Get Your Podcast On iHeart Radio - An Interview With Dave Jackson - The Podcast Report Episode #10

Hey, everybody, it's Paul calling. It's the podcast report. It's episode 10. That's right, I made it to episode 10. Haven't pod faded yet. Got no plans for it. This episode we're chatting about getting your podcast on iHeartradio with our good friend Dave Jackson. It's the podcast report with Paul Colligan. And here's Paul, everybody. As I said, it's episode 10. It's the podcast report. Thepodcastreport.com 10 as in 10, Dave Jackson from the school of podcasting, has been one of my heroes in podcasting, has been one of the mainstays of podcasting. He's been one of the true guys who has stayed, stayed close to the path and not veered far from it. And he's been a fan of podcasting, a friend of podcasting, a tester of podcasting, and he's one of these guys that I can always go back to, always listen to and find out what's going on. And what's interesting is I stumbled across something about Dave. Dave. Well, I'm just going to say it. Dave's show, Ask the podcast Coach, is on iHeartRadio, the same iHeartRadio radio that every single radio station in this country is promoting like crazy. And it amazes me that, you know, two competing talk stations will both promote the same app that brings people to the other place. And that's a whole nother show. But Dave's show is on iHeartradio. We're going to chat about that. So, Dave, welcome to the show, buddy.

Paul, glad to be here. Congratulations on double digits.

Yeah, there we go. And you're, you're going to be at 500 soon, and you're going to be at a million downloads soon. So congratulations, my friend.

Thank you very much. It's been a fun trip.

So I pull up this little iHeartRadio app with, you know, that app with no marketing budget and your show, Ask the podcast or the podcast Coach is on iHeartradio. How in the world did you do that?

There's a backdoor to a service called Spreaker. Spreaker is, they've been around a little while. It's kind of a cross between a social site and a live streaming platform. And somehow the guys over at Spreaker who are always adding new features, they're kind of a forward thinking company, got together with, I'm assuming, Clear Channel and iHeartRadio, and you can actually add your show to their platform and then submit it to iHeartRadio. And as long as you don't have. The thing that I had on one of my shows was unlicensed music. I had some music, and they politely said, you can't use that on iHeartRadio, but you submit it. And I got approved. And yeah, like you said, there I am, along with the Marc Marins, the Jay Moores, the Jim Rohms, and everybody else that's on that little booger, you can find me.

Well, one interesting thing. I am a T Mobile subscriber, and T Mobile with their music unlimited program, and we spoke to this a couple episodes ago, they make Pandora free. They make itunes radio free, they make a bunch of the music playlist free, and they make iHeartRadio free. So I could stream Dave 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and believe me, ladies, that is something you want to do. I could stream Dave all this time on my itunes or, I'm sorry, on my plan with T Mobile and not pay any additional bandwidth. So interesting stuff. So spreaker and the podcastreport.com 1010 will get you this episode. I will link to Dave. I will link to the. To the school of podcasting. I'll link to Spreaker. I'll link to Dave's show at iHeartRadio. So you do Spreaker, and we'll chat about that for a second. Then you basically, you click a box, and if accepted, you're in iHeartRadio.

That's it. And what happens when you get accepted? It's interesting. IHeartRadio gets exclusive access to that RSS feed coming from Spreaker. That's fine. I got another one on my website, so I'm not worried about it. And at that point, iHeartRadio picks up your Spreaker tab. So whatever you are paying for, whatever plan, they have a bunch of them starting from five, going up to 120, depending on how long you want to broadcast live. But they'll go ahead and pick up your bill. So I now have unlimited storage, unlimited hours of streaming, and in return, iHeartRadio gets exclusive access to my RSS feed.

So you are streaming the podcast Coach to the iHeartRadio app, and iHeartRadio is paying the bills?

Yep.

Well, that's pretty cool, man.

I like that. Yeah, free is always good.

All right, what kind of numbers does this represent for you?

Well, right now, the fun part is I am there with Rush Limbaugh and everybody else that's on that app. So right now it's bringing in about 3% of my audience, I actually did. Recently, I broke down all of the players of my show because there are two things that are getting a lot of attention. One of them is SoundCloud, and the other one is iHeartRadio. So I went out and looked at my numbers for that show on Saturday, and as you might expect, basically, itunes and my website still represent about 50% of my downloads. And then on the Android side, or basically Stitcher, which is that app that I know your show's on, that represents about 33% of my audience. And then 12% actually come from the Spreaker website. Not so much iHeartRadio, but the actual Spreaker site. I've got about 4,000 followers on that site right now, and a lot of people just go over that website and click the play button. So they're not going to my website to click Play. They're on Stitcher, and you've got that little, you know, people networking with each other, so they're hitting the play button there. And then, like I said, 3% are on iHeartRadio, and 1% is on SoundCloud. Now, for the record, I don't.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. The almighty SoundCloud. The gift to all podcasters. SoundCloud, the greatest thing since sliced bread. SoundCloud is only 1% of your audience.

Is only 1%. And here's the key to all of these. I don't really promote iHeartradio. I don't promote SoundCloud. I want people to go to my website where I have my trusted media host. And I do this basically because I don't want to skew the numbers. And so that iHeartRadio number comes from people just discovering me on iHeartRadio and the same thing for SoundCloud. And I think that's a lot to do with any kind of platform. If you, you know, if I went over and just started, you know, telling everybody, here I am, here's my link to iHeartRadio. Or here, go listen to this and comment on SoundCloud. I'm sure I would get more plays over there, but I'm sending people back.

To my website now for Spreaker. I was watching you. I always watch you, and I recommend my audience watches you when you're doing the Spreaker thing. You were sending people there as you were testing out the platform. It was kind of, in one of the ways, your response to blog talk radio, which I will not be linking to, at least in this episode. We'll See if changes are happening over there. So Spreaker, you were sending some people to based on your test and whatnot?

Yeah, it started off. The show actually started as just, hey, let's play in live for a bit and see what tools are here. And over about a month and a half period, people started showing up. And so when I went to shut it down, I'm like, okay. I played with blog talk radio, I played with Spreaker. And I was like, all right, that's enough of that. They went, no, no, keep coming back. We're here every Saturday. And so that's where the social aspect of Spreaker kind of kicks in. Because I think a lot of people start to see, well, who has a following here. And so every week I'm getting more and more people that are following that. They're finding my show. And I go, this is pretty cool. So it's starting to kind of have its own little snowball in Spreaker world.

Interesting. The show number is 503-897-1290. You can call and leave a voicemail if you want. That voicemail can be EP10 or go ahead and text me EP10 to 503-897-1290. And I will get you a transcript of this conversation with Dave. I know that anybody pondering podcasting, either a longtime player or somebody beginning the game, the idea of their podcasting getting on to iheartradio is, is. Is fascinating, both as a short term play and a long term play. I know there are stages that I've been on that if I say as seen on iHeartRadio, that plays an entirely different game as. As seen on itunes.

Yeah, that is one of the nice things. It looks really nice on a resume to say as heard of on iHeartRadio. And the other nice aspect of Spreaker is there is an app for Spreaker. So if you want to do your podcast from your phone, you can basically access their interface from your phone, from your iPad, record your podcast, send it up, hit go. When you're done, it does its magic mojo. And that then goes right to iHeartRadio.

Interesting, interesting. So as podcasting grows, you know, a single show everywhere, a single show at itunes, a single show at Stitcher and Tunein and iheart and Spreaker and all these places is obviously advantageous. Are there any reasons why a podcaster wouldn't want to do this?

The only thing would be, if you're a stickler when you upload things to Spreaker, they Do change your file name and they do change your album artwork. You have a place to set up to put album artwork for your show. So you just have to go in now. This is one of the cool things about Spreaker is they're actually listening. They're listening to the community and they've already gone through and just, I think it was last week, came out with ways to kind of tweak your RSS feed to make sure you have the right album artwork. And so they're listening, and anything that you're not happy with, they'll be more than happy to hear. In fact, I actually have an appointment with the CEO next week because he's heard me say, hey, why are they changing my file name? Why are they horking my MP3 or my ID3 tags? They're kind of like, oh, wait, something's not right. So they're very attentive to the podcasting community and so they are making changes.

Okay, very, very cool. So I want to make sure I've got the process. And for those of you listening along, yes, Skype is giving us a hiccup. It always happens when you get the good ones, but there it is. So you record your show live on Spreaker, either through a web interface or through the phone interface, and it streams you live to the cloud or gives you the ability to just upload your files. So they could be, for lack of a better term, an alternative host. You then at some point take your RSS feed from Spreaker and then upon giving it to iHeartRadio, iHeartRadio brings it in. And the only two places then to listen to that particular feedback is either Spreaker or iHeartRadio. Is that correct so far?

That is correct.

But then there's nothing in the terms and conditions that says you can't take that same content, repurpose it, and put it at your own stream, much the same way podcasters have to do at this point when they're putting their show up that itunes grabs and then say soundcloud or something like that.

Yeah, there's actually a link to your MP3 file. So you could just grab that, throw that into your player on your WordPress and your good to go.

Okay, so why isn't everybody doing this?

Number one, they don't have unlimited storage. So if you want somebody, you know, like me, I've got 400 and, you know, plus episodes, I do that because my media host doesn't have any limit on how much I can. They have a limit on how much I can upload per month, but how much will store. They've got my entire back catalog. Spreaker has a limit on, you know, depending on your plan, and they do it by hours. Now, the plans are pretty generous, depending on what you want to pay, but technically they all have. Unless you're doing the $120 a month plan, they all have limits. Now, is that a huge deal? It depends on what you're doing and how long you plan on doing. You know, podcasting and things like that. But really, if you want to get technical, there's no way to redirect your feed. So if you ever wanted to leave Spreaker, I believe that's one of my other issues at the moment, and I believe they are working on that one as we speak. Because I always say, just because I love you today doesn't mean two years from now there might be a better deal and I might want to leave. So how do I tell itunes? Hey, I'm not over here now. I've gone over there. So itunes will update it. But other than that, like I said, a few minor glitches where they rename your file, and really that's almost not an issue because so many people are playing from the website and they're not going to know what the file name is. It's the people that download it that go, why is it this weird, you know, slew of numbers here? Why doesn't it say something like ask or, you know, ask number seven or something like that? That would kind of identify that it came from me. But there's not really a whole lot of negatives, like I said, just a limit on storage and some tweaking of the actual file. But the audio quality itself doesn't get tweaked.

So as far as, you know, we mentioned unlicensed music. You know, are there any requirements that Spreaker has? I mean, can any, you know, Larry, Larry, Joe, Bob get into iHeartRadio? What are the requirements?

They don't, you know, in terms of, like, here's what you need to do. They're looking for you to have a fairly consistent schedule. So whatever. It's daily, weekly, whatever your schedule is, they just want it to be consistent. Then the other thing is, yeah, don't have any kind of. You don't have any Britney Spears or Lady Gaga in the background. That'll get you slapped real hard. And other than that, that seems to be. They do listen to it. I believe it's an actual person that listens to it. And in terms of what gives you the thumbs up and thumbs down, there's not really a whole lot of information on that. So you just want to do the best show you can and you click submit and cross your fingers. And when I submitted it, it really wasn't that long of a process. And I know I've submitted others, and I'm still waiting to hear back in some cases. So I think, because this is now becoming more and more public, that, hey, wow, there's a backdoor to iHeartRadio, that that list might be a little longer now to actually get somebody to listen to it. But I'll definitely keep you posted. As I hear, man.

Very, very, very cool. Should podcasters worry about getting on iheartradio?

Should they worry about it? There's really only a few. There's no really negative to it. The great thing is it looks really good on a resume, right? Put that on your business card. Find us on iheartradio. It's not really an iheartradio thing. It's a Spreaker thing. And that's if you want to get super geeky. They change your file name, they tweak a little bit of your id, three tags, your album artwork might get a little weird. But the cool thing is Spreaker is a platform that's actually listening to their community. In fact, I'm speaking with the CEO next week because he's heard me say, I'm not really crazy about this as your primary platform. As a secondary to get into iHeartRadio, by all means, like you said, there's really not much of a negative. And I love the fact that they're always improving things. They just added some new things inside the Spreaker platform to tweak your RSS feed. So they're listening. And I love the fact that they approached me and said, why aren't you 100% behind this? And I went, well, I'm kind of a stickler for some of these things. So really, in terms of negatives, not a whole lot, man.

Very, very cool. So if I'm a podcaster who is trying to reach as many people as is possible. Yes, strategically. Always send them to your site. You know, we have to build our own networks. You know, I did that episode about, you know, do websites need. Do podcasts need websites? And that was a bit tongue in cheek. And, you know, I appreciated your response. But the thing is, it's gotta be about the show, not about the platform for the show. So, you know, and a website is just a great Way to make it about the show. So promoting, you know, Dave on iHeartRadio or Paul on iHeartRadio or Jay on iHeartRadio, you know, just doesn't make sense because it's about Paul or Dave or Jay. And obviously if someone puts themselves on the show and they suddenly find that their crowd is. Is 80% iheartradio versus what they've been doing on itunes, they should probably investigate it. But in terms of a strategy, putting yourself there, what makes at least as much sense as putting yourself on SoundCloud, you know, numbers right now, and no real downside to it. And we spoke earlier to Music Unlimited with T Mobile. Now people can listen to your show for free. You know, the streaming side of things, I've been a big proponent of. I mean, you got to produce your show at some point. You might as well produce it live in front of an audience because people like that. And heck, you've got what, 4,000 people who have liked John Spreaker for your Ask the podcast show.

Yeah, actually I've got, Let me look, 4,100 people now have, you know, given me the thumbs up or whatever you do to follow me on Spreaker. So, yeah, it's pretty. And every time I start a show, when I go live, it sends that them, hey, Dave is live right now. And then you also tie that, you can tie Spreaker into your Twitter account, so when you go live, it will alert all your Twitter followers as well.

So. But 4,100 people came from the Dave Jackson brand to Spreaker, or maybe not all of them, but we're gonna assume a good amount of them came there and then said, hey, I want to get this version of Dave. I want to get this live version of Dave. But they're still Dave. If Dave picked up and moved that show from Spreaker to Beaker, you know, they'd be happy there as well, probably, right?

I would think so. You like to think that they would follow you wherever you go.

Okay, well, this is good, Dave. This is when we're going to have to re evaluate and investigate. You know, podcasters love to debate. You know, where do you go and do you allow anybody to mess with your feed and change your metadata and all that stuff? And, you know, one of the, one of the sins is of course, you know, you know, changing the album art and these things. But, you know, I'm looking at my iPhone here, and Dave Jackson, the podcast Coach, is on iHeartRadio right next to the, you know, Drive Time Radio station here in Portland, Oregon. And gosh darn it, I'm A, jealous, but B, impressed. And the fact of the matter is, if I can follow your live show when I'm driving around Saturday doing errands, I just might get that push, and I might just listen to Dave for free. And, you know, literally for free, because I'm not even paying for the bandwidth. And as you expand your empire and expand what you're doing, it's not like you're creating content just for this. You know, a few more buttons to push and a few more places to upload. But as we outsource that and as we automate that process, it's not that hard. And the impact is good. And, you know, the resume is nice, but there are people. There's a demographic. My mom is scared to death of podcasting to this day because she doesn't have an Apple device, but, boy, she listens to her talk radio. And if she were to put the iHeartRadio app on her Nexus device, the thought that she could probably listen to her son streaming there, it would happen. And I joke about mom as a demographic, but when the whole world's out there, you want to reach them wherever they are. And this is a really, really interesting place to do that. Dave, I want to close this up, but any last thoughts or comments for anyone who's pondering? Is this worth it? Should I do it? That's fine for Dave, but is it good for me? Any final thoughts?

Just why wouldn't you if it doesn't work? What are you out five bucks? It's amazing how people will spend 5, $7 on a cup of coffee, but they won't try $5 to see if I can grow my audience. So, yeah, you know, throw it on the wall. See if it works.

There we go.

Worst that can happen is they'll say no.

Yeah, there we go. You've been listening to the podcast report@the podcastreport.com this has been episode 10 with Dave Jackson, the podcast coach at the school of podcasting. If you send EP9, hashtag is that tic tac toe sign to 503-897-1290. I will get you the transcript for this show. And if you head out to the podcast report.com 1 0, I will get you to all the links. Although you, my listener, are obviously smart enough to head to Google. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast report. We'll hit you again next week. Bye.