The value of podcast as a promotional vehicle may finally be helping music labels and publishers conquer two distinct concerns: fear of piracy and sorting out royalty issues. Ford Motor Co. is joining rival DaimlerChrysler AG as music series podcast, the WSJ reports. The car makers are getting usually reluctant record labels and music publishers to loosen licensing rules governing the use of artists’ work in podcast as a mutually beneficial marketing tool. Both companies have brokered deals with San Francisco-based Rock River Communications Inc., a company mostly known for packaging K-Tel-style CD collections for sale at the Pottery Barn and Gap. Chrysler, which has a deal with Sony BMG, began producing the Chrysler Music Legends series last August. Each podcast focuses on a specific artist, such as Johnny Cash or Miles Davis, and includes a 30-second ad; listeners are encouraged to take the music on the road. Under the podcast promotion agreements, Chrysler and Ford pay labels a flat fee – which the companies declined to disclose – for the right to distribute the podcast for a year, regardless of how many or how few copies are downloaded. Users can keep the programs on their personal computers or MP3 players indefinitely.