Doing it because you love it. Playing podcasting to small niche crowds. Not giving a damn if nobody else likes it. Not making any money. These are the things indie podcasters (and punk bands) have been used to for years. But, now there’s Patreon.
Although not really setup for podcasters exactly, Patreon provides a format for podcasters to actually make money doing the thing they love. It also provides the opportunity for podcast fans to give back to the podcasters that have been giving them entertainment for years.
Our craft beer nerd podcast, The Perfect Pour, has built up a little following. Not a huge following, but enough to warrant getting a sponsor, or, asking listeners for help. And since getting a sponsor feels like it would be work and lame, maybe it’s time to give Patreon a try.
Maybe the coolest thing about having a Patreon page is you, the podcaster, can give your listeners something more. Little nerdy things that only a hardcore listener would care about. Things that the podcaster would only be motivated to give to listeners if they were forking over a little cash.
I love the podcast The Morning Stream. I completely relate with hosts Scott Johnson & Brian Iddott and they churn out content I can totally get behind and they do it four days a week. Their Patreon page is huge. Easily the top grossing podcaster page I’ve seen. Enough that they could make their living from it alone. Not many podcasters can say that.
Alright, there’s that “Fire Nation” dweeb but that’s not really a podcast. It’s a audio infomercial. It doesn’t count.
So great, The Morning Stream (and Frogpants Network) make the boys enough to live from. Enough to quit a day job. Every podcaster’s dream. This is why I listen to the Stream with bitter ears.
Once in a while they will miss a show. It’s usually due to Scott having another work commitment, unrelated to the podcasts. This leaves me thinking “Dude, you make a shit ton of money from the podcast! How is that not your first priority? How are other non-podcast work opportunities trumping your podcast?!
When listeners are giving you their hard earned cash (even if it’s just a dollar), that now opens you up to dork-ass rants. To bitter listeners. To, “HEY! I’m paying you, asshole. Do better!”
Now I’m thinking, “Is it worth it?” Is it worth making $50.00 a month from a Patreon page (what I imagine a Perfect Pour page would make) losing your street-cred over? Opening you up to critics? Losing your punk rock vibe?
It would be nice to have the podcast’s file hosting and .com url paid for. Plus maybe have a few bucks left over to buy some beer. But is it all worth it?
We all have one. We all have a hang-out style podcast talking about “nerd stuff” or “pop culture” or “what we did this week” or the worst one “remember that old girlfriend you had?” No, we don’t! Only you two do and the rest of us don’t care and just stopped listening. All of us indie podcasters are guilty of such mediocre to shit-poor content from time to time. Hell, a lot of mainstream ones are guilty of this.
Some of us indie folk are doing interesting things with the podcast format though. We discovered a few in recent months that inspire us to be more creative with our own.
Alright so if you listen to podcasts you know what this is already. Probably the biggest indie podcast story in 2013 that doesn’t involve an entrepreneurial cast. As a podcaster or writer it’ll make you say to yourself “Why didn’t I start this!?” But but after listening long enough you realize you’re nowhere close to being talented enough to pull off writing it. Fictional community updates for the small desert town called Night Vale. It may take a couple listens but eventually you get the creepy awsomeness. Latest WTNV episode.
You may not believe it after listening but this is just one man doing all the voices. Set in a trailer park, the characters walk in and out of each others lives. Sometimes I get caught up in trying to imagine how much editing must go into making an episode and forget to listen to the content. Mostly improvised, but it still manages to tell a complete story and carry over storylines to other episodes. Latest AOMP episode.
Using other podcasters to act out audio-sketches. Super cool. Expertly produced by Geoffrey Welchman. Always a funny and interesting listen. We secretly sit around and hope for a invite one day. Latest TID episode.
I’ve never been much of a cult film fan but this podcast motivates me to be one. The hosts watch and review three or four cultish films from the past or near present. They give super nerd-core breakdowns of the films without being pretentious or inserting too much unrelated material – my favorite kind of fancast/review style podcast. Latest JFD episode.
I really enjoy indie casters playing with the format and branching out from the normal podcast style. Let us know if you find one worthy.
Fresno is the epicenter of Swedes. What the hell are we talking about here? Well (kinda unfortunately) we’re not talking tall beautiful blonde people with fun accents. We’re talking about a sorta new genre of movie making.
If you remember the Jack Black movie “Be Kind Rewind” you might know what ‘swed-ing’ a film is. If not, read this. Or just accept that is a short version of an existing movie, scene or trailer. A lovingly done version. A version done in the dorkiest and most low budget way possible – that’s the art of it.
Lucky for us Fresnans we have our own festival devoted to this style of filmmaking called Swede Fest. Fresno was the only city with its own festival until it spawned others. So yes, Fresno is the center of a film genre. Beat that, Vancouver.
The latest Swede Fest (#12) had a solid batch of entries. PLUS it even had one involving podcast icon, Chris Hardwick, as Luke Skywalker, swede-ing the trench run scene. Haven’t been able to find the full version of it online but there is a short bootleg version. Luckly all the others are online, including our favorites, a mash-up from Dead In 60 Years:
Posted in Blog, Blogs, Chris Hardwick, dead in 60 years, dorks, film, fresno, Nerdist, star wars, swedefest	
Welcome back to our continuing feature called “What You Are Listening To” where we ask other podcasters what podcasts they’ve been enjoying or, well, hating lately. This week we have Roger Gonzales from Dead In 60 Years, cluing us in to some cool shit.
I couldn’t just pick one, I’m sorry! I work a job where I sit alone at a cubicle editing footage of teeth all day. The only interaction I have with humans is when I’m yelling at my animation team in Lahore Pakistan via Skype.
These are the podcasts that get me through my day, take my mind off the mundane and allow me to laugh in a humorless work environment.
Get up on this: A podcast that attempts to get you up on things (music/technology/film) early. Great guests hilarious stories and informative at times.
Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic Tank: Went through a breakup the other month… misery loves company! Two episodes that remind you it could always be worse. Comedian Sarah Tiana meets a Navy Seal while on a USO tour and shit goes bad the day of the recorded podcast. Episode #87 follows up where #73 left off. ITS BONKERS!
Slumber Party with Alie and Georgia: TV show hostess of “Tripping Out with Alie and George” interview guest and share way too much of their personal life.
Go Bayside!: Writer April Richardson watches episodes of Saved by the Bell with friends. If you grew up in the 90s and were raised by TV this pod will strike a nostalgic chord.
Since the demise of the Podcast Rankings, we’ve been yearning for other ways to connect with and feature podcasts on the blog. Podcasts we, as big podcast listeners, might be missing. So we’ve started a new feature on the blog called “What YOU Are Listening To”. We ask podcasting friends what shows they’ve been enjoying lately and put them up here to…hear. Hope you enjoy discovering, along with us, what some of our favorite podcasters are listening to.
My name is Jason Tabrys, semi-prestigious internet word writer, podcaster, and person who can put his whole fist in his mouth.
I’m one of those people that usually only listens to fancy famous people podcasts like Harmontown and WTF, but there are a couple of indie shows that I occasionally check out. The cast I am about to tell you about is not one of those.I’m going to tell you about Disasterpiece Theatre. Now, here is me telling you about it.A couple of years ago, I captained a small band of writer people for a now dead site called WeLoveCult.com — perhaps you’ve never heard of it.
While doing that, I had a few absurdly talented writers who are doubtlessly still embarrassed by the fact that I got to briefly call myself their editor. One of those absurdly talented writers was Alex White. Alex, like a few of the others, has only gone on to greatness since leaving my tainting grasp.
Are you familiar with the website Reddit? Alex built that. Also, he was nominated for an Academy Award for the Buzkashi Boys short film.Quite a doer. These things are lies. I don’t know what he’s been up to, we wrote together on the internet for a blink two years ago, but he’s a cool guy and he had mentioned his podcast, Disasterpiece Theatre, and I checked it out.Then I didn’t listen again for a long-assed time. I may have told him that I did. I may be an asshole. Anyway, I’ve gone back to the show a few times since then and when I got the chance to write about another indie cast, I wanted to tell you about this one.Why? Well, Alex and his co-host Stephen Granade (and producer Brooke Fox) know how to put on a good show. This is a smart show and a pro product with fantastic sound quality, great chemistry, and a spectacular flow. It’s also got a great premise.
Basically, Disasterpiece Theatre skewers the Hollywood system by firing funny mental buckshot on a weekly basis as they pitch some of the greatest and most bizarre never were movies in the history of… all of it.
I’m listening now… “Down Periscope was an amazing movie” and “It’s all about Obelisks” just flew into my ears. It’s a weird and brilliant show that makes me laugh.
Go listen.Disasterpiece Theatre can be found on iTunes. Probably other places as well. Use Google or, whatever, is Bing still a thing? Alta Vista?
“Networked” is our blatant attempt to get you to listen to the latest episodes of our Dorktown Network podcasts.
The boys from Spanspek Muisc & Art Festival stop by to talk about their Orosi festival and Fresno’s F.U.S.E. Fest. Plus some added Fulton Mall talk. Click and listen to the Fresnoness.
You are bound by the craft beer podcasting bi-laws to have at least one pumpkin beer episode. It’s a pumpkin beer battle and more in the latest Perfect Pour.
Maybe 150 episodes doesn’t sound like a lot but when you grind it out over 8 years, it becomes a LITTLE bit more impressive. No? Mmmmka. Well here is Dorktown’s 150th anyways: AmildviolatonDorktown150.mp3
“The Newness” is a new segment for the Dorktown blog. We take a look (or a listen, actually) to some podcasts we haven’t noticed much before. Here are a few.
It’s always a little tough to be listening with too serious of a ear to a podcast in its first few episodes. But, it’s also fun to get in on the ground floor. That’s what I’m doing with Toxic Twins Happy Hour. It’s starting out as a beer and music podcast, we’ll see if hosts Reid and Rob stay on that path. I hope they do because I love both topics and like how they do it in a relaxed style. I even can forgive the fact that they are not in the same studio while they record because it still sounds good. They use the Google Hangout method instead of the classic podcaster method of Skype – it seems Google Hangouts sound better than Skype ‘casts but that may be isolated to Toxic Twins. Either way it’s metal.
Oh man. Where has this one been!? This is what a modern era podcast is all about. Great mix of new music, Internet news and just plain coolness. Alpine and Alison sound pro (and I suspect Alison may be a former radio-er from the sound of it) but they don’t overdue the pro-style and still keep it podcast-real. Looking forward to more episodes.
Drinking games and movie breakdowns. Thumbs up to that shit. These boys pick a movie, or take suggestions from listeners. They watch it, review it and develop a drinking game exclusive to the movie. Didn’t like how much they tore up Mallrats and Kevin Smith (he certainly isn’t perfect – especially as a Director) but maybe they don’t get Kev. But it’s cool, I still respect them. Smooth content and they keep you entertained with their nerdness. Drink it in and listen up.
Alright, well now I have to get back to finding more unkown-to-us podcasts to post about. Email us if you have one you think we should add to our Stitcher.
Dorktown has been doing a monthly Podcast Rankings. A rankings that feature what I’ve been listening to over the past month, plus what some people around me have been listening to.
It started because there really wasn’t anything like it around the Internet. No real voice for the independent podcast trying to get some traction. Once in a while one will show up in iTunes’ “New and Noteworthy” or Stitcher’s “Top Movers” but that’s about it. So I thought I could do a monthly look at some indie podcasts in a rankings style. I love sports rankings (even College Baseball’s Top 25) and used to love Rollings Stone’s top 100 songs (back when they were a music magazine….). So why not do a podcasts version of them? It has been fun doing it and it’s gotten a bit of traction.
I hate moving people down in the rankings. Podcasts I like, but, for whatever reason, I felt needed to be moved down. Then they are all “What the hell?” and I’m all “Damn I feel like a dick.” and they’re all “Well you are a dick!” and I’m all “Yeah, you’re kinda right.”
Really. Who the hell am I to be judging podcasts? I’ve been podcasting for a long time but whatever. Still feel like a douche judging other podcasters. So I’m out.
BUT! I’m not out entirely. I will be starting regular blog posts on this webiste that will be a podcast column of sorts. Doing features of what we’ve been listening to in the past week, maybe some news items, whatever. Posts that I feel like less of a douche writing.
So keep listening to podcasts. Keep emailing us stuff to listen to, listen to our shows, kicks some ass, have a beer, kick some more ass and podcast.
Tags: blog, college baseball, media, music magazine, podcast lists, podcasting, rankings, rollings stone, top 100 songs
We finally overstayed our welcome over at the old blog and decided to move here to dorktownpodcast.com. It’s nothing to dramatic and the details are actually more boring than this post, point is, this is where all the Dorktown stuff will be from now on.
That includes our family of podcasts (Dorktown, Flowing With Famous and The Perfect Pour). along with our monthly ranking of podcasts. Also there will be more blog posts than previous – posts that relate to the Dorktown … dorkness or whatever. Just look out for it, come back once in a while, be dorks with us.
(the image has now been deleted, but depicted Apple’s QuickTime-only web site with the plugin not working – or failing-over nicely, in my browser)
So, I can’t quite work out why I might want or need an iPad. Amusingly, a friend of mine posted a link on Facebook to Apple’s “TV” adverts on its website.
Hmm, strange. Is this product only for people who already use Windows and/or a Mac? Being unable to install QuickTime (which is for a “PC” or Mac only) means I am unable to view this product. Apple are unable to do the most basic thing with sales and actually demonstrate to me why this product is good.
Posted	in computing, everything	| Tagged Apple, geekish, iPad, marketing, Politics, proprietary, things	| Leave a comment