Completely Conspicuous 664: Time Stand Still

This week, I'm joined by fellow podcast pioneer Brian Salvatore as we discuss the first 20 years of podcasting. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Brian: First heard about podcasts in 2004
• Started making the FrankBlack.net Podcast in 2006
• Jay: Got my first iPod in 2004 and then learned about podcasts
• Brian: The internet was so much better 20 years ago
• Great for digging into niche interests
• Jay and Brian met through the Frank Black podcast in 2010 and realized that Brian lived near Jay's brother-in-law
• Jay: The start of CompCon in 2006
• Always loved radio but never worked at the college station
• First few years were just me talking about pop culture
• Eventually started bringing on guests after a few years
• Podcasting got an early boost when Apple started a podcast directory
• Early podcasts I listened to were by Adam Curry, Ricky Gervais
• Marc Maron started his podcast in 2009 and is airing his last episode next week
• Now everybody's got a podcast
• Brian: Before podcasts, blogging was a thing
• Brian produces podcasts for other people in addition to his own
• Podcasting never became a career for us, just a hobby
• But some people have made lots of money from them
• Brian: Not much innovation in the podcast space lately
• Music podcasts were hampered by copyright issues
• Podcast networks started popping up
• Conan O'Brien created a great podcast after his TV talk show went away
• Podcasting is much more interesting than commercial radio these days
• Brian: Grew up loving radio, especially WFMU
• Jay: College radio is still good, but commercial radio blows
• DJs used to be dependable arbiters of taste
• Now everything's heavily formatted
• Jay: Been doing my own radio show on BFF.fm for the last 12 years
• Brian co-owns a sports podcast company
• People have trouble committing to a show once they start it
• Listening habits have changed
• Jay: Currently listen to WTF, The Best Show, sports shows about Toronto teams, The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers
• Brian: Election Profitmakers, Song Exploder, Never Not Funny, Conan, Indiecast, Who Cares About the Rock Hall?, Mets podcasts
• So much content to wade through
• Just like with music; it's much easier to release an album now but there's so much out there
• Tough to make it as a musician now
• Podcasts have gone beyond a niche thing
• Jay: I love listening to audio
• The value of playing songs people haven't heard a zillion times
• Every celebrity has a podcast
• Will podcasts go back to the indie days at some point?
• Jay: I do two podcasts for work
• The bubble will burst at some point
• AI could have a strange, negative effect
• Connections formed via podcasting
• Brian: Start a podcast, people

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 431: Make Lists, Not Fists

I celebrate a decade of podcasting with part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of 2016. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Kumar: Thin Lips, Woods (formerly Meneguar) on list of bubbling-under albums
- Breitling's #10 (list is in no particular order)
- Pinegrove blends emo and alt-country
- Kumar's #10
- Savages brings the heat
- Breitling's #9
- Nothing comes into its own with the loud rock
- Kumar's #9 and Breitling's #8
- A Giant Dog plays hard rock with an indie twist
- Kumar's #8
- Welcome return of Paul Westerberg, teamed with Juliana Hatfield
- Breitling's #7
- Thin Lips is Superchunk-descended
- Kumar's #7
- Possibly the last Tragically Hip album; was produced by Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew
- Breitling's #6
- Bent Shapes are Boston's premier indie pop act
- Kumar's #6
- Parquet Courts continues to make interesting records
- Breitling's #5
- DIIV's double album is full of beautiful dream pop
- Kumar's #5
- Black Mountain adds more synths to stoner rock sound
- Breitling's #4
- Johnny Foreigner's sound evolves
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 324: Future Tense

Part 2 of my conversation with guest James Gralian as we discuss the future of podcasting. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out James' show The Avs Hockey Podcast
- Old media (radio, newspapers) is struggling
- Radio stations need to think differently
- Boston was once a great radio town
- College radio is still going
- Jay: Playing DJ on BFF.fm
- Apple helped grow podcasting with iTunes
- Talk radio is still popular
- James' podcast has nothing to do with sports talk radio
- Mo' money, mo' problems
- Everything revolves around smartphones
- Podcasting is about as DIY as it gets
- Still having fun with it
- James: There will be massive dropoff in conventional podcasts
- Hard to keep up with all the shows
- Similar to the amount of good TV out there
- This American Life was originally rejected by NPR, went to PRI
- It's not about SEO, it's about making good shows

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:
Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
What Moon Things - Astronaut
Mattress Financial - I Do That Good

The Courtney Barnett song is on The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas on Milk! Records. Download the song for free at Amazon MP3.
The What Moon Things song is on the band's self-titled album. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Mattress Financial song is on the Mattress Financial/Fond Han single Private Split. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) as part of Exploding in Sound's EIS Sampler 2013-2014 on Bandcamp.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 323: Talking Loud and Saying Nothing

Part 1 of my conversation with guest James Gralian as we discuss the future of podcasting. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out James' show The Avs Hockey Podcast
- Also produces podcast for Denver Symphony Orchestra
- We last spoke on this topic four years ago
- 10th anniversary of podcasting
- Tools are more accessible than ever
- James: Don't see as many quality podcasts as I expected
- Apple has played big role, positive and negative
- James listens to Radiolab, Welcome to Nightvale, Definitely Not the Opera, 99% Invisible, among other podcasts
- There are many "two white guys talking" podcasts
- Waiting for the next interesting thing
- Most podcasters aren't in it for the money
- James: Not sure whether sponsors are getting a good return
- Trying to have fun and be creative with Avs Hockey Podcast
- Professional podcasters vs. hobbyists
- Marc Maron is a podcasting success story; turned his entire career around
- Commercial radio is much less interesting these days
- Parallels with late night TV and Letterman's retirement
- More freedom on basic cable for Stewart and Colbert
- Are podcasters using their voice?
- Having guests can bring new energy to a show
- What constitutes success in podcasting?
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:
Mean Creek - Johnny Allen
Foxy Shazam - Brutal Truth
Nothing - Bent Nail

The Mean Creek song is on the album Local Losers on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Foxy Shazam song is on the self-released album Gonzo. Download the album for free (in exchange for your email address) at Noisetrade.
The song by Nothing is on the album Guilty of Everything on Relapse Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.