The Jag Show: Podcast Tips, Tricks, and Best Practices

It is extremely hot in Michigan this week, with record highs expected here and in many parts of the country. That makes podcast recording harder, especially if your space gets warm or noisy. The show can still go on, but you have to be smart about how you record. 1) Turn off air conditioning and fans near your microphone when possible. A loud fan or air vent can create distracting background noise...

What is Echo Cancellation? Best Practices for Clearer Audio in Virtual Recording In the world of virtual podcasting, how do we eliminate echoes during our recordings? Echo cancellation is a crucial technology that can enhance audio quality, yet many podcasters don't know how it works and when to use it. Here is what it is, how it operates, and best practices for achieving pristine audio in your vi...

Most podcasters trust Spotify to host and distribute their content — but what if that trust blinds you to major pitfalls? This episode exposes two crucial risks that could threaten your podcast’s reach and your data clarity. Discover why relying solely on Spotify for hosting can leave your show vulnerable during outages—and how switching to independent hosts like Simplecast or Libsyn keeps your co...

So just a short abbreviated version of the Jag Show today for a couple of different reasons. Okay, first off, I'm doing a little bit of testing. My partners over at Simplecast, they are the podcast hosting platform that I've used, are rolling out a feature for some plans where you can upload your video into Simplecast and automatically connect to your YouTube. So you don't have to upload your audi...

Who doesn't love a good Comcast rant? My wife and I moved over the holidays – but this story starts way before that.  We couldn’t do Fiber internet in our old house for technical reasons, so we reluctantly switched over to Comcast and Xfinity.  At the time, we were both working from home – and we BLEW through the data limits for their residential service. I figured it was all of these live podcast...

If you're one of those people who only does your podcast on YouTube, last week you were in big trouble. Last week, YouTube had an outage, which is prone to happen in all these big tech companies. And if you only have your podcast on YouTube, not on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else, you can get it on audio or video. Your listeners couldn't consume your content and they went somewhere else. Take it...

Today I want to talk to you about who is on your team. I’ll use two examples from the NFL this past Sunday. They happen to be my two favorite teams. I started the afternoon with my adopted Detroit Lions. They were playing at Cincinnati and running back David Montgomery was having a homecoming. His family is there. He's from there and notably his sister is paralyzed after a car accident last year....

On September 30th., International Podcast Day, the Podcast Super Friends, welcomed Kendall Breitman, Community Lead at Riverside, with big news on a major product rollout: Riverside's launch of its new chat-based editing tool — the "AI Co-Creator," affectionately nicknamed “Coco” by the internal team.  Co-Creator introduces a major shift in how podcasters can handle post-production. Instead of man...

What is your podcast crutch? We all have them. So I was sitting at a  Detroit Tigers game with a friend the other day. Sadly, we were at a Detroit Tigers game. And we were talking about the WJPZ at 50 podcast that I had done. And he was teasing me that the "whispered wow" is what he called the hallmark of any JAG podcast. When somebody says something compelling or interesting, I tend to sit back a...

This year’s Podcast Movement convention marked a clear turning point in the evolution of the podcasting industry. I’ve been attending this event since 2018, and it has always been a valuable space for independent creators like us. But now, the shift toward corporate interests is more evident than ever. With the merger of Podcast Movement and Sounds Profitable, and the major announcement that the 2...

Today, I'm breaking down 5 popular mics that you may have seen in your search for the perfect podcast mic.  We start with the well-advertised, terribly performing Blue Yeti.  I explain why you're better off to skip it, and buy a dynamic microphone for cheaper. Next, the nearly interchangeable Samson Q2U and Audio Technica ATR-2100X .   The ATR has a USB-C option, but has been in very short supply...

In this episode, we explore the significant impact listener surveys can have on a podcast's success, especially during the holiday season. Listener surveys allow us to connect directly with our audience and understand their preferences, making it easier to create content that resonates. In the radio world, we called this “Hugging your P1s”—a term for our most loyal listeners. Providing incentives,...

In this episode of The Jag Show, we dive into the lessons learned from the highly anticipated Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight and how these insights can be applied to podcasting and content creation. Join us as we explore the essential elements of creating buzz, the unpredictability of viral moments, and the critical importance of technology in delivering a seamless experience. Create Buzz and FOMO...

SPOTIFY WILL NOW PAY FOR YOUR CONTENT The world of podcasting is constantly evolving – and Spotify is now trying to keep up with YouTube. And that means PAYING its creators!   This week, Spotify announced they are rebranding their Spotify for Podcasters interface, now calling it Spotify for CREATORS.   This comes on the heels of allowing all podcasters to upload video files of their podcast to the...

Could podcasts help decide the election? Here we are in the final days before the most consequential Presidential Election of our lives. Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are criss-crossing the battleground states – and the podcast studios! Sure, we’ve got wall-to-wall TV and radio ads as always.  My wife and I have YouTube TV as our cable provider -the ads are also th...

What you say as a podcaster matters. You know what also matters? Who you work for. Evan Lazar is an employee of my New England Patriots, who much to the delight of most football fans, have crashed back down to earth, hard, and are one of the worst teams in the league.  (Hey, no complaints here – we got 6 rings when I was young enough to follow sports more religiously).  Anyway, Evan is a co-host o...

On September 11th, 2001, I was a senior in college.  My memories of that day are still so vivid.  It's wild to me that we now have a generation of adults entering the world that are too young to remember this day.   I feel it's incumbent upon us to share our stories - so 9/11 isn't "just another date in a history book." Bonus: Here's a group of us recalling the day at WJPZ, our student run radio s...

I came out of Podcast Movement 2024 with two key takeaways: better audio analytics, and the importance of YouTube. Today, I explain that downloads, while still industry standard, do not paint the whole picture of who's listening to your show, when, and for how long?  The real key data can be found on your dashboards within Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Speaking of YouTube, the biggest change in pod...

Podcast Superfriends Episode Dedicated to "The Money Chase" https://www.soundoff.network/show/the-podcast-super-friends/the-money-chase/ Lately, I've been seeing a number of large podcasts chasing additional revenue - everything from The Daily to Pod Save America to The Tucker Carlson show.   And they've all made critical errors, each in different approaches.  I explain. Yes, there are ways to mon...

Has Podcasting overtaken AM and FM Talk Radio?   Well, yes and no. This is from Edison Research’s Share of Ear Survey. In 2017, 66% of all spoken word audio was consumed over AM and FM radio.  Only 13% of ears went to podcasts.  Well fast forward to the second quarter of 2024.  Talk Radio is at 43%, and Podcasts are catching up at 36%.  But if we dig a little deeper, among ages 13-64, Podcasting h...

Over the long holiday weekend, my wife and I puppy-sat for Henry, a 4-month old golden doodle.  And this got me thinking.  Puppies and Podcasts have a FEW things in common. When you start a podcast, you probably have the exuberance of a puppy.  Henry has a habit of BOUNCING when he walks – he’s very excited, and it’s very cute.   But at some point, you need to learn HOW to walk.  And you can learn...

Today I’m going to tell you three podcasting mistakes to avoid with your show. First one, pretty straightforward.  Avoid the word “podcast” in your show title.   Two reasons. One, if someone is consuming your show, they already KNOW it’s a podcast.   Two: SEO.  According to James Cridland and PodNews, there are 700,000 podcasts that include the word “podcast” in their title – 16% of all shows curr...

It’s one of the hardest questions when you start a podcast.  Should I do video, or just audio?  Well, I think I’ve found a way to split the difference. I was helping a new client launch a podcast this week, and we were talking, as is often the case, about audio versus video.   In a perfect world, we’d all have a video team of several people who can put together something that would make Steven Spi...

Spotify for Podcasters, or Anchor, as it used to be known, is a free platform for hosting your podcast.   But as we all know, nothing is TRULY free. I've long said that Anchor, or now Spotify for Podcasters, is a great tool if you're dipping your toe into podcasting.  They won't charge you a monthly hosting fee, and you can kind of get the hang of your craft.  Because the hardest part about doing...

https://www.edisonresearch.com/the-podcast-consumer-2024-by-edison-research/ The Edison Research Podcast Consumer 2024 report, providing a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of podcasting. As we head into the holiday weekend, it's the perfect time to reflect on these insights and what they mean for podcasters and listeners alike. Podcast listenership is at an all-time high, with two-t...