You’re reading the last issue of 2021! The Daily will return on Tuesday, January 4 with your morning news, updates, and resources. Thank you all for supporting the newsletter and sharing with friends this year. It’s been a pleasure. Stay safe, and we’ll see you soon.
Our favorite post from this year is one to keep with you into 2022. Darknet Diaries creator Jack Rhysider writes that a podcaster’s goal is to ‘get pie’ in one way or another. Despite rising competition, an unselfish approach is essential to long-term growth: “The more you help others get their pie, the more pie you'll get.”
Success as an independent podcaster takes years of work, but it can’t be done alone. The best way to pay that forward is to help others “bake their pies.” For Rhysider, that means offering advice on r/podcasting (a Reddit forum), building relationships with other creators, and sharing valuable firsthand knowledge.
If you treat podcasting like a pie-eating contest, “it'll be gone before you know it and you'll have nothing left.” He explains how creators of any size can help listeners, peers, new arrivals, and industry connections get that pie — and how it tends to come full circle. (We’ll be making this one, and wish we could pass you a slice.)
The lawsuit brought against SiriusXM by deaf advocacy groups is a step forward, writes Steven Aquino. The tech accessibility reporter spoke with a podcaster and an executive at Descript about the state of transcriptions. “AI-generated transcriptions are now inexpensive and nearly instant,” so what’s the holdup?
The New York Times is one podcast publisher that uses Descript, which allows for linkable transcripts that creators can put into show notes. However, as The Verge reported last week, SiriusXM, Stitcher, and Pandora don’t offer those NYT-provided transcripts through their services, directly impacting hard-of-hearing audiences.
The industry clearly needs a flexible, large-scale solution. Podnews editor James Cridland makes the case for the open-standard podcast:transcript tag, which is already supported by hosts like Buzzsprout and Omny Studio. Auto-transcripts aren’t the answer, and neither is waiting on streaming services to change.
Timber is looking for craft-loving, independent podcasters to beta test its new hosting service. Testers will receive a year of free hosting with a quality-first approach. The interface is clean and intuitive, the analytics are beautiful and user-friendly, and import is lightning fast.
The service is nearly two years in the making, and it shows. From episode management to analytics, each feature is designed to serve passionate, experienced podcasters. Your feedback will shape an even better experience for a growing community.
This offer is limited to the first 50 shows that commit. If you’re interested, please email jon@timber.fm or fill out this form. Need another reason to sign up? Someday, when all the best independent shows are hosted on Timber, you'll be able to say you were here first.
We’ve had a busy few weeks since Evolutions wrapped up! This week, we're sharing the…
Experience + continued training = a great end product.
Where you keep and organize your golden nuggets is almost as important as the ideas…
Our true selves are weird. We’re an amalgamation of brilliance, bizarreness, and at times, WTF-ness.
Make plans to join us at one of our five upcoming meetups, made possible by Buzzsprout!
By tending to our ambition like a garden—with love and attention, practice and discipline—we’ll be…