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| Image courtesy of Westwood One |
You know, there is only so
much time in a day. If you are a
frequent podcast listener, you probably have a lot of shows you want hear in
your Que.
So maybe the best solution
is to “speed listen.”
Speed Listening does not require any pharmaceuticals.
Instead, it involves an
application that changes the speed at which a program is played without making
major changes in the pitch or tone of the content.
Industry observers are
wondering whether listening to a podcast at a two times (2x) the normal speed affects
the aesthetic experience. Ads are also played at 2x. Does it degrade the sales
value of the ad?
Ever since time shifting
was invented, people have been zapping ad messages. According to industry
sources, there are an average six commercial units in a 60-minute podcast. Of
course, most listeners would rather not hear them.
One of the things you can
do with certain software is zap commercial messages. Since time shifting was invented, people have
been cutting out ads and now you can do it with podcasts. If a large number of podcast
listeners are skipping ads, there will be less ad revenue. If there is less ad
revenue, it could hurt the financial viability of podcasting.
Already Google provides an
extensive control panel that lets you block certain ad categories such as
gambling drugs and weapons.
One vendor, AdBlock,
markets apps that zap ads from YouTube, Facebook and many other sites. Check out a video on AdBlock’s website [link]
to see how it works. AdBlock says there have been over 200 millions downloads
of the app.
WHAT DOES SPEED LISTENING SOUND LIKE?
One of the most popular Speed Listening apps is Overcast’s Smart Speed [link]. It works by shortening the silences between
words. One reviewer wrote that it made a 53-minute podcast into a 34-minute podcast.
The reviewer added this about the resulting fidelity:
“I was listening to an average speed of 1.8x. I
tried 3x, but it felt way too fast for me. I could still understand what the
podcast was saying, but it required all of my attention and was tiring to keep
track of it.”
Another reviewer reported
that Smart Speed works best for
spoken word podcasts like the New York
Times’ The
Daily. The
Daily sounds okay at 2x normal speed, he says. More highly produced
podcasts such as 99%
Invisible or Radiolab
are mixed so tightly even a speed of 1.2x is unpleasant.
To hear Smart Speed in action, listen to a
recent story produced by WNYC [link].
WHAT DO PODCAST PRODUCERS THINK OF SPEED LISTENING?
The Chicago Tribune recently asked some of the most successful podcast
producers for their opinion of speed
listening [link]. Here are a few of the responses:
• Ira Glass, This
American Life
"Our podcast is a
product for people to enjoy however they wish. We are, in fact,
super-meticulous about every second of our shows, but we're not painting the
Sistine Chapel here.”
• Alix Spiegel, Invisibilia
“What listeners should know is that the producers
have spent truly absurd amounts of time locked in rooms far from sunshine and
wind and any hint of nature or the outside world [to produce a podcast]. If I
found out that someone was listening to one of my shows at high speed, I'd be
highly offended."
• Mike Pesca, The
Gist
“Even 'S-Town' or 'Serial' are quite enjoyable at
2x."
• Alex Blumberg, founder of the Gimlet Media
podcasting network
"I guarantee, every moment you've listened to
on the radio or in a podcast that's floored you ... someone's thought a lot
about pacing, and time, and designing that moment for the express purpose of
flooring you. And when you listen on double speed, you've undone all that hard
work. But, you know, I sometimes listen on double speed!"
• Jad Abumrad, Radiolab
"I've bumped into a lot of people who tell me
they listen to 'Radiolab' at double speed and I think they're all crazy. … Why
on Earth would you intentionally listen to something that sounds so unpleasant
just to save a few minutes?"
• Roman Mars, 99%
Invisible
"I listen to everything that doesn't have
complex audio production at very high speed. My brain barely registers it as
being fast anymore.”
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