NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc.(AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday released its newest version of the popular iTunes digital music management software, which now includes the ability to download alternative audio shows called podcasts.
In a press release, Apple said version 4.9 of iTunes, the companion service to the popular iPod music player, will allow users to subscribe to over 3,000 free Podcasts and have each new episode automatically delivered over the Internet to their computer and iPod.
Podcasts, or sound files and audio content such as radio shows, have surged in popularity since late in 2004, and will work on any digital MP3 player. The phenomenon allows users to create and upload their own audio programs on the Web, which then can be downloaded to multimedia players at a later date.
Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and chief executive, last month said the company would soon support podcasts.
Separately, Apple said it would combine its iPod and iPod Photo lines, creating a single line of high-capacity music players that all feature color displays, with the ability to view photos on the screen.
Shares of Apple rose about 1 percent to $37.50 just after the Nasdaq opened.

Hey - the cool thing is that Garageband.com is already up on this - you can take your songs that are up on garageband.com and podcast them. No - actually, I think they're already there and all you do is click to download the podcast. Cool enough. I wonder if you can link to that from your site or something?

I have a plan for this, I don't need no stinking web site, I'll post it on my own.

It's going to be one 60 minute radio show with breaks in between songs and I'm going to do my best not to break any copyright infringement laws.

It's been almost a year since I've posted any music and with school starting back up in September, I only have so much time.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think, no, no I don't want to pursue the podcast.

I've got my music in so many free portals all over the internet, from my own website(s) to soundclick, garageband, sonicbids, starpolish, myspace, and a hundred others that I've already forgotten about, it's crazy.

You can stand on a box and scream about your music til you're blue in the face on the internet, and you can chase every new and improved portal down, trying to throw your music into the vast chasm in the hopes of winning over two more fans - it just seems like you really have to spend 23 hours a day pushing your music into so many places just to get somebody to slow down and listen to your stuff.

It's frustrating.

I really start to believe the age-old route for exposure. Nobody will listen to your stuff until somebody else talks about it. If I go to every person on this site, for instance -- orgnote each and every one of them -- and say, "look, I've been into Prince since 1980 and I play all my instruments and people like my stuff. go check it out" I bet you that maybe one in TWENTY would bother to go listen, and then, of that group, one in TEN might actually write back. And then, of THAT group, one in TEN would actually want to buy a CD. So then, you're talking about a success ratio of 1 in 2000 orgnotes, personalized orgnotes.

That's a frustrating ratio. Pushing your music to people is a pain. I'm really re-thinking this stuff lately. Instead of throwing my music up willy-nilly everywhere, I'm starting to think about smart marketing. Getting written up in publications that go out to people who would like this kind of music. Go for some kind of tie in - get my songs on rotation at clothing stores, at starbucks, I don't know - just get the music in the background of places where there's people who might LIKE the stuff. Get it talked about in publications relevant to the music style.

Not to jack the thread. It's relative. Music promotion. Exposure.

Once this CD comes closer to the drop date, I'm going to be working overtime on the exposure/publicity thing. I'll let you know which ideas work.

Go back to the traditional way, it's tried and true. Commercials need music, Starbucks need music and elevators need music, gauranteed captive audience, maybe even get you a record deal from the exposure when people ask who is that Toyota commercial.

I just want all of the exposure I can get and for it to be done non-traditional and executed completely different.

Your experience in flooding the internet with your music is real so I'm just wondering what can be learned from it to break some new ground.

Heh - well - there's the missing piece. I never had a real "marketing" strategy or Business plan. All I did was spit out songs and post them online hoping to hear what people think of them. I never had any sort of follow-up... no CD for sale online, nothing to gain from the exposure. So, for all I know, I've been exposed to thousands and they've dug the music and would have bought something if I followed up their comments with some sort of "if you like THAT, then go check out my CD at yaddayadda.com" or "I'll be happy to send you a sampler CD, make copies for your friends" and again, drive them to go buy the thing.

That's the line I haven't crossed... trying to turn interest into a sale. It's one of those artist things we discussed here last month. No artist wants to become a salesman of their art. We want people to love the music and get it for free and bathe in it and tell everyone on the planet about it, but, to actually ASK somebody to give you MONEY for your craft? It's almost taboo to us basement musicians. Which is okay. Don't get me wrong... if you don't want money for your music, then podcasts and soundclick and myspace are great for making a community of fans.

However, when you sit back and think about the time you're putting into your music. And the money in instruments, applications, whatever, then, well, you're not just giving away your music. You're giving away your money. You're donating your investments for other people to enjoy. Which is awesome at first, but, I dunno, after awhile I start to wonder if I'd find a much larger audience by charging money. Again it's the "wow if they're chargin money for their art, it must be worth a lot more than somebody who'd just give it away" mentality.

If somebody offers you a car for free, and somebody else is selling you the exact same car for $5000, you'll TAKE the free one, but don't you kind of wonder what's wrong with the free one?

I dunno. This is just the oddball stuff that I'm going through now. I'll still continue to write and record stuff in the basement and post it for free, and this jaunt into the studio hasn't made me a capitalist pig - it's just driving me to find out - first - how to recap my expenses on this thing, and secondly - how can I get HUGE? Without the money from a large label, is it even POSSIBLE to sell 10,000 CDs without travelling up and down the coast for 6 months?

I'm postitive that it's possible, I just have to start working smarter, not harder.

Creating a podcast is NOT really all that beneficial for a single artist, however, one should not discount the potential of what a podcast can do for any artist participating in a themed podcast. Podcasts have something that can easily be tailored to the consumer...just like movies, radio, TV, cable and satellite shows. It’s all PROGRAMMING. And programming is $YNDICATION. You tailor a show that’s HAWT with an instant grab theme and you potentially have a bomb for...oh...imagine 500 stations. If you knew that you could dial up a close and personal interview with....oh let's stick with a Prince Podcast... with new tunes and interviews, or dial up one of the most compiled biographies ever written about Leonardo da Vinci....or...or...or. And because it’s portable...it’s not as cumbersome as sitting in front of a TV or Radio...you can listen to it in the park, in your car, on your daily walk, while grocery shopping yadda yadda yadda. Podcast syndication has enormous possibilities for exposure...oh and $ too.