Podcasting begins with an unresolved identity. Is it radio’s connection to the internet, a revolutionary medium, or a temporary cultural trend? Does it make audio more democratic, or give the recording industry another tool? Enrico Menduni frames these questions through the history of digital sound—audio handled in digital form—and the social practices surrounding it from 1991 to 2007 [1]. His account distinguishes four phases: popular digital music, web radio, free music, and the iPod’s role in podcasting [1]. This history matters because podcasting remains a changing medium rather than a settled category. It leaves open questions for later research about its possible resurgence after 2014, its influence on audio storytelling and listening habits, and how it reshapes relationships between creators and audiences.
Menduni’s 2007 paper offers a historical framework rather than treating podcasting as a single invention appearing at one identifiable moment. It follows digital sound—audio stored, handled, and transmitted in digital form—from 1991 to 2007, alongside the social practices that gave this technology cultural meaning [1]. The history is organized into four connected phases.
The first is the birth of the popular use of digital music: digital audio becomes part of ordinary musical culture rather than remaining only a technical development. The second is Web radio, meaning radio distributed through the internet. This phase places broadcasting within a networked environment, while also raising questions about whether online radio could fully connect radio with the Net [1]. The third phase, “Music for free,” foregrounds changing relationships between access, circulation, and the established recording industry. The fourth links the iPod—an individual device for storing and listening to digital audio—with podcasting [1].
This sequence makes podcasting the outcome of connected technological and social practices, not an isolated breakthrough. At the same time, Menduni keeps its identity open. Podcasting might be a bridge between radio and the internet, a revolutionary development, or a temporary cultural trend. It might also support a more democratic audio system—or become another instrument for multinational recording companies. The paper’s distinctive contribution is therefore its simultaneous attention to podcasting’s technical origins, cultural uncertainty, and contested power: the medium’s possibilities depend not only on what digital audio enables, but also on who controls its production and circulation .