Notices by Adam Curry :pci: :pc2blue: (adam@podcastindex.social)

Haply New Year everyone!
LOL at this wonderful development!

Interesting New Yorker article on Spotify.
The time has never been more ripe for Music Makers to realize the old way of getting value for your work has been completely captured.

Go direct, ask for Value4Value for your art.

You have nothing to lose at this point.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/30/mood-machine-liz-pelly-book-review

Value4Value.info

@davew post for app developers, as discussed today before I even saw it.

https://this.how/podcasting/

@js "But there’s no advertising. These stations all rely on garbage bottom feeding ads from things like Balance of Nature, and other non FDA approved snake oil for various ailments"

I attribute this to Facebook who now dominate local advertising.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann @dave
If people think that can just set up a wallet and start earning, they have not understood the model.

I am delighted that the lightning network facilitates sharing of value, regardless of how much or little it is. No Agenda has multiple splits that go to producers who provide value back daily. Whatever is left goes to the Index. I love seeing apps getting a share, which is unique in ANY monetization model.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann @dave
In the middle of all this beauty, Spotify came in like a 400 pound gorilla and tried to buy their way into the eco system and capture the market. They spent $1 Billion and failed, not just financially, they made many podcasts irrelevant, and wasted resources on programming no one wanted BECAUSE of the open content freely available.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann
We diligently produce 7 hours of programming every week, even on Holidays. We send out newsletters and always complete the feedback loop in our programming. We have motivated out audience to be 'producers' and not just listeners. They truly provide time talent and treasure.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann
Part of their 'job' is to promote the show, they also build and maintain websites, produce art and organize meetups as well as provide us with their knowledge in their fields of expertise that we incorporate into the programming.

Re-read Value4Value.info

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann @dave
We added lighting payments as a mechanism to also subvert deplatforming of people from payment rails. Although that has been difficult, we are still hanging in there and evolving as we can. It was not developed as a way to 'make money'.

In my opinion and experience, the only people who can motivate people to support the Value4Value model is the content makers themselves. No app or service has that relationship.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann

I should probably do another round of explaining V4V in the board room. a few thoughts here in the meantime;

V4V does not work as a 'pay as you play' model. It is a relationship between the podcaster and the audience. It is not tipping and certainly not 'begging'.

It is an exchange between humans, who respect and support each other.

Yes, it is hard to sustain a living that way and I know because it will be 17 years of living V4V in October.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann @dave
For historical context, the namespace was created for the sole reason of adding the value block, delightfully many people had ideas for expanding the podcasting rss system and we have some solid additions that are now slowly spreading out to other platforms and apps. To expect this to be a fast process is underestimating the resources available for this at all levels.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann
This 'monetization' conversation is not new. The same happened with blogging, people think they deserve to get paid when that is simply not the case. Everything starts with an outstanding product that people are willing to support.

Conversely, it is ludicrous to expect people to pay for anything they consume that is freely available, and to make this a requirement. Just because it is micropayments is frankly insulting to audiences.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann @dave
Every sat that comes in makes me happy, because I know that someone went through the trouble of showing respect and value, not just for what I did, but what the entire system and the people who maintain and extend it do on a daily basis.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann @dave
In closing, I have much respect for the hosting companies and the people that run them. They have very real fixed and variable costs, including support staff. They are the lifeblood of podcasting and to see the distributed nature of this service assures me we will be podcasting for a long time to come. Thank God

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann
Podcasting was also never developed as a way to 'make money'. it was a way to be heard, to communicate ideas without interference or censorship. To date it is still one of the only remaining communication formats to fulfill that mission.

d.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann
Podcastindex.org was created to ensure longevity of the free and open RSS distribution of content in an age where corporations are stupidly being trusted with protecting speech and ideas from censorship, agendas and financial motives.

@samsethi @StevenB @ericpp @mikeneumann @dave
When you stop thinking about 'money' and think in terms of 'value', your view changes and becomes much more realistic.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann
If @dave and I had started this to make money or quit our day jobs, it would have ended quickly. We simply used the same principals: if people appreciate the value they receive, they will support it, if not the it goes away. We have no expectations, and certainly cannot interpret value for anyone but ourselves.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann @dave
I am grateful that Apple provides a solid app and backend for their users at no cost, as they keep the original mission available at scale.

That said, I never promote them in my show, I always talk about independent apps, their benefits and why it is important to support their development. After all, it was Apple's decision to de-platform several podcasts in 2018 that started this project in the first place.

@StevenB @samsethi @ericpp @mikeneumann @dave
The community that has grown here is astounding to me, we are from many different cultures, countries and backgrounds, yet we all are working generally to maintain the same mission of a free and open communications ecosystem for all people. The addition of V4V with the lightning network is not a promise of employment or riches, it is a mechanism to share value to those who have provided value. A common metric not provided anywhere else.