Decentralized Audio Podcasting with Aureal
Podcasting was utterly new a decade ago when I launched my own show. There were only a few content creators using this amazing marketing vehicle to communicate with their audience. Today we have an abundant landscape of video and audio podcasts covering a great variety of topics from all walks of life. From ancient cultures to multidimensional beings and universes, there’s hardly anything left out of the spectrum.
The last ten years have been a tremendous journey in terms of personal and professional growth, allowing me to embed each episode in various marketing bouquets to better serve those listening to the podcast. Obviously, all listings so far have been on centralized platforms such as Apple, Spotify, iHeart Radio and Co. as these were the middleman enabling distribution across devices.
Fortunately, things are about to change radically, meaning hosts can now take back their power by connecting their shows to decentralized blockchain-based platforms (networks) thus circumventing censorship and other nasty restrictions.
Today, I’d like to introduce you to Aureal, a social podcasting Dapp powered by the Hive blockchain.
The Era of Decentralized Podcasting
Having your successful video podcast banned from YouTube or the audio show you are so passionate about, removed from the likes of Apple Podcasts or Spotify, is tough. Whether you violated the terms that these networks keep changing on a daily basis nowadays is irrelevant at this point. What matters is that we can no longer rely on these centralized entities to deliver our messages. We are at their mercy and that can be fatal in certain cases.
Things are heating up. The world we have been accustomed to is becoming increasingly unpredictable and sprinkled with insanity. Therefore the call for decentralized marketing and communication channels has intensified to the point that we can no longer afford to dismiss what’s happening on the centralized counterparts.
“Ignorance is the mother of all evils.”
– Francois Rabelais, French Renaissance writer
Let’s talk Aureal.
I came across the project in it’s early days and joined immediately. Aureal is a Dapp interacting with the Hive blockchain. To benefit from the network, you’ll need to have a Hive account.
The process of getting your show on Aureal is pretty straightforward. You add your podcast RSS feed link on your profile. A code will be sent to you per email. Therefore, before you get started, make sure you have access to the email address that’s connected to your show. Paste the code and you’re done. Your show is now listed on Aureal.
To publish your past episodes to Hive you’ll need to hit the “Publish” button displayed next to each of these shows. Future episodes will be published to the blockchain as soon as your RSS feed fetches a new title.
Here are a few more benefits to Aureal:
On top of having your show on the decentralized Hive blockchain, you can monetize your content through web 3.0. No ads required. No need to look out for sponsorships. You earn rewards based on interactions. This translates into putting you in control of the game by enabling you to attract a relevant listener base that values and appreciates your content.
Decentralization is a Game-Changer
From play-to-earn over non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to social media, the importance of decentralized blockchains can’t be overstated. Trust, reliability and accessibility have never been more crucial as the move towards digital identity has become imminent.
I don’t see centralized podcast directories vanishing tomorrow, however I do expect to witness a growing number of decentralized podcatchers based on different blockchains to shake up the current ecosystem. This will enable podcasters to reach a wider, more sophisticated audience by making their shows available on networks such as Aureal.
Podcasting is here to stay. Ready for a decentralized audio experience? Join me on Hive @kriszrokk.
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Originally published on my blog at StrengthInBusiness.com.
