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A Word in Your Ear
From the Jewish Chronicle,
31.03.06
By Judy Silkoff
With a click of a button you can tune into a Talmud shiur or catch
the latest Jewish music releases on the way to work. Judy Silkoff enters
the world of podcasting.
The term podcasting is bandied about the media with increasing frequency
these days, but many people don’t seem to know what it actually refers
to. You might be forgiven for thinking a podcast is some kind of
futuristic method for encouraging the growth of damaged mange-tout.
But, in fact, it’s nothing to do with plaster of Paris or legumes at
all; it simply refers to a method of distributing audio files over the
internet, which can be heard on a PC or MP3 player at a later date or
time. The word itself is a combination of iPod and broadcast, although
any type of MP3 player can be used to play back a podcast.
The main advantage of podcasts over more traditional radio broadcasts is
that anyone can make them: a reasonable amount of technical ability and
a computer is all that’s required to create your very own virtual
soapbox.
Little surprise then, that religious groups, keen to disseminate their
ideas and opinions to the widest possible audience, have been quick to
jump on the podcasting bandwagon.
Apple iTunes online music store lists over 4,000 religion and
spirituality podcasts in its directory (all free to subscribe to),
ranging in theme from Christianity and philosophy to New Age and Zen
Buddhism. In the Judaism section, there are over 60 podcasts available:
you can download the American Orthodox Union’s regular Talmud shiur to
listen to during your lunch hour, or exercise at the gym to the sounds
of Shlomo Carlebach, courtesy of the “Rabbi Yonah’s Music” podcast.
According to yeshivah graduate and Imperial College engineering student
Joseph Sueke, Jewish-themed podcasts make ideal listening material for
religious commuters. He subscribes to the Israel-based Yeshivat Har
Etzion’s Torah programme. “I have a two-hour long commute to and from
university each day and I was looking for a way to spend the time more
productively when I discovered the yeshivah’s daily podcast,” he says.
“It’s of a very high standard and covers a diverse range of Jewish
topics, from Maimonides to halachah. With the click of a button, the
lecture is loaded on my MP3 player ready for the next day’s journey. It
has changed the daily grind of commuting into a positive experience for
me.”
For some, podcasts can be a way of keeping ahead of the game
professionally. Zev Gruber, a presenter on a Sunday morning Orthodox
Jewish radio programme on Sound Radio (1503 AM), regularly listens to
the podcast put out by the American Jewish music distributor Sameach.
“As a frum Jewish radio presenter, the Sameach podcast is a great way of
getting a sense of what’s out there,” he explains. “I get a good idea of
the latest styles and beats and it’s helpful for developing a background
on the various Jewish artists.”
Although the technology for podcasting has been around since 2001, it’s
only in the eight months since iTunes launched its podcast directory
that the technology has really taken off. The Yeshivat Har Etzion
programme, for example, is less than three months old.
The relative newness of the phenomenon goes some way to explaining why
the British presence in the Jewish podcasting world is so minimal.
Currently, the only show that originates in the UK is Kol Cambridge, a
weekly Israeli music programme on Cambridge University Radio. Its
presenter and director, final-year Oriental studies student Samuel
Green, was quick to recognise the advantages of podcasting for a
small-audience radio show and has seen his ratings snowball as a result.
“Thanks to the podcast, many international listeners are able to enjoy
my show. I get feedback from Singapore, Brazil and France and the US,”
he says. “I’d estimate that the ratio of podcast subscribers to live
listeners is 75:25.”
Mr Green, who is known on-air as Antithesis the Jewish Rapper, hopes to
continue podcasting Israeli music when he moves to London next year to
take up the position of FZY mazkir. He is also toying with the idea of
creating a youth movement podcast.
But in the meantime, other Jewish Brits are finally starting to exploit
the potential of internet audio, thanks to the March launch of an online
Jewish music store by Manchester businessman David Levine. His
jtunes.com hopes to emulate the success of iTunes by allowing fans to
download material by popular Jewish artists, both as complete albums
and, in some cases, single tracks. Mr Levine came up with the idea after
unsuccessfully searching for a download of the latest release from the
US-based Orthodox singer Schwekey last summer.
“It struck me that the physical distribution of Jewish music outside of
New York and Jerusalem is atrocious,” he says. “You can’t get hold of a
new CD in the UK until several months after its release and piracy is
rife as a result. The creation of jtunes.com essentially means that
everyone with an internet connection will have immediate access to a
dedicated Jewish music store.”
Mr Levine also has plans to get in on the podcasting act — he has signed
the Orthodox Jewish singer Chanale to his store and hopes that she will
shortly begin transmitting a monthly podcast via the jtunes.com website.
“Chanale is going to use the opportunity to muse about the Jewish music
scene for women and will hopefully feature other female Jewish singers
in a guest slot,” he says. But male music aficionados need not bother
subscribing — a disclaimer that only female listeners are welcome will
accompany the podcast.
Despite all the advances in the world of podcasting, the overall
consensus of those in the broadcasting business seems to be that it will
not spell the end for radio as we know it.
Samuel Green concludes: “Podcasts are really convenient because people
don’t have to be around when their favourite show goes out on air — they
can simply download them for later. But as much as podcasts are a lot of
fun, traditional live format radio will, I believe, be here for a long
time to come.”
Cultural Podcasts
From The Canadian
Jewish News, 02.02.06
By
MARK MIETKIEWICZ
What are you listening to on your iPod? If you have space to spare on
your MP3 player, there is wonderful free, Jewish content that you can
download and enjoy anywhere. From practically any flavour of Israeli
music to Jewish culture, the podcasts are waiting for you. I’ll tell you
where to find them – and then wash down the column with a refreshing
shpritz of seltzer.
When Israelis turn on the radio, do you think most of them are listening
to Erev shel Shoshanim or Yerushalayim Shel Zahav? Then you’re in for a
surprise. Those classics have their appeal, but like music lovers
everywhere, Israelis have wide and varied tastes. That’s why the “Kol
Cambridge - Music from Israel” podcast is a great find. This weekly,
two-hour, student-run show from England airs songs from all the genres
including pop, rock, jazz, hip hop, Klezmer and Chassidic – as well as
some oldies thrown into the mix. The only thing these songs share in
common is that they are all in Hebrew. The show’s hosts are pleasant and
knowledgeable and the Kol Cambridge website provides a playlist of songs
aired so you can always double-check what you’re listening to. Highly
recommended.
Station turns on students
From the Jewish
Chronicle, 29.04.05
An Aspiring rap artist has turned his attentions to DJ-ing and is
bringing Jewish and Israeli music to the airwaves, writes Gaby Wine.
Cambridge University student Samuel Green, 22, is the voice behind Kol
Cambridge, broadcast every Thursday on the Cambridge University Radio
Station.
The latest figures revealed that the show is attracting more listeners
than any other programme, which has led to its slot doubling from one to
two hours.
Mr Green, from Kingston in Surrey, who has already made something of a
name for himself as “Antithesis, the Zionist Rapper,” feels that the
show’s success is due partly to its light-hearted approach.
“We steer clear of politics. We are showing a different side of Israeli
life,” said the DJ, who is going to enter the station into the national
student radio awards.
Attracting listeners not only locally but from London, Manchester and as
far away as Israel, America and Australia, the show includes a range of
interviews and a news bulletin, with guest DJs Debbie Danon and Joseph
Fisher.
Over the next few weeks, listeners will be able to hear interviews with
well known Israeli rapper Subliminal and Israel’s entry into the
Eurovision Song Contest.
Mr Green has also recently returned from a trip to Israel, where he was
making deals with Israel’s top record labels in order to guarantee a
steady flow of new music.
“I don’t think any station in this country offers purely Jewish and
Israeli music, which is why we get so many listeners.”
However, the third-year Oriental Studies student is not prepared to give
up the day job just yet. “It’s the same as rapping. DJ-ing is something
I’d like to do in the future. But at the moment, I’m not holding out
much hope.”
You can listen to Kol Cambridge between 3 and 5pm every Thursday during
term-time on 1350MW in the Cambridge area, and on line by logging on to
www.cur1350.co.uk.
Samuel airs his love for Israeli
music
From The Jewish
Telegraph, 22.04.05
RAPPER Samuel Green has launched a radio show dedicated to Israeli and
Jewish music on Cambridge University Radio station CUR1350.
The 22-year-old Cambridge student - also known as Antithesis, The
Zionist Rapper - believed that there was a niche for such a programme.
He was proved right with the show quickly achieving top spot in the
station's listening figures table with more than double the ratings of
its closest competitor.
As a result the programme's initial slot of one hour was doubled and it
now broadcasts every Thursday during term from 3-5pm.
Kol Cambridge, which is also broadcast on the internet, features all the
latest Israeli releases in addition to a regular classic selection and a
popular Jewish music segment.
The music is supplemented with news and features about Israel and the
British Jewish community with an emphasis on providing listeners with
information that they would be unlikely to otherwise obtain.
Samuel has just returned from Israel where he has been busy securing
interviews with some of Israel's top musicians to broadcast on the show,
following an interview with Israeli Minister Natan Sharansky last term.
Over the next few weeks, listeners can expect exclusive revelations from
renowned rapper Subliminal, Israel's Eurovision entry Shiri Maimon and
many more of the Israeli music industry's top names.
Samuel - whose grandfather Gerald Green is from Salford - also spent the
trip negotiating distribution deals with Israel's top record labels in
order to guarantee a steady flow of new music on the show.
Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv were impressed enough to include a full page
feature on the young rapper/DJ earlier this month. The BBC also invited
him to discuss a documentary on Israeli hip-hop.
Last year, Samuel, as Antithesis, released a CD called The Israel
Question, with profits split between the campaign to secure the release
of Israel's Missing in Action soldiers and the UJIA Terror Victims
Support Fund.
Kol Cambridge broadcasts on 1350MW in the Cambridge area and online at
www.cur1350.co.uk.
An archive of all old shows can be found at
www.cur1350.co.uk/kolcambridge. |
