John Ceccarelli has no idea why he was the first person in Prague to start a music podcast. "There's just so much good music out there, and it's great to have someone DJ for you," he says. "When I searched and realized there was no one doing podcasts here, I just figured I'd go ahead and do it myself."

Podcasts are audio files distributed over the Internet and played on MP3 players or computers. Anyone with an Internet connection can subscribe to the shows of their choice using applications such as iTunes. The content of podcasts ranges from commercial radio programs to poetry readings, talk radio shows and alternative music mixes. Anyone with a laptop and a Web hosting service can create a podcast — and everywhere else in the world, it seems, everyone has.

Except in Prague. At least, until Ceccarelli created the Prague Podcast in January.

An American expat who has spent eight years in the Czech Republic, the 32-year-old was inspired by a recent trip to his native San Francisco. "I saw so much good music when I was home, it blew my mind," he recalls. "And I got a little bummed out about the lack of a good, vibrant live music scene here. But when I came back, I realized there are a lot of cool things happening when you start to look around."

That provided the impetus Ceccarelli needed to make his show a reality. In addition to drawing on his own diverse music collection — everything from metal to hip-hop to world music and beyond — the show features local and international bands with upcoming gigs in Prague. It gives Ceccarelli a local angle and helps him spread a message he believes in: Get out and support live music.

"Now that everyone is downloading music, going to concerts is more important," he says. "It's a good way to support bands."

Every Monday, the show is posted on praguepodcast.libsyn.com. Ceccarelli puts the whole podcast together with a laptop and a cheap microphone, digitally mixing tracks and adding voiceovers when the musical work is done.

With eight shows behind him, Ceccarelli is thinking bigger. He's recruiting local guest DJs to share their music on the show, and looking to establish more contacts with bands that will be playing here. "My vision is that bands could do guest DJ sets of the kinds of music they like," he says. "It's so simple with podcasting — all they really need to do is send me the list of songs they like and I can put it together myself."

Despite his lack of DJ or radio background, Ceccarelli is producing a remarkably smooth and professional-sounding show, so much so that one has to wonder whether he sees a future for himself in radio.

"I do enjoy this a lot, and it's a nice break from the 'work, work, work' mentality of my days," he admits. "If I got better at it and was successful, a radio show would be a good thing to do." Pausing for a moment, he adds tentatively, "It would be nice to get a Prague Internet radio station going."