It makes me cross when people start talking about podcasts and mention “breakthroughs” in 2012 or 2014. I’ve just read this article: How podcasts went from unlistenable to unmissable, by Jamie Robertson, a Technology of Business reporter.
Although factually reporting that it was Guardian reporter Ben Hammersley who coined the phrase “Podcast” the article completely misses out the early interest and uptake of podcasts in the noughties.
Especially for the BBC it’s a shame that one of their own, Rowley Cutler, is so often ignored. Although Rowley’s Dark Compass is produced entirely independently of the BBC, he’s been working for them for many years, knows so much about the podosphere, being the UK’s longest running music podcaster, since 2004.
Then there’s Adam Curry, the man who invented the first podcatcher, and who went on to co-create the first podcast-focused media company Podshow (later Mevio) and pioneered the use of the Podsafe Music Network. All of these facts ignored in the article.
Yes, podcasts required thought in the noughties. If you wanted to listen in your car you had to have downloaded them to your mobile device first, but people did that regularly, and it whiled away the many hours of M25 travel that I endured. Listener numbers increased and podcast converences abounded. I’ve lost count of how many events are now labeld as the “first” podcast conference. That happened in 2006 people!!
Nowadays everyone that is a commedian, a musician, or a celebrity seems to be hosting their own podcast. I say “hosting” but they’re not doing it for love of their field. They wouldn’t do it if they weren’t paid, and “season 2” depends on the success of “season 1”. Technology makes listenening easier, but increasingly content is corporate, or aimed at selling tickets for a show.
Remember there are people like Rowley and like me, who were playing this game many many years ago. We made some money from adverts, but we do it for love. Put that in your article Mr Robertson.
