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Holtz Communications + Technology

Shel Holtz
Communicating at the Intersection of Business and Technology
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Podcasts that are not

Perusing my feeds the other day, I came across a press release from Schwartz Communications announcing the launch of a podcasting service. The release claims that “Unlike many other podcasting services, the Schwartz offering provides quantifiable measurement of the podcast’s effectiveness as well as the ability to bundle podcasts into a comprehensive Podbook.” (I also got a link to the release via email from Sallie Goetsch; thanks, Sallie!)

I was intrigued by the notion of a “Podbook,” which turns out to be similar to the services PR Newswire and PRWeb are offering, bundling similar podcasts into a single offering to which listeners can subscribe. Schwartz describes its offering as “a series of three or more podcasts to one target audience, covering different subjects or one subject with multiple perspectives.”

PRWeek also covered the Schwartz offering and pointed to one of its clients, NetManage. According to the PRWeek piece, the podcast has been a terrific source of sales leads for the company. So I cruised on over to take a look at the NetManage podcast and found…a signup form. No download. No RSS feed. No on-screen player. In order to get the podcast, you have to complete a form so NetManage can call you. Since I didn’t complete the form, I have no idea whether you can subscribe to the feed once you offer up your info, but somehow I doubt it. This looks more like one of those lead-generation tactics of delivering a white paper in exchange for your data.

Which is fine. The idea of getting some useful or entertaining audio as the premium for letting a salesman call you is great, and I’m glad it’s working for NetManage. But is it a podcast if you can’t subscribe to it? Not according to most of the definitions out there, including Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English, which offers this definition:

The Web-based broadcast of music which works with software that automatically detects new files and is accessed by subscription

While this isn’t the most accurate definition—certainly most podcasts aren’t just music—NetManage’s offering wouldn’t fit that definition even if it covered other kinds of content. It’s also inconsistent with the vast majority of other podcast definitions, like Wikipedia’s. What NetManage offers is simply downloadable audio. Whether you can subscribe to Schwartz’s Podbook, I don’t know; I couldn’t find it on the company’s site beyond the reference in the press release.

But this post isn’t meant to be a swipe at Schwartz or NetManage, just an observation about the increasingly loose use of the word “podcast.” In the beginning, there was downloadable audio. Podcasting came into being strictly based on the introduction of RSS feed enclosures that allows for the subscription-based distribution of multimedia content coupled with the introduction of podcatching software that listeners use to subscribe. Yet suddenly, I’m stumbling across more and more references to podcasts that aren’t. Jumping on the bandwagon (a sign of podcasting’s increasing popularity, it seems), companies are labeling any audio file as a podcast.

There’s nothing to be done about this. It just bugs me.

07/30/06 | 20 Comments | Podcasts that are not

Comments

  • 1.It bugs me too. Many times I've fielded calls from clients and prospects who say they want a podcast. What they really want is an audio ad to plop on their Web site.

    We have a lot of educating ahead of us!

    donna papacosta | July 2006 | Toronto

  • 2.Natural-born pedant that I am, I went so far as to write a "Podcasting is Not..." article. Clearing up the definition is part of the crusade to cure th epidemic of podcastus ignoramus.

    Sallie Goetsch (rhymes with "sketch") | July 2006 | El Cerrito, CA

  • 3.Many are confused as to what a podcast is. I downloaded something from a website recently that described itself as a podcast, but it was nothing more than a CEO being interviewed by an unnamed, fawning member of his staff. Expect challenging questions like "Why are you so handsome and clever, and your company a rising star?" Some think that podcast listeners are ready to suck up any old marketing tosh that's transmitted to them.

    Martyn Davies | July 2006 | UK

  • 4.I too was intrigued, so despite my wariness I signed up and was sent the download link. The audio program (I agree -- not a podcast) sounded to me like one of those scripted advertorial "interviews" that used to (perhaps still do) clutter up the airline audio entertainment channels. The premise of promotional efforts like this seems to be: "We know this is pretty boring stuff, but if we make it sound like sound like its a legitimate editorial interview program, it will have credibility and the sales guys can get on the blower and start the follow-up calls."

    Don Edwards | July 2006

  • 5.Shel, I must admit that I am soon to be one of these offenders at my job. I take solace, however, in knowing that we'll eventually make our podcast (okay, I admit it, it's really just an audio file) subscribable. But our efforts are purely internal to our enterprise, and we have no corporate feed reader in place, so waiting until we could create a true (subscribable) podcast will take forever.
    We'll get it subscribable eventually, but for now we're leveraging the power of the buzz behind the word "podcast" and, most importantly, reaping the benefits of an audio file that our employees don't need to "read".

    Dante Ragazzo | July 2006 | NJ

  • 6.Agreed Shel, it bugs me too. It seems that the term "podcast" will suffer the same clunky evolution that the acronym "RSS" has.

    I've always found the definition of a podcast relatively simple and don't understand why it's confusing. If you can subscribe to the audio file via an RSS feed, it's a podcast. If not, it's not.

    Dee Rambeau | July 2006 | Denver, CO

  • 7.Dante, I have less of a problem with this on intranets, particularly given the lack of RSS infrastructure in most companies. I think calling them podcasts with the goal of implementing RSS is fine...on intranets!

    Shel Holtz | July 2006 | Concord, CA

  • 8.Shel,

    Good article. I also read this and my first thought was someone else that is jumping in on the podcasting bandwagon but does not understand podcasting. Digging a little deeper only confirmed it.

    I am sad to say many of their clients will be very disappointed when they find out their "podcast" is not bringing them new business, because all it really is an Audio Press release. Not a true podcast - which would be something of value to the listener and an on going series.

    I was also saddned to see they partnered with a "podcasting company" of whom their site was not even launched at the time of the press release. So obviously not someone that will be bringing in a lot of podcasting experience or understanding to thier clients.

    If they really want to do their customers a good service they will work with their clients to help create an ongoing podcast series that is of great value to the clients potential customers. Not a single audio file or even a group of three, that are nothing more than a 10 minute commercial or press release.

    If people are going to jump on the band wagon, I wish they would at least take the time to learn what is hay and what is manure.

    Rob @ podCast411

    Rob Walch | July 2006 | Overland Park, KS

  • 9.Proving once again that PR agencies lack the skills and knowledge to implement true social media programs like podcasting. For Schwartz to make this podcast service announcement, then to have the system itself be an audio download with no RSS feed is par for the course in how agencies are making desperate attempts to get into the market.

    Which is why we recommend firing your PR firm and hiring a smarter agency or someone that knows what they are doing.

    James Clark | July 2006 | Boulder, Colo.

  • 10.I've seen people call v-logs podcasts. But you?re right it does widen the term.

    (for transparency, Schwartz Communications is one of Backbone's clients - obviously not for podcasting)

    John Cass | July 2006 | arlington, MA

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