QUESTIONS FOR SCOTT RE: HOWL

[AdamSachs 115]

Hey Adam, thanks for taking the time.

 

I am neither an android nor an ios user. In order for the new arrangement to work for me the whole catalog needs to be downloadable from the website. Is this in the works as well? I'm more than willing to pay and in fact have already subscribed. But continuing to do so will be contingent on not being reliant on an app.

 

Thanks, Pete.

Hey Pete, I don't know if the entire catalog will ever be downloadable to a pc (although it is right now) down the road. We’re still thinking through the ramifications of keeping the downloaded content secure. We’re discussing it though.

[souprman 10477]

Hey Pete, I don't know if the entire catalog will ever be downloadable to a pc (although it is right now) down the road. We’re still thinking through the ramifications of keeping the downloaded content secure. We’re discussing it though.

 

Thanks Adam,

 

I just can't rap my head around the sensibility in - now the content is free and downloadable and moving it to - not free and not downloadable. It just doesn't track. What would Earwolf be losing by allowing paying users to download it. Believe me as soon as it goes behind a paywall there will be torrents up of the complete archive, it will be out there no matter what you do. So why not treat your loyal customers who have been your entire cache for building your brand with the respect they deserve and not make policy that is tantamount to a punishment for said loyalty? I'm not trying to be rude, but this makes no sense to me. I get you want to protect your revenue stream, but no matter what there will be the Earwolf faithful paying those monthly rates, so what's to lose?

 

Thanks again, Pete.

[souprman 10477]

Sorry man, I don't want to brow beat you but this is confounding the shit out of me.

[Ghost of HST 71]

 

Thanks Adam,

 

I just can't rap my head around the sensibility in - now the content is free and downloadable and moving it to - not free and not downloadable. It just doesn't track. What would Earwolf be losing by allowing paying users to download it. Believe me as soon as it goes behind a paywall there will be torrents up of the complete archive, it will be out there no matter what you do. So why not treat your loyal customers who have been your entire cache for building your brand with the respect they deserve and not make policy that is tantamount to a punishment for said loyalty? I'm not trying to be rude, but this makes no sense to me. I get you want to protect your revenue stream, but no matter what there will be the Earwolf faithful paying those monthly rates, so what's to lose?

 

Thanks again, Pete.

 

Not picking on you (just a nit) but I really doubt that whole archives will ever see their way to torrent. I'm a long-term expat and have to rely on torrents for things because there is absolutely no other way to view them, but torrent sharing is dying except for only the biggest movies and TV shows. Nonetheless, it makes the argument even more for allowing the archives to be d/led. He did say "d/l to the app", which is fine by me. Cloud that s%&t up...I guess it leaves out people who want their own personal archive of podcasts sitting on their HD, but that can be a very large percentage, can it?

 

FWIW, I've been listening since about ep. 50 of CBB (FCDR-FNAT), and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Earwolf and the podcast scene explode even though I barely have time for a handful of faves right now. That said, I am so happy to see them finally being able to move to this model and will definitely be subscribing even though it is not a complete beast yet.

 

And vids....sigh. I really do hope some energy is put in this direction over adding more podcasts but...VPN seemed so strong at first but now seems to be dying on the vine even though their "flagship" (??) Getting Doug...seems to be quite strong. The video seems barebones enough and if NNF can manage to upload video and have it easily available for streaming and D/Ling, it should be a breeze for Earwolf...

[Splendor 61]

.

[Splendor 61]

..I guess it leaves out people who want their own personal archive of podcasts sitting on their HD, but that can be a very large percentage, can it?

 

Nah, bruh. It leaves out anyone without an iOS device (or Android device -- allegedly).

[qrter 79]

I do get the distinct feeling that you haven't really asked listeners what they'd like to see in a paid service - I'm purely talking about how people like to listen to podcasts, not regarding new content.

 

For example, it seems to me that there are quite a few people who'd still prefer to simply download an mp3 that they then can use on any device of their choosing, and that this is coming as a bit of a surprise to you.

[souprman 10477]

 

Not picking on you (just a nit) but I really doubt that whole archives will ever see their way to torrent. I'm a long-term expat and have to rely on torrents for things because there is absolutely no other way to view them, but torrent sharing is dying except for only the biggest movies and TV shows. Nonetheless, it makes the argument even more for allowing the archives to be d/led. He did say "d/l to the app", which is fine by me. Cloud that s%&t up...I guess it leaves out people who want their own personal archive of podcasts sitting on their HD, but that can be a very large percentage, can it?

 

FWIW, I've been listening since about ep. 50 of CBB (FCDR-FNAT), and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing Earwolf and the podcast scene explode even though I barely have time for a handful of faves right now. That said, I am so happy to see them finally being able to move to this model and will definitely be subscribing even though it is not a complete beast yet.

 

And vids....sigh. I really do hope some energy is put in this direction over adding more podcasts but...VPN seemed so strong at first but now seems to be dying on the vine even though their "flagship" (??) Getting Doug...seems to be quite strong. The video seems barebones enough and if NNF can manage to upload video and have it easily available for streaming and D/Ling, it should be a breeze for Earwolf...

Not picking on you (just a nit)

*I can handle it.

but I really doubt that whole archives will ever see their way to torrent.

*Pretty sure some exist already.

I'm a long-term expat and have to rely on torrents for things because there is absolutely no other way to view them, but torrent sharing is dying except for only the biggest movies and TV shows.

*I know this explicitly to not be the case.

He did say "d/l to the app",

*He did, which begs the question if it's dl-able on one device why not another? The app doesn't prevent the file from being dropped to a harddrive, it just makes it a slightly more laborious endeavor.

I guess it leaves out people who want their own personal archive of podcasts sitting on their HD, but that can be a very large percentage, can it?

*I know this was a typo but yes, if you've been reading the forums you'd know it can.

 

thanks.

[Rev. Mike 31]

Are y'all not catching on to the idea that the current 6 months will be available for download and the entire backlog has remained available all week? There is truly nothing to stop anyone from having a complete archive and maintaining it. It took me all of 2 hours to dl all the old good eps a few night ago. You will still be able to download and listen to all the new great eps on whatever device you want. Some of the protests and complaints at this point seem to be an echo chamber. Things are new and here to stay for now, the price is cheap, and longtime listeners will still be able to consume episodes as they have been able to all along. What is the problem other than being unable to accept change and the idea of paying for access to exclusive content? It is all pretty reasonable. Let the company worry about the threat of piracy of whatever. You are already and fan and nothing has changed for you.

[Ghost of HST 71]

Not picking on you (just a nit)

*I can handle it.

but I really doubt that whole archives will ever see their way to torrent.

*Pretty sure some exist already.

I'm a long-term expat and have to rely on torrents for things because there is absolutely no other way to view them, but torrent sharing is dying except for only the biggest movies and TV shows.

*I know this explicitly to not be the case.

He did say "d/l to the app",

*He did, which begs the question if it's dl-able on one device why not another? The app doesn't prevent the file from being dropped to a harddrive, it just makes it a slightly more laborious endeavor.

I guess it leaves out people who want their own personal archive of podcasts sitting on their HD, but that can be a very large percentage, can it?

*I know this was a typo but yes, if you've been reading the forums you'd know it can.

 

thanks.

Yep, thanks...I was a bit fuzzy-headed in my first post, sorry...

 

We can disagree about D/Ling, since that isn't so much our concern but recently, more than torrents, many things just end up on youtube, like WTF, which it seems like all of his old shows have been uploaded there.

 

Speaking of which, does the WTF app allow you to cleanly D/L old eps or is it streaming only also?

 

I should have been more clear in that I totally agree that there needs to be an android app that you could buy once for all devices and also agree that in the BOAPW the entire archive would be available for D/Ling as open files but it would not keep me from getting the app because I really don't go back and listen with so much new stuff coming out already. I totally get wanting to listen to stuff without a network connection. I always listen to podcasts on a nanopod at the gym but, again, I'd be fine with only the recent ones being available in that format.

 

I'm assuming that the release of the app might have been rushed due to EW Scripp's acquisition of Midroll(?)

[MeowingForVengeance 16]

If I could listen to archived episodes and Howl 'sclusies the way I've always listened to podcasts--downloading them to my PC, then transferring them to my old iPod Touch to listen to offline--I would be more than glad to pay for Howl. I guess the main thing I don't like about Howl is that it seems geared toward people with smartphones. I don't have one and I don't really want one, and I don't want to listen to podcasts on my PC or Android tablet.

 

People keep saying that nothing's really changed, but things will change a lot for me once the good ol' greps go behind the paywall. I don't have the hard drive space or ambition to download everything while it's still free.

 

Anyway, I hope some things change. I want to be excited about Howl, but as it is right now it's very clearly not designed with people like me in mind.

[djsexyrandal 153]

Hi i've been using Howl and it's fine. However I prefer using my own app for everything (including 'sclusies) so I hope the premium RSS feed thing happens soon. Overall, though, it's not really a big deal.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

I didn't want to make a big deal about not having an Android app. But, the site is not mobile friendly at all, so it makes it really hard to listen without an actual app.

 

Here are the problems I've run into so far:

1. The page is SUPER slow to load. I don't know if it's because you guys felt the need to have a graphic for every single show you've ever had directly on the homepage, if it's because of the image carousel, or if it's the scripts you have running, but this page loads so slow. And if you scroll, good luck. The page might go blank and you have to wait for it to reload.
   
2. The site hangs while logging in. I'm at home on Wi-Fi, so I shouldn't be having any problems, but it just took my phone three minutes from the time I hit the log in button until the page loaded with me logged in.
   
3. Choosing one show takes me to a random other show. I think this is related to the scrolling issue in the first point. I try to select Superego: Forgotten Classics, and I either get Psychic Show or Good Question (the two shows above it)
   

I haven't even tried to play an episode yet. Who knows what fresh hell that will bring?

 

I'm using an LG G3 running Android 5.0.1, and I've tried this in both the native Android Browser and Google Chrome for Android. It really feels like this site wasn't tested at all for mobile, even though the only solution for the 88% of smartphone users that don't use iPhones was to use the site in the browser.

 

I guess after my trial is up, I'll be saving my money until you guys can at least get a site that works for the purpose you want it to.

[Jachin 123]

Hey Pete, I don't know if the entire catalog will ever be downloadable to a pc (although it is right now) down the road. We’re still thinking through the ramifications of keeping the downloaded content secure. We’re discussing it though.

This really disappoints me and it kind of signals to me a fundamental misunderstanding of how people consume podcasts. I am 100% on board with an Earwolf subscription service. But the way that this has been handled is just... a bummer all around.

[Foam Corner 94]

Suggestion: make the episodes available earlier on the Howl app than anywhere else. Even if it's just an hour or two earlier, it makes it feel like an added bonus to paying for the Howl app. I wanted to listen to the latest Womp it Up the other day and I had to listen to it on my regular podcast app because it wasn't up on the Howl app yet.

[justin 38]

There hasn't been any new content on Howl for 11 days now (excluding WTF with Marc Marone!). Is this going to be the norm?

[KevinDontWave 51]

There hasn't been any new content on Howl for 11 days now (excluding WTF with Marc Marone!). Is this going to be the norm?

 

They added a handful of albums on Monday.

[justin 38]

They added a handful of albums on Monday.

Oh cool. I was going by the "Latest" page (http://howl.fm/latest) which I guess albums don't show up on.

[MeowingForVengeance 16]

There hasn't been any new content on Howl for 11 days now (excluding WTF with Marc Marone!). Is this going to be the norm?

 

Look out for Norm Macdonald's The New Norm, coming exclusively to Howl!

[JacobCrites 4977]

Looks like nobody's answering questions, but I'll post my concern here anyway:

 

I like Howl a lot (I wish there was a forward/back 15 secs option instead of 30 secs, but that's nitpicky) but it's very

important to me that two things happen with regards to Hollywood Handbook:

 

1. Episode 1 of Hollywood Handbook should always remain free. Most podcasts you can kind of jump in whenever, but with this one I think you really have to start with episode 1. It establishes the tone of the show perfectly and sets up many of the inside jokes that build over the course of the show. Hollywood Handbook is at a point where it's *so* inside that I can't see anyone listening to a random ep and "getting" it. When I've introduced people to the show, I play them episode 1.

 

2. Keep the cards against humanity ads. Seriously. It is one of the greatest running gags in a podcast I've ever heard, and it becomes so integral to the show that there will be entire episodes that won't make any sense

if you remove them.

 

This is a general one for all podcasts:

 

Release "seasons" of these podcasts on iTunes, or do a physical release (a cool USB drive, maybe? Radiohead did it!) so people can actually own these shows. Do it by year, by episode count, whatever. I will gladly pay money to ensure that I will always have all the episodes of Comedy Bang Bang, Reality Show Show, Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project, Improv4Humans, UTU2TM and of course Hollywood Handbook. The question with podcasts in general is, how permanent are they? What will their legacy be? Make them permanent! Make it something people can actually own. That way it'll always live on no matter what.

[AdamSachs 115]

Hi everybody, Adam here again. Hope you're all surviving the doggy days of auggy doggy.

 

First and foremost, I want to thank you all again for checking out Howl, giving us your feedback (positive, negative, constructive and everything in between), and just generally being engaged. As a company we know we're lucky to have fans who give a shit and who have strong opinions and so for that we're very appreciative.

 

We've been tracking your feedback closely and working hard to make improvements to the app in real time. We're waiting on iTunes to release our latest update submitted last week and we're already prepared to submit yet another update to the iTunes store. These updates are driven by your bug reports and feature submissions so keep 'em coming.

 

As for the Android app, I can assure you that we're working incredibly hard to get it to you as quickly possible. We have a world class Android team working on it, and we expect to release it in a matter of weeks (not days, but not months either). Android apps are difficult beasts, they require a lot of QA to account for various devices and we're trying to incorporate in the Android app a lot of the updates that are being added in real time to the iOS app. It would be foolish not to.

 

One thing that's become clear is that we underestimated the importance of releasing the iPhone and Android apps concurrently and for that I'm sorry! I really am. To make sure that none of you Androiders get "punished" by the delay, we've decided to hold off on putting the archives behind the Howl subscription until the Android app is released. So for now the archives remain ad-full and entirely available for your listening and downloading pleasure. In the meantime, while I realize it's not perfect, Androiders can still access the Howl Premium content on the web and via a mobile browser on your device.

 

We're very excited about the road ahead for Howl. We have lots of amazing new miniseries planned for the coming months. We also have some great new app features we're confident you guys will love. One of our goals for Howl is to create an amazing listening experience; both for fans who choose to subscribe to Howl premium, and those who choose not to. We want to create an experience so good that Howl becomes your go-to podcasting app for all the regular free podcasts you love. And not just Earwolf shows. Every show under the sun will be available in Howl eventually. So please keep giving us feedback on the app! We're listening very closely to everything that comes our way.

 

Ok that's all I got for you now. Again, feel free to reach me directly at adam [at] midroll anytime.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

In the meantime, while I realize it's not perfect, Androiders can still access the Howl Premium content on the web and via a mobile browser on your device.

Yeah, but not really, though, because the site is almost unusable on a mobile browser for all the reasons I mentioned above.

[AdamSachs 115]

Yeah, but not really, though, because the site is almost unusable on a mobile browser for all the reasons I mentioned above.

I appreciate all this feedback. The team is looking into why there's slowness on the mobile website. I'm hoping we can debug quickly.

[NathanJPK 104]

Hello Adam/Scott (NOT Adam Scott),

 

This a super, duper long shot, but is there any way to make available to HOWL subscribers some exclusive musical content from the musical guests on CBB? I ask this because I absolutely adore Diane Coffee's acoustic renditions of songs on his upcoming album and would love to hear more acoustic renditions of his songs. Perhaps have the guests record a few songs that are exclusive to Earwolf/HOWL. There is probably too much legal bullshit that would make this impossible, but I thought it could be something like NPR's Tiny Desk series.

[Anonymous37 22]

Here's a question: is it just me, or is Scott Aukerman misspelling "howl" in the ads for HOWL? I could have sworn that in his ad in Comedy Bang Bang he spelled it "h-A-w-l".