The podcasting industry thrives on the brainstorming, free-flowing concerns, bright ideas, and intense discussion of brilliant people.
For the most part, podcasters, those who work in podcasting, and the brands that support them are good people.
Libsyn values participation in discussions in public and private thought-leader groups paving the way for more opportunities for the podcasters that rely on them.
Our team’s participation in these groups can mean that sometimes the lines between Libsyn and our team members’ positions can get blurred and, lately, taken out of context.
If you are ever concerned about a Libsyn team members’ statements regarding a Libsyn stance or what is going on in the podcasting industry and would like clarification on it, please be sure to contact us at [email protected] for an official company response.
We all know the pitfalls of limited character counts and excerpts of recorded audio. 2020 taught us all that lesson.
We have several people on our team who are long-standing supporters of the podcasting industry, with 10+ years of experience and passion for how it evolves. We love them for it. Podcasting is both their work and hobby and rarely leaves their consciousness. These people continue to bring focus to indie podcasters’ needs and stay grounded in the advice they provide.
Rob Greenlee, Libsyn’s VP of Content and Partnerships, is no exception.
Some recently published statements regarding Rob Greenlee about Libsyn’s support of the Podcast Index and his involvement in the Podcast Academy may have left some people thinking otherwise. We want to clear them up.
Regarding the Podcast Index and Podcast 2.0 namespace, we encourage you to listen to The Feed’s Episode 184, to be Published on January 12th.
The Podcast Index, Podcast 2.0 Namespace, and Libsyn
It was reported on January 7th, 2021 that Libsyn will not support the Podcast 2.0 namespace tags. It was also reported that Libsyn will support the Podcast 2.0 namespace tags on December 22, 2020.
Confused yet?
It is important to distinguish between being supportive of the Podcast 2.0 namespace through conversation and advocacy, and integrated support of it’s associated tags on Libsyn.
In Rob’s own words in the excerpt below from Podland, you can see our team is supportive of the work they are doing.
And, and I think as a team, we are very supportive of what Adam is doing over there, with trying to come up with some new ideas in the medium. And, I do believe that we will probably ultimately wind up, supporting most, if not all of what’s going on over there.
As Rob also states later in the interview, Libsyn currently does not have an ETA on integrated platform support for the Podcast 2.0 namespace tags. We hope to share more on the timing of deeper platform support in the future and appreciate your patience in the meantime.
If you would like to provide some feedback to our team regarding the Podcast Index you can send it directly to [email protected].
Tip: Read about the basics of the Podcast 2.0 namespace in this post.
Rob Greenlee and The Podcast Academy
The second headline that was reported on Rob Greenlee regarding the Podcast Academy, was that he was stepping down as the Podcast Academy Chair. While this is an accurate excerpt from a statement from Rob Greenlee, it could be misleading in the spirit of what the Podcast Academy is doing and Rob’s level of involvement going forward.
Michele Cobb, the Executive Director of The Podcast Academy has commented the following in response to the published headline.
The leadership change was a planned event and each year we will be appointing new officers at the January meeting (with a new term of February). And, starting in 2022, we will be transitioning from the Founding Board of Governors to an elected board from the membership. Rob Greenlee continues as an active member of the board and an important part of helping us to grow and improve.
That’s it. It is a lot less of a story of abandonment or dilution of the Podcast Academy, which is why it is essential to clarify what has transpired.
We would like to congratulate Rob for being the founding Chair of the Academy and the work of The Podcast Academy.
Rob will continue planning the first annual Ambies Awards for the Academy, a live-streamed virtual event from Los Angeles taking place on March 28th, 2021.
Great stuff is coming for podcasting. The Academy will be instrumental in leading the way, and Rob Greenlee and Libsyn continue to support their efforts.
Libsyn supports our team’s participation as individuals in the community and the podcast industry to help podcasters keep podcasting.
We support conversations that are spirited about all things podcasting. They are an opportunity to advocate for podcasters and serve the podcasting community and industry.
REMINDER: You can listen to Rob Greenlee and Rob Walch discuss Libsyn’s stance on the Podcast Index and the Academy on The Feed’s next episode, set to release the week of January 11th.
