signing the controversial Joe Rogan. There are even models that offer a kind of Netflix Podcasts sort of go up.
Against this, Curry returned to the stage with a proposal he made along with his 2.0 podcast partners.: an attempt to “liberate” the podcast again, where users are those who support podcasters through paying with cryptocurrencies and certain siren songs on the Internet3.
What exactly does the so-called podcasting 2.0 offer?
In particular, Podcasting 2.0 is a protocol developed by Curry that promoted the application of RSS to audio.
By origin, the podcast is based on an open protocol (RSS) that any player can use to subscribe to any program. As a proponent of the standard, Curry wants podcasts to return to their open-source nature based on new features.
Curry doesn’t seem happy with the industry’s move towards increasingly private and exclusive podcasts. To combat this trend, he developed the Podcast Index portal, which is to become an open database where all the podcasts in the world appear. Though it seems to have started with me poking at the Apple API to get those initial logs.
The return of open channels… Utopia or liberation?
The Podcast Index intends to continue to be funded by crowdfunding, and its no small, ambitious mission is to become the place from which other applications will receive streams of all podcasts. At the moment, his list of sticky subcatchers is not small, but far from complete. Now they are 58.
Curry explained in a recent article on 9to5mac his idea for the future along with his partner Dave Jones. Especially, another aspect that attracts attention: linking it all to paying with cryptocurrencies to fund creators. This is what they called “Value4Value”..
“This [Value4Vlaue] This is a big difference from other applications. Paying creators for their content has always been something I’ve been passionate about, but it has been a challenge. Apple has a premium option, but it limits you to Apple podcasts. Spotify connects to third-party subscription systems, but again limits you to that platform. Patreon and other services have open RSS subscription options, but they also add a layer of complexity. Podcasting 2.0 is a groundbreaking direct creator access option where podcasts (and their guests) can receive payments through the Bitcoin Lightning network,” he explains.
The Bitcoin Lightning Network is a layer on top of Bitcoin that provides lightning-fast and near-free payments available to anyone in the world.
This will allow, for example, to interact with other applications for making micropayments in the form of shatoshi., cents bitcoins (1 bitcoin is equal to 100,000,000 satoshi).
The bet on the crypto ecosystem is based, they explain, on eliminating transactions that would be very harmful in micropayments, in addition to trying to reach countries where the bank card network is not installed or is not in the majority. However, the big question is whether Internet access or cryptocurrency wallets are available in these countries.
The Podcasting 2.0 team creates protocols for live audio via RSS.improved labels and, in short, the development of the basis of what was his distribution protocol, old but still functioning, such as email. Time will tell if Curry’s intentions go beyond utopia or if in a few years it will become commonplace to reward creators with satosis. and the podcast finds its way back to that ecosystem where it seemed impossible to have elements locked in platforms.
Source: Hiper Textual
