barkingmoose

I’ve stumbled upon something potentially explosive that’s sure to impact all the six million Americans who are listening to podcasts each and every day.

While commuting to work this morning, I powered up my iPod and thumbed through the dozens of mp3’s which my sophisticated podcasting setup had downloaded for me overnight. When I got to OpenPodcast.org’s podcast number #1627, though, I almost lost my earbuds. Here’s the part that grabbed me:

“Am I the only person who doesn’t like the new Sound of the Day intro and outro music? I liked the other stuff better.”
openpodcast_1627.mp3 (00:17 mp3)

Whoa. Everyone knows the Sound of the Day intro and outro music changes every month or so, but have they gone too far this time? Are they alienating their audience, potentially putting off millions of mp3-savvy listeners?

Then I got to OpenPodcast #1629 and it got worse. Much worse. Not only did this ‘caster dislike the new intro music, but he’d taken it one step further.

“I just want to agree with OpenPodcast.org #1627. The Sound of the Day is just not the same. I’ve even unsubscribed from the Sound of the Day in my aggregator.”
openpodcast_1629.mp3 (00:35 mp3)

These 52 seconds are revolutionary. There’s definitely a movement building here, and it threatens to pop the podcast bubble before we’ve even reached 10 million listeners (currently targeted for mid-May). As for me, I am staying above the fray and keeping the Sound of the Day in my aggregator — but if this pressure keeps building, I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold out for long.

Update: Here’s an all-time favorite from the Sound of the Day. Ah, the good ol’ days.