Revolutionizing Media

RSS and The Lightning Network, a perfect combination.

By Adam & Tina Curry

In the evolving landscape of podcasting, a groundbreaking movement has emerged in the past three years. Podcasting 2.0, spearheaded by podcasting co-inventor, Adam Curry, and systems developer, Dave Jones, was initially created to protect and preserve podcasting as it faces new challenges posed by major platforms like Apple. 

In 2019, without warning, podcasting began to change as it was originally intended 19 years ago. Content provided by podcasters and supported by app developers was now under threat as Apple made the decision to de-platform several podcasts in. Simultaneously, the apple database system, used by virtually all podcast apps for podcast lookups, also stopped returning reliable results for some podcasts’ RSS feeds and original content URL’s. This change to their API sent a clear message: their podcast database did not intend to reliably support third party podcast app developers. These changes effectively cancelled podcasts from all podcast apps that faithfully relied on Apple's now censored and unreliable database lookups.

Adam and Dave addressed this issue head on and built podcastindex.org, a platform offering free access to developers that preserves all podcasts, ensuring no podcast is ever de-platformed and treated the original RSS feeds as the ultimate “source of truth”. Initially their intent was focused on protecting podcasting. What they didn’t realize at the time was their efforts brought together a new community to support this undertaking.

Podcasting 2.0 coalesced a diverse and dedicated community to enhance and reinvigorate the industry. This community came together with ideas beyond the initial objective of preservation. They reimagined and built innovative podcast features at a time when podcasting development had been stagnant for over a decade. Working together, this community developed and launched over 25 advancements supported by more than 60 apps and services including hosting giants Buzzsprout, Blubrry, RSS.com and modern apps Fountain, Podverse, Podcast Guru, Podcast Addict, CurioCaster Podfriend, to name a few. These apps and services are now harnessing features that major platforms like Apple do not offer. This groundbreaking movement, now in use by over 500,000 podcasts, is changing the podcast experience.

Changing the Podcast Experience

Podcasting 2.0 now has several game-changing features including transcripts, collaborative chapters, and a revolutionary micropayments system based on the Lightning Network, referred to as "Value4Value"  payments.

Real Time Value

Value4Value , pioneered by the No Agenda Podcast, is a decentralized monetization model outside of paid advertising. At the core of the Value4Value system lies the concept of real-time micropayments when listeners enjoy a podcast episode or a musical segment, they have the ability to contribute monetary value directly to the creators in real-time over the open source Lightning Network. Gone are the days of delayed or opaque compensation models. Creators receive immediate recognition for the value they provide to their audience. Without middlemen.

Value4Value operates on the simple principle of providing circular value to and from its community. The podcast listening community receive the podcast at no charge and voluntarily reciprocate that value through their time, talent, or treasure. Time and talent can be expressed with content, show promotion, production assistance or just feedback and treasure is monetary for podcaster who presents the content. The beauty is there is no structure, no pre-determined payment schedule — value is based on each individual’s perceived experience.

Fourteen thousand podcasts have now employed Value4Value and recently, music artists were added to the Value4Value ecosystem to evolve another stagnant industry.

Per-Minute Streaming Value

A unique feature of Value4Value is the per-minute streaming value, which allows listeners to assign a monetary worth to the content they consume based on their personal valuation. By setting the value on a per-minute basis, listeners express their appreciation for the quality, relevance, or entertainment value of the podcast episode or musical segment they enjoy. This dynamic system empowers listeners to play an active, direct role in the economic support of their favorite creators thereby eliminating the need to use financial providers that may consume a portion of their value through service fees.

Boosts and Boostagrams

In addition to per-minute streaming value, the Value4Value system also enables users to use boosts and boostagrams as forms of additional support. Boosts are one-time extra payments made by listeners to signify their particular enjoyment or appreciation of a specific segment or song within a podcast episode. Boostagrams take boosts a step further by allowing listeners to attach a personalized message that accompanies their boost. Again, the value is determined by the user. There are no prescribed levels or structure. These features create an interactive and personalized connection between creators and their audience, fostering a sense of community and appreciation.

Customizable Splits

The Value4Value system also caters to the diverse nature of content creation by offering customizable splits. Content creators determine the recipients of the streaming and boost value they receive, allowing for fair distribution among multiple hosts, production staff, and contributors. In the realm of music, splits can be allocated to songwriters, composers, musicians, and producers, ensuring everyone involved in the creative process is appropriately recognized and compensated transparently.

Behind the Scenes Recognition

What sets Podcasting 2.0 apart is its recognition of the vital role of software and app developers, as well as service providers, who have historically been excluded from the value flow in traditional podcast advertising. To address this disparity, Adam and Dave included these developers into system, enabling apps and services to become active participants in the value exchange between audiences and content producers. This approach, drawing on the Value4Value model, rewards those involved in producing and delivering podcasts. It creates an exciting new incentive for open-source development, driving innovation and further fostering a vibrant ecosystem.

Embedded Content Sharing

The system has the ability to ‘switch’ to different payment wallets and splits within a podcast, to automatically redirect payments to the owner of a piece of content used in a podcast.

Primarily used for music played in a podcast, artists are now receiving direct Value4Value payments from podcast listeners, often surpassing streaming services payouts.

Recorded artists whose music is not owned by a label or publisher, and not licensed to antiquated agencies such as ASCAP/BMI, are now able to self-host or use a specific hosting provider such as Wavlake.com, MusicSideProject.com or Disctopia.com to make their music available to listeners using Value4Value enabled apps or podcasters to include them in their shows. 

Free from outdated ownership and licensing structures, podcasters can share the value of music in their shows while ensuring artists receive the value sent from their listeners. This new system is igniting a way for music lovers to discover new music outside of big tech entertainment algorithms and agendas while rewarding the artist directly outside the centralized agencies.

An example of this new music podcast programming with shared value can be heard weekly on The Boostagram Ball Podcast (boostagramball.com)

A Bright Future

As podcasting continues to flourish, Value4Value paves the way for a transformative future in entertainment. By embracing real-time micropayments, per-minute streaming value, boosts, boostagrams, and customizable splits, Value4Value eliminates antiquated royalty systems and places economic control in the hands of creators and audiences. This empowering model fosters a direct connection, appreciation, and support between the two, encouraging the growth and sustainability of the podcasting and music industries.

The future holds tremendous potential as Value4Value unlocks new avenues for monetization and compensation within the podcasting and music realms. Creators can rely on the direct support of their loyal listeners, as well as explore revenue innovative streams through collaborative partnerships. This shift away from traditional advertising-driven models allows for greater artistic freedom and independence.

Value4Value has laid the foundations for an exciting era in entertainment. As we embrace the real-time, listener-driven micropayments, personalized boosts and boostagrams, and customizable splits, we are witnessing a powerful shift in the way content is valued and rewarded. With Value4Value, podcasting and music step into a new realm of financial fairness and artistic freedom, fostering a thriving ecosystem that benefits both creators and listeners. 

To learn more:

Podcastindex.org – The Open Podcast Index

Podcastindex.social – Mastodon Server

Value4Value.info – More details on the Value4Value model

NewPodcastapps.com – All the Podcasting 2.0 apps and services in one place

MusicSideProject.com – Self host your music v4v

Wavlake.com – Custodial Music hosting v4v

RSSBlue.com – Podcast and Music v4v hosting