Pick of the podcasts: Coverville

By Darren Waters
BBC News entertainment reporter

Podcasting is being tipped as the next big thing in radio. There are thousands of different podcasts made by ordinary people around the globe that can be downloaded onto a PC and transferred to an MP3 player.

Apple has introduced podcast downloads into its popular iTunes music store and media giants such as CBS, ABC and the BBC are now offering a number of radio programmes in podcast form.

Here are six amateur podcasts which are worth listening to.

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Richard Vobes A daily show from the "Willy Wonka" of British podcasting, with help from daughter Georgie Coverville A regular music podcast featuring the best and worst of cover versions down the years Mommycast A weekly show which dicuss all aspects of motherhood and babies

Mr X and Julie Music, humour and quirky slices of life from a married couple based in the state of New York Jawbone The podcast Jerry Seinfeld would have made, if he'd settled down in Cleveland with five children Hometown Tales Stories of the weird and the wonderful from small town America

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COVERVILLE

WHO MAKES THE PODCAST?

Coverville is produced three times a week by Brian Ibbott, at his home in Arvada, Colorado, about 10 miles west of Denver.

"I thought it would be a good creative outlet to produce very easily a radio show that I've always wanted to hear," he said.

WHAT IS THE PODCAST ABOUT?

Coverville is devoted to playing cover versions of classic and not-so-classic pop and rock tunes.

"I'm a music geek at heart, but I have a special affinity for cover songs, and how an artist can totally transform a song into something completely different and original," said Mr Ibbott.

Each show is about 30 minutes long and features six cover songs, along with information about the music and the original source track.

Coverville is one of the most highly-regarded music podcasts and Brian Ibbott has been tipped for success in the mainstream if and when podcasting becomes a more professional form of broadcasting.

He said: "Once big media starts dipping their toes into the pool, we're going to have content that is better produced, but could end up being the same thing we can hear on our TVs and radios.

"The homegrown podcasts have this opportunity to stand out, and produce something that rises above."