These aren’t actually questions that people have asked me. They’re just questions that I imagine I would be asked if I was a podcasting superstar. If you have any other questions, feel free to email me at jill@earstohearpodcast.com.
So what is a podcast anyways?
A podcast is simply an audio file that you can listen to or download from the internet. Podcasts are often similar in form to radio shows, but they’re different because you can download a podcast and listen to it at your leisure. Another distinguishing characteristic of podcasts is that you can subscribe to them and automatically receive new episodes when they are published. There are podcasts about virtually every topic you can imagine, so you’re sure to find something you like. You can search for podcasts in podcast directories like iTunes or PodcastAlley.com. For more information on what podcasts are, check out this Wikipedia article.
Do I need an iPod to listen to podcasts?
Let’s clear this one up once and for all. NO, you do not need an iPod. You don’t even need a portable mp3 player (although that certainly makes it much more convenient). You can either just listen on the website or download episodes directly to your computer. Easy as pie. You can read more about ways to do this in the next question.
How do I listen to Ears to Hear?
If you just want to listen to the podcast (without downloading anything):
Go to the Podcast Page (main page), find the podcast episode you want to listen to, and click on the large grey play button (or “Play in Popup”) at the top of the post. The episode will start playing right away. This means you don’t need to download anything, wait for anything, or commit in any other way. Just good old fashioned listening.
If you want to download a single episode:
Go to the Podcast Page (main page), and find the podcast episode you want to download. At the top of the post, you should choose either the “Audio MP3″ button or the link that says “Download”. Just right-click it, choose “Save Link As…” or “Save Target As…”, decide where you want to save the file to, download, listen, and be joyful!
If you want to subscribe free and automatically receive new episodes of the podcast:
To subscribe with pretty much any podcatcher, or to receive email updates, you can click the large orange button on the sidebar (over there –>) that says “RSS Feed”. This will bring you to a page that will give you a variety of subscription options. For you iTunes users, all you need to do is click the large “Got iTunes? Subscribe” button in the sidebar (–>), and that will take you directly to my iTunes page, where you can subscribe with one click.
How is it legal for you to play all this music?
All of the music on my show has been deemed podsafe in some way or another. In almost all cases, that means that I have explicit permission from the artist or label to play their music. In other words, I’m not breaking any laws by playing this music. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that you (whoever you might be) have rights to take this music and freely distribute it on the internet. Please ask me if you have any questions. This can be a touchy subject, and we don’t want anyone to break the law, now do we?
I know of/make great independent music that I want you to play on the podcast. How can I let you know?
I’m always looking for great new music to play, so please get in touch with me if you either know of a great band or are part of one. What do I look for in music? Well, I like originality, honesty, goodness to listen to. Just send it to me, and I’ll let you know if it’s what I’m looking for. You can contact me with any of the methods described on the contact page. When you email/comment/call me, be sure to either provide a link to a place to listen to the music, or just send the songs in an email (if you are the artist). If your music is for some reason not available to listen to online, but you would like me to hear and consider it, get in touch with me and I can give you an address to send CDs to. Alrighty, send away!
How can I contact you?
Good question… check out our contact page for all the details. Please do get in touch with me; I would love to hear from you!
