The State of Independent Podcasting and Media Trends

Hi this is Eddie from Big Ed's BBQ in Waukegan,

Illinois and you are listening to the Geekcast

Radio Network. Sucker. Hello, and welcome to

Altered Geek. I'm your host, Steve Megatron Phillips.

Joining me from the great beyond on a actual

PC is... who? I don't know what you're talking

about. Yeah, sure you don't. The fucking great

one has returned. That's debatable, but anyways...

No, I'm here. I'm returned. I have my stuff,

so... I was talking about your title. Hey, don't

blame me. A listener asked me that years ago,

what does TFG -1 stand for? And they said they

thought it stood for the great one. So it ain't

me. I just lean into the curve and accept the

title. It's like when I tried to rebrand from

Steve Megatron people just were like no he's

Steve Megatron Yeah, you're like the Steve who

the hell is the Steve? Yeah, I showed it. I showed

up at conventions. They're like hey Megatron.

Yeah, okay There's no escaping who we've created

dude. We can't we might be able to reinvent me

this way We so have to re -script that anyway.

Yeah, so this is Altered Geek. This is episode

378 I am back and I've seen several things that

The main thing is why this episode is titled

what it's titled back to unfuck the future We

are recording this October 28th 2020 That's the

other thing I miss. I miss our old openings This

episode of this podcast recorded on anyway, so

recently I Was using Twitter on my phone and

the Twitter app on your phone likes to throw

in promoted tweets and and Ads and everything

else and that's all well good and fine. I understand

Twitter needs to make money off of us. I get

it But I saw an ad that was like UNFCK Okay so

because I have all the control in this episode

folks I'm editing I'm whatever this is as you

can already tell this is an explicit episode

so if you've listened to this point you don't

know uh why you still here not that I'm trying

to curse through the whole thing however I see

this thing and I'm like what is that and I look

at it I'm like Firefox Mozilla Firefox And I'm

like, really? So I watch the video ad on Twitter,

and then I go to find it on YouTube, and I'm

like, okay, so they wanna un -this, un -that,

un -whatever, it's like un -zuck, un -this, un

-that, un -whatever, at the very end of it, it's

un -caring the internet. It's a new ad, and I've

embedded the video in the episode post, folks,

so if you're... Hopefully listening to this on

a computer or at some point after you listen

to this episode you go to our website post and

you watch the video Please do so. That's why

Partially this episode is entitled back to unfuck

the Internet's future the other part of it is

because October 21st was back to the future day

and it's been 35 years since the first back to

the future film was released Wow, yeah and I

did not prepare for this because I was trying

to get my computer up and running and functioning

and whatever because I haven't had it for a year

I was just in Walmart tonight not that I buy

a lot of things because I can't but every now

and then I splurge on stuff I found the brand

new Walmart exclusive Funko Pop Doc Brown with

Einstein Back to the Future Pop tonight so absolutely

Love and heaven that and everything else. It's

in the bag in my in my room, but I Have my setup

back. I have my microphone my trusty little microphone

as you can probably tell I'm hitting it a little

bit No, I'm not gonna hit my head on the microphone.

No, I am NOT gonna hit my head on this antique

desk that we're now using Maybe someday when

somebody won't let me get a word in edgewise

But Steve usually lets me talk even on his own

show I'll shut up now and let you talk There's

there's a bunch of things that have popped up

on the internets this past week and Obviously,

we know animaniacs is returning With November

20th, I know I'm I did inquire to Hulu About

getting to review it early and they said catch

this in a couple weeks and then which I'm guessing

that they want like less than a week lead time

To actually watch it and review it which that's

fine. I'm I understand that I used to get DVDs

and blu -rays like yeah three days or four days

before The review had to be written. So I'm assuming

the same thing and like upwards of five days

or something before I'll be able to get my hands

on it, but I'm very much looking forward to that

just because Spielberg is involved the original

actors are involved. I'm not sure how many of

the writers are involved And then the animation

is is a little bit more. It's computer -generated

instead of like hand -drawn, but it's it's It's

still like the 2d, but it's a little bit sharper

imaging. Yeah Yeah And then of course, you know

News of a Tiny Toon Adventures reboot just dropped

literally today By Kennedy you turn it in D Tartakov

ski, okay Anyways, he's doing the series and

it's ordered at HBO Max and Cartoon Network and

Spielberg will executive produce I'm assuming

everybody will return to that it's gonna be Tiny

Toons Loaniversity is the new title and The half

-hour animated show will feature characters from

the original series And it's going to come back

for a two season order as well. Just like Animaniacs

And Erin Gibson will serve as showrunner and

co -executive producer while the Kate Nat or

Nate cash will also Co -executive produce Sam

register president of Warner Brothers, etc. Will

also executive produce and you know people from

and one television. So Yeah, it's kind of cool

to see some of these old shows kind of come back

and have a resurgence. So I'm interested to see

what they do with this and I'm happy that I,

of course, will check that out. The one that

I saw that dropped info, which was like yesterday,

and we've known it's been coming, but they dropped

another trailer with the first look of The the

characters for Saved by the Bell. Saved by the

Bell, yeah. And... I'm not a fan. I'm not optimistic.

Yeah, I know. It looks kind of trashy. Yeah.

Like they're trying too hard. It seems like one

of those like really bad CW shows. Oh no, this

is gonna be way worse. Yeah, this is gonna be...

I'm not trying to be negative about it, folks.

I really am not. I'm sure they're all putting,

you know, tons of work into this, but from the

trailers that I've seen, it just makes me cringe.

Yeah, it makes me cringe too, and for more reasons

than one. The other thing is Peacock had that

show Brave New World, you know, the dystopian

sci -fi drama. They cancelled it. After one season

so it makes me and people were saying that it

was a great sci -fi show From the ones that watched

it. I hadn't watched honestly. I have no ambition

to pick up another network to watch something

Not that it's not that it costs anything. I mean,

yeah, they have stuff on it and So here's the

interesting thing about peacock. Yes, it generally

does not cost anything, but they do have tiers

that you can subscribe to However, if you are

a Comcast Xfinity subscriber, Peacock Premium

is included with your subscription if you have

the right subscription, and I guess Karen and

I do have the right subscription, so even though

I've just now got my computer set up right now

and whatever else, eventually I'm gonna have

a TV mounted on the wall behind my monitor. and

it will be hooked up to the cable and whatever

else, so I will be able to do Peacock Premium

through Xfinity once that's done, and I'll be

absolutely happy to watch all kinds. Right now,

the only thing I watch on there is I watch Snapped,

which is a true crime show, for those that don't

know, and I watch the old reruns of Law & Order

Criminal Intent, because the entire series is

on there as well. It's a nice little service.

It's... Gonna be fine if you want to try something

new But for us old standbys who are like oh,

I'm subscribed to Netflix I subscribe to Hulu

blah blah blah blah blah this that the other

thing Yeah, you're probably not gonna want to

pay for peacock however There is a free version

with ads the ads honestly are not that bad there

have been several episodes of Law and order criminal

intent that I've watched that I've watched so

much of it ads don't play Even though I'm still

on the free version, sometimes the ads don't

play. I probably shouldn't be saying that in

case any Xfinity people or whomever PeacockTV

people are listening and say, oh, well, we got

to fix this and give him more ads. Yeah, but

anyways, I just, yeah, I don't see the... If

they cancelled the brave new world show after

one season, I don't see this lasting very long

Then again, I could be wrong. It could last two,

but I think it'll get cancelled after a season

Maybe two like at most Maybe I don't know. I

wanted to be optimistic, but it just kind of

looks like me Who knows I mean it might be better

than what the trailer show there's been other

elements like I've seen Star Trek shows where

they're like I was highly against the animated

show and Surprisingly that was the best one out

of the revivals. So Out of the modern stuff,

so you know, who knows? I don't know It could

have been worse. So But yeah, I don't know And

then of course, you know Movie theaters are starting

to close down like AMC file bankruptcy. Yeah

And people are like you should support your local

theater, it's like We're not really allowed to

go and there's nothing really there Plus like

I haven't gone to a movie theater since I've

had kids Yeah, I've gone three times since I've

had kids I saw Yeah, I saw the Star Wars the

last two Star Wars movies And that was it I think

maybe Terminator I think Karen and I have only

gone for Special occasions like Transformers

the movie first time in theaters in whatever

however long kind of thing. Yeah, I haven't Here's

my thing. It's not that I don't want to support

Local theaters or anything like that. We have

plenty of local theaters that are still I actually

just saw a news story here in in Vancouver, Washington

slash Portland, Oregon because anyway About local

theaters in port local movie theaters in Portland

and how they're doing the social distancing and

things like that and whatever else and It looks

like it could really really work. But at the

same time There are people out there that don't

want to You know venture out to Do that kind

of thing yeah, I just yeah, so anyways you brought

up the Firefox slogan Since you I mean I've watched

it too, but what what are your thoughts on it?

I Think it's interesting that they're going with

that. I was not expecting them to go with unfuck

the internet and I like how they use the slogan

and use the like the un part of it like you know

unplug on this on that on Karen on whatever you

know I think that's cool that they're doing that

that they're trying to promote positivity on

the internet because let's face it Ever since

the invention of the internet there has been

toxicity everywhere online And I think it's kind

of cool that they're that they're doing it in

that way. I was just a little shell -shocked

at like, okay Firefox wants to unfuck the internet.

Well, well then let's let's do that. I guess

what do you think of it? I mean, I kind of agree

the internet's kind of a cesspool in today's

age There's really not much going for it I mean,

yeah, there's a lot of information. There's a

lot of a lot of positive influence, but there's

so many So much negativity on every front it's

just And I'm not even talking political like

just fandoms attacking each other So much of

it it's like there's enough of it that's that

you're excited about out there, just focus on

what you enjoy. Yeah, exactly. That's why I only

cover news topics of things that I actually care

about because I'm hoping that other people care

about it too. But, you know, same token. I'm

not going to cover something I hate because not

only do you not want to hear me complain about

it, I don't want to complain about it. I mean,

I want to complain about it, but nobody wants

to hear me complain about it. Yeah, but I want

to complain about it, but after I've made the

initial complaint, I don't care. Yeah. And, you

know, luckily, because we've known each other

so long and whatever, usually we can complain

to each other without, you know, Oh my God, you

have this opinion. I disown you as a friend.

Having it out in the comments section, you've

gone rogue. Dude, you've turned into a monster.

You made me this way. That would be cool to do

his voice. Yes. Malcolm McDowell. I should strive

for that. Yes, you really should. I've already

proven I can do, like, an Emperor's New Groove

crunk. Mm -hmm. I did that one. I did that one

for work. And then they're like... Just so you

know, he's gonna show up again soon. In the audio

program, I'm like better the audio than the video

video I Am not I'm so not a video recording person.

Like I when I was in college, I could not stand

Doing our short film. Mm -hmm could not stand

it. Like I was ready to be done. I'm like I never

want to work video It's just it's one of those

things that's like, you know, some people like

audio some people like videos Some people want

to be in a movie set. Some people don't I am

NOT one of them. I Shot a short film. I was there

three days. I wanted to go home So, yeah, I don't

know I Yeah, I just I Enjoyed the experience.

I enjoyed how it came out, but I did not enjoy

the long day, right? I I was in such pain after

that kind of like I am now except now it's different

reason entirely But but yeah, I mean I'm glad

that For one those that don't know podcast movements

been going on this last week or two weeks and

usually It's an in -person event, but because

of kovat they had to cancel their Dallas, Texas

Convention and go virtual And so because they

went virtual I applied for a scholarship won

it Being that I'd never been to podcast movement

before and I figured you know if I was going

to try for the scholarship this year would be

it because I can't afford to travel and There

really isn't an option to travel And so I was

like, meh, you know, how bad can it be? You know,

and honestly, I've enjoyed the virtual panels

because I can work and I can have it on in my

other screen and I can rewatch it. And I've met

quite a few different people that are PR people

for some interviews that we got recently, namely

the three that we've just released over this

past week. I met their media contact through

podcast movement. Very cool, very cool. And I

actually have a possible fourth one coming up

soon. I'm just waiting to hear back, which I

may have you follow up with. But yeah, I mean,

it's been interesting. It's been fun. I've learned

a lot. I'm going to definitely rewatch some of

them when I have more free time. Because I just

there's a lot of information to take in but the

state of the podcasting industry is changing

as well and It's it's kind of amazing how much

and I noticed this when I was in some of the

panels This last week people were like do you

notice that almost every one of the panels is

very commercialized now They're like there's

some company trying to pimp their services like

it especially came out when roosterteeth did

their Their panel like two days ago, right? and

like Mike said this is a this is a Wednesday

we're recording this but The the Monday they

had a panel of rooster teeth and the guy was

just He's there. They're had a podcast like I've

never heard of him before and he not that that

means anything but He he was promoting He had

like a three -minute four -minute commercial

of Rooster Teeth crap right at the beginning

of his panel and people are like Can the commercial

and the ad be any longer? Like they were like,

you know just because like he was supposed to

be giving a panel like it's a 30 -minute panel

a lot of these are 30 minutes maybe an hour like

Entrepreneurs on fire, which is John Lee Dumas.

I don't know if you've heard of him pretty influential

podcaster in the space. He did a three -hour

panel the other day and they changed the topic

every 30 minutes, but it was still him doing

the thing. Actually, that was probably one of

my favorite panels just because it was very insightful

on a lot of fronts. He's saying, do you need

to do video podcasting? Not really. He's like,

I haven't noticed any difference in any of my

clients or any of the stuff I've done. by going

video as opposed to just being audio only, or

the transcription of the episodes. He's like,

if you're not doing it now, he's like, yeah,

I mean, it's good for SEO, he says, but ultimately

it's not that big of a deal and it's not something

I would worry about spending money on. And basically

just kind of calling BS on all of these things

that all of these experts tell you you have to

have in order to be a good podcaster. And I was

like, Okay, like I can get behind this because

there's actually you know logical reasoning You

know not just you have to have it to be important

or you have to have it because XYZ says so right

and I feel that Some of my And this is kind of

complaining but it's not really it's kind of

just working it through my head but some of the

podcast industry because all of the smaller companies

are slowly getting bought up by radio or broadcast

companies. I'm looking at you, iHeartMedia, that

bought Voxnest, which owns Spreaker and Blog

Talk Radio. Oh, that's who Voxnest. I remember

when you sent that to me and I'm like, okay,

oh crap. Well then. That's why I was complaining

was because Hate I heart media with a passion

because they're the ones that are going around

the internet gloating all the time Oh, we're

the first ones to have an award show. No, you're

not Todd Cochran did it 14 years ago Yep, and

you know and then the only thing that even qualified

were things that I heart radio specifically Had

their radio arm paying for it was rigged. And,

you know, and then you look at the cost of all

these different shows, like I get emails from

the Webbies, I get emails from all of these other

organizations, like, oh, pay for the awards,

you know, and to get nominated. And it's like,

but you're not guaranteed really a spot, especially

if you're like a lower podcaster, because if

you're dealing with a conglomerate like that,

they're going to automatically go to the ones

that are like your Conan O 'Brien or your, you

know, your Your Joe Rogan your Joe Rogan's like

you're you're never gonna have a shot and They're

just taking your money. And so I I refuse to

play the game Even the the podcast Academy the

podcasters Academy or whatever that started up.

It's it's headed by Libsons head of podcasts

Forget his name is he's a good dude But a lot

of the other people on the board are radio company

people. And it rubs me wrong in that regard.

Like I get what they're going for. And it's only

like 50 bucks to join or something. But they're

having an award show and it's like $125. Oh jeez.

And I can pay for Todd Cochran's podcast awards

and it's 35 bucks. Yeah, wow. That's crazy. Like

the difference, like if I thought I had a chance

at winning, I would do the $35 one. Otherwise,

like I honestly wouldn't because I don't do it

to win the awards. Right. Like, yeah, I mean,

it'd be nice to make some, you know, actual money

on this stuff, but like, I do it because I enjoy

the content and I do it because I love it and

because I'm adding a contribution to the space.

Yeah, that's like me with like trying to figure

out how to set up a Patreon, not just for GCR

and in general, but specifically for me. But

what could I offer? Like, and I've recently found

that Someone that I've watched and I've listened

to for years now, Ron Algar Watt. He likes going

by Algar, call him Al. He's the guy that originally

did the Transformers Lovingly Reviewed By on

YouTube. Most of his YouTube stuff is gone, but

the audio is on his website stuff. Well he...

did other podcasts, he and his cohort, Matt Robotham,

had done 10 years, I believe, 10 or 11 years,

they reviewed every single episode of Star Trek

ever. Like they just recently stopped because

Discovery stopped and Endeavor, not Endeavor,

Endeavor is their Star Trek thing that they do.

But the point is they're doing what we did and

what Michael Simms and James Doe did years and

years ago where they're reviewing the DC animated

universe and I'm like, oh cool, their show is

called Kids Love Batman. Alright, cool. So I

started listening to it and then they started

promoting. Al really isn't into doing the whole

promotion thing, but it is what it is. On their

Patreon for Kids Love Batman for actually all

the Algar production stuff, They have it set

up where it doesn't matter the denomination,

you still get everything. So instead of setting

it up as like, oh, if you donate to $1 tier,

you get this. If you donate $5, it doesn't exclude

people. It basically is like, give us whatever

you want, here's all of our content. But I've

been trying to think how, like, what could I

offer in a Patreon? Because I do all this stuff

because I love it. more so than I don't know

it's just something I've been struggling with

but it's just one of those things where radio

and I can't speak I wish I'm gonna ask a buddy

of mine to come on at some point but I've never

been in radio I've always wanted to be but I

never have and just as a listener I've seen the

changes radio has had to make over the decades,

and especially lately, in the last five to ten

years. Hell, in the last two to three years.

They've had to make a lot of changes, and sadly,

podcasting, because radio is all audio. You don't

usually - I mean, yes, they do Facebook Lives

and things like that now, and YouTube videos

and all that, but for the longest time, radio

is all audio. And that's what - At least that's

how I see podcasting as well. It's audio. Yes,

I know there are video podcasts and that's all

well, good and fine. However, what other avenues

did radio have a choice to go into? None other

than podcasting. And it sucks that this one big

ginormous company seems to think that they are

at the center of attention of everything. Well,

and it's not just that. Like I've been kind of

following a lot of this stuff for a while and

What I've noticed is And I was kind of talking

to other people 2016 is when all this kind of

spiked mm -hmm And wouldn't you know it that's

also about the same time That a lot of podcasters

that had been doing it for years either disappeared

shut down or Their listenerships fizzled out

mm -hmm and web traffic fizzled out and and I've

noticed that It's unfortunate to like I mean

and then that's when you get all these like oh

so -and -so is getting these massive numbers

It kind of reminds me of this duck duck man episode

mm -hmm and He he stumbles into a writers guild

meeting or something And he says, he says, the

key is to be perceived as as as good. He says,

you know, and then more or less said that, you

know, the the companies throw a bunch of money

behind them. And then that's how they kind of

determine who's who's going to be the next big

thing. Because like I was asked by another podcast

organization to promote a up and coming podcaster

who was doing a YouTube channel and flipping

over to podcasting and. It was a technology person.

I'd never heard of him. I'm like, who? I'm like,

you got to send me more information on this guy.

And granted, I'm sure he gets a crap load more

downloads than we do. And that's because he has

a conglomerate with money behind it that can

market him. I think his show was called Waveform

or something. They wanted me to promote him,

but they didn't really want to. pony up a ton

of money to do it. But they also were kind of

just jerking my chain around anyway in email,

and so I was kind of like, whatever, screw you

guys. So I don't know. Well, I enjoyed podcasting,

and I was talking to actually another guy about

this the other day, and we were going forth about

it, because he's noticing this too. And he's

been a podcaster for about as long as me, if

not longer, by maybe six months to a year or

something. Right. And, you know, he was telling

me about the podcast Academy Awards, you know,

how they're calling it the Ambys and, you know,

it says, I guess the original name was like the

Golden Mikes or something like that, which was

a better name. And then he was saying, When I

made the comment about a I heart radio since

I saw your I heart post I find it odd when one

app maker snaps up another company that already

has an app, you know Spreaker is nice, but I

hurt not so much and Then it was kind of explaining

to him why I didn't like that and he says, you

know The space is nearing a tipping point Are

we all going to work together or consolidate

and go into silos? You know from equipment to

apps. It's getting exciting and scary because

I was telling him I said, you know a few years

back blog talk radio and Spreaker actually merged

and created a parent company called box nest

Like one to two years ago and then and it was

right after podcast movement They made this announcement

and then you know about the same time this year

You know come to find out Vox Nest has been purchased

by our heart radio Which it turns out I heart

had a little bit of a ownership stake in it originally

Which I didn't know that but they They outright

just bought him out and I explained I says, you

know Usually when a big company buys something

the service tanks and I said, you know years

ago we used to host The geek cast radio on media

temple And for years, I would have never switched.

I enjoyed the back -end interface. Super easy

to use. I enjoyed it. They had a stats program.

They had everything. And then GoDaddy bought

them. And we know how GoDaddy works. And I had

to build a website for a organization once, and

they used GoDaddy. And it was the worst customer

service experience I'd ever had building a website.

And there were so many DNS issues. And so anyways,

when GoDaddy bought Media Temple, their bandwidth

started going down. Their stats completely disappeared.

And they totally removed it from the interface.

Even though they claimed for two years that they

were going to build a new one and put one in

there and nothing ever came of it. And then when

we left and we went to Site five or something

we did that for like a month then we went back

I lost a couple of key features that were in

the original package because they had to create

a new one and then Now like they barely give

you they don't even give you the same service

we had when we had it like and then they charge

double the price now and it's it's ridiculous

Um, so like I was more than happy to switch to

one -in -one and they got bought out too. They

got bought out by Ionis, which honestly they

don't work any different. It's just another,

it's just a merger. Um, but, um, you know, he,

he's, uh, when I was talking to this friend,

he said, uh, you know, I said, I'm not, I'm not

fond of a lot of the things that are going on

in the space and they keep adding costs. I says,

but at the same time, if you're not a IAB 2 .0

certified podcast, you know, metrics site, I

says, then it doesn't matter. And then he says,

you know, certifications, we don't have a say

in, because it's again, it's, you know, behind

closed doors, it's these media companies and

advertisers and which is why everyone's download

counts dropped. after they got 2 .0 certified

because the 1 .0 certification, what had happened

is they changed the metric for the duration of

time that somebody listens to a podcast. Oh,

wow. And so they changed. I think they changed

it from like a 30 second to a 60 to a 60 second

or something like that or a little bit longer.

And just just to kind of push it over the edge.

So even if they don't, you know, And they also

counted so like if somebody Drops the So like

they drop the The count if you you resume a podcast

later Like it used to count it as like a new

listen because somebody wouldn't actually right

complete it or whatever So they would count it.

So I mean, in that sense, I kind of get it. But

at the same time, like it kind of seemed kind

of shady anyway. And he was saying, you know,

I'm getting to the point where I'm thinking we

need to make our own tools from software to hosting.

I think we need a truly indie organization or

at least an alliance. And I said, especially

when everything is going to the radio world and

broadcasters, I'm 100 percent down with that.

And then he was like, question, should it all

be open source where it makes sense or should

it be for and by podcasters that cost money?

I said, honestly, I would go open source. I said,

Audacity is free. Donation is free. And honestly,

that's where all of us started out. We all started

on Audacity. And there are plenty of people still

using Audacity to this day to do it. I just switched

from Audacity because honestly, the tool is better

with Adobe. Right, no, and I'm the same way.

I still use Audacity. I don't use it for editing,

but I use it. uh... but it's so funny uh... uh...

the guy that i follow cuz the funny thing is

now that i'm back folks and i'm actually on my

computer and whatever else i haven't spent since

last uh... november december whatever just uh...

twiddling my thumbs because i've been I've spent

the last better part of the year listening, like

finding new and finding, getting new friendships,

getting new connections, finding new podcasts

and new topics that I like. This guy that I know

through other people that I've known, he does

Return to Cybertron, a Transformers UK podcast.

Now he showed on his Facebook the other day,

a audacity file that was eight hours long. Okay.

Like, that beats my record of six hours at Radio

Free Cybertron on San Diego Comic Con 2012 or

whatever. But like, Audacity is the thing that

most people will still use because it is the

most user -friendly, easiest thing to use for

audio editing on the go kind of thing. I cannot

say anything about Angkor or any of the other

things that are used. Well, Angkor is owned by

Spotify, but before that, they were claiming

total ownership of your recorded podcast, which

is why people were up in arms about him. And

honestly, it's like the cheapy starter platform

that people use, and then they fizzle out. Nobody

actually makes a career out of podcasting or

a hobby out of it. By being on anchor that's

like the the place podcasts go to die because

like there's nobody that's active on it pretty

much I mean i'm not saying that there aren't

some that that make it beyond it but The majority

of the podcasts that are on there like die before

10 episodes And so like it's it's meant to be

like it's starting jumping off point and they

get to monetize it So it's like speaker prime

in a sense. Yeah Being a starting point And they

monetize your stuff. I mean they they took out

the clause that they own your show like outright

Because that got a bunch of people jumping ship

Taste in people's mouth after that. So people

have actively like podcasters will tell you to

stay away from them and And what's funny about

it is is same thing with SoundCloud SoundCloud

is a music site, they've done zero innovation

in the podcast space and they claim that they

also are a podcast source and they're honestly

garbage because they're not even IAB certified

even with 1 .0 and so they're not even an option

if you want actual advertising. but no, I and

then kind of going back to that conversation

I was having with this this podcast here and

You know, I said honestly I'd like to see something

that if there was a kind of membership or board

You know at most maybe five bucks a month or

something So that's a little bit if it's not

enough, you know But it's not enough for anybody

to actually live off of it would be enough to

sustain the organization, but that's it and You

know says I'm not sure if it's a good thing or

a bad thing considering all the monetization

is on all these big platforms, but There was

also something that I noticed with podcast movement

I've been approached by multiple companies On

how to network with other podcasters and get

guests on your show and they were all costing

money Which is something that most of us cannot

afford when we're on this level also when we're

invited to like award shows You know and have

to pay hundreds of dollars getting the categories

to begin with it's kind of self -defeating We're

you know, pretty much the only ones that are

gonna get in it are the ones that are making

money and the ones that are in the broadcast

industry Because like I I was asked to join one

and they're like we're gonna be the LinkedIn

of You know of podcasters and I saw another and

literally they've been around for five months

I saw another site that claimed the same thing

and then I saw another site like matchmaker .fms

one that they they cost money for a certain level

of introductions and then they have They have

You know, there's the the podcast guest com that

costs money. I mean, it's it's ridiculous the

amount that they all cost Yeah Just just a network

with other podcasters It's like just go on facebook

and meet them or go on twitter and just talk

to them and ask them because most of them Will

just do it, you know Yeah, it's a little bit

extra work on you. Like it doesn't have an algorithm

that matches based on you know categories, right?

but yeah, I mean it's So so anyways we were talking

and You know, he says I think you're spot -on

open source might be the only way to go and You

know, so I'm probably eventually gonna have a

conversation about it with him. But yeah, I'm

I'm of the mind though that I think that we need

to Traverse beyond Where we're at because I just

don't I feel like we're gonna hit a brick wall

at some point in the near future when it comes

to podcasting. I think I was even complaining

on Twitter and Tim was like, what was it he said

to me? He seems everyone is podcasting now. It

is becoming more commercial. A lot of smaller

independent shows will no doubt struggle to find

an audience, but it's the nature of the beast,

I suppose. I don't know. I just think it's kind

of wrong in a sense because it was this completely

indie Effort and then it's become so commercialized.

Yeah, I mean look at us. I mean Have we had our

successes or our quote -unquote fame in the last

11 12 13 14, you know, whatever how many years?

Yeah, it's come and gone and that's fine but

like Just isn't because we didn't get back on

Kotaku right exactly or or the other one, IGN

or whatever kind of thing. What I love about

being able to podcast, what I love what we at

the GCRN have built, whether it's you and I as

the co -creators and whatever, whether it's Optimus

Solo and Dan Clark, movie revolt Dan or whatever,

whoever it is that works with us, that we're

able to work together to a common goal to get

a good audio product out there. Have we had some

bad audio products in the last 11 -12 years?

You damn skippy we have. Shit happens. Sorry.

You know. But I don't think any of us have ever

said anything on this network that would make

someone just drop us immediately. Like... You

know what I mean? Like, we're here to entertain

people. We're here to entertain ourselves. We're

here to have fun conversations with the people

that are geeks like us. Yeah. That's what the

GCRN has always been. That's what it hopefully

will always be. Well, to unleash the geek in

you. Like, not to... Yeah, it's right there on

the nose unleash the jerk in you like no that's

not really the mission To take your money and

run That's what it seems like a lot of services

do now that's probably what they do do People

shouldn't support Their favorite creators because

I mean if there's a way to do it there's a way

to you know that go for it But I mean people

can still donate I think on the website. I can't

recall I'm not seeing it because I'm on a website

right now. Advertise. What? Maybe I should put

that back on there. Yes, you should. Donate.

Help us pay for the new website. I have a new

theme in mind. Yes. Something more elegant and

clean and something specifically for the podcast.

Yes. Yes. But yeah, I don't know. There's just

a lot of stuff. going on in the world of Python

anymore. Yeah, and because I've had this whole

almost year of listening and finding other people

and finding other shows and seeing how other

people do the same things we've done over the

years, I have this whole new revitalized thing.

I have this whole new plan. Now that I have my

computer back up and running, I am going to write

out the plan and obviously send it to you and

other creators that we work with kind of thing.

And it's time to kick ass and take names people.

Yeah, so expect a lot of interviews and We need

to create Mikey the microphone as the mascot.

Yeah Come on! No. It makes sense. No. Come on!

No. Come on, you know you want to. No. Come on.

You know how many times have you said come on

and I still tell you no and it doesn't happen?

Everybody chant, Mikey the microphone, Mikey

the microphone. Yeah, people are going to just

tell you no. Hey, if I have to pay Neil to design

it, I will. He works for cheap, sort of. Sort

of. Oh, man. Yeah. So. I think I've run this

into the ground, haven't I? I think so. So I

think, you know, I think this episode's kind

of done. Dead. Shot. Oh, yeah. Beaten with a

shovel. If you, the listeners out there, have

any ideas of things that you'd like to discuss

in the next episode, let us know. A specific

topic, a specific conversation. Different co

-host. Somebody that's not an idiot. No, hey.

I thought I'd just say that just to be funny,

but it wasn't. I'm sorry, I'm evil. So anyways

turned into a monster you made me this way and

scene Everybody chant Mikey the microphone Mikey

the microphone