In contrast to other types of media, podcasting nearly never has fees associated with its services, and the great majority of feed producers make their podcasts available for free. This puts a strain on relationships with entities such as internet radio stations, news websites that provide material to subscribers, and the online music business in general. Despite the fact that podcasting has very clear connections with other businesses, such as the news and music industries, which both have robust economic structures, podcasting is unique.
Podcasting does not really have a viable business model, and very few people are producing podcasts with the intention of making money from them.
There are certain corporations and news websites who publish podcasts, but the primary reason they do so is not to generate revenue; rather, they do it as a method to complement their businesses and to earn reputation among technology geeks. This is a peculiar occurrence, but it makes sense when considered in light of what podcasting is.
The issue of free podcasts is not a tough one, and there are numerous significant ways in which podcasting is distinct from other forms of media. To begin, the process of podcasting requires a file to be physically transferred from the host computer to the user's computer. This is not something that is offered by an internet radio station; all that is made available to its listeners is a sound file that plays in the background and cannot be saved without a lot of effort. If someone did manage to do so, the station would have good reasons for suing them since they were never granted the authority to preserve and store the data. If someone did manage to do so, however, the station would have strong grounds for suing them. By podcasting the whole file to the user's PC, permission is given explicitly for the user to copy and use the content in any way they see fit. Second, as opposed to a news broadcast or a song produced by a music business, podcasts are often created by people who have less financial obligations to cover when it comes to the production and distribution of the files. These people have little motive to charge for their job since doing so does not require much of a financial investment on their part.
Feed producers have little reason or ability to charge for their work because the files are distributed in a way that allows their copying and does not control the media, and because podcasting is a very low cost media outlet. Combined, these factors mean that feed producers cannot charge for their work.