Union for Podcasters


Okay, so the crap continues. At Podcamp Philly, the concept of the Association for Downloadable Media came up – a whole session dedicated to it. Please take the time to watch this video of the session in its entirety.

Does anyone see anything about this entire concept that is not union? You pay $150 to be a part and have a voice. You elect officers. In return for $150, they represent your interests to advertisers, etc. But they aren’t a union, so the organizers (among them John Havens from BlogTalk Radio) say. If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, eats like a duck – it must be a duck.

We go back to the same conversation surrounding a Bloggers Union. The problem is is that most podcasters (and bloggers) are independent enough NOT to give up their independence. Who enforces policy and rule? Separating art from commerce, what happens when Loren Feldman starts doing videos about black tech bloggers, folks get offended and ADM, like PodTech, decided to separate themselves. They say that there is a separation between art and commerce, but I don’t believe it. Someone is going to start getting their panties in a bunch at ADM the moment one podcaster starts entering sketchy areas. Then what? Does the ADM then impost content restriction policies?

I’m skeptical to say the least. Please watch the video and interject your own comments. This conversation needs to happen as it is a slipper slope.