Poetry Playlist Revolution- Join Us?

Anyone can upload their poetry in spoken word onto any site where you can create a playlist- for free. If the song lists on all of those sites were full of poetry?

We all know, as poets, that the majority of our work will never be published. Fewer people read now, you know it's true. It's the digital age. Look where we are.Even fewer will bother to learn anything about, or to read, poetry.  But everyone has a playlist on their websites, and everyone likes listening. Everyone searches for music on those sites, going through hundreds of files sometimes. What if, when they searched, they found a heck of a lot of spoken word poetry mixed in with the music. Poetry by "common folk" such as we writers at the Cafe? Could we possibly renew the interest in poetry? Or at least move a few people with our words? We could, if we all got as much work on there as possible, start a revolution. Don't we all write to be heard?

 

The other day I wondered if, for free, I could find enough information to upload mp3s of my poetry onto the cafe. I did do it all, for free, though if you don't have a headset or mic you will need one. I used a free audio program called Audacity, which uses an mp3 encoder called LAME, also a free download. Then, I simply uploaded the mp3 onto a file sharing site called Hotlinkfiles, which is also free. Finally, I added the link like it was a song that I wanted and couldn't find on playlist.com, the most widely used, and therefore the most exposure for my poetry. Still all free.

Here is the result, perfect for posting on any webpage:

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the links for all interested in joining the playlist poetry revolution, and making their voices heard:

 

Here is the URL for Audacity ( you can add music from your mp3s to the background, etc, but I'm not skilled enough to make it sound decent that way yet) : http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
To change to versatile mp3 format you will also need LAME
Here are the instructions on Wiki that I used to tell me how to download lame and use it with Audacity:
http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php?title=Lame_Installation
and here is the url where you can download it (you want 3.98 beta 8):
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=290&package_id=309
Once you have installed lame into your audacity library, all of your tracks that you record can be saved as mp3s. If you want to link them on the web, you can open a free account at this site:
http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/ which will give you codes you can use to link on any popular site that has music players, like
http://www.playlist.com/
or, for a smaller, more compact player
http://www.myflashfetish.com
on either site, you type in your name, hit the link that says "can't find what you are looking for?" and add your link to the site. Your work will then be stored on their servers, under your name, for others to listen to as well, and where you can find them again if your system crashes, etc.

 

I am also here at the cafe often, if anyone has trouble with getting this to work. My friend

Solst here on the cafe also has a playlist up on his profile, where he is adding work. His British accent makes it sound divine. Check it out by clicking that link on his name. I hope that many will try this, since it is free, and very easy to do. I think it just may be a way to bring poetry back to the masses. C

Author's Note

Again, if you have any questions after trying what I put here to get your poetry on an mp3 playlist, please feel free to message me, or leave a comment here. Good luck, and let me know when some of you have some spoken word playlists up so I can come and listen! I love it.

Reviews

[alternative_be]

I found another free programme: audiorecorder for free!
It worked really well for me, considering my headphones are somewhere in a carton box (we are making plans to move to the countryside)
Using this programme I was able to record an mp3 file instantly, getting codes via hotlinkfiles.com and following your instructions from there!
I posted my result on the forum, towards the end I got a bit nervous, wondering how my voice would sound and I nearly shifted to my native tongue... But it works and there are several possibilities to get an mp3 onto playlist.com. I discovered this, because I started looking for free mp3 recording programmes before reading your explanation... but the more possibilities, the merrier I would say!
I think this group is a wonderful initiative and may have possibilities for the blind or bad eye sight, dyslexia and so on! Now I have to work on my reading voice!

[Nicole (Carpe Diem)]

oh what a fantastic idea... i love the concept... spoken word - of our works - they have books on tape and cds - why not the things we have written - to make it easier for people to hear our words...

[Angel's Lady]

When you make a Poet fall in love - I like this one very much! Nicely done! Great idea! And, well, WOW! Unfortunately for me, I have one of those Southern voices that sounds worse than Ellie Mae Clampett. So, I'm afraid I won't be speaking publically! But I absolutely adore the idea! Applause, applause!

[Natasha Ashway]

Brilliant, brilliant idea. I've invited all my friends to this group!
I'd like us all to join in sharing audio versions of our poetry. It's so neat; to think that on a rainy afternoon, the middle of the night, or whenever, I for one, can curl up with a mug of hot chocolate and listen to the voices of my wonderful poetic friends from all over the world. It keeps us closer - we are each others drugs - and closer to everyone who genuinely enjoys the soothing, intimate delights of good poetry, those who read and listen to us over and over again.
p.s. I can't wait to hear Bhavya Kaushik!!! I've told him I'm dying to hear him recite his poems. Wow!

[Solst Rapture]

Well done. I didn't remember you had done this. I hope it takes off. You know what? I actually didn't realize other people might find my audio files on playlist. What a schmuck I am...So, are you recording the first bit then? I migh not get to it tonight, but I'm going to throw myself into. I can use my mobile...Ha!

[AK]

What a brilliant idea!!! I'll follow your instructions and get some of my stuff recorded.
Brilliant!

[A.J. Smith]

Yea! I'm going to send this to all my friends. I forwarded your message to Charlie, the guy who runs the cafe. This will revolutionize this site. You go girl!