I’ve noticed a few stories this week out on the web talking about putting ridiculous amounts of music on an iPod. Podcasting News reported that IBM has developed a chip that can hold 500,000 songs. Ya, that’s a lot, but if I listen 8 hours per day I’m going to run out of music in 12 years… and heaven forbid I have to listen to the same song twice. But not to worry, the Scottish Scientists can do better. How about… 100 Million songs [insert Dr. Evil style smirk here]. Now you can have enough music to keep you going for 100 lifetimes, all on 1 iPod. Since I plan to live 100 lifetimes, this is good news to me. I think it’s only fair that the warrenty should last as long too.

But according to the Scottish Scientists, if you plan to live more than 100 lifetimes and want to listen to non-stop music on your iPod for the entire time, your going to be out of luck. Apparently at that point we will have reached the limits of what is physically possible. We can only PREY that by the year 3000 we will have reliable and affordable wireless globally so that we don’t have to store our music on our iPods anymore.

So it looks like iTunes is officially the biggest music retailer in the US now. I came across this on Podcasting News
today, after a week of browsing headlines about online music stores and potential online music stores (or social networks that sell music). This is pretty big news in my opinion, and really says a lot about how much the Internet has changed the world. I think back 10 years ago to my graduating year, with fond memories of cutting class to go fetch the latest from my favorite band. I remember picking eagerly at the shrink wrapping, carefully pulling out the liner notes so as not to rip them on the jewel case edges, and listening to CDs from start to finish. It seems so ancient now, but it’s not. That was just 1998. Who would have guessed back then that a computer company would be the number one music retailer?

Many non-techie’s are confused when I tell them what a podcast is, or that podcasts offer them anything of interest. People believe that podcasts are too obscure or complicated to use. A few years ago, I shared that skepticism as well. Getting into the music podcasts helped me shed that limiting belief.

The term podcast is unfortunate in some ways because it takes some explanation to tell someone what a podcast is and how it works, although most of the concepts have been used for decades in radio and TV. Podcasts have a reputation for being “techie”, which obfuscates the good, (non-techie) content they offer. Syndicated programs have been produced for many years. Our grandparents may have listened to Fibber McGee and Molly, one of the classic and most recognizable radio syndications of all time. The only substantial difference with podcasts is the way they’re distributed.

So there’s confusion. I’m sure there’s something for everyone available these days. Podcasting is growing at an unprecedented rate. All it takes is a hearty search! For example, my family recently went on a trip to Mexico. Before she left, my cousin wanted to learn some beginner Spanish. Sounds like a job for SpanishPod! For me, it was music that helped me cross the hurdle; I was looking for new ways to listen to obscure independent music. There was the radio of course, but I don’t carry one around with me. Further, the radio has little I want to listen to. Celine Dion? No thanks.

There is the opinion that podcasts are better suited for news, shows, and frequently updated content. Services like news and weather are updated regularly, and previous episodes lose relevance quickly. Who cares about last month’s CBC World At Six, after all. Music, by contrast, doesn’t become obsolete when a new episode is released.

I believe music will be an important catalyst for getting more and more people to adopt podcasts. The drawback is that most of it will be unfamiliar to listeners. People who expect to hear mainstream music from a podcast are going to be disappointed (for now at least). Regardless, there is enough great indie music available to draw in anyone who manages to listen for a few minutes.

I am always looking for ways to familiarize people with podcasts and methods to ease adoption.

By the way, if you are interested in old-timey radio, including Fibber McGee and Molly, check out http://boxcars711.podomatic.com

I’ll continue this week’s theme of bite-sized music podcasts. The terrific Indie-Pop podcast from IndieFeed releases memorable singles from independent artists all over the world. I’ve never heard of or seen any of the artists they present anywhere else on the net, tv, or radio. My favourite song so far is “Misadventures of the Campaign Kids” by King of Prussia.