free podcast advice

I spend a ton of time traveling, both in the air and driving (when can I please start sailing again?!) and most of the time I have my iPod on.  Only rarely am I listening to music, although I have a nice collection ranging from Eva Cassidy to the Rolling Stones, from James Taylor to J.S. Bach.  No, I’m catching up on Podcasts, mainly sermon series from Rob Bell, Mark Batterson, Andy Stanley… and about ten others.  I do this in blasts, waiting for a pastor to finish a series and then I listen to the whole thing in one shot.

I did that today, listening to Kent Dobson filling in for Rob Bell, then jumping over to Andy Stanley on the will of God.  If you have anything to do with podcasts here’s some advice I’ll pass on from today’s listening:

Mars Hill puts out a great product that reflects their worship experience… no frills. I really enjoy listening to their podcasts, except when they edit out their music with all the subtlety of a chainsaw (I understand the need to avoid licensing issues, but come on, you could bring in a short interlude of public domain stuff.)

Andy Stanley has a different kind of church, and it shows.  You have the well spoken female announcer introduce the message and then its followed up by a slick promo to save 10% on your next online order.  But, big problem, one whole chunk of his message was repeated. Obviously a cut and paste edit problem.

Here’s the two points of advice:  be real – don’t over commercialize your podcast.  Final point: listen to it before you publish it.