Tag: Anchor

Show Your Favorite Podcasters You Love Them With Spotify’s New Star Ratings for Podcasts

December 16, 2021

With more than 3.2 million podcasts on Spotify, we know it can be daunting for listeners to find a new show they love. That’s why we’ve prioritized podcast discovery through features like Podcast Charts and personalized recommendations. And once listeners find a new show that looks promising, we want to make sure they have all the information they need to hit play—including a sense of how other listeners have enjoyed it. 

So starting today, we’re beginning to roll out ratings for podcasts: a star rating system that improves podcast discoverability by highlighting shows’ popularity. Podcast ratings give listeners an opportunity to support their favorite podcast shows and enable a two-way feedback loop between creator and listener.

How—and why—it works

After listening to a show, fans will have the opportunity to give it a rating using a 1–5 star system. The average rating will be publicly displayed on the podcast’s show page on Spotify, along with the total number of ratings the show has received.

By introducing ratings, we’re making it easier for listeners to decide when to try out a new podcast that might be their next favorite. Because podcast ratings will serve as the first chance to draw new listeners in, they have the potential to build instant interest. 

Ratings also give creators a big-picture view of how they’re doing, which they can then use productively by asking for more specific feedback—via Q&As on Spotify and in off-platform social conversations. We recommend that creators start building their ratings by letting their audiences know to rate them on Spotify. (Check out Anchor’s blog for more on how to take advantage of this new feature!)

We know listeners all over the world love podcasts, so this new rating feature will be available in nearly all markets where podcasts are on Spotify. It will start to roll out to users over the coming days—so be on the lookout.

Listen—and Watch—Your Favorite Creators as Video Podcasting Comes to Spotify

October 21, 2021

When you head to Spotify to stream your favorite podcast, sometimes you’re looking for an active listening experience—one with the option to more deeply engage with the content you’re listening to. That’s why we’ve created features like Polls and Q&A for a chance to interact with creators. It’s also why we’ve incorporated video podcasts alongside our audio offering so fans can get to know their favorite podcast hosts even better, and creators can connect with their audiences in a much deeper way.

When we began rolling out video podcasts on Spotify, we tested the format with a variety of Spotify Originals. Since then, we’ve found that our users want the option to easily switch between audio only and video depending on where they are, what they’re doing, and what they’re enjoying. So today, we’re beginning a major expansion of our video podcast catalog—by putting it in the capable hands of creators. 

Soon, Spotify users will see a lot more video podcasts on the platform as we open up access for creators to begin publishing video podcasts to Spotify. This tool will be accessible through Anchor, Spotify’s podcasting platform, and will offer a seamless way for creators to upload video content and publish to Spotify. 

We’ll be launching on a rolling basis with a number of key creators, including existing podcasters who are expanding to video as well as video creators looking to extend their offering to Spotify listeners. Some of these include Philip DeFranco, The GaryVee Audio Experience, Jasmine Chiswell, The WAN Show, Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald, Mark Manson, Tap In w/ Harry Jowsey, and many more to come. These shows join Spotify Originals and Exclusives including The Ringer’s Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay and The Joe Rogan Experience. Expect to see more original video podcasts from Spotify in the future.

Ready to take a watch and a listen? Here’s how to find video content:

  1. Open the Spotify mobile app. 
  2. Navigate to the show you’re excited about and go to the episode page.
  3. Hit “Play” on a podcast episode.
  4. Tap the play bar at the bottom of the screen to view the video full-screen.
  5. Sit back, listen, and watch! (Or if you want to go back to just listening, you can easily do that too). 

More video podcasts will soon be coming to Spotify, so keep an ear—and an eye—on your favorite creators and shows.

Are you a podcast creator? Head over to Anchor’s blog to learn more about the video podcasting feature.

The Latest Spotify Audience Network Innovations for Advertisers and Anchor Creators

October 6, 2021

This past February at Stream On, we announced the Spotify Audience Network, our first-of-its-kind audio advertising marketplace that enables advertisers to connect with listeners enjoying a broad range of music and podcast content. Since then, we’ve launched the network in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Canada with Spotify Originals & Exclusives and third-party podcasts from Megaphone publishers like The Wall Street Journal and ViacomCBS. What’s more, since launch, the number of podcasts in our network has grown by more than 50%—with even more on the way.

While the Spotify Audience Network is still in its early days, we’re pleased with the impact we’ve already seen from this new, audience-centric approach to podcast buying. The result? Greater reach for advertisers and higher earnings for opted-in Megaphone publishers. 

Introducing Anchor to the Spotify Audience Network

Behind the scenes, we’ve continued to develop new ways for podcast creators to earn from their work, including the launch of subscriptions and evolving Anchor’s monetization suite. And today, following a successful test period, we are officially opening up the Spotify Audience Network to Anchor creators in the U.S. 

Advertiser enthusiasm for the podcast industry has skyrocketed over the last year and with this launch, top Anchor creators will be able to take advantage of this growing demand while having yet another way to monetize their content. 

And for advertisers, the introduction of Anchor into the Spotify Audience Network will enable them to connect with even more immersed listeners as they stream some of the fastest growing, most dynamic podcasts in the world, such as Alyssa Milano: Sorry Not Sorry, How Long Gone, and Office Hours live with Tim Heidecker. Anchor powers 70% of Spotify’s podcast catalog, so this new capacity rapidly scales the breadth of advertisers’ reach.

“I’m really excited to be part of the Spotify Audience Network as an Anchor creator,” says the creator of rSlash. “Anchor’s been an amazing platform and has helped my podcast grow to where it is now. Based on the success Anchor and Spotify have driven for me so far, I have full confidence that the new monetization models they’re offering will help creators like me expand our businesses further.”

Podcast ads for all

But wait: there’s more. 

Advertisers of all sizes have been vying to take advantage of the benefits of podcasts, but it hasn’t been so simple. Until now, advertisers had to have a direct relationship with the Spotify team and a sizable budget to advertise in our podcast network. Now though, we’re leveling the playing field and soon, all types of advertisers—universities, independent artists, app developers, and more—will be able to realize the value of podcast ads. In the coming weeks, we’ll be introducing podcast ad buying to Spotify Ad Studio, our easy-to-use, self-serve channel. We’re starting in the U.S. with plans to expand to more markets in the future.

Giving advertisers more confidence and control while enforcing a brand-safe environment

Today, we’re also announcing that we’re joining the Global Alliance of Responsible Media (GARM) as the first audio platform among its ranks. As a member, we will help set brand safety standards in audio for the industry while ensuring we’re aligning to their already-established guidelines.

“This year, consumers called Spotify the most-trusted ad platform,” says Lee Brown, VP, Global Head of Advertising Business. “Maintaining that trust—both from our listeners and our partners—is of the utmost importance to us. We already do that through our content and brand safety policies, which utilize a combination of people and technology to moderate what’s appropriate. But there’s always more to do. GARM cements our commitment to this by adhering to a set of industry guidelines.”

What’s more, we are launching the ability to exclude sensitive topics, offering advertisers more confidence and control over where their message is heard across the network. We’re also supercharging our contextual targeting tools, enabling new controls to allow advertisers to target their messages against relevant podcast topics (think: an animal shelter reaching listeners while they enjoy a show about pets).

The time is now

Interested in learning more about these launches, including how to get started? Advertisers can find more details over at Ads.Spotify.com. And Anchor podcasters can learn more about the Spotify Audience Network and the full suite of monetization offerings over at Anchor’s blog.

Podcasts Get Interactive With New Q&A and Polls Features

September 30, 2021

Historically, podcasting has been a one-way street: creators publish shows and their audiences listen. But podcasting has the power to be a community-building medium, and at Spotify, we believe there can be more to the story. 

In order to achieve this community, creators and listeners need channels through which they can engage directly with the content and with each other. Today, just in time for International Podcast Day, Spotify and Anchor are powering new capabilities to help creators and listeners interact more deeply: Q&A and Polls.

These interactive enhancements will make it easier for listeners to engage with the people behind their favorite podcasts and for creators to hear from their fans and listeners—directly on Spotify. Q&A and Polls allow listeners to respond to short questions posed by the shows’ creators on podcast episode pages in the Spotify app. Starting today, these features are available to all Anchor creators and Spotify listeners in 160 markets around the world.

When we talked about this development at Stream On in February, we were testing Q&A and Polls with a select group of creators. Since then, thousands of creators have expressed interest in getting access to these features. In testing, we’ve seen creators use Q&A and Polls in a wide variety of ways: to get suggestions for future guests, to garner feedback on topic choice and format, and to create fun gamification that keeps listeners coming back to hear the hosts’ take on their responses.

“We have sought to create an engaged community of film lovers,” said Michael Tucker, host of Beyond The Screenplay. “All of the Spotify features have been absolutely incredible for bringing us closer to our audience. The Polls feature, in particular, is really helping us to shape the show’s future episodes.”

Here’s how it works: 

If a creator has chosen to post a question or poll for a specific episode, listeners will be able to find the question at the bottom of the episode page from their Spotify mobile app (whether iOS or Android). Depending on whether the creator chose an open-ended Q&A or a Poll, listeners can follow the prompt to respond in-app.

After responding to a Poll, listeners will then get to see how the entire audience of respondents voted and how their answer stacked up. For Q&A, listener responses will be delivered privately to the creator. Creators can then choose and pin specific featured responses that will appear publicly below the question (displaying the respondent’s Spotify username). For details on how the features work for creators, check out Anchor’s blog post.

We believe the future of podcasting is interactive. For too long, podcasting has been hindered by one-directional technology and a lack of format innovation. By building interactive functionality directly into our creation platform, Anchor, we’re able to break this mold and power more unique uses for audio. 

In addition to direct podcast interactivity such as Q&A and Polls, we’ve been rolling out a suite of products that create an all-in-one experience for audio creation and listening, from the Music + Talk content format, to the recently launched Podcast Subscriptions feature. Stay tuned as we continue to create tools to evolve how listeners engage with shows—and give creators greater control over their content.

Ready to dive right in and celebrate International Podcast Day? We’re making it simple to find the perfect show for you with our “Find the One” personalized quiz. Answer a handful of questions, and let us help you find your perfect podcast match.

Opening Up Podcast Subscriptions to All U.S. Podcasters

August 24, 2021

We have long believed that creators should have a variety of options at their fingertips when it comes to deciding how to monetize their work. That’s why, as more creators than ever are now publishing their content on Spotify, we’ve begun rolling out tools that power those choices: from better advertising models to direct monetization from listeners. 

In April, we shared that we would begin testing Podcast Subscriptions as a way for creators to offer paid subscriber-only content on Spotify and other platforms, using Spotify’s podcast creation platform, Anchor. In the testing period since, we’ve activated over 100 podcasts and found that shows across genres and content styles have a massive opportunity to build paying subscriber bases. Now, we’re ready to expand this model to everyone.

Starting today, we’re making Podcast Subscriptions available to all U.S. podcasters. Our model is built to maximize creator revenue and offer the widest possible reach so creators can grow their audiences and develop deep connections with listeners. Creators will now find that in Anchor, they’ll be able to mark episodes as subscriber-only and publish them to Spotify and other platforms.

Today, we’re also rolling out some updates to the product based on learnings during the testing period: 

  • We will be expanding the number of pricing points to 20 options that can be chosen by the creator, offering increased flexibility. 
  • We now offer the ability for creators to download a list of contact addresses for their subscribers so they can further engage with their subscriber bases and offer even more benefits.

When we talk about maximizing creator revenue and powering wide reach for subscriber-only content, there are a few specific ways we’re following through on that intention. 

First, our terms offer an industry-best revenue percentage that podcasters take home from their subscriptions. Until 2023, this program will come at no cost to the creator—they’ll receive 100% of subscription revenue (excluding payment processing fees). Starting in 2023, we plan to implement a 5% fee on subscription revenue.

We’ve included elements of this philosophy directly in the product as well by offering ways for creators to offer their content to listeners everywhere, not just on Spotify. In addition to publishing subscriber-only content directly to Spotify, Anchor will also provide creators with private RSS feeds that can be used by listeners on other platforms. And because Spotify is available on iOS and Android, as well as a number of devices (speakers, gaming consoles, cars, etc.), creators using Podcast Subscriptions can reach listeners wherever they are.

We believe that offering subscriber-only content on Spotify, where it can be discovered by our user base of 365 million monthly listeners, will enable more of that content to gain audiences and make real connections with them. That’s also why we’re providing creators with contact information for their subscribers: We understand that creators want to own their relationships with listeners, and we intend to empower that.

Podcast Subscriptions will continue to evolve and grow as we learn from creators who succeed with this model. We plan to expand internationally very soon: Starting on September 15, international listeners will gain access to subscriber-only content, and shortly after we’ll make the feature available to creators around the world—so stay tuned.

For more information on how to get started, check out the Anchor blog.

 

Update as of November 16, 2021: Podcast Subscriptions are now available to creators across 34 markets in 8 languages. See Anchor’s blog for more.

Spotify’s Music + Talk Show Format is Expanding Across the Globe

August 18, 2021

Music + Talk gif

Last October, Spotify launched a pioneering listening experience called Music + Talk that brings together music and spoken-word content. The unique format weaves full songs and talk commentary together​ into one show.

Through Anchor, Spotify has also made Music + Talk an accessible format that anyone can use to create these unique shows. Anchor’s suite of tools is already available to users in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. 

Starting today, we’re expanding the experience to millions more creators and listeners around the world and sharing the tool with 15 new markets across Europe, Latin America, and Asia. 

Here’s everything you need to know.

Where in the world is Music + Talk?

With this expansion, Japan, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia will have access to the blended audio experience.

Creators in these markets will now have access to the “Music” tool in Anchor, where they can incorporate full songs from Spotify’s library of 70 million tracks into their spoken-word audio creations. And in return, listeners can interact directly with the music within an episode by liking, saving, and sharing with each track as they would in any playlist. 

The shows will be available to Premium and Free listeners. Spotify Premium users will hear full tracks as part of these shows, while Free users will hear 30-second previews of each song. Shows can be listened to globally wherever Spotify is available.

Our catalog of Music + Talk Spotify Originals will also get a boost across a number of markets as new shows from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, India, Japan, and the Philippines join our library today. Plus, there’s more to come from all the markets included in our latest launch. These shows will explore the many facets of music, from the stories and inspiration behind a song to the listening trends of the modern age, and they will offer an opportunity for artists to engage listeners in a unique way.

More ways to get inspired

Along with the market expansion, Spotify will begin offering a variety of new educational and inspirational resources for creators interested in using Music + Talk.

Today also marks the launch of an exciting new Spotify Original called Music + Talk: Unlocked, which will explore creative uses of the Music + Talk format—from guided runs to music trivia and more. Listeners and creators can find more best-in-class shows in the Music + Talk hub in the Spotify app.

Since we rolled out Music + Talk last year, we’ve learned from the needs and behaviors of listeners, as we always do with new products. Savvy streamers will notice that we’ve implemented small tweaks to improve the listening experience and reflect those needs: clearer visual distinction between the music and talk segments of an episode and music previews on episode pages.

We can’t wait to see new creativity and stories from around the globe as more markets make the audio storytelling features their own. Check out Anchor’s blog post and creator landing page for more information on how to get started with Music + Talk.

Spotify Ushers In New Era of Podcast Monetization With New Tools for All Creators

April 27, 2021

More and more creators are bringing their podcasts and shows to Spotify. With 345 million monthly listeners on Spotify, there’s a massive opportunity for all of these creators to monetize their work—and we believe there needs to be a variety of options for them to choose from to do so. 

At Stream On, we shared that we’d be launching more choices for podcast monetization: a native solution on Spotify to power paid podcast subscriptions, and the activation of independent creators as part of the Spotify Audience Network. Today begins the rollout of our monetization options for all creators: with Paid Subscriptions, Spotify’s Open Access Platform, and bringing independent creators into our Spotify Audience Network.

Paid subscription platform 

Today, we’re rolling out a paid subscription platform for podcasters that gives them maximized revenue, wide reach, and discoverability. The program begins rolling out in the U.S. today and will expand internationally in the coming months.

This feature will be available to creators through Anchor, allowing podcasters to mark episodes as subscriber-only and publish them to Spotify and other podcast-listening platforms. For the next two years, this program will come at no cost to the creator, meaning that participating creators receive 100% of their subscriber revenues (excluding payment transaction fees). Starting in 2023, we plan to introduce a competitive 5% fee for access to this tool.

By enabling wide distribution of subscriber-only content, our aim is to help podcasters maximize their subscription audiences and grow them from their existing listener bases. Within Spotify, this content will be searchable and discoverable like any other podcast episode. 

The first group of participating creators includes 12 independent podcasters who are each uniquely well positioned to succeed in gaining meaningful revenue from their audiences. These creators will publish subscriber-only bonus content in their existing podcast feeds. Starting now, we’re also going to begin accepting submissions from our waitlist, effectively expanding the program to more creators and the rest of the world over the coming months. 

We’re also unveiling a collaboration with NPR in which they will publish a selection of their shows sponsor-free for paid subscribers. Five shows will be available starting May 4—How I Built This with Guy Raz, Short Wave, It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, Code Switch, and Planet Money—with more to come in the following weeks. Look for NPR shows marked as “Plus” (for example, Planet Money Plus) to subscribe to sponsor-free content from NPR and support the shows you love.

Listeners can look forward to a seamless Spotify listening experience. This subscriber-only content will be fully searchable and discoverable within the Spotify app, and even show up within a show’s main feed—shows will be marked with a lock icon on the play button. Listeners will be able to tune in knowing that their subscriptions are going directly to the podcasters they love, giving independent creators a revenue stream on their own terms.

Spotify Open Access Platform (OAP)

Are you a creator or publisher who has subscribers elsewhere? We’re also working on technology that will let your listeners hear your content on Spotify using your existing login system. This gives creators with existing subscriber bases the option to deliver paid content to their existing paid audiences using Spotify, retaining direct control over the relationship. 

Stay tuned: We’re currently testing the technology and will have more to share in the coming months about partners and features.

Spotify Audience Network

At Stream On, we announced the Spotify Audience Network—a first-of-its-kind audio advertising marketplace in which advertisers of all sizes will be able to connect with listeners consuming a broad range of content. We’ve already unlocked Megaphone publisher inventory via the network, and starting May 1, we will begin to open Spotify Audience Network to select independent creators using Anchor, so more people can have access to this unique tool.

We believe this technology will enable more creators to make meaningful revenue from their podcasts by providing much better value to advertisers than existing podcast advertising solutions that use RSS. This will ultimately bring more dollars (and more-efficient spending) into the space, benefitting creators who choose to monetize through advertising.

Curious to know more? Check out Anchor’s blog for more on how the Paid Subscription program works for creators.

On the Latest Episode of ‘Spotify: For the Record’ Anchor Podcasters Share How They Bring Their Stories to Life

February 25, 2021

In 2019, Spotify acquired Anchor, a platform that makes it easy to hit the ground running in the podcast space. Podcasters around the world can access the platform’s creative tools, free content hosting, and distribution. Last year, we saw that 80% of the new shows on Spotify were made with Anchor. For beginners, the platform can help simplify the steps to getting published, while more experienced creators benefit from Anchor’s wide range of unique features, like including music straight from Spotify’s catalogue to make a Music + Talk show.

In the latest episode of our podcast, Spotify: For the Record, we explore how a variety of podcasters got their start using Anchor.

  • We follow along with Cassandra Bankson, a skincare expert and influencer, as she embarks on her journey to create her first podcast. From getting a microphone to learning how to upload episodes to Spotify, we follow along as her audio story comes to life.
  • Gael Aitor and Kayla Suarez, from the popular podcast Teenager Therapy, join us to share why their series is the perfect forum to highlight the struggles that come with being a teenager.
  • Rizky Ardi Nugroho, host of one of the top podcasts in Indonesia, Do You See What I See, shares how Anchor helped him start his show in 2018 (when he knew next to nothing about podcasting), and how he went from being a rice producer to a podcast producer. 

Michael Mignano, the cofounder of Anchor, also joins us to talk about the innovations that creators can expect to see in the near future. From audience poll functionality to an in-app Q&A format, the platform is opening up new forms of engagement for podcasters.

The episode concludes with a series of tips and tricks from each guest for aspiring podcasters. Ready to give it a listen? Check it out here.

Spotify’s Anchor Innovations Are Bringing the Future of Audio to the Present

February 22, 2021

Over the past few years, our team at Spotify has unveiled several listening experiences that take you beyond the standard formats of playlists and podcasts. Your Daily Drive and The Get Up, for example, incorporate both music and the spoken word in dynamic settings, tailored to your day. But to truly unlock an ecosystem of new ways of listening, we knew we needed to enable the creation of new audio formats. So when we began testing Music+Talk shows last fall, we rolled out the listening experience alongside the ability to create this content—giving everyone the ability to curate music tracks directly into their storytelling. 

Platforms like Anchor and Spotify for Podcasters have enabled access to easier creation of podcasts. (In fact, Anchor accounted for 80% of the new shows on Spotify in 2020—that’s more than 1 million new shows.) And to truly build the future of audio, we want to give everyone the ability to take their creativity further, even beyond the existing concept of a podcast: to make audio experiences that have never before been possible. We think of these possibilities as the “future formats” of audio—and we believe that the best way to build an ecosystem of audio content is to enable its creation, by everyone. 

We began this journey with the rollout of Music+Talk shows and their corresponding creation tools in Anchor. But that was only the beginning. Today at Stream On, we shared several new and upcoming capabilities to enable the creation of future formats of audio. Read on to learn more.

Let your written words travel further with the Anchor + WordPress partnership

Today, we announced a new partnership between Anchor and WordPress to power opportunities for content creators to evolve their work and reach new audiences through the power of audio. With this new tool, available now, bloggers can publish their written content as a podcast with just a few clicks—and podcasters can create a website for their podcast just as easily. This offers a whole new group of creators—those who have historically focused on the written word—to access an entirely new audience via audio and share their voices on Spotify. Check out Anchor’s and WordPress’s blogs to learn more.

Cultivate direct connections with listeners via new interactivity features

Historically, podcasting has been a one-way street—from creator to listeners—with little opportunity for direct feedback. But with Spotify and Anchor, the creation and listening technology is brought together in the same ecosystem, allowing for a back-and-forth. This has enabled us to build interactivity features like Polls and Q&A, which we’ve been testing in partnership with a small beta group of creators. We will be widening that group to more users in the coming months, and creators can sign up here to express interest in participating in future tests of interactivity features.

Combine audio and visual storytelling with video podcasts

In the coming months, we’ll begin testing the ability for creators to add video to their podcasts when they publish via Anchor—meaning these creators will have the power to complement their audio with visual. We first began testing video podcasts on Spotify in July of last year and have since been iterating on the offering. Later this year, more creators can expect to access this feature as we expand the test via tooling that will live in Anchor.

New models for monetizing your work on Spotify

Going forward, we’ll also begin testing a capability for podcasters to explore new revenue streams through paid subscriptions supported by their listeners. Recently, some podcasters have started earning revenue by offering bonus content exclusively for paid subscribers—and soon they’ll be able to do the same on Spotify, where their content can easily be discovered by fans around the world. Creators can sign up here to learn more and express interest in this feature.

We’re excited about what’s to come, and to see creators take advantage of these new tools as they’re released over the coming months. Ready to experiment with your own future format now? Try out Music+Talk, a show format that allows creators to incorporate songs from Spotify’s music catalog directly into their storytelling. Find novel Music+Talk shows—including Maggie Rogers’ Notes from the Archive, Maluma’s Una Semana en Jamaica, and Hulu’s The Ultimate Playlist of Noise—in the Music + Talk hub on Spotify, and make your own show on Anchor.

Spotify Launches New Audio Experience Combining Music and Talk Content

October 14, 2020

Everyone loves both a great playlist and a highly engaging conversation. Today, we’re beginning to test a new listening experience that brings together music and spoken-word content in an easy and elegant package, allowing full songs and talk commentary to live together wrapped up in one show. 

With this new feature, listeners have even more ways to discover and connect with music from their favorite (and future favorite) artists. Read on for the full details on how to listen, which shows you can hear now, and how to make a show yourself.

How it works

Think of your favorite drive-time radio show, that music journalist whose insights help you appreciate a band’s leap forward, a DJ whose perspective makes that next track hit perfectly. 

Now imagine that you’re able to enjoy that perfect blend of music and commentary whenever and wherever you want, interactively and on demand. With shows that use this new format, listeners can interact with the music within the episodes, in the same way they interact with all other song tracks on Spotify (for example liking, saving, and reading more information about a track) without having to leave the episode page or search for it manually.

For any episode of a show with music, hit “Explore Episode” on the episode page, or tap the play bar at the bottom of the screen to pull up the episode track list. From there, you can skip around to different segments and songs and save songs for future listening.

Shows using this format are exclusive to Spotify because they rely on Spotify’s music catalog licenses and compensate musicians and songwriters just like any regular stream of a music track on Spotify. Spotify Premium listeners will hear full tracks as part of these shows, and those with the Free tier will hear 30-second music previews.

Want to Start a Podcast? Hear How From Anchor Podcasters

April 2, 2020

Always wanted to host and produce your own podcast? While it may feel like a significant undertaking, there are plenty of tools that can help—and podcast experts who are ready to guide you along the way.

Anchor, the podcasting platform Spotify acquired in 2019, provides easy-to-use creative tools, free content hosting, and distribution to listening platforms, including Spotify. Since its creation, Anchor has enabled people all over the world to broadcast their voices.

Looking for additional guidance and inspiration on starting your podcast? Well, look no further than Anchor’s How I Podcast series, where podcasters deep dive into their processes and best practices. Check out this roundup of great advice from Anchor creators Ashley Smith and Kristy Brannon, Evan Pricco and Doug Gillen, Aaron Bernstein, and Alex and Christine Schiefer.

10 Anchor Tools To Help You Make a Great Podcast

June 4, 2019

In February, Spotify announced that we acquired Anchor, a platform that makes quality podcasting easy and fun. We’re excited to increase the number of podcasts and diversity of topics available on Spotify and hope to inspire our users to start creating their own shows.

Luckily, podcasting has never been as simple—or accessible—as it is with Anchor. Whether you’re recording your fourth podcast or your first, check out 10 Anchor tools below that can ease you through the entire process.

1. Record from anywhere—literally.

  • Record episodes wherever you are by using the Anchor mobile app for iPhone, Android, or iPad. Or flip open your laptop and use the desktop website. No other equipment is required—unless you’re feeling fancy, in which case you can use a USB mic. You can also upload audio files to use in your podcast.
  • True story: People have used the mobile feature to record everywhere imaginable, including while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and from a boat in the middle of the ocean.

2. Record with anyone. 

  • Anchor’s Record with Friends feature supports remote recording with up to eight people at once. Talk to people anywhere in the world and record in real time—distance never has to be an obstacle to making your podcast.

3. Edit your audio with a couple of taps.

  • Once you’ve recorded some audio, you can edit it by trimming out any unnecessary pieces or splitting it into multiple segments. Anchor’s editing tools are easy to use even when you’re on mobile.

4. Make it sound beautiful.

  • Anchor has a library of free background music that can be added underneath your audio. The app will even automatically adjust the music’s volume based on the sound of your voice, so it’s a great way to easily add texture to your podcast’s sound.

5. Customize your cover art.

  • Choose from a library of beautiful photos for your podcast cover artwork, thanks to Anchor’s Cover Art Creator (in partnership with Unsplash). Once you select the perfect image, you can add custom text to it right in the Anchor app.

6. Get your show heard everywhere.

  • Anchor takes care of distributing your podcast everywhere people are listening. With just one tap, you can get your podcast on Spotify and more.

7. Transform your words into social-friendly videos.

  • If you want to go beyond soundscapes, select a clip of two minutes or less to turn into a word video. It’s perfect for showcasing your work across social channels.

8. Make your listeners part of your podcast.

  • With Anchor’s Voice Messages, you can collect messages from your listeners and incorporate them right into your episodes. Some creators use this feature to share listener comments on a particular topic, host a listener-inspired episode, or create a Q&A-style show.

9. See how your show is growing.

  • Gain unique insights into when and where your podcast is being heard the loudest. On your Anchor dashboard, you’ll find detailed analytics so you can learn about who’s listening and how your episodes are performing. Analytics are available on mobile and web, so you can track your success no matter where you are.

10. Make money with your podcast.

  • With Anchor Sponsorships and Listener Support, you can make money from your podcast either by including custom ads (we’ll do the work of matching you with a sponsor and helping you record your own ads), or by collecting recurring donations from listeners.

Ready to get started? Sign up for Anchor today.