Podcasts
Welsh Music Foundation is in the process of producing a radio show style podcast* for our website and we're looking for Welsh record labels to feature in it.
Despite only having been around for a couple of years, Podcasts are big news in the music industry. Some of the worlds biggest media companies, including the BBC and Disney, have made their own shows, Apple has added support to their iTunes/iPod and the more popular programmes have gained tens of thousands of listeners.
The WMF podcast will have six weekly shows. Each programme will be a dedicated showcase for a single Welsh label put together between WMF and the label. WMF will handle the technology side, links on the web, hosting space, uploads and so on, and we'll also be sorting out the legal side - we're already in contact with the relevant licensing authorities.
Each label involved will need to produce a show roughly 30 minutes long. We expect many labels to have their own studio or easy access to one, but in fact a show could be put together in a few hours by a single person using just an ordinary PC and a microphone. WMF will give you as much help with this as possible. You can send us the recording on CD or as an MP3 file. We'll take it, convert it to a suitable format for distribution on the internet then make it live at an agreed date.
For more information on podcasts or if you'd like to participate in this project, please contact Mei on 02920 494 110 or email mei@welshmusicfoundation.com.
*But What Are Podcasts?
Podcasts are downloadable audio shows that you can listen to on your computer, on portable MP3 playing devices or even put onto ordinary audio CDs. The idea is that you subscribe to them so when a new show is issued it automatically downloads to your machine. They're like a radio show crossed with a magazine subscription.
For more information:
Wikipedia has lots of background information and links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting
The BBC have a guide to the technology and some shows for download:
www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/
Here's a directory of many shows:
www.podcast.net/
