Why There Are Free Podcasts
Podcasting, unlike other media forms, almost never has charges for services, and the vast majority of feed producers distribute free podcasts. This puts at odds with, say, online radio stations, news sites that offer media to subscribers, or the online music industry general. Even though podcasting has very direct correlations with industries like news and music that have strong business models, podcasting differs. Podcasting does not really have a business model, and hardly anyone is podcasting in order to profit from it. There are some businesses and news sites that podcast, but they do it as a way to supplement their companies and to gain technological geek credibility, not to make money. This is an odd thing, but explainable in light of what podcasting is.
The free podcast problem is not
difficult, and podcasting differs
in several key ways from other
media areas. First, podcasting
involves the physical transfer of
a file from the host to the users
computer. An online radio station
does not do this; all that they
provide to their listeners is a
streaming sound file that cannot
be saved without difficulty and
work. If someone did manage to do
so, the station would have strong
grounds for suing them since they
were never given the rights to
keep and store the files. By
podcasting the complete file to
the users computer, express
permission is granted the user to
copy and use as they wish. Second,
the podcasts are, for the most
part, made by individuals who have
low costs involved in creating and
distributing the files, as opposed
to a news broadcast or song by a
music company. These individuals
have little reason to charge for
their work since there is little
cost to them to do so.
Because the files are distributed
in a way allows their copying and
does not control the media, and
since podcasting is a very low
cost media outlet, feed producers
have little reason or ability to
charge for their work.
