The thought of two conferences in a week wasn't exactly thrilling but the contrast between NAB Europe and PodcastCon 2006 couldn't have been greater, or more inspiring. Rome was a more elegant venue than Smithfield Market but while the big boys at NAB (and they were all boys - I think Rachel Jones from Radio 1 was the only woman on any panel) fretted about regulation and digital migration and monetising audiences, the free spirits of podcasting crackled with enthusiasm about their new medium.
Now I don't think it's a new medium at all. I think they're making 'radio'. It's just that their programmes don't get heard on 'a radio'. But by by-passing the traditional gatekeepers of broadcasting they're about to give some of the big players a bloody nose. Take Heather Gorringe from the sustainable gardening company Wiggly Wigglers. No, bear with me. Last year at the first PodcastCon she was inspired to go back to her farm in Herefordshire and start waffling into a microphone with her husband Phil and an assortment of real-life Archers. One year later she has over 20,000 subscribers via iTunes alone! And her mail order business is thriving. I asked her if she'd ever considered advertising on radio. Her response was chilling: "no I haven't," she said, "people don't listen to it." But what about the gardening programmes? "They're all rubbish." Heather knows a thing or two about rubbish and recycling and it seems she knows a thing or two about how audiences are fragmenting, how to reach disenfranchised listeners and how to make money from audio. We'll get her along to a Radio Academy event soon.
I also met Brian Fielding this week, the founder of audible.com, who's taken his spoken word business from zero to $64 million US dollars a year in just 4 years. He's persuading a large number of Americans to part with a few cents to enjoy time-shifted NPR programmes like All Things Considered. And he's desperate to sign up BBC brands like From Our Own Correspondent. Mmmmm, once upon a time we all said we wouldn't pay for television didn't we?
See you at Radio At The Edge.
