Free Podcasting Software

Since podcasts are free, it makes sense that there would be free podcasting software, right? While it's easy to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on podcast production, all you need is freely available on the web.

Before you think about podcasting software or hardware it's worthwhile to note the different elements of a podcast, quite different from a blog:

1. Content – Do you have something to say? If you don't, then no matter how cool it seems, you shouldn't have a podcast. The number one reason that people "podfade" has nothing to do with expensive or free podcasting software and equipment. It's because they don't know what to say. That's kind of funny, because the fact is, everyone has a story to tell – so simply tell it, be authentic, and you'll never lack for content at all.
2. Sound Files – There are many different file types – WAV, MP4, AIF, AAC – but by far the most common for podcasts is the MP3 files. The most important piece of free podcasting software you can locate is what you use to produce this file, and it's also where most of the non-free hardware will be used. Microphones, sound mixers, and a computer powerful enough to record and edit are all necessary for most podcasting.
3. ID3 Tags – All MP3 files have ID3 tags, but the configuration of podcast MP3's are a little more complex, including things such as show notes, episode info, and other podcast-specific information.
4. RSS Feed – The Really Simple Syndication feed is what makes a podcast different than just an online audio file. It enables people to subscribe to your podcast, having new episodes downloaded automatically to their computer via whatever podcatching software they have. This is usually an XML file.
5. Podcatcher – While it's possible to listen to many podcasts on the websites where they're hosted, it is more common for people to use a podcatching software such as iTunes (which, happily enough, is free) to subscribe and listen to podcasts – or transfer it to their listening device of choice.

As was mentioned in number two above, the most important piece of software you need is the one for editing and recording the sound file for your podcast. Now, this presumes you already have a computer with some sort of sound input capable of recording voice. It can be as simple as a lav mic or as fancy as a USB Blue Snowball professional microphone, but your computer must also have a sound card. Apple computers come with microphones built in, as do some PC computers, but it's worth investing in some kind of microphone to improve the sound quality as much as possible.

Once that's taken care of, though, Audacity is the open-source software of choice for producing podcasts. It's a sound recorder, including effects, that works on Mac, PC, and Linux platforms. While it's capable of a lot of fancier operations, the basics of sound editing are easy, combining familiar play-record-rewind controls with the ease of cut-and-paste. Once you download the symbiotic Encoder (a plug-in for Audacity), you can easily export the edited podcast to your hard drive (or online host) as an MP3.

You don't need anything more fancy than the free text editor on your computer to produce an RSS file. However, the code can be tricky and complicated, which is why using software such as the following will save you time:

• EasyPodder – Created for Windows and Linux, this is a one-stop shop for podcast production, generating RSS feeds (as .xml files), ID3 tags, and even providing an FTP tool for uploading your podcast.
• EscapePodder – Not to be confused with the sci-fi podcast Escape Pod, this generates an RSS feed and HTML page for all the MP3 files in a particular directory.
• PodcastGenerator is cross-platform because it's actually a PHP script running on the webserver where your podcast is hosted. Every time you upload some media to go into the podcast feed, it adds an entry to the RSS file including iTunes-compliant ID3 tags.

There are also some sites such as AudioBoo which can provide instant podcasts via the iPhone, but they are limited (at present) to five minute audio segments. However, with the ease of finding the software as well as the plethora of tutorials on podcasting available, getting your voice online and spreading your message should be a snap!

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