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Songbird is the bitchinest podcast receiver ever
9 comments Added on 01/17/07 by Kris

I'm not quite sure that is the way that the uber developers of the Songbird media player would put it but as a podcaster I have never seen a program that makes it this easy to subscribe to podcasts or get media from the web.

The best part is that the word 'podcast' isn't used anywhere in the vernacular associated with Songbird. I find it refreshing. I should probably be questioning it as a guy making a living from his podcast skills (hoy ya!). But damn if they haven't taken all the mystery out of receiving a podcast by simply saying, "Play the Web". No more explaining to newbies what a podcast is or how to download one.

Even in this post at Wired the word 'podcast' is conspicuously missing. I have said the word 'podcast' once every 15 minutes for the last two years . . . so not to see it associated with a media player would be a non-starter for me in downloading it.

They make receiving podcasts so simple. It can be done one of two ways:

1) Use the Songbird and navigate to the website that has mp3's and it finds them for you and allows you to subscribe to the site.

2) Go to 'File' >> 'New Subscription . . .' >> Type in the URL of a website or add an RSS feed >> Point to a folder >> Hit 'OK'

All of the associated media will then download in the background and be ready when you are to play. Sick. What would make it even sicker is RSS auto discovery. That way a subscription could be chosen for the for the feed which usually has many more files than the site alone.

I haven't been this excited about a technology or piece of software since I first found out about podcasting. My recommendation is that you go over to Songbird's site and download the developer version and get a taste of what's to come in liberated distribution . . . the liberated media player.

I might be showing up late to the party since they have been public for over a year, but for me this is a big day. Not only to evangelize for Songbird but for thinking about the next iteration of podcasting.

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9 Comments

1	This looks a lot like iTunes. Does it do video? I will try it if it does video.
1	Posted by: PhilipZ at: 6:59pm 01/19/2007
2	Hey Philip, It does do video but it appears that it may be binding itself to another application like Quicktime or Windows Media Player. I tested it out with a QT vlog and it worked but when tested with the best, Ze, let's just say worst mirror ever.
2	Posted by: Kris at: 9:51pm 01/19/2007
3	well I'm sold then. By next year I'll be using mainly Linux anyway and this will be my new media player of choice!
3	Posted by: vargas at: 8:10pm 02/12/2007
4	I didn't know it was a pod cast catcher. That really was the only thing from holding me back from using it all of the time. I'm sold. I'll be migrating my entire music library to songbird now!
4	Posted by: vargas at: 9:08pm 05/16/2007
5	That's what is crazy about it. It handles RSS and enclosures like a champ and even picks up RSS auto-discovery from the pages.The Songbird tagline "Play the web" is true. Like I said in my post, I think it is great that the word 'podcast' doesn't show up in any copy on their site, however it might actually get more people to use the app if they did.
5	Posted by: Kris at: 8:11am 05/17/2007
6	Songbird is a revelation. There was a lot of buzz when it first launched and I couldn't even download the first beta. Now that the hype has died down I've had a chance to try it. I'm very impressed.
6	Posted by: Rob Safuto at: 11:25am 05/25/2007
7	Well, but it doesn't work, does it? I just tried to subscribe to a "podcast" radio programme, and nothing.
7	Posted by: chunkypants at: 9:46am 07/14/2007
8	then i guess it doesn't work for you chunkypants. that sucks. songbird is still considered in "development preview" and i imagine that features have changed in the last six months since this post. it worked for me back then. when i am back home from work in a few weeks i'll give you a version number that works.
8	Posted by: Kris at: 10:47am 07/14/2007
9	I'm really enjoying using songbird, but I must admit I'm rather dissapointed by the problems I'm experiencing. I'm trying to add "subscriptions" as we speak, but am having no success. I have followed the above instructions, but nothing :/
9	Posted by: NotSoPro at: 7:33pm 06/15/2008