Let’s get down to it, shall we?:
| Title | Artist | Original Artist: |
| Let’s Get It On | Shannon Lawson | Marvin Gaye |
| Indoor Fireworks | Laura Cantrell | Elvis Costello |
| Love Won’t Let Me Wait | Geoff Gascoyne with Jamie Cullum | Major Harris (written by Hank Crawford) |
| Livin’ On A Prayer | Bon Jovi (re-cover) | Bon Jovi |
| Never Tear Us Apart | Tom Jones and Natalie Imbruglia | INXS |
| Don’t Change | Grinspoon | INXS |
42 minutes | 
There’s a “Mostly Trivial” Musically Challenged in this show! Make sure to check out Johnee Bee’s podcast, Mostly Trivial!
Sponsored by and iPodObserver.com
And check out my other podcast, the Not Lame Podcast for some non-cover goodness!
Brian – You may want to check the reference for “Let’s Get It On.” If memory serves, I think the original was written and performed by Marvin Gaye back around 1973 or 74.
3-Pin
Brain fart. I was thinking of “Let’s Stay Together”… Yes, Marvin Gaye is the original artist for “Let’s Get It On”. See what happens when I wait too long between shows?
RE the AAC thing. I’m not sure if Coolplayer, a freeware Windows MP3 player, can handle them or not. But then, perhaps it’s time to get a new player 😉
Um, dude? You might want to check out what Johnee Bee’s podcast is called again 😉
Oh, and while I’m here, I may as well note:
Bon Jovi != Jon Bon Jovi. Thus Bon Jovi can’t cover /him/self, rather /themselves/.
Tsk tsk, you’re getting slack (kidding!)
Re: the AAC question. I use iPodder Lemon to pick up your podcast and Windows Media Player to listen to it.
Asking about people who use other platforms besides iPod?
I download the MP3 and listen using Windows Media.
Thanks for playing my request!
In answer to your question, I have an iPod but I never use AAC…with some of the older iPods (like mine), I’ve heard nasty stories of AAC files wiping out the entire music library, and I just don’t want to go there. If I have to stop playing, I eyeball where we are in the file and scroll back to it later when I pick it up again.
Dianne
Re: AAC
PLEASE do the show as an Enhanced Podcast!! I think listeners who are opposed to the idea have simply never had the pleasure of experiencing an enhanced show or something. ’cause once you’ve had enhanced, you’ll never go back!
and if you HAVE to go back (so as to play it on your nonPod or something), you can still download the file, and convert it (with iTunes, or Quicktime 7 Pro) to a normal, non-enhanced MP3 or whatever you like.
and brian, as for workload, it’s not TOO much more trouble to do the show enhanced, tho it could be easier. my show, The Sounds in My Head, has been enhanced since apple launched support for it. those first few weeks were really crappy having to use the command line and crap. but now, there are a number of apps that make it really easy, I’ve had the best luck with ChapterToolMe which is free, and available here: http://www.rbsoftware.net/?page=ctm
great show, as always!
About the AAC suggestion: I love the idea of being able to take advantage of the AAC in iTunes. However, I don’t own an iPod. If I take your shows with me somewhere I use my Palm or my Neuros – neither of which support AAC to the best of my knowledge.
If you do use AAC I would really appreciate it if you continued to offer the show in the standard mp3 format.
Stick with the open source format (MP3). Non-open source formats (WMA, ACC, ATRAC) may offer some benefits, but you tie your listeners into a specific hardware provider.
I listen to podcasts on my computer or my iRiver.
Thanks for your consistently interesting shows.
Adam
Re: AAC
Hi Brian,
great show, thank you. As for the AAC question: If you do that please also supply a MP3 Version, since my and a whole lot of other players don’t support it.
Cheers, Nico
Great show as always.
About AAC format. If you are going to start using AAC please keep mp3 format as well and provide separate feeds for the mp3 and AAC formats. AAC is fine if you’re into that sort of thing ;), but I’ll stick with good ol’ mp3. I don’t want to have to download an AAC and then convert it to something else so that I can listen to it.
Having both an iPod and iTunes, I can handle AAC or MP3, so it doesn’t matter much to me either way. I prefer AAC (which IS an open format, by the way: it’s MPEG-4 audio — it’s just some players haven’t gotten on the stick yet, and several others think it’s “that Apple format” and refuse to include it just because of that). Just as long as you don’t go OGG or MP3Pro until iTunes does that, I’m a happy camper.
There is some hardware out there that handles AAC (not Protected AAC fro the iTunes Music Store, but then just because a player handles Windows Media doesn’t mean it handles Protected Windows Media 🙂 ) What an insane system we have. Even MPEG (MP3, MP4, etc.) isn’t really open source since the MPEG group wants their licensing fees…
Insanity, I say!
But I digress. I’m off to listen tot he show now…
Score another point against AAC. I listen to MP3 podcasts on my little RCA Lyra (which also supports MP3pro), my Alpine car stereo (which also supports WMA), and my Linux computers (which support lots of formats, but almost exclusively open ones). None of them support AAC, and only the last of them may ever support it. MP3 is the only format that works across the board.
I’m actually offended at those who say that those of us against a switch to AAC just need to experience it and we’ll like it. I don’t care how nice AAC is, if my hardware can’t handle AAC then it’s useless to me.
Brian,
Please keep the show in MP3 format. Much easier to use on all sorts of devices, including my iPod Shuffle!
Love your show!
Cheers,
Neil Jones
j_neil_jones@hotmail.com
Someone mentioned this above, but several commenters seem to have missed it: AAC is an open format. In fact, it’s more open than MP3 (depending on how you define open).
AAC, an open specification, shouldn’t be confused with FairPlay, the DRM format in which the iTunes Music Store wraps the AAC files that it sells. The Coverville podcast would be in AAC, not FairPlay. That’s an important distinction.
Further, there are many, many Linux media players that will play AAC files, most notably Xine.
Oh, and XMMS for Linux also supports AAC, as does WinAmp for Windows.
A big YES for the AAC recording !!! Can’t add anything else to what’s already been said.
Since I was the only one to mention Linux, I’ll assume Morgan’s comments were directed toward me….
While I wasn’t aware of AAC support in Linux, I did say that Linux would be the most likely of my three players to support AAC. Being able to play from my portable and car players is as important to me as being able to play from my computer.
Of course, we’re getting Coverville for free, so Brian should do what he wants.
Sorry Rob, I misread your comment as saying that Linux was the platform least likely to support AAC. My bad.
It sounds like the best solution would be to provide it in both formats, but I can see a couple of drawbacks:
1) You would have to do the work of creating two versions of the file (which may be an easy as simply converting the final AAC file to MP3–I don’t know).
2) It will take up twice as much space wherever you’re archiving the files (though it won’t take twice as much bandwidth, since people would only subscribe to the one version they want).
Either way, keep up the excellent work, and thanks.
Gotta say Brian that if you moved to AAC, you’d lose another listener. My Zen Touch can’t play ’em!
Hassle Creative for a firmware upgrade so I can listen to them, and I’d be all for it… I like the idea, just not the solution 🙁
Re the WMA question. I use the iPodder Lemon to grab my subscription and play on my Palm with Aeroplayer. I’d really like it if you made Coverville available in .ogg, but am willing to use .mp3; got no use for WMA.
Keep up the fantastic work and congratulations on your new responsibilities at work.
Separately, has anyone ever done covers of The Residents?
AAC, yes!
Yes on AAC!
Thanks for playing my request, btw, Bon Jovi is a band, not just the one guy (he sings but the rest of the guys are still in on the covers as well 🙂 )
Re: AAC format, I would love that. I still use Ipodder to d/l your podcast just because I don’t like the way Itunes does it on casts I want to hang onto, and I’ve often wished when listening that the bookmark feature was enabled.
Howdy, Brian
I would prefer for you to continue providing the Coverville podcast in mp3 format as my IRiver H340 does not play AAC format.
Thanks, Aaron
P.S. Can I request Spiderbait’s cover of Black Betty. Originally by Leadbelly (I think) and then covered by Ram Jam.
P.P.S. Really love the show, keep up the brilliant work.
How I listen…
As I don’t own an mp3 player, I burn your show to CD and listen to your show in the car to and from work
Thanks really enjoy the show
– Moz from the UK
Hey Brian.. loved the show. As for the MP3/AAC debate, I fall firmly on the MP3 side. I listen to Coverville on my PocketPC, using PocketMusic (the built in player sucks), which can handle MP3, WMA, OGG, even Audible, but not AAC. In fact, I’ve been looking and there are no real AAC players for the PocketPC. The only way I have of playign AAC or M4A files is with a program called TCPMP, and that’s with an older version because Apple made them strip out the AAC support due to licensing issues.
So, basically, please, no AAC. I’ve stopped listening to some shows already because of their switch to AAC, and I couldn’t bear to lose Coverville too. As for the guy who says to just convert them to MP3, that’s not really a viable solution. The whole attraction behind podcasting is how simple it is. In the words of Ron Popeil: I just set it and forget it! Once I’m subscribed, the contenty just shows up on my PPC with no further effort on my part. If I have to statrt manually converting the files, that defeats the whole purpose.
While I like the idea of bookmarkable audio files, the downsides are too many for me right now. And, no, I can’t afford to buy an iPod either. So, please, either don’t switch to AAC, or keep a separate MP3 feed for the rest of us as well, please!
Please do NOT switch to AAC (unless you also do an open MP3 file) as I do not use crAp-ple products, so an AAC format would lose you listeners.
Hi Brian,
I really would like to have a AAC feed. I think the possibility of having bookmarks is a very good feature. I listen to Coverville mostly on my iPod mini and sometimes as now in iTunes.
Take Care
Blackfarm
Yo, Brian –
My take on the AAC idea, particularly after reading everyone else’s comments, is that it would only make sense if you could find a workable (for you) way to offer an AAC-format feed in addition to your MP3 version. Sounds like there are some folks who would really enjoy the AAC format, but also a sizable number of listeners who depend on getting the show as an MP3. Personally, I have iPodderX convert it to a bookmarkable AAC in the background, so I already have a solution that’s working for me. I don’t think I’d find the chapter marks all that useful, but that’s just me.
Regarding Olivia d’Abo, I’m pretty sure it’s pronounced “dee-AH-boe,” like most names with that initial d-apostrophe thing. As for her vocals on the Bon Jovi tune, well… [ahem] …let’s just say she’s a pretty good actress!
Pat
>Regarding Olivia d’Abo
Well, to be a nitpicker, it was Maryam d’Abo who starred in The Living Daylights. She is cousin to Olivia. Olivia’s biggest movie was probably Conan the Destroyer or The Velocity of Gary.
I wasn’t going to mention the d’Abo flub. Didn’t want Brian to know how much a James Bond geek I am. 🙂 But since someone else brings her up, I … can’t … help … myself! Must……..type…..
Re: using AAC with chapters. I’m a big fan of the Coverville podcast, but my portable audio devices are not AAC compatible. If the AAC format offers a chapters option that sounds like a very useful feature you should take advantage of, but please keep providing an MP3 download as well for those of us using non-Mac hardware.
Thanks, and keep up the excellent podcasting!
Another vote for keeping the Mp3. My Zen Micro can play it, but not AAC, and I’m a Coverville addict.
I would love Coverville to move to Apple’s Advanced AAC Podcast format!
Can I act like a 12 yo girl and go PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE … (etc) bring out an enhanced podcast.
(Love the show)
Personally, I love AAC files. I listen to podcasts on my iPod, and rarely finish a podcast in one listen, so having a bookmarked location is great. I don’t use chapters or enhanced podcasts, just the bookmark feature.
I use doppler to subscribe to podcasts, and doppler converts the mp3s to aac (using itunes). Tried iPodderX, but the windows version doesn’t seem ready for prime time yet.
I agree with the other posters about an aac feed being an addition to the mp3 feed. I don’t think you can change entirely to aac without losing huge numbers of subscribers
I vote for the enhanced …
I changed my podcast to enhanced too and to solve the problem with people that cannot listen to enhanced I created another xml with mp3 files … but enhanced is much better … as said before once you go enhaced you never go back …
Love your show.
AAC: I use Treo 600 and Pocket Tunes. It remembers where you left off in mp3 files. Michael Butler experimented with “enhanced podcasts” for awhile. I converted them to mp3. It wasn’t a big deal at first, but doing the conversion each time got old. Happy ending: Michael got tired of the format about the same time I did and he went back to mp3!
Brian,
I’m right now listening to Coverville on my Rio Carbon and downloaded the podcasts from iPodder Lemon. MP3 will and always will be the format of choice. As soon as a podcasts go to a proprietary format, podcasts are as good as dead.
Thanks Brian!
Listen on my computer using Windows Media Player. In spite of the risk, the Rap show is one of our favorites to blast loud in the machine shop.
Brian, long time listener, first time poster….
The Laura Cantrell was wonderful, but she actually (so far as I know) now lives in the NYC area, and does a weekly show for WFMU. As well, she was a Peel favorite, and turned up in a couple heartbreakingly beautiful sessions – and did her show on Radio Scotland (or something like that) for a month.
Regardless of where she lives, she’s a great singer songwriter and interpreter – and the cover of one of the great EC songs was a great treat.
Please keep the show in MP3 format. I listen using my Creative Zen Touch player. I don’t use iTunes or an iPod.
I’d vote for both an AAC feed (better quality at a smaller file size) and an MP3 feed. My older iPod doesn’t support chapters or bookmarks, but the quality/size benefit is attractive to me. That said, keep the MP3 version available for those whose hardware/software doesn’t support AAC.
Lack of AAC capability has nothing to do with proprietary formats or Apple, rather a failure of the industry to adhere to improving standards. The AAC format is as open a format as MP3, but software and device manufacturers are screwing their customers by not utilizing the improved format. Those of you with players/software that do not support AAC should be pressuring your manufacturers for updates to support the format.
Why is this the case? My guess would be that as happens so often, Apple embraced a new technology early on, before it went mainstream. This time the popularity of the iPod, iTunes and the iTMS took off so fast that everyone assumed that AAC was Apple’s proprietary format. FairPlay definately helped make the distinction murky, but device manufacturers certainly know that AAC does not belong to Apple. As long as the public equates AAC to Apple’s FairPlay manufacturers don’t have to exert the effort to incorporate support for it in thier products.
What it probably boils down to is that a device manufacturer can differentiate it’s player from the iPod by adding support for OGG or Media Player. Adding AAC won’t differentiate their product. Won’t allow you to play content from the iTMS. And will probably lead some consumers to believe they can listen to iTMS tracks.
To wrap it up. Brian, provide both AAC and MP3. Those of you with devices that do not support AAC, you should be hounding your device manufacturers for support for the improved formats available.
I’m subscribed on iPodder Lemon and I listen on a Creative Muvo 2 which will play mp3, wav and wma, but not aac. I don’t want to lose this podcast.
Roger
Brian,
I listen to coverville on my Linux machine in XMMS. I would appreciate it if you would continue providing an MP3 version.
I do not use I-tunes or have an i-pod. I need mp3 for a doppler->gmini400 compatiblity.
I’d recommend MP3 so that you reach the widest audience.
If ACC were open source, then it might replace MP3 as the most widespread, but I think you should wait at this time.
If RealAudio had been a little more open with their stuff, perhaps instead of MP3’s we’d all be listening to RealAudio files for podcasts.
Great show. I’ve been listening for a while on my Palm platform using a software called AeroPlayer (http://www.aeroplayer.us) and acquired the AAC add-in so I could listen to all kinds of files. Thus, I could listen to AAC if it were available, but would really rather stick to mp3. I’d hate to see you lose listeners because your format didn’t play on whatever audio platforms are out there. While AAC is supposed to be lossless, and you can create enhanced chapter-based files easily… I don’t think it’s worth your risk.
I thought I remembered hearing on PodCast 411 about the Kyoto PodCast, and his output is m4a… alright smack for being stupid if that’s AAC enhanced.
Anyway, too long post even longer… please keep the mp3 format, but if you’d like a beta-tester for enhanced podcasts, to see if they can be played on other non-iPod platforms, count me in.
Hi Brian,
I just wanted to say this was my favourite episode to date. I’ve been listening for about 2 months now and I just love the show. Being an Aussie it’s always a treat to hear local artists on international casts.
Keep up the great work.
Kate