The Jason Of A Group

People have talked about how immature or charged the discussion about the paywall has been. I have never seen anywhere on the internet more civil that the HDTGM forum and reddit communities. People who accepted the paywall and those who disagree with it both come here out of love for the podcast. It's not an overreaction at all, people are remarkably nice. Fan circle jerk kudos all round. I really appreciate Paul's work here, I think it reflects alot of hard earned compromise. Paul, June and Jason have put 6 years of their life into building this podcast and I'm happy Paul got this deal. I think the extension to a year is wise, 6 months would have been 13 full episodes for new people which would have been disasterous. I think the way the company did this was ill thought out, Paul rightfully pointed out how much better it could have been handled. Alot of this has come about because most of us have never thought about the corporate side before, we just listen and enjoy. Now all of a sudden its been imposed. I don't think listeners are "entitled" in not wanting to pay for access, podcasts are the listeners. A podcast without listeners is not a podcast. It's a mental ward with a tape recorder. Howl didn't respect or value the listeners or the artists in their implementation of this, and they rightfully got a backlash for it. With regards to the arguement about monetization of internet content and support for artists, at the end of the day you have to be pragmatic. I live next door to an abandoned Blockbuster Video. There was a HDTGM torrent before the paywall, I assume so people could download in bulk quickly and easily. The episodes were free anyway. It was very obscure and not listed on the major torrent sites. It had 2 seeders and 5 leechers. The day after the paywall was announced it had 115 leechers. For an obscure torrent that's huge. For those unfamiliar with torrenting terms, 2 people had all the files and were uploading and 115 were downloading and uploading what they had. Comedy Bang Bang, WTF, etc all have similar torrents. Ever been to a park with a curve in a concrete path? You can guarentee that there will be a dirt track worn into the grass where people took a shortcut. Its basic human psychology. We take the most efficent route. Most people won't bother with paywalls because its quicker, easier and free to get things elsewhere online. Doesn't matter how affordable, there is a massive difference between free and any amount of money. The only thing that has curbed this recently has been Netflix. They paved a nice straight path, and planted gardens and nice things. Most people will pay the toll because its easier. The alternative, restricting access, won't work now and hasn't worked for the last 10 years in any online business. You can't fight human nature. I don't see paywall systems working. They have misunderstood the audience and why and how people listen to podcasts. The river of information will flow around, over or through whatever dams they put in place. Paul found a compromise that will keep the podcast growing and accessible and I'm eternally grateful for that. I think Paul did an amazing job in getting a fairer deal for the listeners. It's a compromise sure, but its a good one. I don't see a better deal existing without leaving the network. Personally I have great affinity for Earwolf and their shows, and while my love for the hosts remains unchanged, my impression of the corporation is now very tarnished. I think the suits need to respect their audiences and their artists more. Now let the business side be gone and lets get back to laughing. I'm going to go enjoy Sean Connery play an immortal Egyptian swordsman in what may be the worst acting performance of all time, while some kids outside graffiti the Blockbuster.