Update on Podcasting

I know many of you have enjoyed listening to my show via a podcast for the past ten months.  Podcasting has been a wonderful way to share Blues Power with those of you who are too busy or tired to catch the show when it airs live.  Unfortunately, the days of my podcast are numbered.

I have learned that to share music in a podcast, one must obtain several licenses from performance rights organizations and record companies.  After researching my options, I have concluded that it would be impossible for me to obtain all of these licenses.  Because my podcast has a pretty small audience, and because the record companies do not have the resources or the will to enforce these regulations, I could continue to fly under the radar (as I am sure other podcasters currently do, whether unwittingly or intentionally.)  However, I wish to respect the law.  Also, I would like to advertise my podcast and attract a large audience, which I do not think would be too difficult, but of course I would not feel comfortable doing this if I could not do it legally.  Therefore I have decided to stop podcasting my show and focus on other ways to promote Blues Power.  I will continue to podcast interviews and anything else I can think of that does not require licenses, but regular episodes will only be available via the radio or live streaming over the internet. 

Part of the inspiration for this blog was my feeling that I didn’t want to take away a great way of sharing with my audience without giving something new in return.  I have decided that I will podcast my first two shows after I return from break, so there will at least be a little time for you to get used to the change.  Obviously the blog will not replace the podcast, but hopefully it will become a fun resource after it has had a few months to develop.

If you would like to read more about the hopeless licensing process for podcasting, follow this link to an informative article on the subject.  I may write again on this topic later in the spring.  Feel free to comment below with any questions you may have.

Thanks for your support,

Ben