QUESTIONS FOR SCOTT RE: HOWL

[panda 221]

Super busy doing what like howl i don't buy it pm me your receipts

[justinmh05 1968]

 

Ugh.

 

What a long strange trip it's been... Nice knowing y'all.

 

I'm not going to reddit. (Not that anyone would care about my absence) I started posting here because of the ease of grabbing an episode and clicking through... Plus the hands on host interaction with a small community was unique.

 

Reddit has no appeal to me.

 

I think he/she was attempting to parody the Jade Helm conspiracy theories.

 

Judging by the responses to HOWL on Reddit, I think it's the last place Earwolf wants its fans going. If you thought people were freaking out here... on Reddit, well, it was x10.

[Hot - Slunch 772]

 

Sorry- I'm kind of super busy today, but just wanted to address this - it's not business spin, it's what made me feel better about taking episodes down. It's a real problem that we've heard about for a while, and have been discussing internally for as long.

 

The more episodes we accumulate, the more clutter there is. It may sound counter-intuitive to you guys (cause you're such good fans, you have accounts here!), and it's weird to say, but having less choice makes something more popular. Like In 'n' Out Burger!

Thanks for the response, Scott. If that's the way the data shook out and it assuaged your apprehension of the episode removal, I can't be mad at that (not that I was).

 

You're right, it is weird that having less choice helps popularity... People be crazy.

[Hot - Slunch 772]

 

I think he/she was attempting to parody the Jade Helm conspiracy theories.

 

Judging by the responses to HOWL on Reddit, I think it's the last place Earwolf wants its fans going. If you thought people were freaking out here... on Reddit, well, it was x10.

 

Oh, gotcha. I hadn't noticed a shift towards reddit, but I haven't exactly been keeping up with the forums. It seems like I've been had.

[RocHoover 400]

 

 

Oh, gotcha. I hadn't noticed a shift towards reddit, but I haven't exactly been keeping up with the forums. It seems like I've been had.

 

Did you all miss the heavy push in the ads a week or two ago about 'visiting the Earwolf subreddit'?

[smitty 333]

My question is: The name of this podcast network is Earwolf, and wolves howl, like the name of the app. I was wondering if you guys noticed this funny coincidence yet or if I'm the first one. Thanks.

[Dads for Butt Stuff 753]

My question is: The name of this podcast network is Earwolf, and wolves howl, like the name of the app. I was wondering if you guys noticed this funny coincidence yet or if I'm the first one. Thanks.

 

I think I was the first, I remember very clearly having a good chuckle about this.

Only I forgot to share my discovery with the internet, so now I won't get credit

[smitty 333]

Also, I think the idea that removing old episodes will make it easier for new listeners to get into the podcasts is more credible than some here think.

 

If anyone here is a PC gamer and familiar with Steam (digital distribution software for games), you know that Steam regularly has ridiculous sales where hundreds of games are available cheap, which has led to me accumulating close to 200 games. Sometimes I get the itch to try and burn through the many games I haven't played, but I look at the long list and just think "there is no way in hell I'm ever going to play all of these." So I end up not playing any of them, and going back to something I'm already familiar with and know I like. I can imagine a potential listener looking at a long list of podcasts and thinking the same thing. With a more limited selection, they are more likely to listen to newer stuff and then if they really like it, paying to go back and listen to the old.

[Yankeebeetle 37]

It's likely that I will be subscribing, but two things (mostly already mentioned here) sadden me a little bit:

 

1) That podcasts that have ended, such as Professor Blastoff, will eventually completely disappear behind the pay wall. Would it be possible to have some of the most recent episodes always available? I understand Analyze Phish is safe, which is nice. But what about Tiny Calves, Beach Poop, and The Wig?!

 

2) That the commercials might be disappearing. I hope there's an option in the Howl app to listen to the commercials! I enjoy the handwork most of the podcasters put into them! I don't want to lose Howard Kremer's goofy readings.

[smitty 333]

 

Ugh. Never fucking mind, man. You didn't even read my post. Enjoy your money.

 

 

you literally never asked a question, so it's hard to just address the general feeling that you don't like it. But please ask me something, and I will try!

 

Sweet Jesus. This man is a saint.

[Rev. Mike 31]

I really have to applaud Scott for the humor and aplomb with which he has answered many of the questions and gripes.

[SteveH 11126]

I've been pro-Howl and trying to get on Scotts good side so maybe he invites me to Thanskgiving or sends me a t-shirt or something, BUT IF YOU TAKE AWAY THE FORUMS....OH MAN..OOOOOH ILL BE STEAMED. of course I don't have all the facts about that so I'll wait until I do and can develop a more informed opinion.

 

I hope everyone is having a pleasant evening.

[nohorseman 5423]

Did you all miss the heavy push in the ads a week or two ago about 'visiting the Earwolf subreddit'?

Me and a bunch of other reddit users bought the ad

 

We wanted to grow our subreddit and support the 10 of us involved's favorite show that also had a not-that-expensive ad rate

[Jakal 4475]

Is no one going to bring up the fact that they are also trying to migrate us away from the forums and use the Reddit subforum instead while they shut these forums down?

JRB I cant tell if you're serious or not, but the reddit ads were crowdfunded by /r/Earwolf, and bought through midroll, they were just advertising their platform just like any other group.

[DoctorFrog 649]

Putting the back catalog behind a paywall will just encourage piracy of the previous episodes. I know all of Never Not Funny is available through torrents. I don't doubt that people have been stockpiling the archive and will put it up on some torrent site.

 

Again, I emphasize that I WANT YOU TO TAKE MY MONEY! Just put out a fucking Android app!!

 

Love,

Dr. F.

[KillerBeeKilled 18]

When will I be able to yap in the forums about all the best content that is in the Howl premium? There are a lot of shows I want to talk to people about and my friends ignore me when I start talking.

 

PS. Can you make my friends stop ignoring me?

[souprman 10477]

My question is: The name of this podcast network is Earwolf, and wolves howl, like the name of the app. I was wondering if you guys noticed this funny coincidence yet or if I'm the first one. Thanks.

I don't know what you're smoking brother but I wanna shoot a whole gallon into my noggin' and crank up the Tull! (Howlin' Wolfs n shit, crazy kids.)

[Carnal Sanders 10]

Rather technical point about streaming content through Howl:

 

Let's gloss over the fact that the relatively new custom of streaming content is hugely degrading audio quality

in general. People who have heard the difference between in-browser Netflix and the SuperHD service will know.

That is comparing 64kbps and roughly 384kbps.

 

Now for podcasts, the quality of the audio can be quite limited without hurting the listening experience.

That is unless the program regularly features professionally recorded music. But considering the

app might be streaming only, it would be helpful to know exactly at what bit rate it will run. This

is mainly a concern for people who got into the habit of listening during their commute for example.

 

At least on the website version they seem to be streaming the Earwolf shows I tested at 112 Kbps, 44.1 KHz, 2 channel MP3, which is identical to what Brett-man and the other Engineer Codies have been putting out for a while. I did a test of WTF and it's at 40 Kbps, 22.05 KHz, 1 channel, identical to what WTF puts out (in fact I compared the original on WTF's libsyn page to the one I streamed, and the files are identical), so looks like they're not doing anything to the files other than streaming them.

[Splendor 61]

Heynong Man. Thanks for taking some time to answer questions about the new service. I read through your post and have a couple of thoughts about the points you made. Spoiler alert...overall, I think this is a C+ announcement.

 

1) A new way to pay for shows that we know aren't going to get advertisers

I agree that advertising isn't the best way to monetize all podcasts. I'm excited to hear what other types of "content" will be available with Howl.

 

2) A place where you can find all of your favorite things to listen to (to which to listen??)

This one I'm not sure about. You see, I already have a place from whence upon I listen to all my favorite things; it's my RSS-enabled podcast app of choice. Howl introduces a second place for me to listen to things. Now I have to remember whether the show I like is on Netflix or HBO Go. I think this is a poor experience for users, but the only thing that matters is Howl's ability to provide enough value to its users to offset the inconvenience.

 

3) Cleaning up the archives

I think a curated list of episodes removes the "paradox of choice" for new listeners. In this case, a time-based curation makes sense.

 

4) Monetizing old eps

As someone who has gone back and listened to hundreds of older episodes I'm absolutely behind this. I always imagined podcast advertising as a sort of gamble where an ad might end up on a classic ep with a long tail but the advertiser never knew before the fact how good an episode would be.

 

Other thoughts:

• I know this has been said already, but the lack of Android app at launch is not good. People are pushing the Howl app right now (I just saw a Marc Maron video about it on YouTube) and the majority of smartphone users are going to open their app store, search "Howl", and find nothing. Some of them will put in more effort to find out how to give away their money, but others won't.
  
• I would cancel Netflix, HBO, Hulu, etc. if Howl included video eps. Earwolf/Wolfpop podcasts bring me more enjoyment than any other service I currently pay for.
  

A couple of actual questions:

• I've read that users will be able to download episodes for offline listening within the Howl app. What happens to these downloaded episodes if a user unsubscribes from the service?
  
• Does Earwolf have plans for archiving episodes in the very, very long term so that historians can study them? I've enjoyed imagining future generations listening to Earwolf podcasts thanks to services like Archive.org that are backing up as much of the open internet as possible. While typing that I realized I have a very boring imagination.
  

Alright, that's more than enough from me. Thanks for everything. I'm excited to be able to start paying all my favorite podcasters on the reg.

[Dunder 7]

Hey guys!

It seems like you cannot scrub in the timeline for the browser version of Howl. Is this intentional? I don't always have time to listen through a full episode, so I often save a bookmark with the time I was at. But this audio timeline doesn't seem to give any timecode or have the ability to move in the timeline. Any plans to change this?

 

Otherwise I love to be able to throw some money your way and get some great archives for it. Looking forward to the Android version! Keep up the good work!

/Axel

[Dunder 7]

Hey guys!

It seems like you cannot scrub in the timeline for the browser version of Howl. Is this intentional? I don't always have time to listen through a full episode, so I often save a bookmark with the time I was at. But this audio timeline doesn't seem to give any timecode or have the ability to move in the timeline. Any plans to change this?

 

Otherwise I love to be able to throw some money your way and get some great archives for it. Looking forward to the Android version! Keep up the good work!

/Axel

 

I noticed that if you remove the text over the timeline in the code you can scrub the timeline, so maybe it's just a bug that needs a bit of polish!

/Axel

[SteveH 11126]

Scott-

You've probably run screaming from this forum by now, but can you give us any 'sclusies about new shows that are in the works or coming down the pipe/pike (other than what was already mentioned on the CBB ep)?

[RoryMcDaid 75]

It seems like you cannot scrub in the timeline for the browser version of Howl. Is this intentional? I don't always have time to listen through a full episode, so I often save a bookmark with the time I was at. But this audio timeline doesn't seem to give any timecode or have the ability to move in the timeline. Any plans to change this?

 

This is basically my only real complaint about howl.fm itself. Otherwise, quite happy with it. But that's quite a big issue to my mind.

 

 

Got a Windows phone, so as a non Apple or Android user, I've got no App I'll be able to use which is frustrating as I do most of my listening away from home/laptop/WiFi (because Fi). So that's something I'd love to see but I'm already used to the apps I want rarely being developed for Windows phones, so I'm not holding my breath. (But maybe?....)

 

But despite that little gripe, I signed up right away. Gained so much joy from Earwolf over the years, bought ma T-SHIRTS, and so more than happy to support this new venture and excited about what is to come. Great work Scotty Aux!

[souprman 10477]

I just got an email from Shannon confirming they will upgrade the player soon.

[souprman 10477]

Scott or Shannon, any idea what will become of the VPN eps? Will they live on either EW or YouTube?