I listen to several hours of podcasts a day. I am so glad they
somehow fell through the cracks of the vampiric media industry.
Sure there are a lot of traditional media trying to get in, but
so far it seems that podcasts are the last stronghold of
independent thought. It takes a bit of dedication for an
individual to start their podcast, and there is enough of a
barrier to keep out some of the most flimsical actors, but
overall, anyone with even a poor connection would be able to host
a podcast with relatively low cost.
This is not a state to be taken for granted, though. As soon as
we start paying for this stuff, the freedom is taken away. You see
what Spotify did? You see what Netflix did? They took the concept
of internet relayed media and turned it to shit. Things were just
fine when you had to find a torrent of the new movie. You could
have ANY movie. Now Netflix gives you two out of three Matrix
movies and you have to go to Amazon for the third, and pay
individually.
There is value in not paying to these companies. It is not a fluke
that they turn functioning services to shit. It comes from the
need to increase profit. This overrides the quality of the system
in both technical terms and in terms of content. Paying for stuff
is to vote for this downward spin of quality.
If you want to pay for stuff, donate to the people you listen to.
Never pay the middle man. They are all fine when they don't
control the scene but later they take hostages. Never negotiate
with a blossoming terrorist.
