Audio Archives
I am in the process of moving all of the audio files from both the Buffalo Live! and 2 Songs podcasts to the Internet Archive.
Since I am not currently creating new podcasts, I do not need the Libsyn service which is presently hosting them. In the Libsyn model, you pay for an amount you upload and the older, archived files are kept for free. No bandwith limits and no storage limits, as long as you keep paying for the current uploads.
But since I am not uploading anything and I have never made Dime one on the podcast, I can’t justify continuing to pay for the Libsyn account.
The Open Source Audio project at Archive.org is the perfect place for the files to go. Now that they are older, they get only infrequent plays and will have a home there for as long as possible. Best part is, it costs nothing.
I have already moved the first 20 podcasts there. I will keep doing a few a day until I am done, then I can close the Libsyn account. The podcasts will still be available from this website and nothing different needs to be done by the listener. It’s all transparent to the user.
I really like Libsyn. If I ever do a podcast again, I’d use it again. It’s really the best podcast hosting service there is. I just can’t keep paying for it right now.
The Internet Archive is also a great service, but for any high bandwidth podcasts (something I never approached with mine.) they are lacking. They operated on donated or sponsored servers and do a wonderful job with what they have, but are limited. They are home to the “Wayback Machine” that holds old copies of websites, a great way to research how things used to be on a given website, the Live Music Archive, where you will find thousands of live music recordings of bands that allow taping, and many other valuable sources of information.
All the podcasts will continue to be available as long as I can provide a home for them. Putting the audio files on the Internet Archive will guarantee at least those files will be available no matter what.
