QUESTIONS FOR SCOTT RE: HOWL

[Shannon 2953]

So is the six months thing a rotating thing, (as in, each week the episode from exactly 26 weeks before will be deleted) or will it be that the "archive" consists of all episodes of all shows pre-dating February 2015 to be changed at some other point?

 

The plan is for each night when the new episode posts, to move one episode back. But as Scott just said, there are talks of doing special things like re-releasing an archived ep if there is a new episode that is a sequel or something.

[apaeter 19]

I'll just ask this directly like the entitled asshole that I am - Could you postpone removing the archives until you have an Android app? Cos as it stands the situation is a serious bummer.

 

Edit: I don't know if this helps but I already got my howl subscription cos I think the content is fantastic - as long as I'm on my home computer and online. I absolutely want to pay my 5 bucks, is what I'm saying; it's just that I can't listen to a lot of the content the way you are rolling it out. (Is that the right term? )

[Scott Aukerman 381]

I have voiced my concerns on the CBB episode forum but I will say this here. Putting everything older than six months behind the paywall is wrong. It is an openly hostile move against people on the free tier. If you watch the CBB TV show and want to hear Fourvels podcast appearances? That will be $4.99. Lauren Lapkus points you to the origin of one of her characters on twitter? $4.99. Want to listen to a best of so you can see if this podcast is something you are even interested in? $4.99 thank you very much. It is exclusionary and wrong and never should have been implemented.

 

Also Netflix, Amazon Prime, music streaming service of you choice, any twitch channel your are subscribed to, the list of online entertainment services that want your low monthly payment keeps growing and growing. I have seen this called the death by 1000 cuts and I frankly agree. This is getting harder and harder to swallow. If (as I suspect, might not actually be true) E.W. Scripps only bought Earwolfs parent company so it could implement this paid podcasting service I frankly resent it.

 

We are not all made of money, iphones are expensive and as my grandmother said "a fiver is a lot of money if you haven't got it."

 

Like, morally wrong?

[Rev. Mike 31]

Any talk of getting old seasons of NNF (the pre-earwolf era stuff)?

 

I look forward to actually being able to sign up, not sure why I am currently unable to do so, it just keeps bumping me back to the frontpage.

[Scott Aukerman 381]

Putting all archived ads behind a paywall seems much more alienating for a new listened then the alternative of "too much content." Most Earwolf shows benefit from starting from the beginning, so know you the inside jokes, and can see the personalities of the hosts and guests develop, the Howl app takes the ability to do this away, and is going to make recommending certain podcasts to family and friends much harder.

 

Sticking to the alienation point, it seems like going to cut off a large portion of your listener-ship by not having an Android app available at launch. Just looked up smartphone market shares, and Apple is only 18% of the market compared to Androids 78%. If there is an Android app in development, wouldn't it have been best to wait to launch Howl Premium when that was released? If the Android app is not close to being released, what do you want Android users to do to get access to your backlog, which you mentioned earlier is going to start being removed today.

 

I really like Earwolf, and hope everything work out for you, but this launch really seems rushed and not well executed.

 

I respectfully disagree!

[Scott Aukerman 381]

So is the six months thing a rotating thing, (as in, each week the episode from exactly 26 weeks before will be deleted) or will it be that the "archive" consists of all episodes of all shows pre-dating February 2015 to be changed at some other point?

 

I think, like, every week a new ep will be taken down? That's just a guess.

[Scott Aukerman 381]

I'm just going to ask, why was it decided to gate the old episodes Scott?

 

i think i talked about it in my first post!

[Haze 112]

 

Like, morally wrong?

 

 

Depending on what school of thought you subscript too mortality has no place in business, never liked that idea personally. Hope about just wrong? Putting the old episodes behind the paywall was the wrong thing to do. Adding value to the paid service by subtracting value from the existing free service is from a listener point of view wrong.

[Scott Aukerman 381]

Any talk of getting old seasons of NNF (the pre-earwolf era stuff)?

 

I look forward to actually being able to sign up, not sure why I am currently unable to do so, it just keeps bumping me back to the frontpage.

 

I would like that - you should write to them and let them know you would!

[gototimsvlogdotnet 2886]

._.

[SteveH 11126]

Hi Scott-

Long time first time. That's all. Just sayin' "Hi"

 

I'll take my answer off the air.

[DoctorFrog 649]

I'll just ask this directly like the entitled asshole that I am - Could you postpone removing the archives until you have an Android app? Cos as it stands the situation is a serious bummer.

 

Edit: I don't know if this helps but I already got my howl subscription cos I think the content is fantastic - as long as I'm on my home computer and online. I absolutely want to pay my 5 bucks, is what I'm saying; it's just that I can't listen to a lot of the content the way you are rolling it out. (Is that the right term? )

 

Seconded. Seems like a long shot, though...

[Scott Aukerman 381]

 

 

Depending on what school of thought you subscript too mortality has no place in business, never liked that idea personally. Hope about just wrong? Putting the old episodes behind the paywall was the wrong thing to do. Adding value to the paid service by subtracting value from the existing free service is from a listener point of view wrong.

 

It sounds like you're just saying, in your opinion, it's a bad business decision - not that it's wrong? That's kind of the pessimistic view of things. But I understand you are upset!

[Scott Aukerman 381]

Hi Scott-

Long time first time. That's all. Just sayin' "Hi"

 

I'll take my answer off the air.

hiiiiiiii

[Haze 112]

 

It sounds like you're just saying, in your opinion, it's a bad business decision - not that it's wrong? That's kind of the pessimistic view of things. But I understand you are upset!

 

Can I say if feels morally wrong to me without sounding like a holier than thou jackass? Thats an honest question I understand you need to make money.

 

For me I think the free service should have stayed as it was with the paid content built on top of it. I think that would have been more fair.

[AprilFoolsRebel 457]

 

The new ownership has nothing to do with approval of any content... we do what we want, 100 percent.

 

Thanks! That's good to know!

 

I wish you and everyone the best in this new stage of things! I suspect there will be some growing pains, but I'm looking forward to seeing what's next!

[SteveH 11126]

I #standwithscott on this. Nothing changes as far as your daily podcast consumption routine.

 

Wake up on Monday - eat a frozen burrito, maybe some chicken applesauce - download and listen to CBB, Spont, WTF and whatever else you've always listened to on your sad morning commute. Tuesday, of course, you DL and listen to Hollywood Handbook, and so on throughout the week.

 

If you want to listen to an ep from 6 months ago, sure, now you have to subscribe, but with that subscription, you now get MORE CONTENT, BABY. I think it's more than a fair trade-off.

 

Also, just get iPhones people.

[Haze 112]

Also there needs to be a howl app from windows and OSX as well as iOS and Android. It kind of needs to be on everything.

[Memphish_Boognish 249]

 

Can I say if feels morally wrong to me without sounding like a holier than thou jackass? Thats an honest question I understand you need to make money.

 

For me I think the free service should have stayed as it was with the paid content built on top of it. I think that would have been more fair.

 

I disagree with this. Just because something was free doesn't mean we are owed it for free forever. They should be able to make money and monetize their archives. Yeah, it's not ideal, ideally I would get everything in lie for free. But I don't see how it is morally wrong in any way

[Rose_Cream 1246]

Dear Hot Chocolateman

 

I value the network and agree it's worth five dollars a month. I'm just not sure how this will translate into new listeners? Can you speak on that?

[Scott Aukerman 381]

 

Can I say if feels morally wrong to me without sounding like a holier than thou jackass? Thats an honest question I understand you need to make money.

 

For me I think the free service should have stayed as it was with the paid content built on top of it. I think that would have been more fair.

I think maybe we're getting into the idea that artists (and all jobs) should be subsidized by the government, and everything should be free and distributed equally... which is not a problem is you believe it! But words like wrong and fair are a little weird to me when you're talking about capitalism and artists who want to make a living.

 

BUT maybe you mean like you feel like it's a betrayal of trust between an artist and consumer? I think people can feel that way... I understand... one way of looking at it is "You gave me a free sandwich every day for six years, now you're only giving me half a free sandwich? Fuck you!" But if you're a parent, feeding your child, they deserve to eat as much as they need to become big boys! So it's a complicated issue, but one that I am interested in hearing your point of view on.

[Haze 112]

 

I disagree with this. Just because something was free doesn't mean we are owed it for free forever. They should be able to make money and monetize their archives. Yeah, it's not ideal, ideally I would get everything in lie for free. But I don't see how it is morally wrong in any way

 

In Ireland thats what we call the Irish Water argument

[Scott Aukerman 381]

Dear Hot Chocolateman

 

I value the network and agree it's worth five dollars a month. I'm just not sure how this will translate into new listeners? Can you speak on that?

I sort of have, but i will point to WTF - taking early shows down had no effect on growing the show, and you could make a case that it helped to grow it.

[Scott Aukerman 381]

 

In Ireland thats what we call the Irish Water argument

that's interesting - i've never heard that before. what's it mean?

[spinney 7]

First things first! I love that I am able to support a network I love with money so they can grow and do more things. I don't mind them putting things behind a paywall, or really many of the changes. I would like to use whatever app I liked to listen but I can manage.

 

However I am quite confused at how such a poor product (the app, not the service) was allowed to be released. The web app is beyond a joke. No audio scrubbing/seeking, no volume control (other than mute). This is like Netflix introducing their streaming service at launch with no way to fast forward or choose a spot in the movie. Now that we are paying customers I expect a product that reflects that. Right now Howl on both iOS and the web are severely lacking compared to the interfaces earwolf was using before (soundcloud,itunes, etc). So I am paying now and get a worse product?

 

Kinda seems like this launch was rushed and will alienate lots of listeners because of that.

 

I hope this didn't come off as too mean because I am a genuinely huge fan of pretty much everything you guys do.