podficmeta | Streaming Podfic

So I just made a post over at

podfic_tips about how to embed streams of your podfic but I thought it might be a good idea to talk about why I think people might want to offer streams.

Many of us listen to podfic on portable players so can't imagine why you'd want a stream, but trust me, some people do and there are also benefits to the podficcer.

Potential for Increased Feedback
There are a lot of reasons why podfic doesn't get as much feedback as other fan works but one of those reasons is that often people are listening to podfic away from a computer or a away from the page where they can leave feedback. If someone is listening to a stream though, they're never leaving the page and that can increase the chances that they will leave feedback.

Getting New People Interested in Podfics
There are a lot of reasons why we love podfic but one of the reasons I hear cited the most is that you can take fic with you to places where you normally wouldn't have access to fic (out for walks, during house work, at work, etc.). Streaming kinda takes away from that benefit however there are people out there that have heard of podfic (or will hear about podfic) who have never given it a shot. It's not that they have anything against the idea, they just don't really know what it is and downloading something they're not sure they'll be into seems like a lot of effort (or they download it and forget about it, so it sits there gathering virtual dust). But if podfic pops up on their circle/flist/feed and all they have to do is give it a click I think more people will give podfic a shot. And once they realize how awesome podfic is, some of the other benefits can take over.

Ease of Listening to Shorter Podfics
Some of us are prejudice against short podfics. It's not that we don't like them! But by the time we download them, then sync them with our players it's just beginning to feel like too much effort. For a short podfic, listening to the stream can just be easier. This is also great when you see a quirky podfic that you'd like to listen to once but know you'll probably never listen to again. That happens to me a lot during amplificathon, I'm hugely monofannish so tend not to listen to stuff outside my fandom but amplificathon provides such unique stuff that I want to give it a try. But once I download it, I forget about why I wanted to listen to it and it ends up gathering dust in my unlistened to folder :( (I can't be the only one who does this, right?)

Listening on a Computer You Don't Own
Sometimes people are listening to podfic on a computer they don't own. Historically my own listening was done mostly on my computer at work. I didn't have any problems with downloading the files to my work computer but some of us aren't as blasé about it (especially if you listen to the higher rated podfic). Having a stream lets you listen to the podfic without downloading it directly.
There are also those times when you're stuck somewhere with access to a computer and internet but it's not one you necessarily want to download podfic on (for example, when spending hours at your parents house helping address wedding invitations for your sister >.> Podfic is really helpful in those situations, let me tell you).

Instant Gratification
If you are someone who listens on a computer, streams give you the chance to start listening to the podfic right away rather than waiting for the download to finish.

"Try Before You Buy"
All of us have had that experience where we download a podfic but for some reason it's not a podfic we're able to listen to (sometimes tech issues, sometimes a background noise will drive you batty, sometimes a podficcer's style just doesn't work for you, whatever). If there's a stream available, you can listen to the first couple seconds and see if the podfic will work for you. Or conversely, if there's a podficcer that you've been avoiding because a previous podfic of their's had those issues, you can check to see if those issues were a one time thing or if the podficcer has changed since then.

I don't think streaming is ever going to replace downloads but I think it's a nice addition. There are probably more reasons out there why podfic streaming is awesome but those are the ones I can think of at the moment. There are also reasons why some will object to streaming so I'll now open up the comments and we can get discussing. :)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

These are all great points. The one potential drawback I can think of is excessive bandwidth use, which may or may not be a problem depending on where one's podfics are hosted. That wouldn't be an obstacle for me personally because my webhost offers unlimited bandwidth, but I know not everyone is in that situation.

*nods* I always forget that because my hosting service allows for unlimited bandwidth too (which is why I'm totally down with hosting podfic if people want a reliable place to stream) but I can see that being a problem for some, especially since podfic file sizes can be quite large.

I agree that it's great for short podfics!

helens78 did a series of podficlets that she posted streaming (from SoundCloud, I think), and I found that really convenient. I'd just click the button, listen for a few minutes, and then feedback directly.

I don't think I'll ever listen to longer podfics that way, though. I usually like to do something while I listen (do housework, walk to work, etc) and that wouldn't work with streaming. But we all listen differently, so maybe other people would like it.

For short podfic especially it's awesome.

I don't think I'll ever listen to longer podfics that way, though. I usually like to do something while I listen (do housework, walk to work, etc) and that wouldn't work with streaming. But we all listen differently, so maybe other people would like it.
Yeah, for long fics it's probably only useful to people who listen at a computer (like me) and who might not want to download the files directly (like some I know).

But again, even for people away from computers they might enjoy the chance to sample the podfic before downloading.

Someone told me a little while ago that they used my podfic to better their English - that they listened to the podfic while reading along with the story to iron out pronunciation. Since English is such a fiddly language, filled with homophones, I couldn't think of a better way to use and appreciate podfic. And, of course, I was extremely touched :)

I was also going to go on to say (but forgot to) that streaming podfic could make such a use more convenient, particularly if the stream is archived on the same page as the story.

I also agree that it may be a wonderful way to introduce people to podfic. People are much more likely to choose to listen to a story that they were already interested in reading, and they can access that podfic more directly through a stream than committing to a download.

*nods* I love how we posted the podfic/fics for

pod_together where there was a download/stream option available at the very start of the fic, and then the fic below (with the author and podficcer both listed as authors of the work). That way everything was in one place (on AO3 at least), and commenters could leave feedback for the author and podficcer in a single place. I think it'd be really neat if more people posted podfic/fic that way.

And yeah, there are all sorts of ways people use podfic (when I had someone mention the learning English thing to me I first thought it was cool, then felt slightly horrified that I might be doing it wrong and having them mispronounce words because of me :S) and some of them will find streaming really helpful, so I think it'd be cool if more of us did it. :)

SUCH GOOD POINTS YES.

Indeed you are not alone in the downloading of intriguing podfics at amplificathon time and then the dust-gathering and languishing thing. /o\

And yes, I would think an embed would be a rgeat incentive for those who hesitate to download shorter podfic. I don't, because some of my forever faves are short things from before I would have hesitated at the 'cost' of handling a shorte podfic, which means I know deep in my soul that I could be missing out on something aMAzing if I refuse to download short things. BUT I know many people do!! So if we can make it so that they give shorter things a try, why not. :D

Thank you for this post. <3

Indeed you are not alone in the downloading of intriguing podfics at amplificathon time and then the dust-gathering and languishing thing. /o\
Oh good! Or, well, not good but at least I'm not alone?

I know deep in my soul that I could be missing out on something aMAzing if I refuse to download short things
There are some short podfics that I absolutely love and adore too but I'll admit, I'm one of those people that hesitates with short podfics. It's not actually the downloading that gets me, so much as the fact that I bookmark everything a listen to or read on Delicious and creating entries for all the short ones (especially since I mostly listen at work, where it's a distraction and taking me away from my work) is just too time consuming. /o\
But! For other people it's the effort of downloading and then syncing to their players and embeds will help for those people.

You could allow yourself to record the MOST basic thing about these short podfics only: give them a podfic.short tag and nothing else. Then you'd have a handy way to go back to them when (if) you (ever) have more energy to add more tags... ??

I really like this idea, and yes, I would listen to shorter pieces if I could give it an immediate click.

I started adding a podfic link in same delicious tag on the original fic link, rather than a separate item. that way it's in one place, with all the various tags and both the podficcer and author are tagged. It helps me keep my tags and links under control, too.

That's such a great point about shorter podfics. That could be a boon to both the podficcer and the author if someone also doesn't want to open tabs for a number of short fics.

The other day on Twitter I saw someone contemplating whether it was worth their while to download a 3 minute podfic and all I could think was "streaming would have solved this problem!"

Exactly! What's more I imagine it could lead to things like podficcers recording batches of "themed" short fics, responses to challenges and such.

Thanks so much for the encouragement to post a streaming option. I'd never have thought to do it, and didn't even really know I could. These reasons convinced me, your

podfic_tips post gave me the technical know-how, and now I've successfully embedded a streaming option in a podfic I just posted. \o/ Thank you!

fire_juggler and I would like to thank you for setting up the streaming option for all the

pod_together podfics. We had one listener who claims to be completely lost on technical issues and says she wouldn't know the first thing about downloading an audio file and playing it, but the streaming was easy! She thoroughly appreciated having that option.

Yay! I'm glad people find it useful. It was that kind of potential listener that has me pushing the idea of streaming. New listeners FTW \o/

Streaming Podfic

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