iTunes 4.9 is out

[UndergroundMinds]

check software update on the Mac.

[jimk]

The update inside the Windows version says 4.8 is the latest, but if you go to the apple site, it says you can download 4.9 for Windows.

And you can. :)

http://starkcast.com/images/itunes4.9.jpg

[UndergroundMinds]

The directory still isn't up, but I had no trouble manually subscribing to a feed.

It does a great job at letting you view all the available shows, and giving you a little blue dot for unlistened shows.

You can't send them to a specific playlist though, which is how I browse shows on my iPod....

[charleyw]

I just went to the Apple site, and I didn't see that anywhere. Where is it? Do you have a link?

Charley

[UndergroundMinds]

I just went to the Apple site, and I didn't see that anywhere. Where is it? Do you have a link?

Charley

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/


And I found the directory! (it's hidden)

Click "Move Trailers"
Click "Soundtracks"
There is now the "Podcasts" link with a little orange "New" tag next to it.

[no1slistening]

Oh, man. This is sick.

[UndergroundMinds]

http://www.itchrecords.com/curry.jpg

Podfinder, eh?

http://www.itchrecords.com/directory.jpg

[no1slistening]

Underground,

Where did you find the directory?

[UndergroundMinds]

Check out the iTunes new music sampler to check out their "Chapter Marks" features...



Podcasting just ballooned.


Underground,

Where did you find the directory?

Click "Move Trailers"
Click "Soundtracks"
There is now the "Podcasts" link with a little orange "New" tag next to it.

or click here:::: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewGenre?id=26

http://www.itchrecords.com/hidden.jpg

[jimk]

UGH.

No ability to playlist them. No ability to auto-import as bookmarkable. Confusing interface. The files don't show up in the main library, but if you convert them...they do.

GRR. They really had a chance to do this right, this is kind of a mess.

[no1slistening]

Sorry. Still not finding it. Is the link on the front page of the music store?

Update: OK. I got to it, but mine doesn't have what you posted. I'm running the Windows version. Not sure if that has anything to do with it.

[UndergroundMinds]

Sorry. Still not finding it. Is the link on the front page of the music store?

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewGenre?id=26

try this link :lol:

[jimk]

Check out the iTunes new music sampler to check out their "Chapter Marks" features...



Podcasting just ballooned.


Underground,

Where did you find the directory?

Click "Move Trailers"
Click "Soundtracks"
There is now the "Podcasts" link with a little orange "New" tag next to it.

or click here:::: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewGenre?id=26

http://www.itchrecords.com/hidden.jpg

Movie trailers?

WTF?

This just gets worse and worse. Regular people who aren't geeks will NEVER find this.

[Charles]

Sorry. Still not finding it. Is the link on the front page of the music store?

I posted a new topic with the direct link to the download.

Its on the podcast alley home page forum.

[UndergroundMinds]

Movie trailers?

WTF?

This just gets worse and worse. Regular people who aren't geeks will NEVER find this.

I think that's the idea...

They'll put the link up front soon, I imagine.

[no1slistening]

Underground. Thanks! It worked! What was that link you posted?

[UndergroundMinds]

Underground. Thanks! It worked! What was that link you posted?

It's a direct link going in to the iTunes Music Store.. you can copy and paste URLs that will take you to a specific song or page in the store.

[Charles]

This is the iTunes that Steve Jobs Demo'ed and that Craig Patchet went over in his #17 Behind The Scenes podcast(scroll down left side of godcast.org).

It was released early so the little fixes & tweeks will be coming.

[jimk]

Here's something new:

http://starkcast.com/images/itunes4.9-importing.jpg

[no1slistening]

Soooo, it looks like we'll have to submit a podcast for consideration. Am I reading that right?

[UndergroundMinds]

Soooo, it looks like we'll have to submit a podcast for consideration. Am I reading that right?

Seems like it.


It would be worth it to get on... this is the nicest method of browsing and sampling podcasts, by far...

[no1slistening]

No doubt. I see my iTunes just updated. The podcast link is on the main page now.

[jimk]

I just tried that new podcast import setting. It's probably good for pure talk only that is already fairly low quality, but it kills any pretense of audio quality.

Also, the more I use this, the more I *HATE* that the files don't show up on playlists. LIke, don't-want-to-use-it-at-all hate.

Time to hit the Apple feedback page...

[UndergroundMinds]

I just tried that new podcast import setting. It's probably good for pure talk only that is already fairly low quality, but it kills any pretense of audio quality.

Also, the more I use this, the more I *HATE* that the files don't show up on playlists. LIke, don't-want-to-use-it-at-all hate.

Time to hit the Apple feedback page...

I hear ya.

How the hell are we supposed to find podcasts on our iPods, by metadata?? They either have to update iPod software to have a podcast option on the front (oh please yes) are let us specify a playlist like all good podcatchers do.

[UndergroundMinds]

Podcasts just made the front page of iTMS!

http://www.itchrecords.com/here.jpg

[no1slistening]

Uggghh. Jamie and Danny podcasts?

[UndergroundMinds]

Uggghh. Jamie and Danny podcasts?

There's alot of uhhg to be seen on the directory, in the opinion of podcast vets.

We just need to push so-called "indie podcasts" to the top of the list.



Apple's directory is confirming a misconception of podcasting I once heard, that it's all news.

http://www.itchrecords.com/dnd.jpg

[no1slistening]

There's alot of uhhg to be seen on the directory, in the opinion of podcast vets.

We just need to push so-called "indie podcasts" to the top of the lis

True. I didn't even see This and That listed. And they have The Bitterest Pill under the "Politics" category. Huh?

[UndergroundMinds]

There's alot of uhhg to be seen on the directory, in the opinion of podcast vets.

We just need to push so-called "indie podcasts" to the top of the lis

True. I didn't even see This and That listed. And they have The Bitterest Pill under the "Politics" category. Huh?

I guess that's where the submit feature come in handy..

I'm submitting PK and J... they werent listed. :(

[jimk]

Huh. I though they were including 8000 casts?

Why are almost none of the casts I subscribe to in the directory?

[UndergroundMinds]

I wonder......




When you double click on a show to preview it, where is the data being pulled from? If it's from the regular mp3 link this could cause some bandwidth headaches for certain folks. If it's coming from somewhere else, that quite interesting...

[no1slistening]

Huh. I though they were including 8000 casts?

Why are almost none of the casts I subscribe to in the directory?

Yeah, weird. Maybe they're not done updating the directory yet.

[UndergroundMinds]

Huh. I though they were including 8000 casts?

Why are almost none of the casts I subscribe to in the directory?

Did they say they were adding 8000 or did they just say there are 8000...

:shock:

[no1slistening]

I guess that's where the submit feature come in handy..

I'm submitting PK and J... they werent listed. :(

Underground, did you have any luck submitting? I get a "technical difficulties" annoucement when trying to submit.

[jimk]

I thought Jobs said there would be 8000...dunno. Lots missing, I knwo that!

New issue: No OPML importing. Or exporting.

WHAT THE F........argle?

How do you claim to be a podcatcher without OPML support? I'm surprised Winer didn't have a heart attack when he found out.

[jimk]

Underground, did you have any luck submitting? I get a "technical difficulties" annoucement when trying to submit.

Me too. Not working yet.

[UndergroundMinds]

iTunes can make playlists from your podcasts.

You just drag a feed from the Podcast window to the playlists... but the playlists don't update if a new show comes in!!

NUTS!

[Insomnia Radio]

Their initial list is absurd. I found two shows that havent updated since January...where are they getting these?

[UndergroundMinds]

All podcasts (that I've tried) are bookmarkable... nice feature...

[jimk]

All podcasts (that I've tried) are bookmarkable... nice feature...

On an iPod or just in iTunes?

*Nevermind. Totally not bookmarkable on the iPod.

BOO. HISS.

[Charles]

Their initial list is absurd. I found two shows that havent updated since January...where are they getting these?

Those who know said they were getting podcast info from the iPodder.org directory

Remember that this is a early release out a few weeks earlier than they had originally planned to.

Welcome to a good beta of iTunes 4.9 :wink:

Hopefully there will be an update to it in July.

[Insomnia Radio]

Welcome to a good beta of iTunes 4.9 Wink

Quite right. It definitely feels rushed, but I'm happy to have it early...

[UndergroundMinds]

All podcasts (that I've tried) are bookmarkable... nice feature...

On an iPod or just in iTunes?

*Nevermind. Totally not bookmarkable on the iPod.

BOO. HISS.

You're a tough customer. ;)

Who knows if they'll update iPod software to work better with podcasting...

Or maybe they'll burn us all and only release new podcast browsing features for the 5th gen iPod...




As I'm downloading shows now I can already feel an upcoming bandwidth crisis during the day on Tuesday.....

[UndergroundMinds]

Their initial list is absurd. I found two shows that havent updated since January...where are they getting these?

Those who know said they were getting podcast info from the iPodder.org directory

Remember that this is a early release out a few weeks earlier than they had originally planned to.

Welcome to a good beta of iTunes 4.9 :wink:

Hopefully there will be an update to it in July.

They wouldn't release it if it weren't done (for now), right? Certainly they will improve. How is this an early release? Earlier than planned (by 24 days)?

[no1slistening]

All podcasts (that I've tried) are bookmarkable... nice feature...

How do you bookmark in iTunes?

[jimk]

On the positive side, I am a big lover of bookmarking, and this removes a step from my "workflow" of getting an m4b file into my ipod. So that's nice. A big positive, actually.

Things I would like to see:

2. Automatic importing to bookmarkable AAC with adjustable bitrates and settings for each subscription

2. Fully individualized settings for each subscription. How often to check for a new show, how many to keep, etc.

3. PLAYLIST SUPPORT. Especially the one thing that iTunes does better than any other software out there, SMART PLAYLISTS. C'mon Apple! You REALLY dropped the ball there. That's not a lack of a feature or an oversight, that's a slap-your-forehead "DUH" moment. You forgot smart playlist support. In iTunes. That's like DaimlerChrysler putting out a new S class without any seats.

[jimk]

Or maybe they'll burn us all and only release new podcast browsing features for the 5th gen iPod...

I see you're familiar with Apple Computers. :)

[UndergroundMinds]

All podcasts (that I've tried) are bookmarkable... nice feature...

How do you bookmark in iTunes?

I just meant that when you stop playing a show you can go back to it and it automatically continues where you left off.

Oh iTunes does create a playlist called "Podcasts". That doesn't help me, I keep ~200 playlists :(

That's why I had iPodderX make playlists with a "#" in from, e.g.

# PK and J Show

so they would float to the top of my playlist-list for easy access. I think I'll still be using iPodderX, I've grown to really enjoy the listening and browsing method I set up and iTunes isn't matching that. It's great for browsing, and I bet I'll manage some subscriptions through it...

iTunes 4.9 gets 3.2 stars out of 5

I'm sure it's great for someone new to podcasting.

[nextgengames]

Right then.

From what I can tell they have done some odd things here (ok i know duh)

My podcast is in there but now we need to figure out how do we include the proper artwork and update it all with out proper details in the itunes profile for the show.


I tried to download the tech spec but couldn't :(

Kev

[UndergroundMinds]

Or maybe they'll burn us all and only release new podcast browsing features for the 5th gen iPod...

I see you're familiar with Apple Computers. :)

:lol: quite

[no1slistening]

All podcasts (that I've tried) are bookmarkable... nice feature...

How do you bookmark in iTunes?

I just meant that when you stop playing a show you can go back to it and it automatically continues where you left off.

Gotcha. It's really too late for me to be asking questions.

[audiocollective]

this kinda sucks... our podcast isnt even in there and there is no way to add bookmarks. hopefully they will let us know how to do that some day.

[charleyw]

I can't find where the list of podcasts is. I tried the link you put on here, but I keep getting a blank page. Can't find it anywhere. Help!

Charley

[no1slistening]

Audio Collective,

Thanks for the MySpace request. I'm always looking for more podcasters on MySpace or Friendster.

[charleyw]

Here's a theory. I can't connect to any URL that connects to the iTunes store because I live in Israel and I can't buy songs from iTunes. I downloaded 4.9 and that was no problem. So, does this mean I can't get into the podcast directory either? That would suck. Any ideas?

Charley

[no1slistening]

Did you guys see all the crap we have to put into our RSS file for iTunes? Yeesh!

[owyn]

Podnova (http://www.podnova.com) just posted a How to use iTunes 4.9 with Podnova (http://weblog.podnova.com/pivot/entry.php?id=31).

This will give you a single multiplexed (aggregated) feed with all your subscriptions.

A similar procedure will work with "My Alley" when released, but, you will be able to use a seperate feed for each My Alley playlist.

[owyn]

Did a quick test of iTunes 4.9 on WXP as a podcatch client.

Notes so far:
- BitTorrent feeds are not supported

- Can not Ctrl-Click multiple items in feed and get them all at once. Need to click Get for each item. Can have multiple downloads queued. Not sure if downloads are consecutive or concurrent.

- Multiplexed (eg. Podnova / My Alley) RSS feeds not pleasant to use. Can not sort Podcast column. Search seems to be disabled. Bad use of <item><pubDate> in the podcast's RSS causes selection of recent episodes in multiplexed feed to be problematic.

- Add feed by URL works. iTunes -> Advanced -> Subscribe to Podcast... brings up add by URL dialog.

- Genre forced to "Podcast"

- Album is <channel><title>, not ID3 album tag.

More later.

[Jellicle]

After an hour of use I can say that the only problem I'm having is download speed - with the podcasts I've downloaded so far, all were slower than with NetNewsWire.

[owyn]

FYI:

http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/analysts/gartenberg/archives/008993.html

[Marilynfan]

My podcast is in there but now we need to figure out how do we include the proper artwork and update it all with out proper details in the itunes profile for the show.
Kev

Wow, all of this happened since I went to bed last night? Geez.. you sleep for 7 hours and your the last to know! I just downloaded iTunes 4.9 and did a search and lo and behold my podcast is there! But I agree I need to know how to get the artwork and everything to show up.

Anyone?

[no1slistening]

http://phobos.apple.com/static/podcast_specifications.pdf

If you click on the "Learn More" button where it says to publish a podcast, it launches another page and if you scroll down, you'll see the above link to the pdf. It'll tell you everything you need to know to modify your RSS file.

[no1slistening]

In theory, if you update your RSS file, it should automatically update your page on iTunes.

[docsnavely]

This is pretty **** handy. I will agree though, for some reason, the download speeds are atrocious!

I like that I can just type in a little bit of the title of the podcast and it will bring up a list of possibles. It was an easy way for me to find my entire subscription list, and also exactly who my "competition" is for when I start my podcast. :twisted:

They do need to update the featured podcasts. Not too wide of a selection. And they also need to clean up the manual browsing interface. Well, they need to MAKE a manual browsing interface. Then it would be A-OK!

[ferg]

Great. Now I REALLY have to dump feedburner, I guess.

In theory, if you update your RSS file, it should automatically update your page on iTunes.

[Marilynfan]

Holy crap!! That is alot of tags. What I can't figure out is why the only show that is appearing on iTunes is my first one. There should be 6 episodes.

I don't write my RRS feed I use a script called dircaster. I hope I can figure out how to add the tags to that.

[PupuStudios]

*sigh* looks like the end of the PupuPlayer

[jimk]

Double UGH.

I just read the specs page. How silly is that? WAY too much gunk code...but whatever.

Luckily I can publish a special feed just for them. Yay blogging software! A tankard of your finest ale and fresh custom feeds for all my men!

Christ I need some sleep.

[no1slistening]

The extra iTunes code doesn't mess with the normal RSS code. I've tested it in Doppler and it works fine for me. Just makes the file a little bigger.

[vader]

i updated all my code, yet i still get a error when i try to add my podcast to the directory! whats up with that?

under Podcast in preferences their are bunch of options that make it alot easier, including choosing which podcasts are updated on to your ipod.

EDIT and what about bittorrent support?

Well after seeing my show not on there this morning, I was wonder what's up but sounds like lots of people are having that problem. I think they are probably still adding shows from the directory. I know they've d/l my show cause it shows up on libsyn so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[mesoed]

Anyone notice this quote from the iTunes Podcasting page?

Featuring over 3,000 free podcasts from favorites such as ABC News, Adam Curry, ESPN, KCRW and more, the Podcast Directory puts all the best podcasts in one place.

Since when is ABC News, ESPN, and KCRW the FAVORITE podcasts? I didn't even know ESPN was podcasting... Is this Apple pandering to what they believe podcasting may become? It sounds like Apple believes that most people will be using podcasting to simply get their "traditional" media time-delayed...

Maybe these media outlets payed to get listed in such a way... Oh well...

[mfnoffice]

I posted this in another section, but it looks like this thread is better fitted for my coments. Sorry for the double post.

__________________________

Hello All,

Yes, iTunes 4.9 is out and as expected big media rules the air waves! Though I'm glad to see D&D and TWIT and others make it to the "Top Podcast's" but AL Franken, ESPN Radio? Give me a break!

We've been saying all along that big corporate media is going to take over the essence of Podcasting and today we just got a real taste of what's here and what's here to stay!

Firehouse Radio is featured in the "Public Radio" section. Of course the Featured Public Radio Podcast's are all Big Media (e.g. CBC, KCRW and NPR).

I'm glad WE all worked to get Podcasting where it is today. Unfortunetaly, iTunes 4.9 is going to smash the Pioneers (yes all 4000 of us) to hell! Buried in the mix of amateurs and newbe's.

So today I'm gong to start a new Podcast called "Queer Eye for the Fire Guy!" At least maybe I'll get on the front page. It's worth a try!


Jim Goetz
Firehouse Radio

[owyn]

EDIT and what about bittorrent support?

BT is NOT supported.

[jimk]

I can't get my feed to be read by the submission thing.

I really, REALLY dislike the way Apple has done this, from the code to the directory to the over-commercilization on day one, and now the world is going to think this is how it is.

One bad Apple spoils the bunch. Thanks a lot Steve.

[jawbone]

I'm there. But it would be nice to know how to update the image file. And also since my feed is off blogger, how to put the author name in the directory.

[vader]

yes i know its not supported, its a rhetorical question. this means that one of my favorite podcasts (though from radio) the Rachel Maddow Show, i will still have to get manually....

[PupuStudios]

MyAlley will be much more useful than this itunes release. And with my player, you can still add images to your podcast. With even more functionality! I mean, they took the exact same idea I had and just made it more complicated. <pp:media> == <itunes:image>

[Dave]

I think we'll be lucky if ANY aggregator offers BitTorrent support between now and the end of the year. I know AC wants to incorporate BitTorrent into iPodder, and more power to him, but I sincerely doubt that's going to happen right away.

There's also that little matter of the MGM v. Grokster ruling. IANAL, but it seems the ruling wouldn't affect BitTorrent, since it has plenty of legit uses and Bram Cohen doesn't display any "clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement." Then again, we know how the MPAA & RIAA are when it comes to this sort of thing...

But that's a rant for another time.

-Dave

[jimk]

Can someone tell me what the frig this error means?

MXPodcastPublishSubmit.WeHadProblemsReadingFeed.ex :java.lang.NullPointerException

[paul]

Ben I don't think the new itunes will affect your pupuplayer's use. People can't embed itunes on their webpage. People were always using aggregators and people still wanted to include a player on their page. The reason EVERYONE doesn't have the pupuplayer is because not everyone knows about it.

I would continue to be optimistic about the pupuplayer's future if I were you.

[jeffoest]

I'll have to nerd out on this when I get home tonight. But first glance impressions were - our podcast (and many of yours) will be lost in the shuffle. The only way to 'find' our podcasts will be if already know about and search for it. And it's a weird implementation. I searched for our podcast and found a show. An April show. No information tags on it. It's weird.

Seems lame - but I'll play more tonight with an open mind.

[celerityfm]

I can't get the #$*$ing RSS spec sheet to load up so I can modify my RSS http://phobos.apple.com/static/podcast_specifications.pdf is broken :(

However I did reverse engineer a bit of it based off of an existing feed I saw on the iTMS.... however I can't get my picture to display in the iTMS :(

Anyone have the specs who wouldn't mind copying/pasting out the part about how to get a feed icon into the iTMS?

Thanks!

[owyn]

I think we'll be lucky if ANY aggregator offers BitTorrent support between now and the end of the year. I know AC wants to incorporate BitTorrent into iPodder, and more power to him, but I sincerely doubt that's going to happen right away.

iPodder Lemon and other podcatch clients support BT today.

e.g. I have

Slashdot Review(RSS) -> Podnova(OPML) -> iPodder Lemon

and

Slashdot Review(RSS+BT) -> iPodder -> iTunes

without problem.

Podnova could be PCA My Alley (Soon) or Podcast Pickle (Should work, not tested yet).

[mesoed]

Has anyone been able to find a way to ping the iTunes directory? Sure would be nice to get my shows up to them soon after I post, especially since I do a daily podcast with somewhat time-sensitive information (not really vaild after a couple of days).

[owyn]

Anyone have the specs who wouldn't mind copying/pasting out the part about how to get a feed icon into the iTMS?

I have the pdf downloaded.

email me using the forum link and I can send you a copy.

[SFEley]

Great. Now I REALLY have to dump feedburner, I guess.
I wouldn't say that. I'm sure the Feedburner guys are racing to add these tags just like everyone else.

Meanwhile, I'm going to be working tonight on hacking Wordpress to support them. If I can easily make it a plugin, I'll do that; if not, I may just release a bunch of instructions that say "Okay, insert these lines of text between lines 8 and 9..."

[Brian]

The PDF mentions a tag called "<itunes:image>", but I can't find it's syntax in the example they provide. However, they do use <itunes:link ...> with a URL to a JPG. Which one affects the image that appears in the directory?

[jimk]

OK, I was able to get most of the iTunes tags into a feedburner feed. What a NIGHTMARE. But it can be done. iTunes seems to have picked up the short and long descriptions, my name, image, etc.

Categories breaks it every time, and the feedback via error messages in iTunes is completely worthless.

[Filmosity]

anyone else been having a problem accessing the directory from the U.S.? I still have yet to be able to play around because iTunes is still trying to access the music store. And what's up with ipodder.org? Did the site crash?

[celerityfm]

Anyone have the specs who wouldn't mind copying/pasting out the part about how to get a feed icon into the iTMS?

I have the pdf downloaded.

email me using the forum link and I can send you a copy.

Cool deall I will email you. Thanks!

[paul]

Seems lame - but I'll play more tonight with an open mind.

Yes, it does Jeff-
but I think it will increase each of our show's volume of listeners a bit and that's all we should hope from this. I just hope PCA and the other structures that got built around podcasting so far don't get 'lost in the shuffle.'

[Will-Casel]

Meanwhile, I'm going to be working tonight on hacking Wordpress to support them. If I can easily make it a plugin, I'll do that; if not, I may just release a bunch of instructions that say "Okay, insert these lines of text between lines 8 and 9..."

Thanks!
I'm dumb when it comes to RSS, so any help anybody can provide will be appreciated!


Wow, I've already received more downloads today than I normally get in one week!!! :shock:

Will

[Insomnia Radio]

Ok, next question, I'm sure this will be the longest thread in P.A history :-)

Libsyn: How does one go about ADDING all of these extra RSS tags if one does not control the creation of their RSS?

[UndergroundMinds]

They've been resetting the top podcasts to their "chosen list" since last night....


I wonder at what point they will allow it to reflect actual downloads....

[ferg]

I know it's been mentioned - but has anyone been able to submit an rss feed? I use feed burner, so I took my feedburner code and tried to modify it...when I submit, I get a java.lang.NullPointer exception...

[jimk]

I know it's been mentioned - but has anyone been able to submit an rss feed? I use feed burner, so I took my feedburner code and tried to modify it...when I submit, I get a java.lang.NullPointer exception...

It took me many tries, and I wish I could tell you what I did, but the feed was finally accepted for review. I only added part of the specs. I guess that was enough.

*shrug* Maybe you have to dance naked around the computer bathed in the blood of Microsoft employees before Apple will accept your feed. It makes about as much sense as anything else to me right now...

[Insomnia Radio]

I know it's been mentioned - but has anyone been able to submit an rss feed?

I was able to submit mine, and it's awaiting whatever approval process they have in place.

I'm just really miffed about all these extra iTunes specific RSS tags. God know they're getting THOUSANDS of submittals right now, so dont' know how soon I'll show up on there.

[Filmosity]

I know it's been mentioned - but has anyone been able to submit an rss feed? I use feed burner, so I took my feedburner code and tried to modify it...when I submit, I get a java.lang.NullPointer exception...

Honestly, we're probably slamming someone's servers, so I'm sure there are going to be some error messages.

[jbisjim]

Anyone using word Press?
I am a bit leary about editing the wp-Rss2.php file. or do i edit the wp-rss file?

That line in the pdf <rss xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/DTDs/Podcast-1.0.dtd" version="2.0">

Do I just paste that into the Rss file?

http://Bottomtimeradio.com
Feed: http://bottomtimeradio.com/wp-rss2.php

[Marilynfan]

Anyone out there using dircaster to create the feeds? Would love some help figuring out how to enter these new tags.

[jbisjim]

Anyone out there using dircaster to create the feeds? Would love some help figuring out how to enter these new tags.

I was using dircaster, but switched as dircaster was not working correctly. You should be able to edit the dircaster php file and stick them in.

I would add it in just below the *do not edit line* back up your dircaster file first. It would in therory update your itunes stuff and then run it routine.

[jawbone]

How about those using Blogger? Any idea how to use these iTunes tags?

*sigh*

This seems like too much work. :(

[Filmosity]

How about those using Blogger? Any idea how to use these iTunes tags?

*sigh*

This seems like too much work. :(

How do you add an enclosure to a blogger feed anyway?

[jeffoest]

Blogger can create enclosures but only through Feed-Burner.

Len - i feel the same way. I just can't see myself writing XML after every show the more I think about it...

I'll study more tonight I guess.

[dcolanduno]

I've been pinged by iTunes a ton of times since a month back... and I'm not on the **** directory!

Apple even sent me an email and asked for our artwork files and full res photos for iTunes... and yet... I'm not even in the directory?

How the heck? There are a TON of podcasts missing, and how that is possible, I have no clue. Just suck in 3-4 OPML feeds from the directories and you are done.

<sigh>

[Insomnia Radio]

It's interesting how itunes is forcing us to play by their rules with regards to custom rss tags.

Miffed? I am.

[dcolanduno]

It's interesting how itunes is forcing us to play by their rules with regards to custom rss tags.

Miffed? I am.

Well, at least the tags should work! iTunes barfs an error half the time on the tags. When it doesn't... you get a 'this feature is experiencing technical difficulties' message.

Maybe they could have sent out a memo or news release about the new tags beforehand.

Obviously every Radio station and News Organization in the U.S. got one... and none of them were podcasting until today.

[mental-escher]

Have not had time to check for M-E in iTunes, but I have seen my subscriptions take a huge increase in the last 24hrs, w/ a butt load coming from iTunes (iTunes/4.9 (Windows; N) and iTunes/4.9 (Macintosh; N; PPC) .

Yee - Haw!

Oh, and Bill Gates e-mailed (again... sigh) about having M-E featured in the new Windows Media Player List of Microsoftcasts (apparently they liked our idea of "micro"casting since they feel it will trump "Pod"casting in the near future as microsoft re-asserts hegemony over all things pc.)

I'm not so sure I like the name Microsoftcasting so much though, but negotiations with Redmond are onging ...

[dcolanduno]

Sadly... I didn't make it into the directory...

Glad to see it is working out for the folks that made it though.

[ferg]

I know it's been mentioned - but has anyone been able to submit an rss feed? I use feed burner, so I took my feedburner code and tried to modify it...when I submit, I get a java.lang.NullPointer exception...

It took me many tries, and I wish I could tell you what I did, but the feed was finally accepted for review. I only added part of the specs. I guess that was enough.


I got it to work...my feed was already in there, but it's feedburner, so I couldn't customize it...it seems like the category thing didn't work, but you get to select a category when posting, so, maybe that will help. The documentation is terrible..for instance, they mention an <itunes:image> tag, but what you really need to use is <itunes:link href="your image">

Anyway, I'll be curious to see how long it takes them to get published. I'm guessing that feedburner will be updated before they publish my new submission.

Also, has anyone noticed the "featured" podcasts (such as dawn and drew) must be getting slammed?? I tried to access the DND rss just to see if they included the tags (I'm guessing they must have had a separate feed ready for iTunes), and I couldn't access the feed at all...

[mesoed]

Anyone notice that Adam Curry's "Podfinder" graphic in the iTunes directory looks like he's Frankie Avalon singing "Beauty School Dropout" from Grease? :shock: If I saw a graphic like that when I first found podcasting, I'd have stopped listening before I started...

[mental-escher]

Anyone notice that Adam Curry's "Podfinder" graphic in the iTunes directory looks like he's Frankie Avalon singing "Beauty School Dropout" from Grease? If I saw a graphic like that when I first found podcasting, I'd have stopped listening before I started...

Agree- I prefer a more representative graphic such as


http://www.mental-escher.net/images/lavalamp_stoned.jpg

[djacobs003]

Apple certainly has a way to go in smoothng all this out. 2 out of my 3 podcast s made it. Rock and Roll Jew Show did NOT show up yet. My other 2, like 3 Ring Podcast, when you click the podcast to listen to it (before subscribe) it plays an episode from May!? Can't it play the latest?

BTW when I went to manually add RRJS, it said that feed has already been submitted, so they are obviously still parsing the directory.

All the big guys seem to have all their ducks lined up with regard to custom tags. It would have been nice to give the "indie" podcasters the same heads up, but you can already see where we rank on their priority list. Sucks that so many people got thrown into the "audio blogs" category.

And take a look at what the Podfather AC was able to do. Get premium placement for himself, Dawn and Drew, Steve Gulmore and CC Chapman. All Podshow podcasts. Leverage, use it if you got it I guess.

[ferg]

I'm not sure I have an intention of using the iTunes implementation. The fact that you can't have them automatically organized into playlists is practically a dealbreaker in and of itself.

However, remember - what is so exciting about iTunes 4.9 is the expansion of the podcasting audience. That said - the inability to easily submit and categorize ourselves isn't helping.

[dcolanduno]

And take a look at what the Podfather AC was able to do. Get premium placement for himself, Dawn and Drew, Steve Gulmore and CC Chapman. All Podshow podcasts. Leverage, use it if you got it I guess.

I tried to explain this concept once before... and I got slammed for mentioning that the big dogs were going to leverage their power to push themselves to the top.

It is the standard operating procedure. I would have been very impressed if the top 20 on iTunes reflected some semblance of what is seen across the podcasting community...

Umm, aren't places like Podcast Alley, Podcast Pickle, IdiotVox, and others the REASON why iTunes did what they did? Why would you just shun that aside... It is a little insulting in a way.

[ExtraLife]

The way I figure it, they are dealing with the first implimentation of this..and it is certainly bound for many revisions. Give it time...its day one after all.

[jeffoest]

Yea, I guess it obviously makes sense to launch iTunes 4.9 to the world with content from ESPN, NPR, ABC, Movie Reviews to generate some excitement about the release. Advertising and highlighting shows that nobody ever heard of probably isn't great marketing - (...and now you too can, with a click of a mouse, listen to This And That, Air Ferg, and PK&J - woo-hoo!)... uh, what? lol

Now, what happens after the release, who knows? But Apple doesn't seem to have really built us tools so my guess is, at least for now, they don't have much concern about the 'indi/amateur' podcasts.

[dcolanduno]

(...and now you too can, with a click of a mouse, listen to This And That, Air Ferg, and PK&J - woo-hoo!)... uh, what? lol

Well, since I didn't make it into the directory... I can't even be clicked on by accident! :)

Yea, it makes sense in a way, the Curry Podfinder is trying to introduce the world to the other types of casts... which is cool... in it's own way.

I think they should have randomized some aspects of the front page though, to give some folks a chance.

[jeffoest]

This from the Feedburner Blog today:


Podcasting Made Easy: FeedBurner support for iTunes, Odeo, and Yahoo Media RSS

With today's release of Apple iTunes 4.9 and its podcasting directory coupled with the recent beta launch of Odeo, podcasting is set to build on its already tremendous growth. Both iTunes and Odeo provide additional information about podcasts above and beyond what's included in a basic podcasting feed. For the more than 7,000 podcasts currently running through FeedBurner, we will very soon (really soon) provide the ability to enter additional podcast description data via our SmartCast service, which we will ensure gets delivered with the appropriate RSS extensions to iTunes, Odeo, and others. What does this mean? It means that your podcasts will have complete descriptive data in all the various directories and subscriber services without having to manage that data in each location. It means that all podcasters are on equal footing, regardless of whether or not you have the ability to edit your podcast's RSS feed to add the various different RSS extension tags. As we already provide integrated Yahoo Media RSS support, and we anticipate other podcasting services with additional descriptive extensions will emerge, FeedBurner will continue to provide a one stop shop for podcasters that just want to record, publicize, and go. Simply run your podcast through us, and we'll get your categories, photo links, and other descriptive information distributed and publicized to the right services. This will be a free enhancement to the free SmartCast service.

I printed out the Apple XML 'specs' today and will look at them tonight but my inclination is to do nothing until Feedburner makes it easy for me. I've made sure my feed is in iTunes - it's certainly not particularly easy to find, but it's not obvious how I can impact that at the moment unless someone has learned more.....

[owyn]

Well. First try at the iTunes Podcast Directory.

Clicked Purple Podcasts button.
Clicked Podcast directory.
Tried "Austin" in Search

Did not find any of my favourite Austin shows, but, it did bring up a "Top Subscribed Podcasts" listing at the right.

CBC Rules. #1 is CBC Radio 3. #4 is Quirks and Quarks from CBC.

Guess there must be a lot of Canadian early adopter / testers. :twisted:

[Brian]

So here's an irritating feature:

I subscribe to a feed in Apple's iTunes.
A show appears, and shows up in the list with the little checkbox (so I can determine whether it copies to my iPod, I presume?), and the blue dot indicating that I haven't heard it.
All the previous shows in the RSS feed appear in the list, but grayed out because I only indicated to get the latest show.
I realize that I have heard the blue-dotted show, (got it before with iPodderX or whatever), so I highlight the show and hit backspace.
The show disappears.

Woldn't it make a lot more sense form an interface perspective if the show grayed out but still appeared in the list? It seems logical that all the shows in the RSS feed would be listed, even in gray, and the "Get" button would move them to your hard drive and enable them (or blue-dot them as the case may be).

And where do these files go when you download them? Would be nice if they appeared in your library...

[/rant]

[FX]

Is this why podcastalley.com, ipodder.org, curry.com and dawnanddrew.com are so slow today?

Podcastalley seems to be better now, but try getting to one of the other sites listed and see how slow it is today. All other sites I visit today seem to be fine, so I dont think it's just my connection.

Is the new iTunes support for podcasting melting the servers of these sites or what?

[jeffoest]

Probably. I've never found curry.com or podshow.com or ipodder.com or anything of Adam Curry's sites to give an acceptable web-time. Never. Obviously this doesn't help.

[ferg]

Is this why podcastalley.com, ipodder.org, curry.com and dawnanddrew.com are so slow today?

Podcastalley seems to be better now, but try getting to one of the other sites listed and see how slow it is today. All other sites I visit today seem to be fine, so I dont think it's just my connection.

Is the new iTunes support for podcasting melting the servers of these sites or what?

That is my belief.

[theFerf]

There is a lot going on with this website (and the other i assume to) behind the scenes as we prepare for some majo upgrades to go into public beta. the apple thing just happened at a weird time...not to mention all of the sudden comment and trackback spam i started getting this morning (causing me to disable those features in my blog until i can get a blacklister setup).

anyway, sorry for the downtime today. you know it was only because some hot **** is bubbling under the surface, getting ready to erupt.

[jeffoest]

Chris, when you are down - it amazes me how small the down-time is.

[owyn]

LOL.

The first time I tried 4.9 I downloaded a few episodes just to test it.

I decided to clean up the downloaded episodes (and test to see if the downloaded files were deleted), so I pressed Ctrl-A to select everything, and then right clicked and selected Clear.

Yep. Everything went away. Subscriptions, Playlists, Episodes, Files. Need to be just a touch carefull using that UI.

I have iTunes set to use "J:\iTunes". The downloaded files were in "J:\iTunes\<playlist>\<filename>".

Did not check to see if I could see the downloaded files in Library, or, alternatively force a Library watch on "J:\iTunes".

[no1slistening]

Is it me, or does it look like iTunes doesn't even have 3,000 podcasts available? If you browse the Categories, there is a lot of content, but it seems a lot of podcasts crossover from different categories, i.e. Air America. I assume they're still updating the directory.

[bazookajoeshow]

That may be true but I do have an amazing selection of whacky morning DJs to listen to!

Bazooka Joe



Is it me, or does it look like iTunes doesn't even have 3,000 podcasts available? If you browse the Categories, there is a lot of content, but it seems a lot of podcasts crossover from different categories, i.e. Air America. I assume they're still updating the directory.

[no1slistening]

That may be true but I do have an amazing selection of whacky morning DJs to listen to!

Bazooka Joe



Is it me, or does it look like iTunes doesn't even have 3,000 podcasts available? If you browse the Categories, there is a lot of content, but it seems a lot of podcasts crossover from different categories, i.e. Air America. I assume they're still updating the directory.

I know I posted this earlier in the thread, but the last thing I need to listen to is Jamie and Danny interview Pat O'Brien. But that's the great thing about podcasting. I don't have to. ;)

[jimk]

UndergroundMinds and I quipped that Apple would screw older iPod owners out of the Podcast features.

Little did we know how accurate that statement was. (http://ipodlounge.com/index.php/news/comments/ipod-updater-2005-06-26-released/) The 3G owners who made the iPod a success are screwed again.

[pzarquon]

With the flood of posts here and elsewhere, I'm hoping we can work together to compile and summarize some of the quirks and issues we've identified with iTunes 4.9 from the podcaster point of view:

http://www.voxmedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Tips

Feel free to add to and improve that page as various bugs and fixes are discovered!

[theFerf]

i counted the podcasts in the directory when it first launched and there were less than 2400. However, many have duplicates (like dawn and drew and others) depending on how many different feeds they have (like if the switched servers). I would venture to say, barring duplicates, there are closer to 2100 or so unique shows.

[jbisjim]

I had got that null point error too.
I used a feed validator that gave me line by line errors
http://feedvalidator.org/

Fixed my errors and it validated on itunes.
HowEver
Itunes is now having issue. Go figure

Probably too busy

[Craig]

UndergroundMinds and I quipped that Apple would screw older iPod owners out of the Podcast features.

Little did we know how accurate that statement was. (http://ipodlounge.com/index.php/news/comments/ipod-updater-2005-06-26-released/) The 3G owners who made the iPod a success are screwed again.
No they're not...in fact, in some ways they have it better than the rest of us. If you don't upgrade the iPod firmware your podcasts are automatically synched to a new playlist called "Podcasts". Unlike the Podcasts category in the updated firmware, this playlist works like a regular playlist and allows you to play through all downloaded podcasts rather than being limited to all the shows in one particular podcast. (In the updated firmware you have to go to the Podcast genre to play through all podcasts.)

You guys are amazing...first you bitch because it's going to take 60 days for 4.9 to come out and Apple's not giving any details on what's going on, then they release it 30 days early and you're bitching because it's not perfect. Personally I'm looking at this release as a public beta and I'm happy to have it, flawed as it may be.

Craig

[celerityfm]

UndergroundMinds and I quipped that Apple would screw older iPod owners out of the Podcast features.

Little did we know how accurate that statement was. (http://ipodlounge.com/index.php/news/comments/ipod-updater-2005-06-26-released/) The 3G owners who made the iPod a success are screwed again.

Well. Not exactly. Non clickwheel iPods WILL sync and download podcasts from iTunes 4.9:

Once all your podcasts arrive in iTunes, sync them to any iPod and listen to your favorite shows anywhere. If you have a Click Wheel iPod, your podcasts appear in their own menu, right alongside your music and audiobooks. And don’t worry about losing your place: If the podcast you download comes with bookmarks, you can zip around within it on any click wheel iPod, just as you would with an audiobook. -Apple iTMS Podcast Page (http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcasts.html)


Also, pzarquon awesome stuff! That wiki is very helpful! I added tidbits about how iTunes and iPod now remember where you left off in a podcast so when you go back it plays from the place you were last at instead of from the beginning again-- a HUGE new feature that isn't getting enough love or attention :) Keep it rocking.

[volwrath]

ive never installed itunes. Should I do it now? will it play nicely with ipodder?

[dcolanduno]

You guys are amazing...first you bitch because it's going to take 60 days for 4.9 to come out and Apple's not giving any details on what's going on, then they release it 30 days early and you're bitching because it's not perfect. Personally I'm looking at this release as a public beta and I'm happy to have it, flawed as it may be.

I'll stop bitching when I'm in the directory! ;)

Actually, I do think that it is valid to say that I was happy to wait, I didn't care when it was coming out, honestly. I wanted it to be so good that people would love their podcasting experience out of the gate.

Not sure this is EXACTLY something that will make that happen for a lot of people.

I don't mind a Beta, even a big one... but why couldn't there be a release to a big group of podcasting minded people. It wasn't hard to find all of us.

[mesoed]

ive never installed itunes. Should I do it now? will it play nicely with ipodder?

iTunes doesn't offer anything new or spectacular outside of the ability to use graphics for the show. iPodder, iPodderX, and Doppler are just as good, if not better (I'm really looking forward to Doppler 3.0 which includes an integrated RSS reader). iTunes is really intended to work with your iPod, as the media player on your computer (works better on a Mac than Windows), or an easy interface to purchase and download music online (though the iTunes Music Store).

Personally, I use Windows Media Player when listening on my computer, and Doppler to get my podcasts. iTunes does not play well with my copy of Total Recorder.

[theFerf]

What if I were to tell you Alley Members that if your feed exists in the PodcastAlley.com Directory that you may already have an Apple Compliant feed?

What if I were to tell you that your Apple Compliant feed was ready right now and working?

What if I were to tell you that we are really close to allowing you to login to PodcastAlley.com and updating your podcast details and the details of your iTunes Podcast feed?

Would that make you happy knowing you could submit a podcast feed to iTunes from the PodcastAlley.com directory for people to find without worrying about blogger.com, feedburner.com, libsyn.com, wordpress, movabletype or any other app to edit your podcast information?

[spewkie]

What if I were to tell you Alley Members that if your feed exists in the PodcastAlley.com Directory that you may already have an Apple Compliant feed?

What if I were to tell you that your Apple Compliant feed was ready right now and working?

What if I were to tell you that we are really close to allowing you to login to PodcastAlley.com and updating your podcast details and the details of your iTunes Podcast feed?

Would that make you happy knowing you could submit a podcast feed to iTunes from the PodcastAlley.com directory for people to find without worrying about blogger.com, feedburner.com, libsyn.com, wordpress, movabletype or any other app to edit your podcast information?

I would want to find you and give you a giantic frickin hug. :lol:

[owyn]

ive never installed itunes. Should I do it now? will it play nicely with ipodder?

iPodder Lemon supports either WMP or iTunes as a Media Player. Use iTunes if you have an iPod. Use WMP if you have a portable media player that WMP supports. Use which ever one you like if you don't have a portable player.

iTunes does have an advantage in supporting m4a and m4b files which are showing up on some Podcast feeds. Most often as an optional feed, but, in some cases as the only feed.

I don't recommend switching to iTunes from iPodder. iTunes, at this time, is a poorer podcatching client.

[no1slistening]

What if I were to tell you Alley Members that if your feed exists in the PodcastAlley.com Directory that you may already have an Apple Compliant feed?

What if I were to tell you that your Apple Compliant feed was ready right now and working?

What if I were to tell you that we are really close to allowing you to login to PodcastAlley.com and updating your podcast details and the details of your iTunes Podcast feed?

Would that make you happy knowing you could submit a podcast feed to iTunes from the PodcastAlley.com directory for people to find without worrying about blogger.com, feedburner.com, libsyn.com, wordpress, movabletype or any other app to edit your podcast information?

Ferf,

You had me at "What if I were to tell you..."

I'm doing the dance of joy right now.

[Will-Casel]

What if I were to tell you Alley Members that if your feed exists in the PodcastAlley.com Directory that you may already have an Apple Compliant feed?

What if I were to tell you that your Apple Compliant feed was ready right now and working?

What if I were to tell you that we are really close to allowing you to login to PodcastAlley.com and updating your podcast details and the details of your iTunes Podcast feed?

Would that make you happy knowing you could submit a podcast feed to iTunes from the PodcastAlley.com directory for people to find without worrying about blogger.com, feedburner.com, libsyn.com, wordpress, movabletype or any other app to edit your podcast information?

I would want to find you and give you a giantic frickin hug. :lol:

I'd join in on that!
Don't play with our emotions, Ferf!!!

Will

[theFerf]

Ferf,

You had me at "What if I were to tell you..."

I'm doing the dance of joy right now.
now THATS what I call funny!

[jeffoest]

LOL - Is you saying that we just might have an easy-to-use interface that allows us to enter 'itunes specific' tags such as category, images, and descriptions?

[ferg]

What if I were to tell you that we are really close to allowing you to login to PodcastAlley.com and updating your podcast details and the details of your iTunes Podcast feed?

How close? How close?!?!?

[mesoed]

What if I were to tell you ... What if I were to tell you ... What if I were to tell you ...

What if I were to tell you that you could submit podcasts via a punch card reader?

Seriously... it'd be cool if the Alley played with Steve Jobs... giantic frickin hugs aside...

[Illinoise]

What if I were to tell you that we are really close to allowing you to login to PodcastAlley.com and updating your podcast details and the details of your iTunes Podcast feed?


"Is this your card?"

*Ferf holds up Nine of Diamonds*

[Brian]

To continue the Jerry Macguire quoting...

Ferf, you complete me. Er, my feed.

[allthewhile]

I'm now very happy with the latest release. I wasn't aware of the firmware upgrade and that it would give the ipod a new "section" called "podcasts" (which in fact makes it VERY powerful) and that it auto organized it for you. I'm happy, excited, and ready to get my feed all fancy for itunes.

[jimk]

What if I were to tell you Alley Members that if your feed exists in the PodcastAlley.com Directory that you may already have an Apple Compliant feed?

What if I were to tell you that your Apple Compliant feed was ready right now and working?

What if I were to tell you that we are really close to allowing you to login to PodcastAlley.com and updating your podcast details and the details of your iTunes Podcast feed?

Would that make you happy knowing you could submit a podcast feed to iTunes from the PodcastAlley.com directory for people to find without worrying about blogger.com, feedburner.com, libsyn.com, wordpress, movabletype or any other app to edit your podcast information?

I'd say that's how it should be, you are an awesome human being and I would bear your children if I had that kind of equipment.

[volwrath]

iPodder Lemon supports either WMP or iTunes as a Media Player. Use iTunes if you have an iPod. Use WMP if you have a portable media player that WMP supports. Use which ever one you like if you don't have a portable player.

iTunes does have an advantage in supporting m4a and m4b files which are showing up on some Podcast feeds. Most often as an optional feed, but, in some cases as the only feed.

I don't recommend switching to iTunes from iPodder. iTunes, at this time, is a poorer podcatching client.

I decide to install tunes for the heck of it. Looks ok. the podcast section is pretty odd. I use ipodder to aggregate all the feeds in a directory so I can sync my pocketpc wirelessly in the morning and download all the new podcasts. The method works well, so why mess with success. Thanks for the feedback owyn!

[celerityfm]

What if I were to tell you...

Does "boing!" suffice?

I'm in. LETS DEW THIS.

[dcolanduno]

What if I were to tell you that we are really close to allowing you to login to PodcastAlley.com and updating your podcast details and the details of your iTunes Podcast feed?

I'd say you'd make me happier than Apple has! Now, if you could somehow push shows into the directory that didn't make it... so we don't have to wait in the, god only knows how long line...

You'd be double cool.

[miracle2k]

Would that make you happy knowing you could submit a podcast feed to iTunes from the PodcastAlley.com directory for people to find without worrying about blogger.com, feedburner.com, libsyn.com, wordpress, movabletype or any other app to edit your podcast information?

You are planning on rewriting the feeds? I really hope this is an opt-in feature.

[theFerf]

Well of course it is an opt-in feature. And as a matter of fact, it is ready now, in its working format!

Check your podcast details page for a link that reads: "iTunes Ready Feed". This has not been submitted to Apple or to iTunes (that is your responsibility if you choose to), it is there simply as a service to podcasters who do not have the luxury of being able to update their blog software or their podcast feed to reflect iTunes upgrades.

NOTE: this is considered a BETA feed until the new podcast login section is complete. Once that section is done, podcasters will be able to login to the Podcast Alley website and edit all the details of their podcast including the iTunes variables (even though it is functional in its current state, we are calling it BETA until we are totally satisfied with the details).

Finally. Do not think that you are roped into using this service at anytime. If you do decide to use it, iTunes provides a simple way for you to remove it from their directory at anytime.

Please, enjoy, and give me feedback!

[charleyw]

Well this just sucks. I can't get into anything to do with the new directory, or podcasts, or submitting my podcast (I don't know if I'm already in there or not although my stats are showing downloads from itunes). I click on all the applicable links and after a long waiting period, I get a blank page. I'm thinking it's because I'm in Israel. We can't buy songs from the music store and I'm wondering if the whole thing is blocking me out. I use iTunes as my player and have never had a problem. But it won't let me get into the podcast directory, or submit my site or anything. I even tried the link Ferf supplied in our details page. Does anyone know anything about this? I've been waiting for this like everyone else and now I'm frustrated as hell!


Charley

[bazookajoeshow]

I'll submit your show to iTunes and see what happens.

Bazooka Joe

Well this just sucks. I can't get into anything to do with the new directory, or podcasts, or submitting my podcast (I don't know if I'm already in there or not although my stats are showing downloads from itunes). I click on all the applicable links and after a long waiting period, I get a blank page. I'm thinking it's because I'm in Israel. We can't buy songs from the music store and I'm wondering if the whole thing is blocking me out. I use iTunes as my player and have never had a problem. But it won't let me get into the podcast directory, or submit my site or anything. I even tried the link Ferf supplied in our details page. Does anyone know anything about this? I've been waiting for this like everyone else and now I'm frustrated as hell!


Charley

[bazookajoeshow]

Charley, what category do you want me to submit you as?

Bazooka Joe

[charleyw]

Thanks, Joe. I guess the same as we're in in Podcast Alley - Society/Culture...If there's a category like that. Otherwise, I guess Humor.

It's very frustrating. I wonder why they did things like that. Does anyone know any details as far as that's concerned?

I appreciate your help.


Charley

[bazookajoeshow]

I placed you in the comedy section. I wish there was a culture/society section because I don't think my hsow is quite talk radio.

Bazooka Joe

[charleyw]

Thanks again, Joe. You're the best. I just posted the same problem/question in the forum at iPod Lounge. Very strange that they would block people out when all the content is free.


Charley

[bazookajoeshow]

More than happy to help out.

I wouldn't sweat iTunes too much. This is the first day out, after all. It stinks that you can't download podcasts off of it, though.

Bazooka Joe

[Insomnia Radio]

First of all: Chris McIntyre is the REAL savior of podcasting.

Second: I've skimmed this massive thread throughout the day....

Has anyone else realized you can view show notes ON the ipod? ;-)

[bazookajoeshow]

Don't stop there, tell us how. I hope I can d this n my iPod but I've got a 2nd gen iPod.

Bazooka Joe


First of all: Chris McIntyre is the REAL savior of podcasting.

Second: I've skimmed this massive thread throughout the day....

Has anyone else realized you can view show notes ON the ipod? ;-)

[Insomnia Radio]

Don't stop there, tell us how. I hope I can d this n my iPod but I've got a 2nd gen iPod.

Bazooka Joe


Insomnia Radio wrote:
First of all: Chris McIntyre is the REAL savior of podcasting.

Second: I've skimmed this massive thread throughout the day....

Has anyone else realized you can view show notes ON the ipod? Wink

I have a 4G ipod, and for me it was automatic. Every single show. iTunes seems to pull the actual show notes (and they look good) from insomniaradio.net. In contrast, other shows show the Comment id3 tag info.

I'll have to dig into the 2G ipod functionality.
One thing you'll all want to do is go here:

http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/ for the new firmware. It's beautiful.

[no1slistening]

I've been away for a while during the evening. I came back to submit my feed to iTunes, but I'm still getting that technical difficulties error. Anybody else getting that still? Seems like it's been going all day.

[Catholic Insider]

The Catholic Insider is listed in the iTunes podcast directory, but I'm utterly confused. :( When searching for the keyword 'catholic' my show turns up *twice*, but apparently Apple has entered *two* different feeds into their directory. Now here are my problems:

One feed Apple entered is my feedburner feed. I tried to enter the itunes specific tags exactly like the Apple information states, but the category tag 'religion & spirituality' generates errors in feedburner. Is this a feedburner problem??

The second feed Apple entered is located on *their* servers. It's URL is something like http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObject etc. etc. etc.
But when I subscribe to this feed, it displays many more shows than my current original feed contains (i.e. older shows). Now what's the deal with this feed?? How can I change it? Does it update automatically? Should I resubmit my feed to Apple?

I'm really confused, and I can't find any information about all this. I'm happy Apple launched 4.9 so early, but I regret the fact that it was launched with so little information for us podcasters. So I hope some of you can shed some light on all this.

Fr. Roderick.

[jimk]

The show notes seem to be pulled from the "description" tag in RSS. If you have nothing in that tag, nothing will show up.

To see them on a 4G clickwheel (the opnly one I believe will show them) you just hit the center button twice while playing a show.

[vader]

theferf, does this mean we should remove the standerd feed stuff like "description" and have only instead <itunes:summary> and so on? because right now i have both and my feed is showing up double in "itunes ready feed"
thanks!

[jbisjim]

I finally got my cast submitted this morning.
How long does it take to populate in itunes?

[vader]

i'm still getting "techincal difficulties, try again later"

[SFEley]

Would that make you happy knowing you could submit a podcast feed to iTunes from the PodcastAlley.com directory for people to find without worrying about blogger.com, feedburner.com, libsyn.com, wordpress, movabletype or any other app to edit your podcast information?
In my case, it honestly wouldn't make a difference. I've already got that other stuff set up, Feedburner gives me the statistics I want, and I really don't need another feed.

Even so, kudos to you for making the option available. It may not help me, but it'll help someone, and more choices are better than fewer.

[ferg]

i'm still getting "techincal difficulties, try again later"

That means there's an error in your feed.

[celerityfm]

One feed Apple entered is my feedburner feed. I tried to enter the itunes specific tags exactly like the Apple information states, but the category tag 'religion & spirituality' generates errors in feedburner. Is this a feedburner problem??
First off, congratulations on making it into the directory! As far as feedburner getting an error when you enter itunes specific tags I'd say yes, that is a feedburner problem. Feedburner announced yesterday (http://www.burningdoor.com/feedburner/archives/001287.html) that they are working on making feedburner work with the iTunes specific tags, but that it has not been implemented yet.

The second feed Apple entered is located on *their* servers. It's URL is something like http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObject etc. etc. etc.
But when I subscribe to this feed, it displays many more shows than my current original feed contains (i.e. older shows). Now what's the deal with this feed?? How can I change it? Does it update automatically? Should I resubmit my feed to Apple?
Ok now THIS is interesting. It appears that Apple actually setup their OWN feed for your podcast at http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/podcastRSS?id=73331720! I think they did it because you are featured in the new "podfinder" podcast that is featured on iTunes (again, congrats!) and they wanted to make sure your feed was updated with iTunes specific tags so it would look nice in the directory. Unfortunately they left out your cool iPod style logo :(. But you're the first person to post who has received this kind of attention from Apple so its anyones guess as to whether or not the Apple feed will keep updating as you update your main feed or not. You can, however, go into iTunes and under that feed's page in the iTunes directory there is a link called "Report a concern" -- you could use that to ask them what the deal is.

I'm really confused, and I can't find any information about all this. I'm happy Apple launched 4.9 so early, but I regret the fact that it was launched with so little information for us podcasters. So I hope some of you can shed some light on all this.
I am just as surprised as you are that they didn't contact you prior to this, considering that you are featured in the podfinder program and that they made their own feed of your podcast. It seems like only Adam Curry and a dozen others knew in advance. You are a special case though, most people that are posting didn't make the directory at launch but the few that did have their own feed listed, not a special Apple one. As far as I can tell you are the first to post that has had one that Apple made for them.

Father I hope you are able to get everything sorted out. Feel free to send me a PM (http://www.podcastalley.com/forum/privmsg.php?mode=post&u=2124) in case I can help you with anything else. My wife and I are big fans of your podcast :)

[dcolanduno]

i'm still getting "techincal difficulties, try again later"

That means there's an error in your feed.

I don't think so... I got a different error when I tried changing some tags, and that was an 'error with your feed' type error.

D.

[ferg]

I've gotten both the java error and technical difficulties.
Try submitting your currently working feed with no changes...it will probably take it...then start adding them one by one...

After you click the first "submit" button, you have a chance to cancel, so, you can keep going back and forth.

[celerityfm]

ferg, et al- I've found that dropping the "http://" from the url of your feed tends to get it through error free on the publish podcast section of iTunes... try that if you keep getting errors :)

[volwrath]

An interesting thing that I see running iTunes is that there is no fastforward/rewind. Also you can't listen to a podcast and look at otherones. its not very easy to use... Also I see no way to view the feed address. weird. iTunes is pretty overall however.

I guess we'll just have to wait for windows media player to support podcasts...

[no1slistening]

I've gotten both the java error and technical difficulties.
Try submitting your currently working feed with no changes...it will probably take it...then start adding them one by one...

After you click the first "submit" button, you have a chance to cancel, so, you can keep going back and forth.

Ferg,

You right about the "no changes" tip. I've been feverishly trying to submit my feed for the last 24 hours with the Apple tags and got nothing. Just the tech difficulties error. I just tried my regular feed and it worked. Once it's published (fingers crossed) I'll just edit the feed on my server. I've done some playing around with my feed by just subscribing to it manually in the Podcast section of the Source list. And the changes take right away. Not sure how it fast it works with podcasts already in the directory.

[Bitz of Brin]

My Dad submitted my podcast to iTMS a few weeks ago and we still weren't listed on opening day. So we resubmitted the podcast and were told it was already submitted. I guess we're in line. Any idea why we're all waiting?

[owyn]

An interesting thing that I see running iTunes is that there is no fastforward/rewind.
Drag the diamond in the progress bar at the top to position back or forwards in the audio.

Also you can't listen to a podcast and look at otherones. its not very easy to use...
Might be a bit slow to respond, but, I just checked the directory, subscribed to a new podcast, and downloaded the first episode of the new podcast while I was listening to an episode.

Also I see no way to view the feed address. weird. iTunes is pretty overall however.
Right click podcast. Select Show Description from menu.

I guess we'll just have to wait for windows media player to support podcasts...
Could be a long wait.

[no1slistening]

Funny thing ... I submitted my feed w/o iTunes tags, like I stated before, and it worked. Then I went and edited my feed again with the iTunes tags. Out of curiosity, I submitted my feed again and everything worked this time. No tech difficulties error message. My art showed up and all the fields were filled. I hit "Submit" and then I hit "Done." But on my first submission I'm not sure if I hit "Done." So, for a third time, I submitted and it told me that my feed had already been submitted. I'm thinking maybe my first submission didn't go through.(?)

Now, I'm just wondering if my feed will show up twice on iTunes, or if the system just recognizes the url and not the number of submissions.

Just my ramblings, or if anybody has anything to add on the matter, that would be helpful.

[Bitz of Brin]

My Dad submitted my podcast to iTMS a few weeks ago and we still weren't listed on opening day. So we resubmitted the podcast and were told it was already submitted. I guess we're in line. Any idea why we're all waiting?

I just tried submitting the Podcastalley iTunes feed for my podcast and I was told it appeared that my podcast was already submitted. But I didn't do that! LOL Not the Podcastalley iTunes feed anyway. So I guess the iTunes guys have been busy and I just need to be a little more patient. :(

[owyn]

You have to change something in the feed to have iTunes recognize it as a change.

Resubmitting an unchanged feed will not get you to the confirmation screen.

[Bitz of Brin]

You have to change something in the feed to have iTunes recognize it as a change.

Resubmitting an unchanged feed will not get you to the confirmation screen.

Really? So my feed starts at Blogger.com and gets transmogrified by feedburner. I don't have much control over that feed. What can I change? And if my podcast is already submitted, why haven't I shown up in the iTunes directory yet. I guess I need you to pull out a crystal ball for that one, but any help with the feed would be appreciated.

[vader]

mine finally got submitted 8)
i wonder when they will be approved.

[volwrath]

An interesting thing that I see running iTunes is that there is no fastforward/rewind.
Drag the diamond in the progress bar at the top to position back or forwards in the audio.

Also you can't listen to a podcast and look at otherones. its not very easy to use...
Might be a bit slow to respond, but, I just checked the directory, subscribed to a new podcast, and downloaded the first episode of the new podcast while I was listening to an episode.

Also I see no way to view the feed address. weird. iTunes is pretty overall however.
Right click podcast. Select Show Description from menu.



Owyn -

Thanks for your reply. Interesting enough, I have no diamond in the progress bar for podcasts, or song clippets. It may be that it broke when I disabled the services that it wanted to create in the taskbar for itunes and qt. It doesnt matter too much, because I think my ipodder solution works better. (Ipodder would be even better if you had the option to dump in one folder, but I've gotten around that). i also didn't see the actual feed address when I looked at the show description. I could have overlooked that however. Thanks for your help!

[Bitz of Brin]

Owyn,

I changed the description of my podcast but still get either "The feed has already been submitted" or "It appears the feed has already been submitted". Since my feed is automagically made by blogger.com then prettied up by feedburner, what can I change to change the feed? :?:

[sydbarrett]

It's great that Steve Jobs is not charging for podcasts on iTunes (yet).
I can't wait until he starts sticking in ads/commercials.
At least someone will make money from podcasting.

[jeffoest]

It's great that Steve Jobs is not charging for podcasts on iTunes (yet).
I can't wait until he starts sticking in ads/commercials.
At least someone will make money from podcasting.

He is. Free podcats -> more distribution / market share for iTunes -> more revenue selling songs and iPods. It also opens the door for yet-to-be identified additional business that can leverage from a huge audience looking for ready-to-go-mobile audio.

The money is NOT in charging for podcasts. The money is in exactly the opposite of that.

Another way you can look at it is that we, collectively, are helping Apple distribute and market iTunes and helping open them up to new business areas. What do we get in exchange? Listeners for our egos and hobbies. I'm down with it.

[celerityfm]

The money is NOT in charging for podcasts. The money is in exactly the opposite of that.

Exactly. BUT you've missed something: Selling music and other products THROUGH podcasts using the new podcast chapters images and linkage technology! Just download the new itunes new music tuesday podcast and play it in iTunes with the "artwork viewer" enabled and pay attention to the links they put right in the podcast-- thats right, when the song is playing you can click once and your instantly taken to the "buy it now" page in iTunes! This can be implemented for any thing really, eg Dawn and Drew show talks about Durex condoms and includes a special url in their podcast's chapter links at the end when they talk about it that tracks the # of clicks and gives D&D a cut of the sales based off of those clicks. The possibilties are endless and Jobs is going to bring it to us. I am still amazed that we haven't seen any press about this stuff yet, but its coming.

Take a look at what I've done with it in MY podcast, just drag and drop this link http://www.k9cast.com/k9cast.xml into your iTunes podcast folder and play the latest episode-- cool or what? For that collar we talked about I could have used an affiliate id and got a cut for every clickthrough.. but I didn't because K9Cast isn't about that, atleast for now it isn't ;)

[Aurora]

Funny thing ... I submitted my feed w/o iTunes tags, like I stated before, and it worked. Then I went and edited my feed again with the iTunes tags. Out of curiosity, I submitted my feed again and everything worked this time. No tech difficulties error message. My art showed up and all the fields were filled. I hit "Submit" and then I hit "Done." But on my first submission I'm not sure if I hit "Done." So, for a third time, I submitted and it told me that my feed had already been submitted. I'm thinking maybe my first submission didn't go through.(?)

Now, I'm just wondering if my feed will show up twice on iTunes, or if the system just recognizes the url and not the number of submissions.

Just my ramblings, or if anybody has anything to add on the matter, that would be helpful.

I added my iTunes corrected feed courtesy of PCA to iTunes almost 2 days ago and I still haven't seen it put up yet... I really hope it goes through. If it doesn't i'm just going to submit the feedburner one sans iTunes tags... Feedburner has already said they will be changing their feeds to include iTunes tags soon...

I'm kinda ticked about this whole thing... from what I've seen its been really difficult for the indie casters to get their info uploaded... they could have let us know about the iTunes tags a week before they planned release so that we would at least have an equal footing...

[ferg]

I'm kinda ticked about this whole thing... from what I've seen its been really difficult for the indie casters to get their info uploaded... they could have let us know about the iTunes tags a week before they planned release so that we would at least have an equal footing...

I agree, but, then again, what benefit would it be to them for us to have equal footing.

Take the comedy category, for instance - there's only 25 feeds in there. If it were flooded with 200 others, there handpicks would be buried.

[jeffoest]

Yes, I agree. BUT the first matter is getting the audience into iTunes. Then all these other business models start to make sense. And free podcasts are what will enable all this of course. Hey, BTW - thanks for being the first 'guinea-pig' on the chapter implementation - cooL!

The money is NOT in charging for podcasts. The money is in exactly the opposite of that.

Exactly. BUT you've missed something: Selling music and other products THROUGH podcasts using the new podcast chapters images and linkage technology! Just download the new itunes new music tuesday podcast and play it in iTunes with the "artwork viewer" enabled and pay attention to the links they put right in the podcast-- thats right, when the song is playing you can click once and your instantly taken to the "buy it now" page in iTunes! This can be implemented for any thing really, eg Dawn and Drew show talks about Durex condoms and includes a special url in their podcast's chapter links at the end when they talk about it that tracks the # of clicks and gives D&D a cut of the sales based off of those clicks. The possibilties are endless and Jobs is going to bring it to us. I am still amazed that we haven't seen any press about this stuff yet, but its coming.

Take a look at what I've done with it in MY podcast, just drag and drop this link http://www.k9cast.com/k9cast.xml into your iTunes podcast folder and play the latest episode-- cool or what? For that collar we talked about I could have used an affiliate id and got a cut for every clickthrough.. but I didn't because K9Cast isn't about that, atleast for now it isn't ;)

[Patrick]

I'm kinda ticked about this whole thing... from what I've seen its been really difficult for the indie casters to get their info uploaded... they could have let us know about the iTunes tags a week before they planned release so that we would at least have an equal footing...

I agree, but, then again, what benefit would it be to them for us to have equal footing.

Take the comedy category, for instance - there's only 25 feeds in there. If it were flooded with 200 others, there handpicks would be buried.

Ferg - handpicked? you're kidding right?

There's 25 podcasts in comedy, and guess what one of them is - Fist Radio. What's that? That's the new name of the "ComedyCast" we reviewed in Episode 2. As you know, it is HORRIBLE and on top of that it has nothing to do with comedy, it's pretty much all mumbling and music.

Are they just going to pigeon-hole all independent podcasts into the "audio blogs" category, because that's absolute bullshit.

[celerityfm]

Yes, I agree. BUT the first matter is getting the audience into iTunes. Then all these other business models start to make sense. And free podcasts are what will enable all this of course. Hey, BTW - thanks for being the first 'guinea-pig' on the chapter implementation - cooL!

Thats true, but I think he's got the install base to do it! :)

Glad you liked the chapters-- there is now a wiki tutorial on how to do it here (http://www.voxmedia.org/wiki/PodcastChapterTool) based off of a tutorial I posted on another PA forum.

[ferg]

Ferg - handpicked? you're kidding right?

There's 25 podcasts in comedy, and guess what one of them is - Fist Radio. What's that? That's the new name of the "ComedyCast" we reviewed in Episode 2. As you know, it is HORRIBLE and on top of that it has nothing to do with comedy, it's pretty much all mumbling and music.


I wasn't saying that they were all handpicked. When I said "handpicked" I was referring to all of the ones Apple is promoting on the frontpage of the podcast directory.

My guess is First Radio got in there, because his feed used to be called "Comedy Cast", and since comedy was in the title, it got thrown in there.

Anyway, my point was that the reason that Apple didn't bother to tell us how to form the tags ahead of time, is because there's simply no benefit to them to do so.

[jeffoest]

I'm just happy that FINALLY I can ge all the time-shifted drive-time morning shows that I want and glad there is a HUGE highlighted subcategory for them. Whoopee. I'm in podcasting heaven. Let me queue up some Bearman and Keith and Ramiro and Pebbles and enjoy.....

(actually, i must be out of it, I haven't heard of ANY of the morning talk acts)

[Patrick]

I'm just happy that FINALLY I can ge all the time-shifted drive-time morning shows that I want and glad there is a HUGE highlighted subcategory for them. Whoopee. I'm in podcasting heaven. Let me queue up some Bearman and Keith and Ramiro and Pebbles and enjoy.....

(actually, i must be out of it, I haven't heard of ANY of the morning talk acts)

Yeah, because they're all small.

The big corps like ClearChannel and Infinity aren't letting any of their shows podcast yet, for the most part.

[sydbarrett]

It's great that Steve Jobs is not charging for podcasts on iTunes (yet).
I can't wait until he starts sticking in ads/commercials.
At least someone will make money from podcasting.

He is. Free podcats -> more distribution / market share for iTunes -> more revenue selling songs and iPods. It also opens the door for yet-to-be identified additional business that can leverage from a huge audience looking for ready-to-go-mobile audio.

The money is NOT in charging for podcasts. The money is in exactly the opposite of that.

Another way you can look at it is that we, collectively, are helping Apple distribute and market iTunes and helping open them up to new business areas. What do we get in exchange? Listeners for our egos and hobbies. I'm down with it.
spin all you want.
you miss my point
so i'll keep it real simple

steve jobs and itunes are now the Wal-Mart of podcasting

enjoy you awesome podPeople

[jeffoest]

steve jobs and itunes are now the Wal-Mart of podcasting

enjoy you awesome podPeople

LOL - Thanks for dumbing it down for me. My opinion is quite different.

iTunes may well be the Walmart of audio content. Podcasts are the coupons and specials that help get customers in the door.

The bigger picture is what the customers do (and buy) while in the store. Not the coupons.

[sydbarrett]

steve jobs and itunes are now the Wal-Mart of podcasting

enjoy you awesome podPeople

LOL - Thanks for dumbing it down for me. My opinion is quite different.

iTunes may well be the Walmart of audio content. Podcasts are the coupons and specials that help get customers in the door.

The bigger picture is what the customers do (and buy) while in the store. Not the coupons.
ok
but you heard it here first
from crazy syd
good luck...wal-mart supplier

[soccershow]

I think we're only two days into this, and we are complaining about stupid stuff. If this stuff is still this way in a month, with little people not being listed, then I can see the complaints.. but.. fact is, all software is crap when it initially gets released. All infastructure sucks as well when it starts.. heck, Podcastalley's been down for hours all through today..

Let's let the dust clear before we judge.

[Jellicle]

but you heard it here first
from crazy syd
good luck...wal-mart supplier

Um, will My Alley have kill files?

[volwrath]

I don't understand how you are supposed to find any interesting podcasts in itunes. It takes too much work to pull any details up.

Also in my previous post I stated that I could not fast forward through a podcast. Well it turns out if you subscribe to the podcast then itunes will allow fastforward, but just streaming, no fastforward capabilities..pitiful..

We'll see how itunes matures, but I have to agree with Syd. iTunes is definitely looking like walmart right now :)

[Insomnia Radio]

I'm experiencing a wrinkle I'm not sure if anyone else has discovered?

My show was finally added to the iTunes music directory, but I can ONLY find it by searching...

That search produces perfect tags, details, everything (minus art of course), and I'm listed in the music category....

However, when browsing, I'm absent from audio blogs, music, arts and entertainment, every category there....

Any one else noticed this?

what this DOES mean of course, is that they're possibly refreshing their directories, and hopefully everyone will be on there soon.

[owyn]

From what I can see there appears to be two or 3 databases / views relevant to podcasts.

Search: Looks for keywords in <channel> <title> and <channel> <description>. Keywords in <title> give higher relevancy score.

Directory: A rework of a spidered copy of the ipodder.org opml directory tree. iTMS specific info added.

Category: Not sure, but I suspect the <channel> <itunes:category> tags will be used to build this.