Many of us are strict about the terms podcast and podcasting. We say: If there is a show without an RSS feed, it’s not a podcast. It’s just an on-demand audio or video file (or a live show, which isn’t a podcast either, although a recording of the live broadcast could later be used to create a podcast). In 2015, I even published an article called: Don’t use the term podcast in vain. Beyond confusion among certain people who are not yet fully educated in the field, now at least three important and influential companies are sadly using the term podcast in vain. Those include (at least) YouTube, Spotify and Apple. Without using the term pseudopodcasting, YouTube recently published a 57-page white paper called Podcasting on YouTube without any mention of RSS. That is why I had to coin the term pseudopodcasts, in addition to real podcasts or authentic podcasts. We can add these to the other inappropriate terms like “unlimited data” from many mobile providers where it’s not truly unlimited. More details are ahead, together with a link to get 50% off of my just updated ebook Branded RSS Podcasting: the definitive guide (second edition).
YouTube
YouTube belongs to Google/Alphabet. Google also owns Google Podcasts, where they certainly know that if there is a show without an RSS feed, it’s not a podcast. Many audio podcasters (including myself) have used YouTube for additional distribution and discovery by creating audiograms to publish on YouTube. However, we knew that on YouTube, that audiogram wasn’t a podcast anymore, even though the audiogram is derived from an episode of a show that is indeed a podcast. More recently, YouTube started to use the term podcast and even created a 57-page white paper called Podcasting on YouTube to establish what it considers to be best practices. Believe it or not, the term RSS does not appear a single time in the entire 57-page document. At least it didn’t at the time of writing this article. During the many months we heard rumors about YouTube supposedly on the verge embracing podcasts, we imagined and hoped that if and when it happened, YouTube would allow podcasters to submit an RSS feed and then handle the podcast just as so many authentic podcast directories and platforms do. That has not happened so far with YouTube. I wonder: Do the YouTube people argue with the Google Podcast people about this topic over coffee, since two Google properties are using the term podcast so differently?
Spotify and Apple
Both Spotify and Apple now offer a type of (sometimes exclusive) paid subscriptions for pre-recorded, on-demand audio content. However, those special subscriptions from Spotify and Apple don’t use any RSS feed, even though other solutions indeed exist for paid subscriptions (or private subscriptions) indeed do use an RSS feed.
I am glad that there are options for premium shows which require payment. My only objection is to the term used, which is why I had to coin the term pseudopodcasts.
My ebook Branded RSS Podcasting
Newly updated in December 2022, I just released the second edition of my ebook called Branded RSS Podcasting: the definitive guide. Although it is also available from Amazon Kindle, Google Play Books and Kobo for U$22 list price, you can get it for 50% less directly from this link.
If you purchased it previously from Amazon Kindle, you can get the update free from Amazon customer service by requesting it. If you previously purchased it anywhere else, you can get it free by sending proof of purchase.
The new version includes a detailed comparison chart between the few podcast hosting companies I know which offer Branded RSS, where your own domain (not anyone else’s) is the basis of your RSS feed. They are Blubrry (included at no extra charge), Libsyn (for an extra fee) and my own CombinedHosting from TecnoTur (included at no extra charge). Shhh: There’s a 50% discount code off of the first year of CombinedHosting inside the second edition of Branded RSS Podcasting: the definitive guide.
También en castellano
Este artículo también está disponible en castellano como Las podifusiones, cortesía de YouTube, Spotify y Apple.
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FTC disclosure
Some of the manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur, BeyondPodcasting, CapicúaFM or TuSaludSecreta programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs. Allan Tépper’s opinions are his own. Allan Tépper is not liable for misuse or misunderstanding of information he shares.