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November 16, 2004
Podcast Review: Indie Feed
This entry posted in:
4 stars
, I subscribe
, Podcast Review
Format: Individual Music Tracks
Content: Variety of music, served in single track servings
Rating: 
What I'm going to do: subscribe
Typical Length: 5 - 10 minutes
Chris MacDonald has begun one of the more ambitious projects in the podcasting world at IndieFeed. IndieFeed produces single-serving helpings of independant music of several varieties. A podcast like this is a little hard to review, but I'm going to give it my bestest shot.
Currently there are 7 different IndieFeeds (listed below). Chris has plans to publish at least 3 more. The biggest challenge I think Chris faces is the ability to keep up with all of these varieties of music, while simultaneously doing them justice. He realizes his predicament and in order to help solve it has enlisted the help of a few brave folks who are willing to manage one of the channels (among them Jason Evangelho of Hardcore Insomnia Radio, reviewed here). Tightly bound to Chris's potential salvation are both the difficulty of my review and IndieFeed's potential weakness.
The first passel of IndieFeeds I listened to were of the highest quality. Chris encodes at 128 kbps, which is probably the right level to encode a track that is basically solely music. Some of the file sizes are somewhat large for their length, but since poeple will be likely to be adding these songs to their libraries, that's probably appropriate. Chris's introductions varied from short and simple to highly detailed and informative, depending upon his knowledge of the band. His delivery is pleasant and clear, and the relative volumes of music to voice are fine. However, as Chris gives up control of the channels I am afraid that the quality of the music, commentary, and production/delivery of the 'casts may fall from the high level that Chris has set as a standard. If that were to happen, the overall quality of the podcast would also drop. I haven't experienced this yet, but am wary of the potential. The music also is going to vary widely, both in quality and appeal, but if you're looking to be exposed to some new stuff you have to take some chances.
Chris doesn't give track lengths, but since the whole 'cast is the track that information is easy enough to find. However, Chris's meta-data leaves something to be desired. I'd like to see the name of the podcast, and potentially also the channel, both in the file name and the title of the mp3 track [rant].
One final note to podcasters; Chris's permissions for these tunes stop at his broadcast of them. If you want to use them for something else, you'll need to contact the artist directly.
Update 2004-11-16: Chris tells me the Jam Bands feed is going away due to lack of support. He suggests TheMusicNeverStopped as an alternative. Subscribe here
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Tagged: podcast podcasting review
Posted by cori at November 16, 2004 05:57 AM