Episode 15a: Missing In Action

As described before, the new script I have allows me to generate the podcast with a minimum of manual editing. I take the recording, top and tail it, put the files in the right place, and run the script. It works great as you can hear here, and I wanted to test it before leaving for work this morning.

I used Audacity and my laptop‘s built-in microphone to record a quick 2-minute chat, divided into sections. The quality wasn’t great due to the mic, but it was enough for the test. Then I saved exported the WAVs in the right place, and ran the script. Quick as a flash it created a complete podcast episode, with intro music, graphics and everything. I uploaded it and dashed out the door, leaving Mixcloud to post to Twitter and Facebook.

When I got to work I saw that I had an email from Mixcloud.

Subject: Short upload disabled

Time: 08:48

For licensing reasons we don’t host individual tracks (even if it’s your own track), so unfortunately we’ve had to disable your short upload titled “Coiled Episode Episode 15a: Quick Script Test”.
If you feel this is in error, please get in touch at http://support.mixcloud.com.
All the best,
Mixcloud Team

Interesting. I can see why they did this. I sent a support message to see if it can be reinstated. We’ll see.

It was a successful test anyway. Here’s the timeline:

  1. 08:27 recorded raw audio
  2. 08:28-08:32 edited raw audio into necessary pieces
  3. 08:33 ran script
  4. 08:34 uploaded file to Mixcloud
  5. 08:48 rejected by Mixcloud

From creation to rejection in 21 minutes! What a fascinating modern world we live in.