What is a Podcast? – Description and Working

We are living in a fast-paced world. With digitization taking over most aspects of our lifestyle, people have come up with unique manners of staying up to date. While many still love to watch TV and listen to the radio, there are plenty more options that offer better control over one’s entertainment.  We have smartphones, tablets, and iPods that simply let us access the world’s entertainment whenever and wherever we want. Of course, one needs a medium that plays the role of transference. No longer just satisfied with news, movies, and shows, we now have creative options such as the podcasts.

What is a Podcast?

The term was first formulated in a newspaper article by Ben Hammersley in 2004. It is a combination of the terns ‘pod’ and ‘cast’. The ‘pod’ comes from Apple’s iPod, which is a digital media player. On the other hand, the ‘cast’ comes from a radio’s broadcast.

Podcasts are a great way to stay up to date with topics and trends that you love, for example Lush Life Podcast began from Susan Schwartz’s love of bars.  You get to learn from around the world and can access the information on the go. If you are interested in starting your very own podcast, then you may take a podcast course. You can too get your message and voice across the world.

While podcast is a simple concept to grasp, it does not actually have a definite description. It is also difficult to compare it to other mediums of entertainment given that there is not much like it. In fact, one could say that many mediums mimic the podcast itself.

In an attempt to explain, it is easier to say that a podcast is like the internet radio. The difference is that it is on-demand. Podcasts can be listened to on any digital medium like the iPod, smartphone, laptops, and tablets. While typically they are in audio formats, it is not confined anymore, podcasts can be found as videos as well.

How Does a Podcast Work?

Podcasts can be produced just by anyone. You don’t have to be someone famous or too well-established to begin your podcast. Regular people from around the world make their podcasts in order to get their messages to wider audiences. The podcast is, of course, usually dedicated to a certain topic or niche.

A podcast will be produced on a digital media platform. There are some typical platforms such as the SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes, and other similar audio and video libraries. As the popularity of this digital trend has increased, platforms that are solely dedicated to podcasts have been developed. For many people, podcasts are not just a way to communicate with the world or enjoy recreationally but earn money too.

Listeners who are interested in certain topics can search related podcasts on such platforms. They can either stream the media or download the episode for viewing or listening to at a later time. Podcasts are periodic so there could be a weekly, monthly episode or as scheduled but the creator.

Podcasts are a great way to stay up to date with topics and trends that you love. You get to learn from around the world and can access the information on the go. If you are interested in starting your very own podcast, then you may take a podcast course. You can too get your message and voice across the world.