Podcasting
2.0

Podcasting 2.0 is developing through its infancy, and many podcasters won't even be aware that it exists, let alone what it is and why it matters.

Podcasting 2.0 opens up the podcast industry where the majority of creators sit, decentralizes power and control, and allows for more wide-adopted standards for hosts and listening apps, but there is still a long way to go.

Whilst we are fully supportive of Podcasting 2.0 and the enhanced capabilities, we feel that the name can be a little too technical for the non-techy, busy podcaster. 'RSS Enhancements' did a better job of describing the initiatives, which is what we've called it within Captivate. We proudly display that this is part of Podcasting 2.0, though, because we firmly believe in the movement!

The Podcast Index contains all available podcasts with RSS feeds, think of it as an open directory of podcasts that anyone can submit to, and that any app can search. Apple Podcasts had become the go-to index for podcasts, with the majority of apps using Apple's index to find podcasts. The aim is that The Podcast Index becomes the go-to open index.

Podcast feeds are documents that contain podcast data and episodes, tags can be added which are read by computers to get information, and can also be used to bring features to users and listeners.

For example, you can add an "author" tag to your RSS feed via the Captivate dashboard, and apps can use this tag to allow listeners to search for all podcasts where you are the author.

It's a collective effort between industry experts, including ourselves, to agree on which tags become part of Podcasting 2.0, and this collection of tags is called the Podcast Namespace.

Captivate supports Podping, and is an initiative that helps directory apps pick up updates to podcasts and feeds at a much quicker rate than traditional RSS crawling. This initiative greatly enhances the listener experience, as apps that also support it, can show listeners new episodes at a much quicker rate.

Again, Captivate supports Value-for-Value, and is a way for podcasters to receive payments directly from their listeners and fans via bitcoin.

Yes, head on over to 'RSS Enhancements' under 'Podcasting Settings' in the Captivate dashboard, and start exploring Podcasting 2.0 features and tags that you can add to your podcast RSS feed, and enhance your listener's experience. We'll continue to keep a close eye on Podcasting 2.0, and constantly review features and tags that we can add to the platform, once their mature enough and become more widely adopted by the industry.