Thinking of starting a podcast but don't know where to begin....

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I'm a true crime/mystery junkie and I've been considering starting my own podcast for a while now but just don't know where to start. I have a decent laptop and a high quality recording microphone, and I have an idea of the type of show I would like to do but that's about it.

I would be aiming for weekly episodes, 30-45 minutes long, exploring true crime and unexplained murders and disappearances from Ireland and the UK.

I have no problem doing the research and writing the script etc but as I am on my own, I am worried that it will take too much time. I don't personally know anyone who would be willing to do it with me. I am also worried that people won't want to listen to one person just droning on, although it seems to work fine for Casefile, which is one of my favorite podcasts.

Has anyone made their own podcast? Is it too much work for one person to take on alone? Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated

DJ Dodgy

There is a podcast called Football Weekly done by the Guardian Journalists and the producer of that wrote a book on the history and growth of podcasts down through the years. I think that would be a good place to start

https://www.theguardian.com/football/audio/2015/nov/13/football-weekly-presents-ben-green-podcast-master-history-of-podcasting

Good luck with it.

wnolan1992

I'm actually currently in the process of starting up my own podcast so (attempt number 612, but hopefully I'll follow though on this one), so I'll just list some of the considerations, tips, advice that I can think of.

Firstly, what I'd say is don't worry about people not wanting to listen to just one person. There are lot of podcasts that are just one person (one of my personal favourites is When Diplomacy Fails) that are very successful.

I'd recommend doing a few trial episodes now, before you do anything else. Think of them as the pilot. See if your idea actually works as a podcast. If it doesn't, you can rework it or abandon it without having spent ages setting up everything else for the podcast and then realising you don't actually like your idea after all.

Decide on the technical stuff. Have you gotten familiar with editing software like Audacity or Audition? Have you researched how you're going to handle distributing the podcast? You could host it yourself on a home server, use a hosting company like Blacknight to host your files and post them on a website you built or on a blog on Wordpress or Blogspot, use a podcast service like Libsyn to host it and post to a blog on Wordpress or Blogspot, use Soundcloud's podcasting side (not overly familiar with this myself) and I'm sure there are other options out there.

For me, the hosting and website side of things was always the biggest hurdle, but having set up a podcast a year ago, I can say now that really it's all reasonably straight forward. You just need to take the time to sit down and work through it all.

I think it's important to have all that set before you start releasing episodes. If you start releasing episodes one way and end up having to change, you risk losing any audience you've built up because of feed confusion.

Finally, you should work out your schedule. What day are you going to release episodes, what day will you record, what day will you edit, what day will you research and plan, etc. Is a weekly release viable with other commitments? Will you have enough content for weekly releases (this goes back to the record an episode or two now point). IMO it's better to sit down and say "Oh, I reckon a fortnightly release is more realistic." and start as you mean to go on rather than doing 4 or 5 weeks of weekly releases and then cutting back.



Oh, and you should probably think about things like setting up a Facebook page, a Twitter account and maybe registering a domain name once you've come up with your podcast's name too.

tsofitch

I'm thinking of starting my own one soon, it's something I've wanted to do for a long time.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Thanks for all the advice and information I've downloaded that book you mentioned DJ, it's nice and concise but informative at the same time. Wnolan you're spot on, a bi-weekly would probably be more doable. Do you mind me asking what kind of podcast you do?

I will definitely do a few dummy runs before I start publishing episodes. I'm good with the whole social media presence and I'm (kind of) familiar with some audio software but would you believe, I hadn't even considered the hosting aspect of it Will have to look into that.

Good luck to everyone else with your podcasts! Hopefully 2017 will be the year I finally get my podcasting arse in gear

MentalMario

This is a great idea for a podcast. Best of luck with it.

I'd worry that it's a bit too niche though. You could easily run out of content after a few months.

Think about releasing one once per month rather than once per week/fortnight. It'll allow you to put more time into the research part of it and maybe even grab some soundbites from different people /sources to use in it. Quality over quantity. Research might be tough on some of your stories.

Also, as has been mentioned, get a bank of stories before you release anything.

Best of luck again. Looking forward to checking it out.

The Black Oil

I can't offer much technical experience or advice, just wanted to say good luck.

Keep an eye on your schedule, though. One podcast I listen to is weekly, they pre-record just 5-6 times a year - so the frequency of their output is quite impressive. They've been on the go about 10 years. Obviously more polished stuff like the BBC and NPR have full back room staff and the resources to keep a tight schedule. Another podcast I listen to dropped from fortnightly to monthly, again an amateur operation. Weekly would be huge pressure, imo. Could you enjoy your weekend if you knew you had to have something prepared by Sunday for uploading on Monday, depending on what's going on in your life? Science Vs had weekly/fortnightly output from July-Oct this year. There's been nothing since, they're working on it. There's large been gaps in others I listen to too.

I think true crime would be very research intensive, potentially. You might want to check out any legal concerns about commenting on investigations that might be cold but open.

I recorded a piece for a podcast before. I wrote a script and it took me a few attempts to get the speaking part right. Also, it was through the audio that I noticed that my mic (just a Logitech head set for Skype, btw!) was picking up my squeaky chair...

CuddlesRadio

Do you know anything about the legality of using other people's music on the podcast? I am currently working on one where I interview up and coming bands and play their songs etc. but I would like to do a bit of DJing in between with other people's music. Do I need a license or if I hook up with Libsyn or one of them do they cover that copyright stuff? Or if you don't know does anyone know? Thanks

ED E

CuddlesRadio wrote: »

Do you know anything about the legality of using other people's music on the podcast? I am currently working on one where I interview up and coming bands and play their songs etc. but I would like to do a bit of DJing in between with other people's music. Do I need a license or if I hook up with Libsyn or one of them do they cover that copyright stuff? Or if you don't know does anyone know? Thanks

Creative commons music, you're fine. Regular chart stuff, thats a no no.

Also people I think, at least I do, listen to podcasts for select content. If I want music I'll put on gMusic/Spotify etc. If a podcast ostensibly about interviewing new bands like "The Open Mic" on 104 started playing random tunes I'd be quickly on long press -> delete.

CuddlesRadio

What so you can't do it at all? Surely you can get a license or some such?

wnolan1992

CuddlesRadio wrote: »

Do you know anything about the legality of using other people's music on the podcast? I am currently working on one where I interview up and coming bands and play their songs etc. but I would like to do a bit of DJing in between with other people's music. Do I need a license or if I hook up with Libsyn or one of them do they cover that copyright stuff? Or if you don't know does anyone know? Thanks

Can't use chart stuff, you'll get banned from iTunes or Libsyn for doing it.

As an alternative solution, you could put your full "show" up on Mixcloud (including the DJing), then separate out the interview part for use as a podcast.

CuddlesRadio

Sound. Thanks lads