All About Podcast Platforms


 For this week's assignment we explored podcast platforms.  It is Spooky Season so , we decided to create a podcast focused on haunted libraries. The process was enjoyable, and we had a great time with the research and conversation involved. We evaluated three podcasting platforms (Check out the evaluation of each platform below) - Podbean, Buzzsprout, and Anchor - and found them all to be user-friendly and similar in many ways. Ultimately, we chose Podbean for its user-friendly free version. It was extremely easy. Students would easily be able to do this in the classroom, library, or in their homes. We recorded our podcast on Zoom and easily uploaded the audio to Podbean, sparking our interest in exploring editing and sound effects in the future. We used the free version of Zoom as well. Zoom does give users the option to record the audio of different users separately. We decided we would not use this option.

While Podbean suited our needs well, we noticed that their upgraded plans could be costly. On the other hand, Anchor emerged as a great basic option, and it's entirely free. Buzzsprout, especially for paid subscribers, offers intriguing features, such as an AI cohost, which could be valuable for frequent podcasters.

Our research into podcasting left us enthusiastic about the potential for future projects for ourselves and for students. We discovered a wealth of educational podcasts and resources, including 50 Educational Podcasts You Should Check Out and Elementary School Podcasts .There is so much to discover! Happy Podcasting!

Check our our Podcast on Haunted Libraries. Click the link below

https://najatfgonzalez15.podbean.com/e/haunted-libraries/


Anchor( now Spotify for Podcasts) 


Pro

Con

Storage

  • Can upload files up to 250 MB in size.

  • Use only mp3, m4a, wav and mpg.

  • Wav file longer than 15 minutes may be difficult to work with.

Bandwidth

  • Unlimited bandwidth limits.


Usability

  • Top choice for new podcasters.

  • Easy to use ads and listeners to monetize.

  • You can add songs from Spotify.

  • Easy to distribute to most platforms.

  • Depending on browser being used for solo recordings Chrome has 30 minute limit, Safari has 5 minute limit and mobile app recordings are 2 hours.

  • they require you to manually enable RSS and submit your feed to each directory

  • Subpar recording tools.

  • Only one podcast per account and no tiered access.

Analytics

Can find information on the overview of the podcast (audience size, plays per episode, etc.), audience (geographic location, apps/devices, gender and age), and episode rankings.


Word processing integration

Able to transcribe 

Recording has to be less than 1 minute long to transcribe.  Must be on app, not on a web browser, is my understanding

Price

100% free but subscribers can donate $.99, $.4.99 or $9.99.

While it is free for users, Spotify still uses ads to monetize from each podcast.  




Buzzsprout


Pro

Con

Storage

Free plan allows 2 hours of audio storage per month that will be hosted for 90 days.

To keep episodes on the platform for more than 90 days, you have to subscribe.

Bandwidth



Usability

Easiest to use, according to the provided article.

Audio is easily uploaded. 

Your episodes can be listed in an extensive Podcast directory:

Podcasts cannot be imported until you are on a paid subscription.

Analytics

Easy to understand stats. Graphs are straight forward with simple options for viewing.


Word processing integration

Cohost AI

Get episode titles, show notes, chapter markers, full transcript, social posts, and a blog post every time you upload an episode.



Price

Tiered pricing adds features like added storage, subscriber capabilities for monetization, increased tools, and cohost AI. Cost ranged from the free version to $24/month.





Podbean


Pro

Con

Storage

Podbean’s basic plan is the default free one you get once you sign up for a Podbean account. This plan provides you with the following:

  • Five hours of total storage space

Unlimited Audio

For the Unlimited Audio Plan, you are required to pay US$9 per month. You get to have the following features:

  • Unlimited storage

Unlimited Plus

You can also opt for the Unlimited Plus, which costs US$29 each month. It offers you the following capabilities:

  • Unlimited storage

Business

You can subscribe to a Business Plan, as well, which costs US$99 per month. You get to have the following benefits:

  • Unlimited storage




Basic-promotion of your podcasts won’t be part of this plan












Unlimited Audio-

You will pay a small fee but you will also get these added features:


  • Podbean mobile app

  • Embeddable players

  • Podcast site

  • RSS feed & iTunes support

  • Ad marketplace

  • Premium sales

Unlimited Plus-


The fee for this tier is more expensive. This tier does include more features:

  • All features from unlimited audio plus

  • Patron program

  • PodAds dynamic ad insertion

Business

The most expensive plan. This tier includes every feature from Unlimited Plus and also:

  • Multiple admins

  • Live chat support

Bandwidth

Podbean’s basic plan is the default free one you get once you sign up for a Podbean account. This plan provides you with the following:

  • 100 GB bandwidth per month

Unlimited Audio

For the Unlimited Audio Plan, you are required to pay US$9 per month. You get to have the following features:

  • Unlimited bandwidth

Unlimited Plus

You can also opt for the Unlimited Plus, which costs US$29 each month. It offers you the following capabilities:

  • Unlimited bandwidth

Business

You can subscribe to a Business Plan, as well, which costs US$99 per month. You get to have the following benefits:

  • Unlimited bandwidth

Basic-promotion of your podcasts won’t be part of this plan

Usability

Great for beginners and seasoned podcasters. Was able to create an account easily with a gmail address. 


Analytics

Data on downloads, listener demographics, and geographic locations are all analytics tools that this platform offers.


Word processing integration



Price

Free for basic

Comments

  1. C. ShumwayOctober 22, 2023 at 1:15 PM

    I really enjoyed working with you on this project. The process was fun and I learned a lot. The free versions of each of these podcasting platforms are adequate to easily produce a podcast. I would definitely like to learn more and find ways to use this in my classroom.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stacey YdrogoNovember 30, 2023 at 4:40 PM

    Hello Najat! I really enjoyed listening to your groups podcast. You blog post was very informative and provided a lot of great pros and cons with each podcast creating website. It is great to see the differentiation between each podcast regarding the website that was chosen. Within the semester the two websites that were used to create a podcast were Spotify and Podbean and found both to be fairly easy. I look forward to practicing with these tools again and gaining more knowledge on each feature they have to offer. Thank you for sharing your ideas and thoughts on creating podcasts.

    ReplyDelete

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