Get Better Gear!

Premier Sponsors

Other World Computing

TechRestore

Top 5 Free Apps

Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

Top 5 Paid Apps

Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • The Stooges

    • 8 out of 10
    • The Stooges
    • Another pillar of my musical foundations, The Stooges' first album is one those records whose influence far outweighed its popularity. Like The Velvet Underground & Nico, hordes of people wh

  • Spanks for the Memories

    • 8 out of 10
    • Asylum Street Spankers
    • The Asylum Street Spankers are...well...The Spankers. Hailing from Austin, where I saw them live dozens of times, the band played entirely acousti

  • Goodbye Jumbo

    • 8 out of 10
    • World Party
    • Released in 1990, World Party's

  • Plans

    • 8 out of 10
    • Death Cab for Cutie
    • With the introduction of Plans, Death Cab for Cutie became a new addition to many user's Artist list after the single "Soul Meets Body" became a hit on iTunes. Offering a fresh alternativ

  • An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torm�

    • 10 out of 10
    • Mel Torm� & George Shearing
    • Of the three men who taught me how to sing, the last was Mel Torme. Apparently, Mel Torme is a joke to anyone more than a decade older than me, a living parody of a Vegas crooner. But I stumbled on th

Reader Specials

Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!

News

Leo Laporte Presents ‘Podcasting Your Passion’ Keynote

The second keynote at the Portable Media Expo & Podcasting Conference was given by Leo Laporte, who is an author, TV and radio personality, and who currently does the This Week in Tech podcast. Rather than talk about business models, he wanted to discuss what makes podcasting great. His presentation was titled "Podcasting Your Passion." To Mr. Laporte, success is defined by making a successful podcast, not by how much money you make.

The speaker began with a reflection on his radio days, and how he has an actual FCC 3rd class license that permits him to broadcast. But back in the 70s, just having a license wasn't enough -- you needed to find a station that was willing to let you talk. His first broadcasting experience was a small outfit, but he was happy being given the chance to talk.

He looked back on his first chance to be a DJ, where he was given a list of songs to play, and had no freedom to play what he wanted. He stated that this tight control and lack of letting the DJs express themselves is one of the big problems with radio today. Another problem is that many of the current radio stations all sound the same, with the same format and content. This statement was met with a round of applause from the audience.

Mr. Laporte also pointed toward the new media landscape, where consumers are coming to expect the ability to listen to what they want, when they want, where they want. Devices such as TiVo, and media such as podcasting, reinforce this new world, and show how media outlets will have to adapt or fade away.

His presentation was bolstered by some interesting statistics that were gathered by Podtrac for the This Week in Tech podcast. The two largest age groups were 25-34, with 36% of the audience, and 35-44, with 26%. 68% subscribed to the RSS feed, while 96% of the listeners have listened to 6 or more episodes. 95% have listened to every podcast

In addition, Podtrac found that the overall satisfaction is 8.95 out of 10, 97% of the listeners are male, 56% are single, 79% are in the United States, and the listeners are from over 44 countries. Mr. Laporte also reflected on the fact that attendees at the conference are from over 33 countries.

Finally, Mr. Laporte noted how podcasters’ mindsets mirror that of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This hierarchy starts with basic human needs, such as food and drink, and ends with a self-actualization state. We won't list them all here, but suffice it to say that the most popular podcasts are those where one can sense that the podcasters have a sense of passion.

Post Your Comments

  Remember Me  Forgot your password?

Not a member? Register now. You can post comments without logging in, but they'll show up as a "guest" post.

Commenting is not available in this section entry.