5fm, Apple, Coca Cola and MINI have launched a podcasting competition with R250 000 of slick prizes like iPods and MacBooks. The grand-prize winner gets to zoot around in a MINI Cooper for two months, and category finalists get VIP tickets to one helluva gig to “soak in the fame and the adoration of your friends when we play the category finalists’ podcasts on the big-screen in front of thousands of thousands of screaming fans”, according to the getpodcasting competition site, which began accepting submissions yesterday.

The competition urges one to “Enter now and be part of the next wave of technology sweeping the planet.” A tad gallant, perhaps, but nevertheless it is great to see that podcasting in South Africa is being given such a significant boost. Let the people speak. Too bad the fine print is pretty nasty.

It’s probably safe to predict that most people who enter this competition will match the demographics of 5fm’s youth market. This means that not many of them will have a five-year law degree behind their name, so wouldn’t (and probably wouldn’t bother to) understand the legal mumbo jumbo, which is cumbersome to the average podcaster on the street. Paul Jacobson over at Chilibean has summarised the most concerning conditions in simple terms, as follows:

1. the content you submit is your own stuff and it doesn't violate someone else's rights (including copyright and trademarks);
2. your content is not licensed to anyone else;
3. you have to play nice so no name calling or saying nasty things about people;
4. you can't talk about anyone except yourself; and (here is the clincher)
5. if you accept a prize you give up your content to the Sponsor (Apple IMC Southern Africa, MINI SA, Coca-Cola South Africa (Pty) Ltd or 5FM) forever and they can do whatever they want with it, chew it up and spit it out.

Basically, if you win, you lose pretty much all ownership of your content. Whatever you create and submit could become a cult hit but the sponsors will bag whatever mula they can make from it. Your big idea becomes their runaway cash cow. 

But money, marketing and copyright aside – this competition can only do good things for the promotion of the Internet as a powerful platform on which the opinionated voices of Joe and Jill Soap can be widely heard. Speak and be heard.
The cherry perching nicely atop the Apple is that they (Apple) are offering free twice-daily podcasting workshops at selected retail locations. Anyone can walk in and use the on-site equipment to record and upload a podcast. Well played, Apple.