Many of these expensive arrangements failed to anticipate the ability for fans to share music with each other. Forward-thinking musicians and record labels have designated some music as "podsafe". By waiving some or all of their statutory royalties, they reach millions of new listeners through innovative podcasts.

Though amateur radio hosts jumped at the chance to program their own favorite songs on their podcasts, complex music licensing arrangements prevent most popular tunes from being included in podcasts. ASCAP and BMI, two of the world’s largest music licensing organizations, allow podcasters to purchase licensing agreements that cover the inclusion of songs from their registries for flat yearly fees.

A Missing Piece. Unfortunately, music licensing covers only the transmission of the recordings. Record labels consider the actual copying of recorded songs to listeners’ hard drives the same as the manufacturing of a new copy of the song. By imposing “per download” fees on broadcasters, record labels have closed off their libraries from eager podcasters that want to share music, but cannot afford the expense of reaching even a few dozen listeners.

Believe it or not, this is a good thing. The lack of a workable model for podcast music licensing birthed a revolution among independent musicians and other artists that understand the value of reaching out to influential, connected audiences. Musicians and composers can now declare some or all of their works to be “podsafe,” meaning that podcasters may freely include their recordings in podcasts that can be heard by as many listeners as possible.

Benefits for Musicians. By filling this void left by mainstream recording companies, musicians, producers, and even independent record labels can grow their long-term audiences. Though podsafe music generates no short-term royalties for these artists, many podcast listeners support podsafe music by purchasing recordings, merchandise, and concert tickets directly from the bands themselves.

Digging Deeper. Podcast producers, including many broadcast professionals who have entered the medium, must deliberately look beyond the routine pop hits from the top of the charts to find content for their shows. As a result, emerging artists from around the world and experienced musicians from the cultural fringes have started to enjoy personal notoriety and even some financial success because of podcasting.

Finding Podsafe Music. You can easily find podsafe music for your own podcasts with a few clicks of your mouse. In addition to visiting podsafe music directories, you can also track down independent musicians at community sites like MySpace and PureVolume. Despite the protests of major record labels, very few musicians will refuse the opportunity to share their work with your listening audience.

Podsafe Music Sources:

• Podsafe Music Network
• PodsafeAudio
• Podcast Central
• Creative Commons