RSS feeds: use author tag instead of creator?

[owi92]

This was suggested in one of our meetings. I did some research (RSS standards seem like arcane knowledge to me), and apparently the <author> tag is mainly for the author's email address. There is however also an <itunes:author> tag. Is this the one you need @sc-lmu? (I think that is Simone?)

[philipobi]

Hi, yes we need the <itunes:author> tag! Also, would it be possible to change the value of the <itunes:explicit> tag from true by default to false by default? Thanks a lot!
By the way, here is an overview of the Apple Podcasts RSS specs: https://help.apple.com/itc/podcasts_connect/#/itcb54353390

[owi92]

Thank you @philipobi. I remember combing through these apple RSS specs when this was first implemented, and we decided on only using the required tags then. But adding the itunes:author tag is certainly not a bad idea.

Regarding the default value for explicit: It was decided that we as developers cannot make sure that this will always be the case, hence the true value. But I think we also discussed with Simone that we can make it configurable, so institutions can decide for themselves.

(btw, with "arcane knowledge" I was referring to the offical RSS specs from like 15 - 20 years ago ;)

[philipobi]

Ah ok, it does kind of make sense to have it set to explicit by default to be on the safe side of things!

The strange thing about the itunes:author tag is that even though it isnt listed under "required" by Apple, they do not allow you to publish the podcast if it is not set and it can also not be provided in the Apple Podcasts Connect UI
For our other podcasts, the string displayed for "Artist" in the UI matches the value of the itunes:author tag