iTunes Podcast Problems

Date: 2005.07.15 | Category: Podcast, Rant | Tags:

The first time I saw an image enhanced podcast I was excited to combine photos and art with audio. It would be like radio with pictures. Mac makes all the software out there possible, so I took the time to figure out the time coded xml needed to get the photos to appear when they should, but now I’m faced with a strange new problem.

For some reason if you subscribe to our RSS feed through iTunes, our subscribers are not receiving our m4a or m4b files. Only our mp3 files show up when one clicks refresh on iTunes. Strange since m4a and m4b files are AAC files, and iTunes loves AAC files.

When we decided to take our podcast into the image enhanced zone, we knew we were leaving a lot of people behind by not being in mp3 format. I thought the advantage of images with links made sense when one considers how many people are now enjoying their favorite podcasts via iTunes. But the fact that subscribers are not receiving notice of our enhanced m4a and m4b files confuses me greatly.

What’s a guy gotta do to be heard and seen these days?

UPDATE: I have read and read about the issue of my AAC files not making it to subscribers and I think I have it figured out. I have contacted my web host to see if they would update their server’s mime code to treat m4a and m4b files as ‘audio’. That way my RSS from feedburner will recognize the audio files when I post.

Crazy… huh?

Maybe in a day or so, it’ll all work just fine… stay tuned.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: My incredible amazing wonderful host has fixed the mime type association on my site’s server, so now the enhanced podcasts will come through my RSS via feedburner. I have the best host (VISOX), they fixed it on a Sunday no less. To me that is beyond Super, Fantastic, or Ultra. Host your site with them and tell ’em Hoagie sent ya. These guys are always at work, and have fixed any technical issue I’ve ever had fast and easy. I’ve been hosting with Visox for about 6 years now, and they are a big part of our success story. You know I must really like them, because the link above is not an affiliate link – LOL!