The Princess and the Pea-Podcast
Written by Cara Friday, 20 March 2009 04:30
As man has evolved in our short time on this amazing planet, the Internet has evolved music into many new forms. One species of this evolution has been the podcast, but there is a long journey that precedes this new creature.
From the earliest origins of man, we have engaged in some form of musical merry-making, from songs and chants to evidence of to ancient Egyptian pottery resembling records that actually produced music and music boxes containing metal cogs and wheels.
In the late nineteenth century, in the midst of bringing the telegraph and telephone to this world, Thomas Edison fashioned the Cylinder Phonograph (inventors.about.com). The site also attests "Edison gave a sketch of the machine to his mechanic, John Kreusi, to build, which Kreusi supposedly did within 30 hours. Edison immediately tested the machine by speaking the nursery rhyme into the mouthpiece, 'Mary had a little lamb.' To his amazement, the machine played his words back to him." By this time, the world had seen many mechanized instraments, though this, in a way, pioneered the way for the music playing devices of the age.
The twentieth century birthed Edison's true music playing record player in 1909 and a sleugth of boom boxes of all kinds followed throughout the century and into this millenium. We all know this story, the radio, 8 Track, the Cassette, the music video, VHS, CD, DVD, and yes, finally online; remember this article is about podcasts?
GaragePunk.Com is a good source to go to for the story behind and definition of a podcast. For the best information go to the site, but in a nutshell they attest "Podcasting is a term coined in 2004 when the use of RSS syndication technologies became popular for distributing audio content for listening on mobile devices and personal computers."
The podcast is not just a tune humming from your laptop, traveling to your phone and more, it is a product of what I crudely coin as some sort of socio-Internet music revolution. Along with this comes the terminology and legal guidelines for music in the cyber-world. As many of us have been accused of, the webmaster is a multi-tasker? He describes himself as a "punk/rock’n'roll music fan, promoter, ’zine publisher, writer, reviewer, photographer, organizer, record store worker, shit disturber, scenester, DJ, webmaster, and now, a “garage punk” blogger and podcaster" (garagepunk.com).
From the vaults of my own mind, in the late 90's and early 2000's, I recall some nerves amongst musicians and producers alike, as hungry fans jacked their songs off the web. Pepsi offered song downloads under the lids of their caps, and websites began hanging the virtual signage: Shoplifters will be prosecuted. The world reacted with the uninterested scoff of an apathetic teenager, but I guess now we might have some hindsight, preserve our arts, culture and music industries. National Public Radio ran a news brief that the American arts and entertainment industries are currently doing markedly better than most others. Perhaps we are ditching the flat screen TV for a night out? Cheers!
But back to the subject at hand, and the state of the economy still relevant, GaragePunk.com pays for the costs associated with the site through banner ads. It began with a radio show, and though the radio aspect is not dead, it is instead incorporated, though changed by competition technology offers. Just as print publications, farewell Rocky Mountain News, are being phased out for online news sources such as Examiner.com, who only print twice weekly and have up to the minute news websites. Its a new chemical make-up for society altogether and music making and sharing and podcasting has created a new industry that involves both writing and music. Technology has been accused of putting people in an office chair, getting away from working with their hands, but these guys do not embody this at all. They embody experiencing and expanding music, technology, writing and so much more. And they open the door for so many Internet evolutions to come.
