Podcasting
Since Ricky Gervais started putting out a show on the Guardian website, it seems everyone's talking about podcasting. At Darq we've been involved in digital online broadcasting since the very beginning. If you want to start podcasting, or offering it as a service to your customers, Darq provide the infrastructure, technology and expertise to deliver professional results.
What is Podcasting?
Podcasting combines mp3 audio files, RSS feeds and portable music players to distribute radio style shows to an international audience. Recordings are encoded in mp3 format and uploaded to a high availability web server. RSS feeds, which are essentially simple web pages designed to be easily understood by computers, are generated to inform listeners that new files are available, whereby they can be automatically downloaded onto their IPod or other portable digital music player.
To a listener, the experience is fluid. They simply visit your website and click on the "subscribe to podcast" link. New editions of your show are then automatically downloaded into iTunes, Yahoo Music, or the podcatching software of their choice. If they don't have a portable digital music player, they can simply download the mp3 file and play it with their normal media player software.
Why Darq for PodCasting?
- Darq has extensive experience with mp3 and digital media streaming.
- We set up the servers for Resonance Fm to stream live mp3 over the internet in 2001.
- Our own Spamradio.com website has streamed live uninterupted mp3 since early 2002, when it was nominated for a Webby Award.
- We can sell or hire broadcast quality recording equipement, and provide one to one or group training.
How much?
This depends mostly on how many visitors you're expecting, but setting up the infrastructure for a weekly podcast for a few hundred visitors starts at around £300, and then around £20 per month.
What hardware do I need?
Again, this depends on the nature of the show, but we'd suggest an external sound card, quality mic and cleanly configured computer. Our standard broadcast/podcast setup which allows podcasting and live mp3 streaming consits of:
- Tascam US122 external Soundcard
- Highly reliable IBM ThinkPad laptop
- Shure SM58 Microphone
- All the software you need, configured to stream or podcast to our servers.
This kit can be hired from us for £150 per day, or bought new for £1400. If you'd like more information, please drop us a line or call Ian on 07010 71 3277.
