The Podshow Thing
2
…Yeah. So people are starting to ask me why I haven’t blogged about Podshow yet, or the episode of Keith and the Girl where they take apart an anonymous Podshow contract. It’s well known that I have opinions on the subject,1 and I’ve gone on at some length before on the Yahoo! Podcasters list and on Podcast Alley.
That’s probably why I haven’t brought it up yet. I’ve talked about it so much elsewhere that I’m getting more easily tired. That, and I’m afraid if I get started I’ll keep going ad nauseum. I don’t want this to become the Anti-Podshow Blog. There’s a lot of other stuff to talk about. Like, you know, making podcasts.
But I seem to be expected to say something, so I’ll say this in brief: Long-term exclusivity sucks. I’m not suggesting that it sucks for me, and it might not suck for you. It sucks for everyone.
A man whose last name is synonymous with a popular Indian food dish2 has contacted me directly to tell me that I don’t know what I’m talking about, and that everything I seem to think about Podshow is wrong. He has been unable to tell me what specifically I’m wrong about, which is a shame because I can’t correct my statements. Being right is a whole lot more fun than being wrong. So to cover my hindquarters: if I’m wrong that Podshow puts its podcasters into long-term exclusive distribution deals with no termination option on the podcaster’s side, then obviously all my complaining is groundless and nobody should worry about what I say.
But if they do, they suck. And you should avoid making such a deal for content that you create and own. With anyone. Ever.
Questions?
If you’re wrong, and you’re being public and very verbal (go Steve!) in your wrongness, wouldn’t it make more sense for Mr. Tandoori to correct you in public?
Hm… something odd about that.
As with so much about Mr. Goa, it’s entirely possible that he’s got everyone’s best intentions in mind. However, the general perception (not just your perception, Steve, and not just on this issue) seems to be that something else entirely is going on.
If I was being misunderstood so gravely, I’d speak up about it. Of course, if I discovered that my business model was generating tremendous negative feedback with my target market, but I stood to lose face if I admit that… no, I think I’d still speak up about it, and adjust my course to best serve my customers.
Then I’d go edit my wikipedia article.
If I had one.
Comment by Matthew Wayne Selznick — April 7, 2006 @ 5:36 pm
Question-Aren’t pods originally from the invasion of the bodysnatchers? I guess that makes AC the “pretending podfather.” I would suggest rather than synonymous-meaning the same meaning, you use homonymous-same name. Not a salvo-just one of those times I get to exercise my limited knowledge of the English language.
My question to everyone including the man that’s got the homonymous name with a type of Indian food-what happened to blogging and podcasting being associated with open source and community?
Comment by Brooklyn Bluesman — April 7, 2006 @ 9:38 pm