The Riverside Advantage

 

Choosing the right recording platform is critical when recording a podcast. Which platforms work best? How should you decide who to choose? 

On this episode of The Podcast Club, Molly, Marcus and Adam discuss why Riverside is their favorite. 

“We’re literally producing podcasts around the world right now because of Riverside,” Molly says. 

The audio quality, ability to record video, customer service and its mobile app are some of the reasons why Riverside is a great option for podcast recording.

But it’s not all fairy dust and roses. As a venture-backed company, Riverside is incentivized to continually introduce new features and sometimes the changes can feel too rapid for users. 

Speaking of problems, you will encounter them no matter which platform you use, and Marcus cautions podcasters to recognize this instead of abandoning one platform only to encounter the same issue with whichever one they opt for next. 

The crew shares the tools they like and what’s worked for them, but ultimately, it’s about finding what works for you. 

Tune in to hear their thoughts on how the mindset you need to adopt in less than optimal recording environments, the importance of not allowing yourself to become beholden to a single platform, and why it’s essential that customers know what the work you’re doing for them truly involves. 

Tools and tech mentioned in this episode:
✔️ Riverside
✔️ Cleanfeed
✔️ SquadCast
✔️ Podcast Business Journal
✔️ 5x5

Podcast Pro: Molly Ruland 
🎙️ What she does: Molly is the founder and CEO of Heartcast Media, a full-service podcast production company and content creation lab based in Washington, D.C. 

💡 Key quote: “I love Riverside. (It) changed the game for me, and (with) Heartcast Media not having a brick and mortar studio, this is the next best thing. It's opened up our client base.”

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

 

Podcast Pro: Marcus dePaula
🎙️ What he does: An audio engineer, podcast producer and website designer, Marcus runs Me Only Louder, a podcast production company in Franklin, Tenn.

💡 Key quote: “The big differentiator with Riverside is they have always been recording video first. … Riverside was the first one to offer the video recording aspect for each individual person.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram


Podcast Pro: Adam Levin
🎙️ What he does: Adam is the manager of Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center and is the founder of Podcast Outfitters, which specializes in podcast equipment. 

💡 Key quote: “Find the tool that works for you and know how to use it. But you can't be beholden to the tool.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram


Tips for Podcasters 

⭐ Riverside offers several advantages over other podcast recording platforms. The Podcast Club hosts like Riverside’s local recording (vs. cloud) approach, mobile app, branding options, as well as the company’s excellent customer service. 

⭐ No podcast platform can transcend a bad internet connection or hardware issues. These are baselines no matter which platform you’re using or who’s producing your podcast. 

⭐ Be aware of drift issues. These occur when multiple tracks are being recorded by different users on different devices at slightly different sample rates. Riverside has settings to minimize this.  


Episode Highlights

00:01:16: A recording platform to rule them all: Glitches occur on all recording platforms. But Molly explains why she thinks Riverside is the next best thing to recording in a brick and mortar studio. 

00:06:00 Catching the drift: Stories about drift issues have caused Marcus to steer clear of other platforms. Riverside’s mobile iOS app prevents this common problem, in which tracks recorded on multiple devices don’t sync properly because they have slightly different sample rates. It will be available for Android soon. 

00:09:24 (Not) lost in the cloud: Another major advantage, Adam says, is that local records are integral on Riverside. (It records locally and then uploads to the cloud, instead of starting in the cloud for users to download.) In the event of a crash of some kind, the individual recordings are preserved this way. 

00:12:00 The quick fix: Molly recalls reaching out to Riverside when their studio was out of sync and the rapid adjustment that Riverside made to repair the issue. The rapid support is a benefit of having an enterprise account with Riverside. 

00:14:13 Recording prerequisite: You have to make sure your hardware and internet connection are up to the task when you record, Marcus explains. This should be your first consideration. That said, no matter which recording p