The Audio Addicts

Mark Time/Ogle Winners 2008

2009-06-26T19:35:00.001-07:00

It's always a pleasure listening to all the great audio drama submissions... here are this year's winners!

Here are the winners of this year’s Mark Time Awards for Science Fiction Audio and the Ogle Awards for Fantasy/Horror Audio Productions. They will officially be presented on Thursday, July 2 at Convergence 2009 in Bloomington, MN.
————————-
MARK TIME AWARDS

GOLD

The Outpost
Written & Produced by Julie Hoverson
19 Nocturne Boulevard

SILVER

The Return of the Bogman Mummy
Written & Produced by Roger Gregg
Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin, Ireland

OGLE AWARDS

GOLD

Waiting For a Window
Written by Fred Greenhalgh
Finalrune Productions

SILVER

The Halloween Tree
(based on the novel by Ray Bradbury)
Produced by Chris Snyder
Exec. Producer: Mark Vanderberg
Colonial Radio Theatre

[Thanks Jerry!]

...and the Podcamp AZ madness begins!

2009-06-22T10:51:00.002-07:00

Well it's that time of year again- and enough of a reason to make a blog post! Podcamp Arizona 3.0 has been launched and is ready for you to register!

So, what is a Podcamp? Well, it's considered an "unconference" that encompasses every form of social media around- from Podcasting/vidcasting to all the endless forms of relevant media. The sessions are designed to show you how to use relevant media most effectively for whatever you might want to use it for (and no, I'm not talking in just a "how can I make a million bucks" way. Not everyone wants to do that. Believe it or not.). What makes it an "un"-conference? Anyone can speak, and everyone is involved in the presentations. Also, if you're in a session and it's not for you, everyone is encouraged to use the "rule of two feet" and get up and go check out another session! No worries of hurting the feelings of a presenter! This rule works very well because there are many great sessions happening at the same time, and there's just no way to see all of them!

Oh yeah, did I mention that it's FREE?

This informatively fun weekend is set for November 14th & 15th, and it kicks off the evening of Friday the 13th (isn't that awesome?) with all of the Phoenix "fn's" (friday nights) hanging out on Mill Avenue and walking up and down the street in a drunken stupor!

All right, not ALL of us will be in a drunken stupor, but those who will be- you know who you are. Then Saturday morning the fun begins bright and early at the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe. Or is it Phoenix? It's right there on the border of both cities, I can never remember unless I look up the address.

I've been one of the many, many people who have helped to shape this event into the success it is. I do not say this to brag. However, having the unique behind-the-scenes look over the past three years, I can say I have never been more impressed with how a (un)conference has matured. Not just in size (we had nearly 800 people in attendance last year, and I'm not even counting those who watched online!), but in the quality of the presentations and the plethora of information available. It continues to grow and change each year- and it has to, because what's relevant keeps changing as well. Sure, you get the same intro presentations, but I can say that every year I've gone away learning something new.

Who is Podcamp for? Just about everyone. Do you blog? Go to PodcampAZ. Podcast? Go. Video? GO. Are you a journalist? Writer? Real Estate Agent? Gamer? Musician? Student? Professional of just about ANY type? Stay-at-home Mom? How about a stay-at-home-Mom-who-rants-about-politics (hehehe)? All of you will get something out of PodcampAZ.

To get a better look, here are my photos from last year's Podcamp. If you have an hour or so you can browse through the Flickr group too.

All right, here's the deets:

When: November 14 & 15

Where: University of Advancing Technology, Tempe (yeah I looked it up), AZ (btw it does not matter if you don't live in AZ- we had attendees from 35 states last year! Yes, this could be a business trip if you work it right.)

REGISTER: http://reg.podcampaz.org/

ALL the info you need: http://podcampaz.org/

Sponsorship Info: http://podcampaz.org/sponsor-podcamp-az/

Mark those calendars now, and plan on being at PodcampAZ this November!

Well if a child gets it...

2009-05-06T08:39:00.002-07:00

A new podcast- all of your questions explained! Including this one:

More of the lovely Emily and also the lovely subscribe button over at
http://www.emilyexplainsit.com/

Nine Free Audiobook mp3's from Barnes and Noble

2009-04-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

From CNet News:

Get eight short stories and Mark Twain's most famous novel, all free from Barnes & Noble.

(Credit: Barnes & Noble)

Good news, commuters: Barnes & Noble is offering nine audiobooks absolutely free. They're downloads, of course, but they're in MP3 format, meaning that you can burn them to CDs, copy them to your iPod/Zune/Sansa, and listen on your Netbook or whatever.

So, if they're free, they must be bargain bin books from no-name authors, right? Wrong. But eight of them are short stories, most ranging from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. Thus, while you may not recognize the titles, you'll definitely recognize some of the authors.

Among the more notable names: Kurt Vonnegut, Louis L'Amour, Junot Diaz, Alice Munro, and Jonathan Lethem. Oh, there's also this guy Mark Twain, who provides the collection's only full-length novel: "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

To get the freebies, just add one or more of them to your shopping cart. (Although they're priced at a penny apiece, your cart will show a $0 balance.) Even though no money's changing hands, you'll need to create a Barnes & Noble account and supply a credit card. (If you'd rather not, choose PayPal as your payment method--even if you don't have an account.)

You'll also need to download and install B&N's OverDrive Media Console software, which manages your audiobooks and lets you play, burn, transfer, etc. It's available for Windows and Mac.

In the interim, you'll receive an e-mail with a link that takes you to the download page. So, yeah, you have to jump through some hoops to get your audiobooks--but such is the price of free, right?

Another Free Audio Editing Program: Wavosaur

2009-04-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

From Podcasting News:

Wavosaur is a free sound editor, audio editor, wav editor software for editing and recording sounds, wav and mp3 files.

Wavosaur supports basic audio editing (cut, copy, paste, etc.), plus has features for creating audio loops, analyzing audio and doing batch processing.Wavosaur supports VST plugins, ASIO driver, multichannel wav files, real time effect processing.

The program has no installer and doesn’t write in the registry. Use it as a free mp3 editor, for mastering, sound design. The Wavosaur freeware audio editor works on Windows 98, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

If you’ve used Wavosaur, leave a comment with your thoughts.

Download page.

Submit Your Audio Photos To Gizmodo Flickr Pool

2009-04-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

From Gizmodo- thought you fellow addicts might like to participate!
Coachella's coming up as Gizmodo's Listening Week is coming to an end. Help us go out with a splash by jumping into our Gizmodo Flickr pool.

We want to make a gallery of all the coolest audio gadgets that you can find. Old, new, shiny, broken, expensive, cheap, colorful, emo—any spectacularly awesome shots of headphones, speakers, listening equipment, or even a microscopic look at your dirty eardrum. Basically, just send us anything audio-related that will make us speechless—which is quite difficult for some of the Gizmodo boys—and we'll post up a gallery of the best ones we get.

We're also hoping to see some photos of insane stage setups at Coachella, and if you've been reading our First Album stories, I'd also like to invite you guys to upload a shot of some album art along with a caption of what it meant to you.

All you have to do is log in to your Flickr account and go here, join our group, and then click "send to group" on your individual photos you want added to our pool.

[Gizmodo Flickr Pool - image from joey joey joey]

New Podcast Debut: Passages

2009-04-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine, Scott Josephson, has begun a new podcast for your listening pleasure, Passages:

"Passages. Corridors into the soul. Selections from a flowing stream of consciousness. The poetic thorns of thoughtful prose.

"Featuring performances by the hosts of: The AndyCast, Life On Tap, The Love Long and Prosper Podcast, The Truth Seekers Podcast, and a mysterious voice you've never heard before.

"Passages. Available only at podantics.com."

The first episode went live today! I'd also suggest going back in the feed and checking out his Podplay, "Desolate Metropolis."

Enjoy!

Unleash your inner poet and get involved with audio drama!

2009-04-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Dream Realm Enterprises, you can get involved in the fabulous world of audio drama in a couple of different ways. Do you have the directing bug? Do you like to take many voices and sounds, put them all together and make a masterpiece? Well, here's an excellent opportunity to do just that! Here's a little note from the creator of DRE's Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes, Vince:

AUDIO EDITOR/DIRECTOR NEEDED!

Hello.

I hope you are well, and having a jolly time of things.

I recently discovered that the polar bear is the animal that is most likely to
attack you. So stay away from them.

I'm wondering if anyone here is interested in helping with the audio production
of Series 2 of "The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes", a rather silly series
about mysteries and moustaches made with much love and giggles for the splendid
Dream Realm Enterprises.

I'm hoping to find someone who would enjoy putting the episodes together;
someone who enjoys mucking around with sound, and who likes working with actors
(i.e; someone mad).

I appreciate that audio production is a laborious, skilfull and specialised job,
and that people lead busy lives and have tremendously exciting social diaries.
But hey, I did warn you all about the polar bears thing, so surely that's reward
enough for what I'm asking.

Also, I make tasty hot cross buns*, and I'm willing to share the recipe with any
and all volunteers.

Interested? Of course you are!

Contact Vince Stadon
stadonclan@hotmail.com

and you'll make me very happy indeed.

With kind regards and very best wishes,

--Vince Stadon

* It's not true about the hot cross buns. They taste horrible.
----
See, I think he's just going to play "Hot Cross Buns" on a recorder. So there's one great opportunity. Here's another, for all of the poets (and don't even know-it's) out there!

Hey gang,

Dream Realm Enterprises is pleased to announce the coming of another new show! Poet's Passion! If you love poetry, then you'll adore this new show, which is all about poetry! Yup, we're bringing you a show devoted exclusively to new and original poetry, which is read by some of the brightest talent on the web, and then set to music! It's coming in April, so stay tuned!

Now that the announcement is out of the way, I can speak directly to all you poets out there! We're seeking new and original poetry! Not just any ole poetry, but the good stuff! So, we're asking you to send us your poems! If we like them, they may just be read on Poet's Passion!

This isn't a paying gig, but you will have the proud knowledge that your work is being heard! Plus, you'll retain all rights to your poetry! We can't say fairer than that, now can we?!

We need your poems soon, so be sure to email them directly to our official email addy (darkbuilding1@yahoo.com). The initial submissions need to be into us by no later than March 31st! But we'll still be accepting submissions after that as we intend to make this an on-going series. Just make sure the poems you send us are yours, and original, and not based on anything else.

Okay, start sending us those poems ASAP! Thanks, and good luck!

Cheers!

Jonithan
---
I know it says get your poems in by March 31, but they are always accepting submissions. If you want your poem to come to life, send one Jon's way!

So, there are two great ways to get involved with the awesomeness that is Dream Realm Enterprises. Check out their site, and email them today!

Fine. I'll just podcast my show. Take that, radio!

2009-03-01T12:10:00.002-07:00

From Podcasting News:

It looks like the Adam Carolla Podcast may do to radio what Nine Inch Nails did to the music industry - make it irrelevant.

On Friday, February 20th, Adam Carolla’s radio show left the airwaves, as part of a format switch.

On Monday, Corolla introduced his new podcast.

Within 24 hours, Carolla had a hit:

I’m overwhelmed by your response to the podcast. In less than 24 hours, the first podcast was downloaded over a quarter of a million times, which is awesome.

This means that we’ll be able move along faster in terms of getting this project up into a new gear, and getting a little more production, more guests, and everything you guys deserve. I’m grateful to have such fantastic fans, and honored at this response.

By the end of the first week of the Adam Corolla Podcast, downloads exceeded the 1 million mark.

Last year, Nine Inch Nails turned the music industry on its head by releasing two free albums onto the Internet and then going on to have both a hit record and tour. In doing so, NIN showed that bands could have hit albums and successful tours without the support of the music industry.

With over a million views in the first week, the Adam Carolla Podcast shows that broadcasters can have hit shows without the support of radio.

To subscribe to the Adam Carolla podcast, add the podcast via iTunes, or add this podcast feed URL to your podcast client:
www://carollaradio.com/feed/

via RyanSpoon

Remember When Radio Was Going To Destroy The Record Industry?

2009-02-26T12:28:00.004-07:00

It's been making the internet rounds, but it's definitely worth posting (click for larger image):

Broken Sea Audio Gets Bullied Over Licensing

2009-02-24T21:33:00.004-07:00

It seems one of our wonderful audio drama groups is in a pickle. A pickle they do not deserve to be in.

From Jesse at SFF Audio:

Broken Sea Audio Productions, headquartered in New Zealand, has shut down all their Robert E. Howard projects after receiving another threatening letter from the lawyers for Conan Properties International LLC (aka Paradox Entertainment).

CPI is the limited liability company that claims all licensing powers over works by Robert E. Howard worldwide.

The whole situation is absolutely rotten. CPI is muscling a non-profit audio drama fan group that makes audio dramas and audiobooks, for fun, out of public domain stories, all so it can defend it’s trademark on “CONAN: The Barbarian” (the stories for which are in the PUBLIC DOMAIN).

Things might look different were it not for the horrendous new legislation set to be implemented on ~~February 28th, 2009~~ March 27th, 2009 in New Zealand. The new NZ law makes websites that are accused of infringement subject to arbitrary-ISP pulldowns.

Here is the most recent letter from CPI/Paradox Entertainment |PDF| in its entirety.

What make this all the worse is that its an echo of a fight BSAP, in NZ, had thought it had already won. See, back in August 2008 BSAP received a similar cease and desist letter from the same firm. In that letter CPI threatened a lawsuit over the use of “CONAN” (for which they claim a trademark)…

In response to it BSAP removed their unique, but still offending, “CONAN” logo and the CPI lawyers sent a follow-up letter. Saying…

After that, with the Conan audiobooks and audio dramas no longer displaying any “CONAN” label, all seemed well for the non-profit audio drama group. Paul Mannering, and staff, continued to cast Conan fans as voice actors and work on the script for a new audio dramatization based on another Robert E. Howard public domain work, Hour Of The Dragon.

Later, in November 2008, something rather cool happened. Paul Mannering got an email from the CPI/Paradox’s branding department offering BSAP a free “CONAN” license. It was to be a “royalty free” license too, that would forever keep a threat of lawsuit from CPI/Paradox at bay and allow BSAP to brand its Conan audio as “CONAN” audio.

But then, just yesterday, an unexpected email from the CPI lawyers arrived…

…dashing the possibility of a license AND renewing the threat of a lawsuit…

…

It seems to me that given that the Robert E. Howard stories are PUBLIC DOMAIN, that Howard is 73 years dead, had no spouse, nor children, that Broken Sea is giving away their productions to Conan fans alike - only one judgment is reasonable:

CPI LLC/Paradox Entertainment is being an asshole.

And that’s the situation as it now stands. All future BSAP audiobooks and audio dramatizations based on the PUBLIC DOMAIN writings of Robert E. Howard are canceled - or at least it’s all put on hold until someone can offer some legal advice to Paul Mannering and the Broken Sea creative team.

---

Simply put Jesse says, "An intellectual property company has been harassing fans that were making audio versions of public domain Robert E. Howard CONAN stories.

"They'd keep going, but the new fucked up New Zealand copyright law will shut down their whole operation if the company complains."

Fucked up indeed. It seems they are simply bullying without any real justification. What does that prove? They have a trademark they can enforce? Is that supposed to be what true copyright protection is about?

Timeline

Please show your support of Broken Sea Audio by reposting this wherever you can!

~Dani

Why Is Podcasting So Underappreciated?

2009-02-23T07:37:00.004-07:00

From the Computerworld Blogs:

Podcasting is the most under-appreciated, under-utilized media ever. Some people never try it. And many who do wind up giving it up unimpressed. Too bad. A new study found that students who listen to lectures on podcasts test better than those who listen in class. Podcasting is a powerful educational medium, second only to books, in my opinion. But unlike reading books, you can listen to podcasts while doing the dishes.

I believe the reason people give up on podcasting is that they don't take the time to choose the best podcasts. In that sense, podcasting is no different than other media.

For example, the average book isn't worth reading, and bookstores are filled with garbage. But when you shop for books, you browse and consider many books before choosing the one or two -- out of theoretical millions.

Likewise with TV. Almost all of the shows on TV are a complete waste of time, even for people who love TV. But once you discover that one show and reject 100 shows, you can really enjoy TV.

Radio, magazines -- all media are the same way. Most of the content is lousy, but if you take your time and find what you really love, the media is wonderful.

Trouble is, people don't take the time with podcasting. They try a few podcasts, then give up. And because podcasts are free or nearly free to produce, the ratio of junk to gems is even more extreme. There are a huge number of really bad podcasts out there. And it can also be surprising when a great source of content produces lousy podcasts -- which in fact often turns out to be the case. The New York Times podcasts, for example, are horrible. Great newspaper, lousy podcaster.

Finding the right mix of podcasts, in fact, takes weeks of trial and error. But once you find the best podcasts for you, you're set.

---

More here. I agree with a lot of what he says. I truly can't understand why podcasting hasn't taken off the way many of us podcasters *think* it should. One reason I can think of is too many podcasters use their shows mainly to speak to other podcasters. That probably turns off a new listener coming in for the first time. I know it keeps me from listening to a show for very long. Who wants to listen to a show that is nothing more than inside jokes you needed to hear three shows ago? A show needs to make sense to a listener coming in for the first time, every show.

What do you think could be keeping podcasting from truly becoming the next radio?

~Dani

URL Change

2009-02-20T08:18:00.003-07:00

Well, as I'm sure you've noticed, I'm just not able to post here like I used to. Actually I haven't been able to give the same attention to this wonderful place for about a year now. It's not a bad thing, really. Just a time thing. When you run several blogs, pretty much on your own, somethings got to give. And as much as I love audio cinema, it's always been a fond hobby and not my main love. That would be politics. ;-)

Anywho, no, this is not a note that I'm shutting the place down. I do find things that I want to post that fit the best here, and I definitely want to keep sharing. However, it's no longer worth it to renew theaudioaddicts.com url. So, I'm changing the blogspot name.

http://theaudioaddicts.blogspot.com

"Societyfans", was outdated anyway. This blog began as a fan site, but it grew to be a fan site of many audio realted goodies, not merely one specific. Sometimes, change is good. :-)

Thanks for reading! Please adjust your feeds accordingly.

Dream Realm Looking For Writers

2009-02-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

Posted to the DRE Yahoo group:

Hello Gang,

I know there are some talented writers out there amongst this group of
amazingly talented people! I'm seeking writers to help us develop our
upcoming fantasy adventure series known as Legacy of Koani (pronounced
cone-eye).

The basic premise is this: A group of young adventurers has been sent
forth to seek the Legacy of Koani, which is simply the wisdom and
knowledge of their people, who are known as the Kryth. Basically, the
Kryth are like you and me, except they have exceptional abilities.
Think of this as X-Men meets Lord of the Rings.

The main characters are as follows:

Xeric Beltane - A young man who is the chosen of his people to lead
this small band of misfits to seek wisdom and knowledge. He is about
18 to 20 years of age, and a lot is on his shoulders. But he happily
takes it on.

Kiff Korran - The childhood friend of Xeric who isn't the smartest
amongst his people. A bit of a fool at times, but with a heart of
gold. He is the lifelong best friend of Xeric's, and would do anything
for him. He can't seem to do much, but at least he can cook.

Zara Knight - She sees herself as a warrior in training, so to speak.
Or a sword-for-hire. She's as young as Xeric, but has a chip on her
shoulders. She is hired by Xeric to come along and help with the
fighting. But truth to tell, Xeric is rather taken with her. Her
feelings may be mutual, but she fights to hide her feelings from
everyone. The only emotion she allows herself to show is how
irritating she finds both Xeric and Kiff to be.

Boots - Rumor has it that Boots Kildor was once a mage and an
adventurer, and that he even advised kings and queens at one time.
However, it can't be proven. He is seen as nothing more than a fool
and a fake by most everyone. But Xeric sees more within this old
klutz, and asks him along for the journey.

Reena Farthing - A teenager who is determined to find adventure. She
insinuates her way into this small band of adventurers, but soon
proves she has some street smarts and a penchant for good luck. She
has few friends, except a small furry creature who sticks by her side
like glue. Could there be more to this pair than meets the eye?

Old Mother Volaryn - The Elder of the Kryth People whose advice is
often sought by the small band of adventurers. She is the wise
chronicler of Xeric's adventures, and is the one who sends him on his
journey.

That should be enough to give you an idea of what these characters are
about. Each episode is a fairly self-contained adventure on the
journey to find knowledge. There will be a story arc (the seeking of
the Legacy of Koani) that will be visited only from time to time as
the series progresses.

Anyone interested in writing for this series should email me
personally by no later than February 28th!

darkbuilding1 AT yahoo DOT com

The series has been cast, but we're in need of scripts. Don't submit
completed scripts, please! If you have an idea for a story, just send
me a brief (a paragraph or two in length) outline.

Thanks! I look forward to hearing from a few of you!

All the best,

Jonithan

The Sexy Zoom H4n

2009-02-11T23:15:00.001-07:00

From Podcasting News:

The Zoom H4n Digital Recorder

from Podcasting News by James Lewin

Zoom has introduced the next generation in its handheld audio recorder line, the H4n.

Zoom’s H4n features built-in X/Y stereo condenser mics that allow variable recording patterns at either 90° or 120°. Other new features include digitally controlled high-quality mic preamps and the ability to use internal and external mics simultaneously, for 4-channel recording. The H4n records audio at up to 24bit/96kHz on SD/SDHC media of up to 32GB and syncs via USB 2.0.

The H4n has features to help it handle real-world mobile recording, including a rubberized, shock resistant body, all-metal microphone design and a built-in mounting joint for tripod and mic stand use.

For musicians and songwriters, the H4n offes multi-track recording capability along with Hi-Z Inputs for recording guitar and bass, variable speed playback capability for “phrase training”, onboard studio effects, and over 50 guitar and bass amp modeling settings. In addition, a new stamina mode enables the H4n to operate for 10 hours continuously on a single set of AA batteries.

The package includes a 1 GB SD card, wind screen, mic clip adapter, AC adapter, USB cable, protective case and Cubase LE recording software. An optional remote control is also available.

The Mark Time/Ogle Awards Approaches Again!

2009-02-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you're.. well... living! Email received for this year's Mark Time Awards!

Producers:

The deadline for entering the Mark Time Awards and Ogle Awards competition is approaching: March 1, 2009 is the date for a postmark.

The Mark Time Awards are given each year for the best Science Fiction audio theater production of the year, and the Ogle Awards are for the best Fantasy and Horror audio theater production of the year. This will be the 12th Annual awards, announced at Convergence 2009, July 2 in Bloomington, MN.

Named for the character created by the Firesign Theatre, the awards are a celebration of the most popular genres in audio theater these days. The Ogle awards are named after Charles Ogle, who played the creation of Baron von Frankenstein in Thomas Edison's 1910 silent film of that name. The winners will receive a plaque, a t-shirt, a letter from David Ossman (Mark Time himself) and the right to shamelessly promote their work holding the award out in front.

Convergence, an annual convention sponsored by MISFITS, the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy, is pleased to host the awards ceremony, and MISFITS is honored to be a supporter. Winners are invited to attend the convention to accept the award in person as part of the Opening Ceremonies. The convention also hosts a venue for playback of winners for convention attendees.

Five judges will listen, rank the entries, and come to a concensus of the winners by Mid-May. Recent judges have included Philip Proctor (of the Firesign Theatre), Tom Lopez (of ZBS) and Dani Cutler (of SFFaudio and the Society of Audio Addicts). Judging is based on the quality of the writing, performance, sound production, and originality of the whole package. Remember, this is SF & F we're dealing with, so originality counts. Recreations and adaptations are considered, and judged both on the above criteria and considering the original source material. Audiobooks are NOT what we are looking for, but full cast audio theater.

To enter, go to the Mark Time website, http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/MarkTime/MarkTime.html, and print out the online form. Send the form, a $25 entry fee, and FIVE copies of your entry (usually an audio or MP3 CD these days) to the address listed there. Postmark must be on or before March 1, 2009. Past winners, and the Mark Time SF Audio Hall of Fame are there as well.

Don't miss the deadline. Enter now.

Jerry Stearns
Coordinator: Mark Time Awards
http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/MarkTime/MarkTime.html

Free your media!

2009-02-01T13:26:00.001-07:00

From Podiobooker:

How free media brought in $4.2 million in sales

by Evo

It’s not a giant leap to draw parallels between indie musicians and authors. To wit; I’d like to introduce you to Corey Smith, a new personal hero of mine. He gives his music away for free on his site. And he sells that music — the very same music — on iTunes. When he takes his free music down, his sales on iTunes go down.

That bears repeating. When he takes his free music down, his sales on iTunes go down.

Cory is now making his living as a musician, resulting in gross receipts of $4.2 million last year. Most of that cash comes from concerts. Tickets to those shows go for $5. As in, five dollars.

So let’s go over this again:

He gives his music away for free, or you can buy it

He uses no-brainer pricing to make his concerts accessible to just about everyone. And all of their friends

Phase Three: Profit.

Read the story on TechDirt. Then see if you can think of any ways YOU can work in this brave new world. I hope a few authors and publishing houses are paying attention.

---
Scott Sigler goes by this philosophy too, as well as the Monty Python gang. I know personally I find myself more inclined to purchase something even after listening to it for free, if for nothing else to support the artist.

Sonic Gold Gearing up for April Launch!

2009-01-22T13:26:00.002-07:00

"And the Audio Hits Just Keep On Comin'"
Jack Ward and Shannon Hilchie of the Sonic Society just announced in their last episode, that the long awaited "Sonic Gold" project will begin in April 1st.
Sonic Gold is a new subscription based show that will bring the very best of paid audio content to your podcatcher. As a member of Sonic Gold you'll get 36 weeks of amazing professional audio drama that you can't get anywhere free on the Internet.
So why buy audio drama?
As Jack Ward puts it, "If we're going to help revitalize the market for audio drama across the world, we need to prove that people are willing to pay for it. And after all, who wouldn't want to see someone like Gregg Taylor from Decoder Ring Theatre get paid to put out a new show?"

What's it cost of an subscription to Sonic Gold?
Early bird sign up is just 20 dollars a year. Get in on the ground floor and you can get a whole lot more than that, but things are moving fast.
Check the great deal and details Sonic Gold and sign up!

If you're doing this for a living, then you're not loving it

2008-12-10T15:28:00.009-07:00

If I were to do a presentation at the Blog world and new media expo this would be it.

Hello, I am David "topper" Tobkin, and I have been a blogger since the late 90's for the most part. I have used text to begin with, just text on a page and uploaded to a website.

My earliest foray into the social networking of the so called new media would have been in the early 90's with what was available then, a BBS system called Top City, no relation. That was a message board that got as time went by a chat line. For what it was worth it was a good time. Non commercial on the fly by a guy that had a few computers in a cramped apartment.

But I wanted, in metaphoric terms, windows. I knew there was beginning to be a world on the world wide web. But I didn't have the pc to do it. When I did it was powerful enough for AOL. Not the window to the world wide web I wanted. But it served my online social purpose of getting to know people "out there". Oh yea, you can actually get to know people "out there". And I actually like you today set out to meet few of them in Seattle at a get together. Much smaller than this but fun.

Ok then, enough about me, let us get down to business and start talking about you. Some of you are podcasters. Where this new media really gets it start. And I have been noticing a trend. Commercialism. Even bloggers have ads on their sites. Sure there ads here and there that providers have but you are users why put ads on your own blog or podcast page? It isn't as though your readers and listeners are customers, they are not. They are your audience, say it with me, audience. And these folks can listen to you or read your blog any time they want. Which brings to another point of podcasting. It is considered to be a portable media, therefor people can take you with them where ever they go, on a trip, to the gym, on a drive, anywhere. The only reason that the term podcasting is getting a bad rap is because Apple wants to control it, so the controlling forces of podcasting want you to follow suit with "new media". Oh well sign of the times.

But being that you have an audience are you worth paying for? What I have is a passion for whatever moves me at the moment and it should you too. Everything you have learned about making a buck on this new media I am going to try and get you to forget. What is the motto? "If you are doing this for a living, then you are not loving it". Oh I know as well as the next guy that making a buck is a great thing, but I don't want the chase of the almighty dollar to get in the way of my passion.

Many things are built on passion. Many other things are built on need. You have the passion, Libsyn may supply the need, or whatever service you use. But these services are just that, services. There have been many services that have come and gone and one in particular comes to mind that had it ALL. It was a website that used google chat or gizmo to call in and it streamed audio for you. Also on the site was a chat room and it saved the chat for you. Some of you may recognize it. I liked it too before it became a commercial enterprise with even a target market. Now days it is a thanksgiving turkey, only problem is, they started cooking it in June. It was a great tool, but you all deserve better. Target markets are for magazines.

And about passion. Lets say you have a show, and something you read about fires you up. By the time you get to that day you set aside the passion is gone. Remember it is a portable media, why not do it anytime you want. Quantity is as good as quality as long as the quality is the same. That goes with blogging too.

But lets say you are time constrained. Well there are places to park your passion. Facebook ain't it. What the heck is that about anyway? If you have one reader as an audience you might as well take him or her out for coffee and get the message out that way.

I belong to facebook, and still asking myself why. Other enterprises to park things of interest is google reader. At least there is a place there to share with everyone, and my personal favorite News vine. Very active and sure it has ads but not all the time, and most importantly NOT to a target market. Male's in the 25 to 30 bracket like that place I eluded to earlier.

So to be counter productive to what you have heard from expo's in the past about making a buck doing something you enjoy, forget that chase and just enjoy. It will show in your work, podcast or otherwise that you have the passion and will be in it for the long haul.

My rule is, do it whenever. Most people use a feed anyway. As long as the quality is there, the quantity will not matter.

Take care and good luck.

PAB '09 Registration Now Open

2008-12-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

From Podcasting News:

Podcasters Across Borders 09 Opens Registration, Calls For Speakers

Podcasters Across Borders co-founder and organizer Mark Blevis sent word that registration for PAB2009 is opening today (December 1, 2008) at midnight Eastern Time. The three-day podcasting and new media conference is scheduled for June 19/20/21, 2009, in Kingston, Ontario (Canada). This is the fourth year of the event, which focuses on not just podcast creation, but also on “building and engaging communities, using social media dynamics, and honing the skills we use in all aspects of our online presence.”

Early registration cost is cdn$120, rising to $150 on January 1. Registration is limited to 120 participants.

This weekend, PAB organizers also issued a call for speakers and presenters:

“The theme for PAB2009, Outside-in: Learning from beyond the fishbowl, was selected to evolve the conversation to draw on skills, communications styles, experiences, innovations and people from outside of the social media and new media communities. We want our program to energize, motivate and advance the community.”

The event features more structured 25-minute presentations (with Q&A afterward), and five-minute “Jolt” sessions. None of the sessions are used to promote specific businesses or services.

---
I've given up trying to convince myself I'll make it to PAB one of these years. It takes place at the BEST time of the year- both my daughter's birthdays! :-)
~Dani

The Dream Realm Update!

2008-11-26T09:08:00.005-07:00

Lots of things still happening over at Dream Realm Enterprises. Not only are there new Dr. Who episodes, but they have also been re-releasing the first season of Robotz of the Company, as well as podcasting their Sci-Fi and horror mini-series, The Realm Weaver!

When you need to escape the influx of family during tomorrow's Turkey Day- be thankful for audio cinema! ;-)

And for those who still heart their radios...

2008-11-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

From Cnet:

Sony's awesome but ridiculously cheap AM/FM HD Radio!

Posted by Steve Guttenberg

Sony's XDR-F1HD HD Radio has developed a real buzz among my audiophile pals, on second thought maybe buzz isn't the right word. It's the quietest, noise-free radio I've ever used.

These guys can be real snobs and only listen to ultra-high-end components, and some wouldn't be caught dead using mainstream gear with their hi-fis, and yet they're all going ga-ga over the Sony. We're all thinking it's too good to be true.

I originally heard about the Sony from Steven Stone, a writer friend, and then from an engineer at an American high-end audio company known for making awesome tuners that sell for thousands of dollars. The engineer was positively gushing about how good the XDR-F1HD is, not just that is sounded great, but also because it pulls in tough to receive analog stations with lower noise and distortion than tuners that sell for big bucks. You can read my full CNET review here.

I rushed right out and bought an XDR-F1HD from Amazon, and sure nuff, it's true, the little Sony is no baloney. Analog FM stations came in like gangbusters, clean as a whistle, and HD stations, like my favorite jazz station WBGO had "CD quality" sound. That phrase is tossed around a lot, but this time it's for real. Listening to WBGO with the Sony over my high-end system with Magnepan 3.6/R speakers the sound is amazing. It's day and night better than what I get from Sirius Satellite Radio, which is almost unlistenable over those speakers.

Right, Sirius sounds like a crummy MP3 over the Maggies. That's why I listen to Sirius over my Tivoli PAL table radio. Good enough sound is what most people put up with, and that's kinda sad.

WNYC, my local NPR outlet, multicasts HD on three channels: one is the same program as the analog FM station, the second is a 24/7 classical music stream, and the third is WNYC's AM feed, but in FM HD. One of my favorite shows, David Garland's "Spinning on Air" is a weekly musical journey; The October 26 all-theremin show was a mind trip, and sounded positively ethereal in HD. The theremin is an early 20th Century electronic instrument, it's featured on the Beach Boys' hit "Good Vibrations."

Thing is, not all HD stations sound great, in New York WPLJ and WXRK sound dreadful. So you see, HD Radio technology doesn't guarantee sound quality, its up to the stations to follow through and not mess with their signal. The XDR-F1HD is a gateway to the best of over-the-air analog and digital broadcasts.

Need a second opinion? Check out Gary Krakow's The Street review to learn more.

Steve Guttenberg is a frequent contributor to magazines and Web sites including Home Entertainment, Playback, and Ultimate AV. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10106377-47.html

Merging Isn't Always A Good Thing

2008-11-16T14:57:00.007-07:00

Found this post via The Consumerist. Seems satellite is going the direction traditional radio has. Maybe Clear Channel will take it over someday...

Sirius XM Merger Reveals True Face: Fewer Channels And 'Sanitized' Programming

By Chris Walters, 1:55 PM on Fri Nov 14 2008

This week, Sirius XM began consolidating its channels. In reality, this mostly meant jettisoning XM channels wherever there was a tenuous overlap with something Sirius already offered, which is bad news for anyone with a favorite station on XM who woke up Wednesday morning to find it missing. Alex wrote in to tell us that the four Spanish music channels have been condensed to one without regard to genre, and that the uncensored "urban music" station Hot Jamz has been cleaned up, rechristened "The Heat," and now leans toward radio-friendly R&B. The Motley Fool suggests that the new lineup may drive people to downgrade their subscription—it's "an incentive to downgrade to the cheaper plan that costs $6 less a month and lets users cherry-pick 50 stations."

In addition to the latin and urban channels, Alex wants to know why Sirius XM couldn't have better prepared its listeners:

First off, why such secrecy? Millions of subscribers were blindsided yesterday. No announcements of any kind were made over the air to let people know what was going on. To them, everything was fine on Tuesday, but all of a sudden on Wednesday, their favorite channel was deleted or changed fundamentally. This was a breach of trust between the provider and the consumer. We are the subscribers. We are paying for this service. We deserve a voice over what it is we want to hear. More importantly, we deserve input about programming we are willing to pay for.
Second, we the consumers, Congress, and the FCC were assured that allowing the merger would increase diversity and choice. Wednesday's change showed you acted in bad faith. On the XM side, we lost 75% of the Spanish music choice. To clump together the previous 4 genres of music offered by Aguila, Viva, Caricia, and Caliente into one channel shows either cultural ignorance or contempt for diversity. My congressional representatives will be hearing from me about this.
Third, the new censorship. I bought Sirius to free myself from the shackles of FM. Hot Jamz has been neutered into "The Heat," essentially a satellite version of my local R&B station. I simply couldn't listen to it today. The songs were heavily edited and censored. This is the antithesis of what Sirius once stood for, what bringing Howard from FM symbolized. Fact is, urban music is written in the vernacular. What "The Heat" did to Hot Jamz is an insult.
Fourth, continuing on the theme of less choice. Sirus XM acted in bad faith when it shrunk the available choices:

No more electronica from Boombox — now pop2k... isn't there enough pop with 90's on 9, the Pulse, and Alt Nation?

No more Old Skool.

No more Punk.

No more Fine tuning/free form.

No more educational radio via Discovery channel. (I'm still raw over that)

Instead we get less choice and shallower playlists on what used to be Fred, Lucy, and Ethel.
Mel et al., you really should listen to what you customers have to say.

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/first-impressions-now-with-combined-channels-what-do-you-think.html#comments
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/towerticker/2008/11/xm-radio-sirius.html?cid=138920090#comments
http://www.xmfan.com/viewtopic.php?t=96996 (these are your most ferverent fanatics, and yet their poll shows less that 33% are satisfied)

If you had asked us to begin with, you may have avoided this heartache.
Dual-sub non grata,Alex

As an aside, if you're a Mitsubishi Outlander owner experiencing problems with Sirius updates, Andy has figured out how to fix it:

Sirius recently merged with XM and my radio received an update as part of the merger. It killed the radio in my Mitsubishi Outlander with an "Antenna Error" message. I argued with 4 or 5 CSRs at Sirius that this was not a hardware issue, the timing is too perfect. I ended up pulling the #7 fuse and it reset the radio. Voila, the radio is back up and running. However, every time they send an update I have to pull the fuse. I hope this helps other MMS owners, and I hope Sirius gets this figured out asap. This is a factory installed radio part of the Mitsubishi Multi Messaging System premium radio system.
Here's a link to my forum post: http://www.mitsubishiforum.com/fb.asp?m=240820

"Sirius XM Has Crossed the Line" [The Motley Fool]

What Makes A Podcast A Podcast?

2008-11-12T19:42:00.004-07:00

As I was browsing through the reader today I happened upon a great blog post on Podcasting via Radio Drama Revival. It's very in-depth and lengthly, but touches on many points I agree with, and reminded me of exactly why I love podcasting as a medium above all others (I know, like I need reminding?). An excerpt of a part I sorta-kinda agree with:

Podcasts do not Have to be Polished and Professional

This one is non-negotiable. I was horrified and offended at Podcast Michigan by a presenter who spoke about how podcasts have "lowered the playing field." Among his talking points were many words to the effect of "be professional."

I couldn't disagree more. The podcast world is vast, and contains multitudes. "Polish" is code for "make it sound like everyone else does, or we will look down on you." "Professional" is code for "people without a lot of money need not apply." Oh, and also "people who want to record something important and true to them, but that won't fit into a recording studio, or sound just like NPR, need not apply." Really? I love some of what goes down on NPR, but it ought to be obvious that there is an NPR "style," and expecting everyone to conform to it is just as bad as expecting everyone to conform to the commercial FM radio style.

Read the entire entry here:
http://generalpurposepodcast.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-is-podcast.html

Why do I sorta-kinda agree? Well, the thing I love the most about podcasting is there are no boundaries, no limits. Only what you place upon yourself. That being said, in some cases I agree that there is no need to ever have that polished sound, depending on what you're podcasting about. (See the last entry and the audio on reasons your podcast sucks to get more details on that). It really depends on your audience and the reason you are podcasting (i.e. who you are podcasting for). There are also so many inexpensive and free choices out there to record/edit some very decent audio, which definitely can help anyone have a decent show if they are willing to put even a minuscule amount of effort into it.

Of course in special cases, such as a audio cinema podcast, some polishing is certainly necessary, but even then not 100% required. The beauty of it all is there is no one else you need to answer to other than you.

These of course are just my opinions of one part of a big blog post, and I'd love to know what you other audio addicts think!

Discuss! :-)

~Dani

5 Reasons Why Your Podcast Sucks (and on iTunes!)

2008-11-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some of the audio/video links to some of the Podcamp AZ goodness!

Podcast AZ was streaming all day both days, and many guests stopped by to partake in the fun. You can watch some clips from the weekend riiiiight..... here. Dan and CJ of the Love Long and Prosper Podcast were amazing taking on the task of running the podcast all weekend.

Unfortunately audio was scarce (and if you have audio from the weekend please post it in the comments!), but a couple of great sessions were headed by Evo Terra. He also had a cool slide show to go along with his sessions. Click and enjoy!

*5 Reasons Why Your Podcast Sucks
*5 Reasons Why Your Podcast Sucks on iTunes

PS, clicky on the photo to get more photos from the weekend courtesy of the talented Sheila Dee!

Indie Band Survival Guide

2008-10-31T14:07:00.004-07:00

Wanted to repost this informative gem for all of you audio and new media addicts out there. Shamelessly swiped from the Fun Anymore blog, which is the home of all things Evo Terra:

If you are serious about new media, I highly recommend this book, The Indie Band Survival Guide.

No, you don’t have to be a musician in an independent band. Yes, it was written with them in mind, but there are a huge numbers of takeaways.

Props to the boys at Beatnik Turtle for craning out an enlightening and enjoyable book that cuts through the bullshit and tells you — specifically — what it takes to navigate the waters of independent media production.

The section on copyright is fascinating. This book gives it all the weight the topic deserves, but explains it simple enough to allow anyone to grok the concepts. Kudos to them for carrying the conversation over to Creative Commons licensing as well.

Podcasters: you need this book.

Video producers: you need this book.

Vloggers and Bloggers: you need this book, too.

Get it.

It's on the list- thanks for the info, Evo!
~Dani

This weekend- Podcamp AZ 2.0

2008-10-27T11:47:00.004-07:00

Well here it is- this weekend the 2nd annual Podcamp AZ comes to the valley, and I'm so excited! We've worked so hard this year to put together a first rate unconference, and I think- no, I know- we will pull it off!

This was truly a community effort. I don't think at any podcamp meeting there were less than 15 people. I may hate the summer weather and the politics of AZ, but one thing I love and what keeps me living here is the sense of community and support in the Valley of the Sun.

One of the sessions I'm most looking forward to is Evo Terra's "Five Reasons Your Podcast Sucks". Many others have moved on to video, or streaming audio for their shows, but I remain strictly an audio podcaster for my show. Those are the sessions that are going to interest me the most! :-) However there are many MANY sessions planned on a plethora of topics- something for everyone!

You can register all the way up through the weekend if you'd like to attend- it's absolutely free! Though, if you want one of the cool shirts, a donation would be appreciated!

Still need convincing? The great AZ weather (in November, not the summer!) and all the great sessions isn't enough? Well how about some photos from last year?

See you this weekend!

Audeeoh!

2008-10-27T09:55:00.002-07:00

Here's a neat new company to check out from Georgia- Audeeoh!

Actually, they have been around a couple of years now, but are breaking out onto the podcasting scene with original audio dramas, like Butta and the Tower of Bling and The Shyster Club.

Great quality productions and fun in a soap-opera drama sort of way. Check them out!

http://audeeoh.com

Podcast Award Nominees Chosen

2008-10-23T17:29:00.004-07:00

Voting for the 4th annual Podcast Awards is underway, and I have to admit it's quite an eclectic mix of podcasters this year! I'm happy to see several of my friends in the nominations:

Buffy Between The Lines
Comedy 4 Cast
Grammar Girl
Extra Points
...and many others!

Somehow even my little political podcast made it through the nomination process! Head over to the site and check out all the categories and nominees!

Voting goes through November 6th, and you can vote once a day, every day until then!

~Dani

Know What I Did Last Podcamp AZ?

2008-09-23T07:46:00.005-07:00

I had a really great time- that's what! That time of year is upon us again here in the not-quite-as-hot-now Southwest. Last year was the inaugural Podcamp AZ, and it was such a success it just had to be brought back!

What's Your Source? This year's unconference is taking a look at what is relevant in media today. Whether we are talking podcasting or radio, video or even print, all of these media outlets are a source that is continually changing and advancing. If you want to be on top of it, then you should be at Podcamp AZ November 1st and 2nd. Sessions and interaction focus on the creation of all relevant media sources, and how to use those sources to work for you for whatever you want! It doesn't matter if you are a newbie coming in who has never turned on a computer (and if you are I will want to shake your hand!), or a more 'experienced' person with relevant media sources. There are always new things to learn and talk about- and Arizona is one of the best places to do it.

The speakers lined up this year are also something to look forward to. More referred to as "hosts of an ongoing conversation", they bring their knowledge of a topic to you, yet are just as willing (and wanting) to learn as well. Some of the awesome speakers lined up this year are Evo Terra, Doug Welch, Kathy Jacobs, Francine Hardaway, Brian Shaler, and Chris Pirillo! You can learn more about these speakers and see who else is scheduled by clicking right HERE.

You really can't beat Arizona in November- the price is right and the community is awesome and inclusive. Head over to the website and register NOW and come be involved in the second annual Podcamp AZ!

http://podcampaz.org

If you'd like to help spread the word about Podcamp AZ, here's a little promo you can play on your podcast or radio show:

http://media.libsyn.com/media/audioaddict/PodcampAZ08PromoMix.mp3

... or you can always spread the word in the relevant media outlet of your choice. GO! Register! See you November 1st!

Giallo Podcast Going Offline!

2008-09-15T22:09:00.002-07:00

This is a heads-up to let everyone know that "Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel" will soon be removed from the Afterhell podcast feed. If you wanted to check out our tale of gangsters, zombies, and other strangeness at the dawn of the Afterhell, but hadn't had a chance, go grab any and all of the nine installments now! Copy and paste this address into your podcast-catcher of choice:
http://www.afterhell.com/audio/AHSD.rss

The good news is that "Afterhell Volume 3: Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel" will soon be released on CD! This is the same award-winning story as on the podcast feed, but with a full stereo mix and without the podcast bumpers. There will also be a bonus track!

Please check out the Afterhell blog at http://www.afterhell.com/news for further updates on Volume 3 … and Volume 4, in work now! As always, thank you for your interest in and support of "Afterhell."

SFF Audio Now Podcasting!

2008-09-02T01:31:00.003-07:00

Only several years in the making (hehe!) - my friends Jesse and Scott over at the best blog for sci-fi audio news- SFF Audio- have finally been bitten hard enough by the podcast bug!

Here's what they say about this momentous occasion:
"Hey look! We’ve got our own podcast. This is the very first one, which includes SFFaudio founders Scott D. Danielson and Jesse Willis talking about audiobooks, audio drama, and cease and desist orders. We won’t desist podcasting if you won’t cease downloading them - whatever that means."

Why, it means awesome! You can grab the feed right here:

http://www.sffaudio.com/?feed=podcast

Two Awards Ceremonies This Weekend

2008-09-02T00:49:00.004-07:00

This weekend was the ever-popular sci-fi convention Dragon*Con. Many of my friends online and off travel to Atlanta each year to party, dress up, and help bring more attention to podcasting. There are two podcast-related awards ceremonies during the weekend, the Parsec Awards and the Podcast Peer Awards.

The Parsecs awards the very best of sci-fi related podcast content, ranging from stories and podiobooks, to audio drama and fan content. The Podcast Peers are awards given out by other podcasters, and range from all sorts of categories, from podiobooks, to couplecasts and music.

I was honored to be involved in both awards, each in a different way.

To see the nominees and winners for the Parsecs, head to this link:
http://www.parsecawards.com/node/542

To see the nominees and winners for the Podcast Peers, head to this link (the winners are not the top podcast you see for each category):
http://www.podcastpeers.org/finalistsPPA5.html

To see who won for each PPA category, you can go here:
http://www.podcastpeers.org/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=126&sid=0122675bb28cc747020e0515ff97c5c8

Congrats to all!

Misadventures Of Sherlock Holmes

2008-09-02T00:28:00.000-07:00

What does it take to crash a website? One really great audio drama! Season 1 of Dream Realm Enterprises summer hit The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes is complete, and awaiting your download!

UPDATE! Now this very popular series is being podcast! Get caught up and subscribe now!

http://dreholmes.blogspot.com/

This isn't your normal Sherlock Holmes mystery series. This series comes from the viewpoint of Doctor Watson, and the view isn't always positive when the light is shined on Mr. Holmes (or himself, actually). It's fun, witty, VERY well written (by Vince Stadon!), and still full of mystery and surprises!

The website also has interesting Sherlock Holmes history when you click on each episode.

Make the site crash again- head over and check it out today! ;-)

Sonic Society Live Call in Show Tonight and They Got an Amazing Voicemail!

2008-08-19T08:08:00.005-07:00

The Sonic Society goes live tonight on CKDU in Halifax and will be taking you calls! The Cast of Gate (well some of them) will be there as well! So listen to the show live at http://www.CKDU.ca and look for the "Listen Online" link. You can call them after 8 PM Eastern Standard time at 902-494-2487 to be on the show!
Don't forget to leave them a message on Zug Beud, or email them at sonicsociety AT gmail.com

Oh, be sure to listen for the Zug call from The Big Goram Heroes, Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk. Yeah Those Big Damn Heroes.

National Parks Getting Into Podcasting

2008-08-01T01:38:00.005-07:00

Having just returned from 6 weeks of traveling the US and the UK, I took special interest in how the National Parks are jumping on the podcast bandwagon. I found a couple great podcasts to help guide us around England, it's a very useful idea. If you are one who enjoys traveling around, podcasts are the perfect primer. All it takes is a little searching on the Google or iTunes!

From Podcasting News:

The US National Parks Service is getting into podcasting in a big way, and now offers 18 park service podcasts and virtual tours, offering hundreds of audio and video programs that you can get from park websites or iTunes.

The podcasts include:

Many parks offer interpretive podcasts about wildlife, history, and topical issues like climate change and fire management. The most extensive collection of park podcasts is from Yellowstone National Park where they are reaching out to new and nontraditional audiences to spark an interest in visiting the park. The Inside Yellowstone series has more than 50 episodes, which are one to two minutes in length. More episodes are on the way.

“Our podcasts give people from every corner of the earth the chance to fall in love with Yellowstone and become its stewards for the future,” said George Heinz, one of the writers and on-screen personalities for the podcast series. The park has another online series called Yellowstone InDepth that presents mini-documentaries on subjects like volcanoes, invasive species, bears, and wolves.

“While nothing can replace a personal experience in a national park, we think our podcasts will enhance people’s trips or give them the opportunity to learn about a park that they can’t visit,” said Mary A. Bomar, Director of the National Park Service. “Whether people download them to portable devices or watch them on their computers, these free electronic presentations give us another way to serve park enthusiasts of all ages.”

Other National Park Podcasts

Yosemite National Park launched a new monthly podcast called Yosemite Nature Notes. A printed publication of the same name began in the 1920s and existed for five decades. “Just like the earlier version of Nature Notes, our podcasts tell Yosemite’s stories from the perspective of the people who work here,” said Steve Bumgardner, videographer and producer at Yosemite National Park. “I like the idea that we’ve brought this institution back to life and that we use new media to put a personal face on the National Park Service.”

“My favorite podcast about Canyonlands National Park is the one on potholes,” said Carter, an 8-year-old visitor who watched all of the park’s podcasts before his trip. “It was so interesting to learn that tiny creatures are living in a bunch of dirt.” Carter’s sister Brooke, 11, appreciated knowing how to recognize cryptobiotic soils so she didn’t walk on the delicate crust. Their mother, Tiffani, thought the podcasts empowered her kids and said, “they loved being the experts and teaching us ( their parents ) what they learned while we walked around the park.”

At Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, people stop at overlooks along the South Rim Road and watch podcasts about geology, history, life, and recreation at those exact spots. Everglades National Park also has a car tour ( audio only ) that leads listeners on a guided exploration down the main park road. Four civil war battlefields – Gettysburg, Antietam, Petersburg, and Richmond – offer podcasts that allow you to walk or drive along as you listen to an NPS historian talk about decisive and dramatic battles.

Urban parks use podcast tours to reach local residents who may not know much about the parks they pass every day. For example, residents in Minneapolis and St. Paul can listen to information about Mississippi National River and Recreation Area while walking a four-mile loop near the river. Residents of Washington D.C. can download walking tours for Rock Creek Park and people in St. Louis can do the same for Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

Glacier National Park offers videos online about hiking, and rangers say the programs speed up the backcountry permit process. “Rather than having to watch the video at the permit station which is required, more and more visitors have watched it online ahead of time,” said Bill Hayden, Interpretive Specialist.

Other parks help people plan trips with podcasts, too. Visitors can learn about recreational activities at Curecanti National Recreation Area, like fishing, hiking, and camping. Katmai National Park and Preserve has an audio podcast weaving together music, stories, and tips for reaching that remote wilderness area.

Virtual Tours

While not available for download like podcasts, virtual tours are also available. For example, Clara Barton National Historic Site offers a virtual tour of Barton’s home, a building that served as the national headquarters for the American Red Cross. The tour allows visitors to navigate through all three levels of the house and gives access to images, text, and audio clips.

Acadia National Park has an eCruise along the rocky shores of Mount Desert Island and Glacier National Park offers eHikes that take visitors through stunning wilderness areas among glaciers, wildflowers, and bears.

New virtual tours are coming soon:

Zion National Park will release an eHike for Angel’s Landing;
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks will launch eHikes that go through the Sierra Nevada foothills or among the giant sequoias; and
The Statue of Liberty will provide an eTour covering Liberty Island, the inside of Lady Liberty, and a 360-degree view from her crown.

Some worry that creating podcasts and virtual tours about national parks may keep people, especially children, disconnected from the actual places. “Personally, I don’t think that people are going to give up on the real thing,” said Todd Edgar, Media Specialist at Acadia National Park. “After learning about parks from our online resources, people want to get outside and explore on their own.”

For many other national park podcasts and virtual tours, go to www.nps.gov. If a park unit offers online programs, you will find them by clicking on “Photos and Multimedia” in the left navigation bar of their homepage.

Well what do you know

2008-07-24T18:41:00.004-07:00

This is interesting, but the Twilight Zone has been made into radio dramas. I have always loved the tv series of course.

Stacy Keach plays the host of the program, with Blair Underwood, Luke Perry and Chris McDonald for starters.

The Twilight Zone™ Radio Dramas feature a full cast, music and sound effects and today’s biggest celebrities in modern radio dramatizations by Dennis Etchison of creator Rod Serling’s classic scripts. Hosted by Stacy Keach, The Twilight Zone™ Radio Dramas will keep you glued to the edge of your seat whether listening in your home or while driving in your car.

The recordings are not a resurrection of the past but new and fresh. Very sound recordings with a high standard in production.

The twilight zone is available in a set, get all the info here. A few are available to listen to. I had just listened to "Long Distance Call". Extremely good.

Get three free downloads here.

-=t=-

"Gate" Swings in for Summer

2008-07-09T18:24:00.002-07:00

"The Sonic Society began its Summer Season last week with "Gate". A new ten-part series written by Jack Ward and produced by Jack and Shannon Hilchie.
Gate is an adventure fantasy series about a girl in high school who finds herself selected for a title and a power that she was not ready for.
Gate is another anomaly in the audio drama community as it will has been written almost completely in the month of June, recorded within a month and a half and will be edited and released with a new episode every week in the summer. Gate completes its run of ten episodes with a two-parter.
Tune in to "Gate" Tuesdays in the Sonic Society feed at... http://sonic.rnn.beta.libsynpro.com/rss today!

Oh, and did I mention I'm in it? Well, it's a small part, But I'm in it!

JT

Mark Time/ Ogle Winners!

2008-06-17T17:02:00.005-07:00

Yay I can finally spill the beans! (Who said I couldn't keep a secret?) Congratulations to winners of this year's Mark Time Award for Science Fiction Audio, and Ogle Award for Fantasy/Horror Audio productions!

The Mark Time Awards are sponsored by MISFITS, and will be presented at
Convergence on July 3, 2008 in Bloomington, MN.
------------------------------

------------------------------

MARK TIME AWARDS

GOLD
Space Casey
Written & Produced by Christiana Ellis
www.spacecasey.com

SILVER
Androids and You
By Bill Stuart
Adapted & Produced by
David Hinde Chapman
Rattenfanger Radio
members.shaw.ca/ratten

HONORABLE MENTION
Mission Control
By Cynthia McGean
Produced by Sam A. Mowry
Willamette Radio Workshop
www.radiowork.com

OGLE AWARDS

GOLD
The Stuff of Myth
Produced/Written by Roger Gregg
Crazy Dog Audio Theatre
www.crazydogaudiotheatre.com

SILVER
The Dead Girl
Written & Directed by Kyle Hatley
Produced by Robert Arnold
Chatterbox Audio Theater
www.chatterboxtheater.org

and

Something Wicked This Way Comes
Produced by Chris Snyder, Mark Vanderberg, Jerry Robbins
Colonial Radio Theatre
Written by Ray Bradbury
www.colonialradio.com

HONORABLE MENTION
Afterhell, Volume 3: Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel
Ollin Productions
Produced by Joseph Medina
and Jamie Lawson
www.afterhell.com

---------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Time Awards - http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/MarkTime/MarkTime.html
MISFITS - http://www.misfit.org/
Convergence - http://www.convergence-con.org/

Congrats to everyone, and thanks everyone who sent in entries. You gave me some awesome audio cinema to listen to!

~Dani

Vindicatum part 1

2008-06-11T17:31:00.003-07:00

The incredibly talented people at Pendant Audio have started their 2nd cross over event in their DC Universe. Things are going to explode in this one.... no really. This is a combination of 4 DC Fan shows: Superman The Last Son of Krypton, Batman The Ace of Detectives, Wonder Woman Champion of Themiscrya and Supergirl The Lost Daughter of Krypton. The shows are easy to join in during while not knowing the full story line because they do an awesome job of explaining the history as they go with out disrupting the story. Vindicatum is a great fan production that any addict should be listening to...

Another Zany Season Of 'Botz Comes To Close

2008-06-09T11:32:00.003-07:00

It's been a season of ups and downs, but the last two episodes of Robotz of the Company Season 4 are now available on the podcast feed, as well as on the website!

Do they escape from Grease Monkey mountain? And above all else- what about Bob????

Head over now and listen! It's a nail-biter! ;-)

Podcamp Season!

2008-06-09T09:42:00.005-07:00

Podcamp season is in full swing now, and thanks to Podcasting News here is a list of all the up-and -coming camps. Find one near you- and go! I've said in the past I prefer the "camp" atmosphere over the expo/conference one. I like being in an environment where I feel a part of something, and involved. Where my own experience in podcasting and relevant media matters, vs. just going and having people tell me how it is, or should be.

If there isn't a podcamp near you- well then, maybe you can be the one to bring a podcamp to your area? ;-)

PodCamp Chicago Somewhere in Chicago - June 6, 7, and 8th 2008
Podcamp Austin - Austin, Texas - June 20, 21, 2008
PodCamp Seattle - June 21, 2008 - Seattle
PodCamp Ohio - Columbus, Ohio - June 28, 2008
PodCamp Boston 3 - Boston, Massachusetts, July 19-20, 2008
PodCamp Michigan - TBD In Michigan, September 2008
Podcamp Philly - TBA, September 2008 - More Information Soon!
PodCamp Pittsburgh 3 - The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - October 18-19, 2008
PodCamp AZ 2.0 - UAT PHX - November 1-2, 2008
PodCamp Colorado - The Art Institute of Colorado - Denver, CO, November 7, 8 & 9 2008
PodCampEDU2 The American University, Washington DC November 15 2008
PodCampSA (South Africa) - 22 November 2008 - Johannesburg, South Africa
Podcamp and PodCon Brasil in Curitiba, PR, Brazil, December 05 and 06, 2008.
PodCamp SF - January 18, 2009 @ MacWorld SF
PodCampWesternMass, Date TBD

You can get current information on upcoming PodCamps as the PodCamp wiki.

Parsec Award Nominations Now Open

2008-05-26T19:50:00.003-07:00

Times flies when you're podcasting! It's that time of year again, the 3rd annual Parsec Award nominations are now open.

Oh... all right. They've been open since FEBRUARY. That makes me as big of a loser as this guy. ;-)

A couple of great promos though- spread 'em far and wide! (that's what she said.)

*Scott Sigler/JC Hutchins (totally not safe in any way.)
http://parsecawards.com/node/430

*The more, um, appropriate one!
http://parsecawards.com/node/392

It's always great to browse around the submissions, I always seem to find one or two or ten new things I want to check out!

~Dani

Cool Radio Project For Teens

2008-05-26T09:47:00.004-07:00

Thought this little piece of audio news from my end of the planet was pretty neat.
~Dani

Radio project lets teens air their ideas, concerns

Tony Ganzer
Special for The Republic
May. 26, 2008 12:00 AM

Editor's note: This article was submitted by Tony Ganzer, Morning Edition producer for KJZZ-FM (91.5). Send your education news to lori.baker@arizonarepublic.com.

In my limited experience, there's an unfortunate truth when it comes to how and when people communicate with teenagers.

You may have seen them in the mall, or maybe they've cleared your table at the local burger joint, but it seems rare to hear a teenager's point of view about issues that matter to them, in their own words.

advertisement

Earlier this month, the Valley's NPR news station, KJZZ-FM (91.5), gave airtime to a few hard-working teens. Along with my duties as KJZZ's morning producer, I also steer the Sonic Roots program. I introduce students to public radio and to the skill of creating a three-minute, sound-rich radio feature. The topic is chosen by the students, and interviews are conducted mostly by the students (with a follow-up question or two from me.) And after the work, the students make it to air. The shows can be heard at kjzz.org/news.

Matt Butson, a student at Coronado High School in Scottsdale, is soon heading to college, and this transition has left him feeling confused, nervous and isolated.

"I'm not sure that I want to be a starving college student," Butson says in the feature.

That's why Butson chose to speak on the air with an educational psychologist about whether his confusion is "normal" and to Arizona State University's dean of admissions about how important choosing a major really is.

Butson offered a candid view of a young adult finding his way.

"Speaking with these professionals helped me focus on my future," Butson says in his story. "Bring it on."

Two students from Dobson High School in Mesa provided a look at Valley transportation issues. Rebecca Bever and Jessica Testa spoke with representatives from the Arizona Department of Transportation, Valley Metro, Metro light rail and their own peers, exploring how teens get around and how the system should change.

"Many teens, in our informal survey, feel that a more fluid mass-transit system is the Valley's answer," Bever and Testa say in their story. "Until better options come along, students are bound to keep doing what they have done."

These students chose to represent their peers' concerns through this project and to show that the younger generation is thinking about larger issues.

And one of my goals for Sonic Roots is to let students know: That's a good thing.

The Sonic Roots project encourages teenage civic engagement by giving them a voice in the media. It was funded by a grant from the Carstens Family Fund and Mike Minor.

Obsidian Promo Now Available

2008-05-20T15:52:00.004-07:00

Coming May 31st- "When the power fails... chaos reigns."

An audio promo for the new 7th Son podcast, Obsidian, is now available for your listening and distributing pleasure: http://media.libsyn.com/media/jchutchins/7sobsidian_promo.mp3

Some of the most well-known names in the podcasting community are coming together to bring Obsidian to life- I'm excited to hear their views from the big blackout in the 7th Son podnovel. Some of the names include:

Guaranteed to be a surprise every time! If you have not heard 7th Son yet, or need a refresher, you can get all the subscription information at http://jchutchins.net/site/.

~Dani

Dead LIne hit the Sonic Society

2008-05-12T20:21:00.006-07:00

The Sonic Society unveils "Time Enough" from the Dead Line Anthology series. This is a podcast premiere of Shannon Hilchie's first hour long script and is already getting high praise for its "creepyness factor". Starring Schoel Strang and Jack Ward in the lead roles, Time Enough looks at murder in modern blogs.
Part 2 launches Tuesday the thirteenth.

New Award For Audio Cinema Excellence

2008-05-08T09:20:00.004-07:00

If you are a listener of The Sonic Society, you know they bring a wide range of audio cinema to your ears each week. They have now jumped on the award wagon and are holding nominations for the best of the season, called (what else?) The Unis!

So very much to choose from! Here are the rules:

-review the list they provide at the link of all the audio cinema they've podcast this season.
-under the list you make your nominations (you can choose three)
-click submit!

It's so easy, a Unicorn can do it! Nominations close May 20th, so head over and choose what you think are the best shows SS has put out this season!

Podcasting In Plain English

2008-05-01T14:25:00.002-07:00

I did one of these in audio form back in the good 'ol days of Sonic Society, but I have to say this is much MUCH better! Clear, to the point, and VISUALS!

It's TV Turnoff Week!

2008-04-21T16:02:00.005-07:00

The perfect week to introduce your child to some great podcasts/audio dramas!

* Giddio Audio Adventures for Kids, featuring Billy Brown the Bear.
* Bedtime Stories My Kids Love Podcast, featuring the Adventures of The Man In The Can
* The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, which most of the readers know is for the kid in ALL of us!

As for you big kids, you're not off the hook either. How are YOU spending TV Turnoff week? (Yes, you can record your favorite TV goodies like The Office- it will be there next week. Besides, that's Thursday so you don't have long to wait.)

I'm going to check out Chasing The Bard, and I've also been catching up on Metamor City too.

Put that remote DOWN!

Podcast Infection Spreads To Print

2008-04-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The SFGate has a profile of podcasting novelist Scott Sigler that looks at how he’s used free podcasts to promoting his writing career (from Podcasting News).

On 3/27:
Coming April 1st, the successful podcast novel "Infected", by horror writer/podcaster Scott Sigler will be released in print. I am always excited to see podcasters move forward in their successes! Not just excitement for them, but also for the light it brings to the podcasting world.

For the next couple of days, the book is available as a .pdf- for free! There is also an interesting post by Cory Doctorow on the Boing Boing blog about the download and how publishers work in general in promoting book releases. If nothing else, the comments always add to the enjoyment!

If you want to know more about the master of pod-horror, JC Hutchins interviewed Sigler on his latest UltraCreatives interview podcast (which btw is another podcast that you should be listening to, fellow addicts!). He doesn't make Sigler cry, but you are always assured a good time when Hutchins and Sigler are together!

~Dani

Interview of SFF Audio's Jesse Willis

2008-04-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: I couldn't wait any longer, so I took a break in the midst of audio drama listening heaven to check out the interview. It took all day to listen to (thanks to my never-ending distracted life), and at the last 15 minutes I locked myself in a room and ignored the "Mom? Maaaahmmm!" coming from the other side just so I could finish it!

This was a great interview! Jesse is one intelligent person, and I thoroughly enjoyed his thoughts about the SciFi/Fantasy world, as well as his thoughts on podcasting and audiobooks. What was especially interesting and appreciated, are his thoughts about podiobooks vs. audio dramas. Jesse is not afraid to express his opinions about authors who decide to use sound effects and casts to podcast their books, but he does it with such class and true objectivity that you can't help but respect what he thinks.

Definitely one of the most enjoyable interviews I've heard in a long time. If you haven't listened yet, and have always been curious about the origins of the successful site SFF Audio, then this is a must-listen.

From 3/26:
I heard rumors there was an interview happening! My awesome
audio-blogging colleague Jesse Willis (which I am sure I do not have to tell you is the founder of SFF Audio), has been interviewed by the also awesome Chris Moody of PodioMedia Chat!

I hear it's a great chat, and unfortunately it's down a bit on my listening list, as I'm in the middle of listening to many, many Mark Time/Ogle entries! It shall be consumed by my earholes very soon, but until then all of YOU should go and listen!

http://podiomediachat.chrismoody.net/archives/73

~Dani

Sonic Society to Hit 100!

2008-04-02T18:24:00.002-07:00

The Sonic Society will hit 100 Podcasts this upcoming week! So send your congrats to the Zug Line at 1-206-ZUG-BEUD that's 1-206-984-2383 or e-mail your well wishes to sonicsociety@gmail.com.

This week saw April Fools Day hit the SS with a totally different audio drama show called "Pony Talez". An Audio "Tail" that needs to be "herd" to be believed. So sit back and enjoy.

Happy 100 Jack and Shannon!

JT

Blackout.

2008-04-02T16:06:00.003-07:00

BLACKOUT VIDEO - video powered by Metacafe

Yeah, JC knew I'd like this for some reason... ;-)

Go viral, and put this promo on your website of choice!

~Dani

For the Political Audio Addict: Road to Denver

2008-03-26T15:58:00.006-07:00

Another reason I've not listened to the previously mentioned interview- I've got my politic on! As I imagine everyone is aware, it's presidential election season here in the USofA, and well, considering I have a political podcast of my own, I'm always searching the series of tubes for decent information that goes a bit beyond finger-pointing and sniper fire. Shelly Brisbin, host of the informative and fun podcast simply named "Shelly's Podcast", has helped in on this front. She is trying to become a delegate to the Democratic National Convention late this summer in Denver. She decided to podcast her journey, and created the podcast "Road to Denver".

Shelly lives in Texas, so it begins with her goals for the show and then goes through her experience with the caucuses, and becoming a delegate for her district. Although it's from one states perspective and guidelines, I have to say I definitely enjoy hearing a personal experience of the process, by someone whose view is clear, balanced, and objective. She's got an excellent voice too!

If politics isn't your thing, then make sure you give a listen to her other show, because either way you will not be disappointed!

~Dani

Sonic Society Fund Drive Success!

2008-03-26T08:15:00.004-07:00

Hey good news Sonic Society fans!

From Shannon Hilchie in regards to the Torch Song CD Fund Drive:

The goal had been met over and above for my collection of Torch songs,
much to my joy and horror! Therefore, new information is needed.
As of right now, we have a total of TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. I love each
and every one of you SO much! Thank you to those of you who have
donated! I will lovingly list your names once this is all over, so if
you want to be anonymous, email me before then.

So far, we have a total of SEVEN songs, including one duet between
Jack and I. Only two song titles ave been confirmed, one being JT's
request of "Why Don't you do Right?", and the other being Jack's idea
for the duet of "Baby, it's Cold Outside". The rest of the songs do
need filling in, so please send your request if you donated to the
cause. Remember that fifty dollars and up gets you two song choices,
unless you really just want one.

Recording will begin in April, and I'm excited to announce that Sharon
Bee, our musical genius, will be able to record the music for the
songs! Hurrah! These are going to sound amaze, apart from my
involvement. Once the songs are completed, they will be placed on our
feed for 100% no money. The songs themselves are free for all the
enjoy, even if you didn't donate. Think of my singing as punishment,
where everyone else considers it reward.

Once again, thanks for supporting the Sonic Society, Jack, and I. It
means the world to us.

Also, you will be able to see Jack and Shannon In Kingston, Ontario (That's Canada folks!) at Podcasters Across Boarders 2008 as they present information regarding Hosting alone -vs- having a Co-Host. That presentation will be on Sunday at 11 AM.

Rock on guys!

JT

Dream Realm's Doctor Who series now podcasting!

2008-03-25T13:46:00.005-07:00

Attention Doctor Who fans! Due to an increasing demand for their shows, Dream Realm Enterprises has created a podcast feed for their series! Now you can have all the goodness that is DRE and Doctor Who with just a couple clicks, all nestled snug and neat in your podcatcher!

Podcast feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/dredoctorwho

Or as always, just click the subject line to head to the blog page!

There are many wonderful stories by many many groups out there (it's by far the most popular fan audio out there I believe)- leave a link to your Doctor Who fan audio(s) in the comments!

~Dani

Podcast Peer Winners Announced

2008-03-24T13:21:00.003-07:00

The next round of the Podcast Peers is over, and there were even a few ties to break this round! Here are the winners, but please head to the Winner's Page to see all of the finalists, and links to their websites:

*Best Couple Cast: Redboy Podcast featuring Absolute Amy
*Best Geek Podcast: GeekFit
*Best Eclectic Podcast: Podculture
*Best Fancast: Love Long and Prosper
*Best Audio Blog: Shelly's Podcast
*Old School (Shows that have been podcasting
for two years or longer): I Should be Writing
*Best Parenting Podcast: Mighty Mommy
*Best Newbee Podcast (Shows that are four months old or less): Transformed!
*Best Audio Drama: Buffy Between the Lines
*Best Tech Podcast: TWiT
*Exceptional Podcaster: Tabitha Grace Smith

Congrats to all the winners!

~Dani

Podcasters Across Borders Speaking Program

2008-03-23T17:10:00.004-07:00

As I was browsing the 4,000+ items in my bloglines feed, I noticed the 2008 schedule for Podcasters Across Borders is now available!

A lot of great speakers lined up (as usual) this year, including sessions on creating Audio Drama by one of the Quirky Nomads (which is a great podcast, btw!), how to make Google work for you by Michelle Sullivan, and how to be an awesome host by Tod Maffin. Many other awesome topics as well, click the subject line and check out the full schedule!

Registration is going on now as well, but space fills up fast so hurry! It's awesome! Otherwise I wouldn't have used it twice in last paragraph!

Awesome!

Inspiring Children's Literacy Through Audiobooks

2008-03-20T16:33:00.003-07:00

Once again, thanks to Twitter for alerting me to something awesome!
---
Inspiring Children's Literacy Through Audiobooks

It ’s not news to anyone that literacy rates among children have dropped dramatically over the past decade. I firmly believe we can use audiobooks to inspire children to seek out stories and inspire them to fall in love with the fantastical worlds that exist out there in books.

http://digg.com/educational/Let_s_In..._through_Audio

Original post:

Let’s Inspire Children’s Literacy through Audiobooks
March 20th, 2008 · No Comments

Today, I had a chance to meet in person with with U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman (D. California) about a matter I feel very strongly about: Children’s Literacy.

Now, it’s not news to anyone that literacy rates among children have dropped dramatically over the past decade. Though many people like to blame schools or the home environment, my personal belief is that children of all ages aren’t reading because they are not inspired to. In fact, it took a boy wizard to prove this simple theory. After Harry Potter’s initial release, libraries all over were inundated by kids who were inspired to read more because they discovered the joy of books and the unbridled thrill of imagining these stories come to life in their own minds.

I have on many occasions postulated that the erosion of readership among adults has come not from laziness nor the proliferation of entertainment choices like video games, television or the internet, but from the fact that people are generally sick of cookie-cutter choices major media has given us in the name of cloning one success to hopefully breed another. Children are amazing beings capable of making this distinction, though they may not know why. Children everywhere, by nature, love to explore the depths of their own imaginations but those imaginations require inspiration to blossom. How many of us remember those moments from our own childhoods or have seen in our own children the wonderful moment inspiration strikes and the voracious desire to consume more and more of that which had inspired us. Books make up a vast universe full of adventure, fantasy and wonderful characters and literacy is the ticket to that world. We live in the era of the mp3 generation. The iPod and the computer are two of the most ubiquitous sources of entertainment consumption by today’s youth and those audiences are skewing younger than ever. I firmly believe we can use audiobooks to inspire children to seek out stories and inspire them to fall in love with the fantastical worlds that exist out there in books.

What I would like to do is plant this seed of a concept in the mind of U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman. All politicians respond to united voices. Please join me in sending this message to Congressman Sherman (Sherman@BradSherman.com) by e-mailing him a simple statement saying, more or less: “I agree with Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff that children’s literacy can be inspired through audiobooks”. Feel free to change the message as suits you most. I only ask that you reference my name so Congressman Sherman can know better why you are writing based upon my meeting with him. And please, for your own sake, don’t try to be funny and send him the kind of messages that will ultimately get you into trouble. Those of you who know me, know that I never hesitate to speak up about a cause that I feel is important and I hope that you too, feel that children’s literacy is a matter you care enough about to send just one email. And those of you who are writers yourselves, please join me in this effort because inspiring today’s kids into becoming tomorrow’s readers means a future that’s brighter for everybody.

You can reach U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman at Sherman@BradSherman.com.
http://markyoshimotonemcoff.com/word...gh-audiobooks/

Something worth Digging and spreading the word about! On a personal note, I have seen the inspiration to read brought forth by audiobooks in my older daughter. She began listening to Harry Potter audiobooks, and from there she actually wanted to read the books! She had never had much interest in reading before listening. I suppose I could give the Potter books credit too, but she never had an interest in reading them before she listened.

Again, spread the word!
~Dani

Broken Sea Thinking Ahead To Halloween

2008-03-18T00:54:00.005-07:00

Saw this important message on the Modern Audio Drama yahoo group- thought I'd pass on the word! Great opportunity from the fine folks at Broken Sea Audio!
~Dani
---
BrokenSea Audio Productions is seeking short works for our Halloween 2008 series.

In 2007 BrokenSea showcased some great audio in public domain and original works. We had Halloween poetry, full cast audio drama, readings of stories and other dark things. During October we go to Hell and back to deliver new content every day. So we need up to 100 items to podcast.

Contact exec@brokensea.com subject: Halloween 2008 if you have:

1. An unpublished short story (up to 5000 words) that you would be
willing to either have read, or adapted into a single episode audio drama
then please contact us.

2. A published story that own the rights for audio publication (in other
words your publisher wont sue us for producing it)

3. Poetry of a Halloween or horror theme that meets the above
requirements.

We are also interested in original audio drama scripts of up to 30 minutes performance time (longer scripts enquire first). No fan-fiction please.

Payment: BrokenSea Audio does not pay for audio scripts or the rights to produce your work.
We also do not pay our voice actors, producers, foley artists, composers, web and graphic design artists. The flip side is that we do not sell any audio either. We operate on a volunteer basis and all work is released free of charge under a Creative Commons License.
The benefits to authors are exposure to a new market, we include links to your website or other promotional site for your work and you get your name in a few thousand potential readers ears.

Please pass this on to any indviduals, forums or groups that may be interested. All enquiries and material to exec@brokensea.com

Paul Mannering : Email Support Coordinator: Westpac Phone Assist
Tel: 0800 400 600 (xtn: 91806) DDI: +64 3 372 4608 Fax: +64 3 372 4680
Email: customer_support@westpac.co.nz

Impromptu Fundraiser for The Sonic Society

2008-03-15T18:24:00.004-07:00

Sonic Society Host Shannon Hilchie really stepped in it when she said "If People send me 100 dollars, I'll put out a CD of Torch Songs" So far she is well on her way to that $100 dollar mark (or actually over by now) and has put out the following rules for donations.

To Quote her from the Thread on Audiodramatalk.com

Sooooooo....

What have we learned class? Pick higher numbers.

We hit goal this morning. In fact, we're OVER the goal. Good LORD, people! What is WRONG with you?

Everyone who donated? Thank you so much! I can't believe you actually want to hear me sing that much! I'm so touched... this is really blowing my mind. I've been wandering my house muttering "Oh My God" for the past three hours.

So what to do with the rest of the month? Easy. The donations will still be accepted, but this time it'll be for extra songs. No matter what, this will be created! HURRAH!

The number of songs will work like this: For any donation under fifty dollars, you will get one song choice. Fifty or over, you get two. You can either pick a song yourself, or leave it to Jack and I. Jack has also thrown his hat into the ring by promising a duet of he and I if we hit the 200 mark! Woo hoo!

Where does the money go? Some of it will go to our fabulous music angel, Sharon Bee, who will (hopefully) be doing the instrumentation for the songs. I'm so excited to actually pay her for once!! She does such high quality work, it's a shame that she doesn't see any coin for it. That changes with this little project. The rest of it goes towards Sonic Cinema costs, which are ramping up as we plot out Sonic Gold.

So there is still good reason to contribute to this cause!

If your are a fan of the Sonic Society, toss em some love.

JT

New 7th Son Project Coming Soon!

2008-03-05T10:23:00.003-07:00

If you are like me, and a 7th Son fan, then you have been going through withdrawals over the past few months since the crazy wicked awesome trilogy ended. I was able to relive a few moments when hubby began listening and would talk to me about the story. Even that was short lived though, as he went through all three books in about a week.

THEN I see this awesome news, via Twitter! Obsidian is coming! From author JC Hutchin's blog:

"7th Son: OBSIDIAN is an audio short story anthology that chronicles a crisis that took place in 7th Son, Book Three: Destruction. In that novel, the United States fell victim to a coordinated terrorist attack. Power stations across the country were destroyed, and the U.S. was plummeted into a country-wide blackout. In the timeline of the trilogy, this blackout occurred in mid-November 2007.

While this blackout was described in the trilogy, the story never focused on its true victims: average Americans.

7th Son: OBSIDIAN does just that."

He's got some of the most well-known names in podcasting lined up to create these stories. You know, with first names we all recognize like Evo and Mur and Tee... and he has some names that made me cock my head to the side and think "hmmm..." I have no doubt I will be pleasantly surprised at hearing a different side from podcasters, and am SO looking forward to this new project!

Get all the details right here! Will let you know when the first story premieres, which should be in May.

Broken Sea Audio Fans, Grab Your Icepick!

2008-03-04T10:13:00.004-07:00

Time flies when you're making audio drama! Broken Sea Audio productions has just passed their one-year anniversary! Rather than celebrating with dinner, roses, and candlelight, they have created The Ice Pick Awards.

Click the subject link above and head over to vote for your favorite Broken Sea production, as well as voice actors, and other awesomeness that this group has brought us the last year.

If you've never heard a production from Broken Sea before, well, no time like the present! Voting is open until the end of March, so there is plenty of time to listen AND vote!

Congratulations to everyone at Broken Sea for a wonderful year! Keep bringing us addicts the awesome audio cinema!

Time To Visit Powder River!

2008-03-01T11:17:00.006-07:00

Back in January the good news came in that Colonial Radio Theatre was going to podcast some of their work through The Sonic Society. Well, the time is here!

The first two episodes of Colonial's hit western series, Powder River, entitled "The New Owner," and "The Moment of Truth." are available now!

http://sonic.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=312243

Also included is an interview with Powder River's producer Chris Snyder.

It's that time again- Mark Time/Ogle Awards '08!

2008-02-29T09:01:00.001-07:00

UPDATE!!! The deadline to get entries in has been extended to Tuesday, March 4th for the postmark deadline!

Producers:
If you have been worried that you wouldn't be able to make the deadline
for entry in the Mark Time Awards for science fiction audio theater, or Ogle
Awards for fantasy audio, here's the latest from David Ossman - Mark Time
himself.
"It's been a hard month. Plenty of weather and everybody has the
damn flu. And the deadline [March 1] comes on a weekend. Let's give 'em all
till Tuesday, the 4th for the postmark deadline."

Just bumping this back to the top so no one forgets to get their entries mailed!

I also found out that if you have a fan audio drama (you know, something like a Dr. Who or Batman audio drama), you can enter those too! So what are you waiting for! Mail those entries IN!

---

Attention all audio cinema writers/producers/etc.! It is time to look over all the great work you've done over the past year, and submit your entries for this year's Mark Time/Ogle Awards!
---

The deadline for entry in the annual Mark Time Awards / Ogle Awards for science fiction and fantasy audio theater is coming up on March 1, 2008.

The Mark Time/Ogle Awards are the only awards given solely for audio
theater. This is their 12th year, and the entries are getting better
every year.So, if you've produced science fiction or fantasy audio theater that
you're proud of in 2007, make it a point to enter.

You will find an entry form at:
http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/MarkTime/MT_Form.html.

Just fill it out, add a $25 entry fee, and send it in with 5 copies
of your entry.
You can find out more at
http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/MarkTime/MarkTime.html,
including past winners, the Mark Time SF Audio Hall of Fame, and
judging criteria.

The postmark deadline is March 1. The judges will notify winners by
Mid-May. The awards will be presented at CONvergence, July 3, 2008. Winners will be given
registration to the convention, a plaque and a t-shirt. It's a real treat to meet with other producers and spend a weekend talking shop, in the company of others who love science fiction. We will perform a new original radio show at the beginning of the convention. And during the long weekend there will be time for an audio panel, and an autographing party, so bring your products with you.

Podcast Peer Award Final Voting Thru March 15

2008-02-27T00:49:00.008-07:00

The next round of the Podcast Peer Awards has finished the nomination process, and is in the final voting stages! Many great podcasters are up for the award this time around, in many eclectic categories! A few of the categories are:

*Technology
*Parenting
*"Old School"
*Couplecast
*Fan Cast
*Audio Drama
*Exceptional Podcaster

To join in the fun, you must first off be a podcaster, been podcasting at least three months, and have 6 shows under your belt. Then you need to join the forum, and become validated. Get all the details right here:

http://www.podcastpeers.org/podcasters.html

If you are all ready registered- head over and see the finalists and vote today! Voting ends March 15th! There are some very good shows/podcasters in the running, it made it very difficult to vote on a couple of them! I've also noticed the amount of votes has increased considerably from the last round- this is a wonderful thing! As a past recipient of a Podcast Peer, I have to say it's a great feeling to be acknowledged by your peers for all the hard work we put into our shows.

Old Wounds: Wedding Day part 2 Now posted!

2008-02-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

The fine folks over at The Sonic Cinema have released Part 2 of their second Firefly based audio drama, Wedding Day.

If you enjoyed 'Old Wounds" be sure to grab Wedding Day! Just in case you forgot, the RSS Feed for The Sonic Society is http://sonic.libsyn.com/rss

Enjoy!

JT

Dream Realm: One big update!

2008-02-22T17:15:00.000-07:00

All sorts of awesome audio goodness from Dream Realm Enterprises to talk about! From their latest newsletter:

"After being in post production hell for well over two years, Granville Scott's second audio production for DRE's anthology series known only as The Realm Weaver, finally sees the light of day! Avatar is released over the course of two weeks as a two part drama! What happens when young ex-student Jason Knight creates an interactive love-mate who isn't quite what he bargained for? Can he somehow program her to behave more human? What happens when he enlists the aid of his old college professor? Tune in to DREGold.net to find out! Avatar stars: Steve Anderson as Jason Knight, JEff Niles as Dr. Kemper Kahn, Lexy Vanier as Lenore, and Cookie Colletti as Helen!

Check out the BRAND NEW sci-fi drama from Granville Scott, "Avatar"!! A story about a boy, a virtual girl, and a galaxy! Well, okay we made up the galaxy bit! But trust us, you'll love this one!

It's available NOW for FREE to download at DREGold.net! So, go to the website, or follow the link below to download it right now! Visit us on the web or follow the link provided below (or copy and paste into your web browser):"

Realm Weaver #3 "Avatar" written by Granville Scott:

http://www.dregold.net/RealmWeaver/RW3A-Avatar1.mp3

Also, the next installment of "The Dark Building Lounge" turns the mic around and interviews the wonderful host of the series, Jeff Niles:

http://www.dregold.net/DarkBuildingLounge/DBL202B-JN.mp3

And finally, DRE's Robotz of the Company is preparing for it's 5th (and possibly final) season, and they want YOU to write an episode for them. If you've been listening from the beginning, ROTC has come a long way over the past few years, both in story, and behind the scenes. It's definitely the little audio production that could! Now Jon is gathering ideas on where to take the botz next, and would love to see other writers get involved!

Want to know more? Visit the thread started on Audio Drama Talk for all the details! And do it soon, there is a deadline of March 15th for submissions!

http://www.audiodramatalk.com/showthread.php?p=3960#post3960

So much audio goodness from such a great company- head over today and see how you can join in on the awesomeness that is Dream Realm Enterprises!

UPDATE! Part Two of "Avatar" is NOW available: http://www.dregold.net/RealmWeaver/RW3B-Avatar2.mp3

6th graders using podcasting in school

2008-02-22T13:47:00.004-07:00

Thanks again to Podcasting News, here is an awesome video of 6th graders explaining podcasting, and the work they did on a particular story. They also explain how it goes beyond the textbook to increase their english/language skills.

Very awesome!

Before I forget: Wedding Day: Part 1

2008-02-17T17:48:00.004-07:00

Before I forget, and part 2 comes out and you fall behind, the fine folks over at The Sonic Cinema have released Part 1 of their second Firefly based audio drama, Wedding Day.

If you enjoyed 'Old Wounds" be sure to grab Wedding Day! Just in case you forgot, the RSS Feed for The Sonic Society is http://sonic.libsyn.com/rss

Enjoy!

JT

The Valentine's gift that keeps on giving!

2008-02-15T09:07:00.005-07:00

Podcasts! Several podcasts were featured on the Podcasting News site yesterday for their unique ways of looking at this exaggerated holiday. Click the subject line to see the great video embedded there, and check these other shows out as well!
--

*For a short, simple sonnet by the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, check out “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed,” a live reading by Cyn.

*Podshow podsafe music maven Anji Bee has made a Valentine Special edition of her Chillcast, “a 60 minute mix of songs in the key of love.”

*The lifestyle podcast network, Personal Life Media focuses on personal relationships all year ’round, and their Valentine-time offerings maintain that focus. Hard to single out just a few, but the spicy titles include “On the Minds of Men: Sparking Up Your Love Life,” and “Tantra and Kama Sutra: The Heart and Breath of Tantra.”

*In Valentine video offerings, environmental video podcast ZapRoot! has a funny/practical/naughty Valentine’s Day Special, in which recommendations range from fair trade chocolate and eco-tourist hotels, to recycled-rubber and pthalate-free sex toys and eco-porn (which I hadn’t previously known existed!).Comedy video creators PandaSmash have another poetic Valentine offering, “The Break Up Poem,” in which they highlight the differences among sonnets, limericks, haiku, beatnik poetry, slam and feminist poetry. Pretty silly.

Since V-day is over, it's all the same podcasting goodness, for half the price!

Two Endings of Note

2008-02-14T05:58:00.004-07:00

This week two excellent Podiobooks/audio dramas wrapped up their stories. They have both been mentioned here before, but just incase you were waiting for them to finish to start listening, here is your reminder.

Playing for Keeps by Mur Lafferty

Space Casey by Christiana Ellis

OK. Now you have been reminded. Go, Listen, enjoy.

JT

Oh, Now that I have an open hour a week for something new, I'm taking suggestions.
e-mail me: jt(at)nightgig.com

JT

Kids Bedtime Story Podcast To Be Published In Print

2008-02-13T21:38:00.004-07:00

This is pretty cool, from Podcasting News:

Mark Linder, the creator of the Bedtime Stories My Kids Love podcast, has reached an agreement with the newly formed PodShow Press to publish in both audio and print form his first book of bedtime stories, The Adventures of the Man in the Can.

The new work is a collection of stories about a character named The Man in the Can and comes from the Bedtime Stories My Kids Love podcast.

“The Man in the Can is one of Bedtime Stories My Kids Love most beloved characters,” says Linder. “The tiny man always seems to find himself in impossible situations and somehow, through his ingenuity, steadfastness and the help of his animal and bird friends, always seems to find a way to persevere.”

The printed version of the book is scheduled for release later this year. The first audio book chapter of the series is available now for listening.

Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BedtimeStoriesMyKidsLove

Space Casey Comes to a close.

2008-02-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Well how are you all doing you addicts. This is the WaNDeR Wolf. I thought I would be to your attention the finale of Space Casey has been released. Since I am part of that production crew I will not go into thought on the production - you can find thoughts on a December post...
What I want to tell you about is the Q&A session on Talk Shoe on February 23. Check out www.spacecasey.com for more information.

Looking for a new Story Telling Podcast?

2008-02-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a new podcast that is along the same line as: EscapePod? There is a new podcast available which I've helped a little with called Clonepod.org.
For being such a new podcast it does indeed sound very professionally done, which isn't by accident as they have acquired the assistance of someone who works in Hollywood to do the sound editing.

Their latest story, The Interview is a rather interesting story commenting on how badly government secrets can hurt, especially when only a few know the truth.

The political commentary done by the young people at the beginning of the story may seem a little out of place for a group of people so young, but after having met them, it is actually their own words.

So if your looking for a new donation supported story podcast to get behind, try out ClonePod.

You can subscribe to them with this RSS feed.

Colonial Radio Theatre Venturing Into SciFi!

2008-02-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

Was traveling through the series of tubes this evening and found this goodie posted over on SFF Audio! Then I immediately went to the Colonial Radio Theatre Blog for more! Jerry Robbins writes:

"In all the years we have been producing radio plays at CRT, we have never done science fiction. Even the three productions we have done with Ray Bradbury were not quite sci-fi ... more fantasy I would say.
Well, that will change this summer! I am VERY excited to tell you all that we are going to produce BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT. This was a book written by Walter Koenig in 1988. Walter played Pavel Chekov in TV's STAR TREK, as well as in seven of the motion pictures. He also is known for the role of AlfredBester in Babylon 5."

More of Jerry's thoughts HERE! Very exciting news indeed! Knowing the high-quality in all Colonial's other productions, this is sure to be a great listen! Especially with Koenig appearing in it as well!

They are teenagers! From outer space!

2008-01-29T14:01:00.001-07:00

Schlock Audio (who is now partnered with Texas Radio Theatre) is back and in full cheese-mode with all new B-movie goodness! Teenagers from Outer Space-ace-ce-e....

"Earth has been invaded by diving helmet wearing, gorilla-suited aliens hell bent on universal domination! Humanity is but one family away from extinction! This is an exciting episode that CANT BE MISSED! HURRY! Put your audio goggles on and tune in as an epic battle rages, bubbles are blown, and the fate of our world is decided, ALL IN ASTOUNDING TECHNICOLOR 3-D STEREO!!!!"

As with every Schlock audio, I must have popcorn while listening. You can also hear a very funny blooper reel which is up on the podcast feed. The feed sports both Texas Radio and Schlock productions- and I'm sure Teenagers from Outer Space will be in the feed soon!

Podcast: http://texasradio.libsyn.com/

After month hiatus, Robotz return! And get naked!

2008-01-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

Take one beautiful, romantic evening, add a romantic dream and a desire for Kika to be a little um, closer to her sweet sweet Brisco, and you have Robotz turned human for 12 hours!

Exactly how did they become all fleshy and hormone-crazed? What does our crazy crew sound like in human-form? Listen to the lastest episode of Dream Realm's smash hit Robotz of the Company and find out! Definitely one of the raciest episodes of 'Botz to date- and hilarious!

Click the subject line to link to the podcast, or get the podcast feed HERE.

Praise the Company, hubba-hubba!

State of the Podiobook

2008-01-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

The latest episode of fellow-addict Chris Moody's PodioMedia Chat features Tee Morris- who is also the first to have a second appearance on the show!

Now, they could have chatted about Morevi: Remastered. They could have chatted about the Podcasting for Dummies Podcast and book. They even could have chatted about the Survival Guide To Writing Fantasy.
So many things to cover, and what do they talk about?

Scott Sigler.

(All right, they talk about the other things too!)

Lazy Sunday Fun!

2008-01-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

It's a rare, rainy day here in the desert, so I'm killing some time and plugging different terms into this slogan generator.

How Many Licks Does it Take to Get to the Center of an Audio Drama?

Generated by the Advertising Slogan Generator, for all your slogan needs. Get more Audio Drama slogans.

I've plugged in "podiobooks" and a few others. Have fun! :-D

Podiobook Double-Hitter

2008-01-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

Two Podiobooks you should definitely add to your playlist! One all ready 13 chapters in (my favorite/lucky number!) and the other has just begun (Although Metamor has several fabulous short stories in its feed).

Murder At Avedon Hill by P.G Holyfield:

Lord Avedon has a problem. Generations of Avedons have watched over Avedon Hill and controlled the only pass through the Lantis Mountains. Traditions are important to the Avedon family, but one tradition has tragically come to an end. Gretta Platt, Housemistress of Avedon Manor, has been murdered. A member of the Platt family has always served the Avedons as Housemistress… until now.Only a handful of people live at Avedon Hill, and most are suspects. Arames Kragen, retired Aarronic Advisor and scholar of prophecy, arrives at the gates of Avedon Hill, hoping to gain access to the mountain pass. Lord Avedon is not in a giving mood, however…This is the story of Arames Kragen and his attempt not only to discover who killed Gretta Platt, but also to uncover the truth about a town that apparently has more secrets than inhabitants.

Metamor City: Making the Cut by Christopher Lester

The Metamor City Podcast features short stories and novels set in an
urban fantasy world where spells and cyberpunk collide. 1300 years have
passed since the Dark Wizard Nasoj placed a curse on the people of
Metamor Valley, twisting their bodies and minds in the hope of making them his servants. They didn't bow so easily. Now, Metamor governs a benevolent empire that spans half a continent. What was once a rural valley with one large castle has become a towering metropolis of fifteen million people, with four layers of magically-suspended roads and
buildings that rise hundreds of meters into the sky. The Curse is under control -- mostly -- but the people of Metamor are far from safe. In the shadows of Metamor's glittering spires, beneath the glamour and glory of the Jewel of the North, dark things are stirring. The battle for the future is beginning, and more and more people are learning the one eternal truth about Metamor City: No one who comes here ever leaves unchanged.
There are very detailed accounts of this amazing fantasy world right HERE.

Both podiobooks are available through iTunes as well!

Colonial Radio getting some podcast play!

2008-01-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

The insanely popular Sonic Society has declared 2008 "The Year of Audio Drama" (what- not "pulp radio"? ;-) ) and they have found the best way to celebrate- with Colonial Radio Theatre! From the SS blog:

"Colonial Radio Theatre, who's amazing productions have included Captain Blood, the Father Brown Mysteries, Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes as well as The Dibble Show, Powder River and more than 200 other titles has agreed to allow the Sonic Society an exclusive peek inside their vault.
This year Society Members will be taking a V.I.P. tour through the worlds of Colonial Radio thanks to creative force, producer, writer, and actor Jerry Robbins.
Every month in 2008- The Year of Audio Drama, Jack and Shannon will be adding an extra show to the Society feed to provide these bonus features."

Exciting stuff- and a great idea! What a fabulous way to tell others about your work- and a good place to do it, too. Click the title link for more information about what productions you will be hearing this year!

Why Radio Sucks

2008-01-21T23:29:00.001-07:00

From Wired Magazine:

Unless you enjoy hearing the same insipid Fergie song a dozen times a day, chances are you loathe mainstream radio. And for good reason: The FM band between 92.1 and 107.9, where commercial stations reign, is mostly a desert of robo-DJs and pop pabulum.

The sad decline of conventional radio is an Econ 101 lesson in the consequences of artificial scarcity — and a B-school case study on the limits of scientific management. The scarcity is the fault of the Federal Communications Commission, which decided in the mid-1940s to confine FM broadcasting to its current frequency range, roughly between 88 and 108 MHz. The FCC's spectrum-allocation rules, designed to prevent station signals from interfering with one another, further limited the number of broadcasting licenses it granted in any one market.

By the '70s, thanks to a fecund period in popular music, a generation of audacious DJs, and cheap radios, FM had become wildly popular. That made stations valuable properties — so valuable, in fact, that only large companies could afford to buy and manage them. "The legal cost alone of getting on the air is enormous," says Jesse Walker, author of the radio history Rebels on the Air. The government could have eased this situation by allocating more spectrum for radio use and increasing the number of licenses, Walker argues. Instead, Congress chose to relax the rules regarding the number of stations any one entity could own.

That's where the scientific management comes in. The biggest barriers to building a radio audience are the polarizing power of music and the plethora of choices on the dial. So, when corporations like Clear Channel started buying up stations in the late '90s, they set about building a lowest-common-denominator product that would be attractive to the most listeners. "There's this idea of the perfect playlist," Walker says. "Find it with research and attract the perfect audience." But it turns out that the most lucrative audience is really just "people who will not change the channel during the ads." The result: watered-down programming designed primarily not to offend.

So bored consumers are just tuning out. Listenership among 18- to 24-year-olds is down 20 percent over the past decade. Stations have responded not with bold programming but by cutting costs. They've also expended considerable resources to squelch competition from low-powered FM stations and Internet radio. Not that it has helped — 85 percent of teenagers now discover new music through sources beyond the FM dial. Even the biggest radio fans envision a grim future for the medium. One bright spot: The inevitable shift to digital radio could create more room for more types of content.

Definitely makes sense, although there are a few independent stations here and there who keep kicking, and aren't half bad. Getting the range and the listeners are a lot of work, though. Especially listeners, when radio is now also battling the ever-growing podcast.

Check out the link to the article, there are many other things that suck- a list of 33!

RPG Audio -- Unscripted Audio Drama?

2008-01-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

For those of you who just can't get enough audio goodness, one of the more interesting options may lie in recorded role-playing game sessions, often called simply "game audio." These are exactly what the name suggests: a group of gamers sit down to play D&D, Call of Cthulhu, or any number of other game systems that exist out there, with a microphone in the middle of the table to record the results. The audio quality of these was a bit more iffy in the past, but the more dedicated game audio podcasters have been working to improve this, experimenting with systems including binaural surround sound.

The results can be a great deal of fun, even if you are not familiar with the system being played -- or, I suspect, even if you're not a gamer at all. Indeed, listening to a recorded RPG session is a good way for those not familiar with the concept to really understand what it's all about!

It can also be highly entertaining. Some game audio podcasters will edit the session, some don't -- so things have the potential to get off-topic, silly, or occasionally downright crude!

Here are four different groups doing game audio. There are more out there, but these are ones I've listened to at least once.

RPGMP3.com is one of the longest running game audio sites out there. The centerpiece of their output is a full audio transcript of a group playing The World's Largest Dungeon, that totals several days' worth of audio. Their game of choice is Dungeons & Dragons.

Role-Playing Public Radio (RPPR) started off doing audio comedy sketches centered on gaming. More recently they have begun producing a regular podcast discussing gaming topics, as well as game audio.

The Rolemonkeys are a group which plays and records sessions in a number of game systems. I first heard them as they tried out a new game, The Esoterrorists, an action/horror game in a contemporary setting. (Think X-Files or Torchwood.)

The fine folks at Yog-Sothoth.com gave me my introduction to game audio, with their "Masks of Nyarlathotep" game, which ran to around 20 episodes and over two solid days worth of audio. Joe and I were so impressed with both the Masks game and YSDC's regular cephalo-podcast, Yog Radio, that Ollin Productions is sponsoring the current audio game being podcast, "Horror on the Orient Express". As might be guessed, the folks at YSDC mainly play Call of Cthulhu.

Podcasting for Dummies 2.0: Expert Podcasting Practices

2008-01-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Months ago you say, Mr. Terra?

Sheesh. This is way more exciting than Macworld... to this PC girl at least!

Unfortunately, the photo on Amazon (which I shamelessly swiped) doesn't include third author Ryan Williams. But you see it on the cover in Evo's cute pic!

I'd say this is a must have for any podcaster, or wanna-be podcaster. Unlike the MacBook Air, which I bet you have to pump like a Nike. ;-)

So.. You Want to Podcast your Book...

2008-01-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

So.. You Want to Podcast your Book...

I've been a fan of Audio Books for years, and the introduction of podcasting books has ushered in a new wave of No cost, freely down-loadable audio books. This is a good thing. Mostly. Varying quality in readings and production value, amongst other factors, make for many well written books, not having a chance in audio format.

To help aspiring authors in avoiding this problem I've decided to make a list of do's and don'ts for amateur perspective Audio/Podio book authors, to give their work the best chance of doing what their audio production should: Entertain the listener, and attract a publisher. (Disclaimer: I'm not an expert, but I have been in podcasting since 2005, and understand the work that goes into producing a quality audio production and listening to audio books longer than that.)

1. Should you read your book yourself?
This is a serious question you need to ask yourself. You have heard the phrase "a face for radio"? well the same applies for audio as well. Some people just don't have the voice for audio. So be objective, and make the right choice. This is more important for fiction, but in some cases a trained voice is the best choice.

2. Speaking of which, In a work of fiction, the reader of book should be the same sex as the Main Character.
Yes, there are some readers that can pull off the opposite sex vocally, but if the main voice of the narrative is read by the opposite sex of the character, it pulls the listener out of the story. Secondary characters are fielders choice, whether you want to have different people read the different parts, or have the one reader do voices, is a judgement call you'll have to make. Many authors straddle the line between straight reading and full out audio theater production Which brings us to...

3. Sound effects.
Again, mostly for works of fiction, a few well places sound effect and mood/background music can be used to draw the reader/listener in to your world. On the flip side of that coin, badly placed, inappropriate sounds and music can ruin an otherwise good audio book.
Being a good foley artist isn't easy, and unless you have some experience with sound effects, you may want to just leave the sounds out. As for mood/background music the same rules apply. They say in movies a well produced soundtrack isn't even noticed. I've listened to more than one book where, as soon as some action is hinted at, loud "action" music swells from nowhere and totally ruins any tension that was building in my imagination, again ripping me from the story.
So, if you are going to put in a few sounds or background ambiance or mood music, make sure they are mixed in correctly, and if you have to make a mistake in volume, err on the side of too soft, the words are the important part of the production after all.

4. Recording/sound Quality.
Good quality Audio counts.
You need to start simple, If you are doing it yourself, and don't have a lot of money to spend on production (like most of us) at the minimum, pick up a good USB headset mic, and find a quiet place to record. If you have a few more dollars to spend, a decent mixer and mic set up can be had in the 150 dollar range.
The Quality of the audio you record sets the stage for how good the end product will be. Start Simple and when you have got the basics down, then, and only then, think about adding production value, while keeping the quality at a level you would be happy to listen to yourself.

5. Edit content for audio?
Again, this is for mainly Fiction. Reading a conversation is different from hearing a conversation. The "He said"s and "She said"" needed for the written word really detract from the story, especially if you are using separate voice actors or specific voices for each character. You may want to edit your work to reflect the style of production.

6. Multiple RSS feeds
There are two main ways to make your Book available for download, By this I mean Straight Podiobook, where the audio file is just the book, with a short "You can find more information at www... " at the end of each chapter. and the other is Full on Podcast Release, where you intro each episode with a summery of What happened last time, and end each episode with listener feed back and announcements of contests and other blog type information.
I recommend... both. Yes both.
Releasing the book in weekly installments in full podcast mode, is a great way to build an audience and get the buzz going for your work. Scott Sigler, Mur lafferty, JC Hutchins, Tee Morris and Christiana Ellis have used this model with great results. The problem with using only this method, is these files will be on line, well forever, and having 1/3 of your audio book news and information that is 2-3 years old just gets annoying, and will just pull those future listeners from the story.
The solution is to have 2 RSS feeds. One for the podcast, and the other a pure Audiobook reading. Mur Lafferty did (is doing) this with 'Playing for Keeps" with the Podcast feed full of Listener and fan produced content as well as the book itself.

The Point of this list is to help you to create a viable promotional tool for your work. Your Listeners/readers are not going stick around, no matter how great your story is, if it's painful to listen to your audio. Poor sound quality, bad/inconsistent volume levels, an irritating voice, and bad use of music and sound effects will have readers hitting delete after the first chapter.

If you don't think you can handle the recording and production of the final products, There are other options. Perhaps you know someone who wants to help, and if not there are always professional services and Podiobooks.com also offers these services for a reasonable fee.

I hope this helps, It's not a complete list, but it's a good start to a successful Podiobook.

JT Shea

Fan Communities Part 3: Podiobooks!

2008-01-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

It's like an invasion! Seems Podiobooks.com has a new fan site as well. (Ok, well it isn't BRAND new, but I finally have been catching up on all my audio feeds, and I found a post from Evo about it.)

This is a great place for authors, podcasters, and listeners to all gather and talk about everything from who's writing what, to how to begin your own podiobook. Also an interested discussion about where the limit is in social media networking.

Another good place!

So many fan communities, so little time

2008-01-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

Was twittering away, and noticed JC Hutchins (author of the 7th Son Podcast Novel) getting all nutty. And, when JC gets nutty, it usually means that he's scheming.

Well, what do you know? He was scheming. Go and check out his new fan site! This Ning thing (hehe) is pretty cool. It was used for NaPodPoMo. Easy and very interactive.

Crazy Dog Revived

2008-01-11T10:40:00.001-07:00

Hullo-hullo! No, I have not forgotten about you all! Actually I've been agonizing way too much over how to keep this precious place alive the past couple of months. However, with the addition of some great contributors, I think I'm getting a handle on things. :-) Welcome and thank you to my new peeps! Remember, if you'd like to contribute to the blog, click the email on the side bar- the more the merrier!

One big reason I haven't been contributing as much is simply a lack of time to sit and listen to things! However, today I am sitting waiting for repair people to show and fix my fridge, so I scanned my iTunes list. One of the best audio cinema shows out there, Radio Drama Revival- just aired brand-spanking-new Crazy Dog Audio on their show yesterday, so I decided to treat my ears and listened in.

"The Salmon of Blackpool" is definitely intriguing. An audio drama about the making of a movie (with a mysterious twist, of course). You feel like you are sitting in listening to an actual scene being filmed- it's really quite impressive. But what would you expect from Crazy Dog, other than impressive? It's part one- and definitely makes you want to know more about this movie, and the odd happenings surrounding it.

One of the reasons Fred's show appeals to me so much is that is cuts right to the good stuff. Shows are 30 minutes, and he gets right to talking about the show you are about to hear, and is very insightful in his descriptions. He knows what we want and gives it straight up- awesome audio cinema! If you haven't taken a listen yet, then it's about time you did!

Grey, A Podiobook worth a Listen.

2008-01-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi, fellow Audio Addicts, JT from The Gigcast here. I'm new to this here AA blog, so I thought I'd throw Caush into the wind (he likes that sort of thing) and jump right in with a recommendation/review.

Recently I was talking with Christiana Ellis of “Nina Kimberly” and “Space Casey” fame. (name drop #1) And mentioned to her I was looking for a new Podiobook to read. She recommended Grey, by Jon Armstrong. Not for a minute doubting Ms. Ellis’ judgment, I took a look.

From Podiobooks.com

“High fashion, corporate malfeasance, celebrity culture, and an obsessed media collide with exuberant violence and volatile intensity in Grey, the explosive debut novel by Jon Armstrong.”

The book takes place in a future where “Ultra” is king, and everything is on the net. Ratings are king and ratings drive business. The gulf between the haves and have-nots is huge, with the corporations being run by Pure blood ‘Families”. Yeah I know, sounds weird, but the future portrayed in the book works in a very Idiocratic way. The story resolves around the heir to a mega company and his arranged marriage/merger to and subsequent break up with the daughter of a competing company.

The reading is well done, and each character has his or her own voice (one reader, but nicely done). Apart from a few minutes of dead air at the end of the first few episodes, there are no major technical problems with the recordings.

This is not a book to listen to with the kids around. Adult language and situations abound, but fit well into the world built by Mr. Armstrong.

This book is recommended by me.

Looking to chat with fellow fans?

2008-01-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

Interested in chatting with fellow fans of your favorite audio drama? It seems that Marrcus Beattie has started an audio drama message board site.

You can find it at: Audio Drama Talk

Currently they have sections for some of the best known production companies:
Sonic Society, Decoder Ring Theatre, Crazy Dog Studio.

If you want to have a new way to chat with fellow fans, and the creators themselves come check out Audio Drama Talk.

Dangerously Funny!

2008-01-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

Those of us in the former Colonies sometimes get the idea that British humor (or humour) is all dry, refined, highbrow, and just generally inaccessible. Then we remember Monty Python's Flying Circus, or its spiritual audio forefather, The Goon Show.

It is in this tradition where you will find the fine minds at Isotope Audio. Their material available through podcast ranges from two minute sketches to nearly half-hour stories, all of which are rude, crude, and radioactively funny. The production values are good, the stories delightfully absurd, and the comic timing absolutely flawless.

This stuff is not in the least bit safe for work, so Joe and I listened through the available material while on an extended car trip. It was so funny that we had to turn it off from time to time so that I could continue to drive, something that has happened with only one other audio work before: "Rant In E Minor," Bill Hicks' final album.

Fine company to be in, to be sure.

Space Casey

2007-12-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Here it is Christmas time once again. Hard to believe yet another year has gone by. Also looking over what has been posted on the site, its hard to believe we have neglected to talk about Christiana Ellis' newest work Space Casey.

She's so far has released 5 episodes of the short run series. The basic premise is what happens when a con artist takes a space ship from someone who actually is an alien?

Very funny, and as far as I've heard very original.

New Home for Icy Cold Goodness!

2007-12-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

It has been a couple months since the change, but in case anyone might have missed it, The Icebox Radio Theater has a new online home, courtesy of those most excellent of podcast hosts, Libsyn! IBRT posts a new episode every couple of weeks, give or take, and they've got some of the coolest and most eclectic original audio drama (and comedy, and mystery) out there.

IBRT Artistic Director Jeffrey Adams has also included a new feature in every show, "Audio Geek's Corner," which offers a behind the scenes look at how the shows are produced, as well as advice on many aspects of producing audio theater, from finding scripts to "sweetening" sound effects.

Anyone who enjoys audio storytelling or wants to know more about how it's done will find the IBRT podcast well worth a listen.

Gifts for the Audio Cinema lover(s) on your list!

2007-12-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Frederick over at Radio Drama Revival! compiled a great list of audio cinema you can purchase for the audio addicts in your life! Great stuff, make sure you hit the subject link and check it out!

A couple of additions:

*Colonial Radio Theatre (productions for all ages!)
*Also, don't forget that most of these sites offer merchandise- go get that audio cinema fan a T-shirt or mug from their favorite productions!

Did you grab your NaPodPoMo badge yet?

2007-12-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

Talk about catching up-- a week the month has been over and I just now got around to putting the badge up on my site! Those of you who participated, you can click the topic link above to go and grab your badge to proudly display on your website(s).

Congrats! It was a good month. I personally discovered some great things about my own show and how I want to bring future shows to listeners, I hope you all did too!

Colonial Radio's Next Big Thing- Zorro!

2007-12-05T10:18:00.000-07:00

Jerry Robbins just amazes me. As soon as Colonial Radio Theatre comes off one production, he just seems to take a quick breath, and dives right into the next big endeavor. Captain Blood, Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes...I'm not even scratching the surface of all the Colonial productions out there. What's up next? Zorro! From the Colonial blog:

"...Colonial has teamed with producer John Gertz to bring ZORRO to the world of audio drama! Mr. Gertz owns the copyright to Zorro (which was aquired by his father in 1940 from Zorro's actual creator,Johnston McCulley), and he was co-producer on the recent motion pictures with Antonio Banderas. The book I am dramatizing for audio is ZORRO AND THE PIRATRE RAIDERS, and let me tell you - this is going to be one exciting story! I am finishing up the script now, and I hope to start production in January for a Springtime release. The show is being produced in episode form for radio, and will be released as a 2 CD set for retail."

By now you all should know the high quality productions of Colonial Radio, and this will be no different I'm sure. I'm excited for this- get me on a pre-order list!

If you happen to be in Prescott, AZ Saturday...

2007-12-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

These are pretty funny- I had to share them! Wish I could make it up there this weekend... but I was just up there last weekend camping, and the rain and flash flood warnings spooked me. I'm still recuperating!

But if you happen to be that way, I hear it's a great live show to check out! Someday I'll get my caboose up there for dinner and a show...

One of the First, Still one of the Best

2007-12-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, and thank you to Dani for the invitation to become a regular contributor! I hope I can be of help, pointing out various and sundry audio goodness I've turned up on the Web.

I thought I might start with a podcast that's been out there from the very early days of the form, Digital Flotsam. P.W. Fenton is a classic storyteller; listening to his show is more than a little like listening to your favorite uncles swapping stories after dinner.

"Digital Flotsam" has won no less than three Podcast Peer Awards, so I know I'm not the only podcaster who thinks the show is well worth the time. The content is great, and the production values are flawless. The current episode is a reading of a classic Christmas poem, an online continuation of a cherished holiday tradition -- and a perfect place for new listeners to start.

Well, hello there!

2007-11-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. It's been a few weeks. This is what happens when you take on challenges. I've been participating in NaPodPoMo this month- and posting a podcast every single day. Now, when you throw in company for almost two weeks, and a holiday, things get sticky. I'm certainly not proud of the audio quality in a few of these days, but I am very proud that I've been able to post a show daily. I do wish they would have broken away from November though. I mean, the writers and the bloggers and the video bloggers all do this in November. Podcasters should have stood out from the rest!

Anyway, because of that, as you might have noticed, this place has been rather neglected. I do apologize! Though, it's not the only reason. Things just keep happening to me on my end, and I become more and more thinly spread. Now a semi-regular gig with my local newspaper is once again keeping me from letting the addict out to play. I've also got some new family obligations as well, keeping me away from the internets in general. Funny how life can change direction at the drop of a hat, eh?

I even tried to bring in another contributer- but darn him! As soon as he agreed what does he do? Find a job! The nerve!!! (hahaha!)

So, I am still looking for contributors, as I know for sure there is no way I can keep this up all by my lonesome. There is WAY too much audio goodness in the universe for one mere addict to blog about alone. E-mail is there in the right margin, drop me a note if you're interested.

I just received the 90-day expiration notice for theaudioaddicts.com domain name. I figure if I can't get this place hopping in three months time, then I guess it's time to close another chapter in Dani's internet life. Which will make me very sad indeed. This blog has come a long way since Summer of '05 (as has its owner), but something's gotta give somewhere, I suppose.

Cheers friends! I will try and get some new happenings in here soon, I promise!

~Dani