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April 23, 2024:
April 22, 2024:
April 18, 2024:
February 9, 2024:
    Spotify is removing Music + Talk, which allowed you to present a music show (launched as “Shows with Music”); interactive audience tool Voice Messages, remote recording tool Record with Friends, and Background Music and Sounds. The company tells us it’s a shift away from legacy creation tooling, and towards tools for better audience growth and engagement.
January 8, 2024:
    Ten podcast companies are still not certified for the latest version of the IAB’s podcast measurement guidelines v2.1, in spite of being asked to do so by the end of 2022. More than a year later, the IAB’s list of compliant companies still shows AdsWizz, Anchor (now Spotify), Buzzsprout, Captivate, Chartable, Libsyn, Megaphone, Podbean, Podtrac and Simplecast as only compliant to v2.0 of the guidelines, something that means “they will lose current status”, according to the IAB Tech Lab.
December 5, 2023:
    What’s the future for IAB Podcast Measurement? In November 2022, we reported that the IAB’s v2.0 certification would no longer be valid after Dec 31 2023. As of today, some of podcasting’s largest names are still only compliant to v2.0, and all will lose their claim to certification by the end of the year unless recertified: Adswizz, Buzzsprout, Captivate, Chartable, “EmpireStreaming” (now Soundstack), Libsyn, PodBean, Podtrac, Simplecast, and “Anchor” (now Spotify Creator Studio).
September 11, 2023:
August 28, 2023:
    Launched Sept 2020 in Podnews, NPR ends localised versions of the Consider This podcast this week, which they claimed at the time was the "first localised daily news podcast". Localisation "did not prove sustainable", said a spokesperson; Current reports that the production process wasn't scalable; audiences didn't value it much anyway; and NPR is moving to Megaphone which means the use of different tools. Consider This continues, with national content (featuring anchors like Mary Louise Kelly, above)
August 2, 2023:
    The number of episodes published (on open RSS) by Spotify for Podcasters, formerly Anchor, dipped to a new low last month says Livewire; but it still hosts one out of every five new episodes; and Spotify's Megaphone also posted another record high. The biggest increases were seen by Omny Studio and its owner Triton Digital.
July 12, 2023:
July 5, 2023:
    Audm, the article narration company bought by The New York Times in March 2020, has been closed. As of July 1, the website redirects to a promotion for the New York Times Audio app, and the Audm app is no longer available for download. The company last tweeted in July 2021; and last updated its Facebook page in September 2019.
July 3, 2023:
June 19, 2023:
June 7, 2023:
May 5, 2023:
    On this week’s Money Talks from The Economist, hosts Tom Lee-Devlin and Mike Bird ask what the future holds for the business of podcasts. Anchor co-founder Michael Mignano tells them that companies have realised they can be much leaner. And Nick Hilton, a podcast production company founder, explains why he thinks 2022 is the year when podcasting died.
April 27, 2023:
April 19, 2023:
    Nir Zicherman is to leave Spotify. With Michael Mignano, he was co-founder of Anchor, and is currently VP and Global Head of Audiobooks, which he describes as ground-breaking work. Mignano left Spotify last June; Zicherman's last day is Sep 30, when he will work on "a new project in the startup space".
April 3, 2023:
March 9, 2023:
    Anchor, the free podcast host, is now called Spotify for Podcasters. The new podcast hosting service from Spotify includes automated ads (US-only, invite-only), and podcast subscriptions (in 34 markets). Spotify will now allow any podcaster to use Q&A and polls - wherever they're hosted.
March 2, 2023:
February 24, 2023:
February 21, 2023:

could make RSS versions of podcast audio available everywhere for free (much like Anchor does), and pull visitors to YouTube to watch the video version. As a customer acquisition tool, this would drive usage of YouTube, and allow them to sell audio ads off-platform, perhaps.

February 15, 2023:
    In Toronto ON, Canada, the police have made 24 Shades of Blue, a podcast giving the Toronto community a behind-the-scenes view of police activities. A CBC investigation has discovered that the interview show, produced by Obie & Ax Inc ("North America's leading podcast production firm"), has cost more than $330,000 so far in a sole-source contract. That money hasn't gone on hosting though: Podnews can tell you that the show's on Spotify's free podcast host Anchor.
January 26, 2023:
    Former CNN anchor and journalist Carol Costello is working with Evergreen Podcasts for Carol Costello Presents: Blind Rage - focusing this season on the attack of Phyllis Cottle, who was blinded by her assailant. Costello says: “Her story is tragic, but that's not her full story. Her life in her words, ‘had a purpose’ after she escaped her attacker.”
January 25, 2023:

Andy Slavitt, Author & Host of In the Bubble, Misha Euceph, CEO, Dustlight Productions, Audie Cornish, Anchor, Correspondent & Host, CNN Audio, Roxane Gay, Host, The Roxane Gay Agenda, Gary Coichy, CEO, Pod Digital Media and Jay Shetty, Host, On Purpose.

January 3, 2023:
January 2, 2023:
December 20, 2022:
December 19, 2022:
December 12, 2022:
    The winners of the Asian Podcast Awards were announced. Almost all are in English; and they are: Best podcast: 1920, within the YES 933 Radio Drama feed (Mediacorp, in Chinese / Omny Studio) … Best podcast host: Adulting with former children (Zodapop, SYRUP Media / Anchor) … Best narrative storytelling or fiction podcast: Creepy Twisted Asians (ZAG / Castos) … Best science, tech or business podcast: Inside China: Coronavirus Podcast, within the Inside China feed (South China Morning Post / Acast) … Best comedy, entertainment or lifestyle podcast: A Brief Case: true crime in Asia (Indie / Podbean) … Best arts, society or culture podcast: Miss Conduct (IVM Podcasts / Omny Studio)
December 2, 2022:
    Data: Spotify's Anchor continues to lose market share: it was down to 21.6% of all new podcast episodes in November. However, Spotify's overall market share remains the same after Megaphone posted the biggest share increase in the top 15 podcast hosts.
November 22, 2022:
    Spotify's Anchor has added "audio enhancement" to its app. The company says "A single tap can automatically reduce background noise while leveling your voice and bringing it to the forefront." Alternatives are Auphonic, which is used by a number of podcast hosts, and Descript's "studio sound".
November 16, 2022:
    Spotify has released video podcasts everywhere - "in 180 global markets". Spotify and Anchor's blog posts, made in July, have been updated. Until now they've only been in twelve markets; the proprietary service launched in April.
November 2, 2022:
October 24, 2022:

Andy Slavitt, Author & Host of In the Bubble, Misha Euceph, CEO, Dustlight Productions, Audie Cornish, Anchor, Correspondent & Host, CNN Audio, Roxane Gay, Host, The Roxane Gay Agenda, Gary Coichy, CEO, Pod Digital Media and Jay Shetty, Host, On Purpose.

October 18, 2022:
October 3, 2022:
    Spotify released a Fan Study for podcast creators. Fans who "follow" (aka subscribe to) your podcast will listen to 4x the number of episodes of those who don't, says the data; and episode completion rate varies from genre to genre, with true crime and fiction podcasts having the highest completion rates (at about 87%), while tech shows have one of the lowest (about 72%). Also in new research, The State of Branded Podcasts 2022 Report was released by CoHost, a podcast hosting company. Two-thirds of branded podcasts post every week, says that data.
September 29, 2022:
September 20, 2022:
September 16, 2022:
September 8, 2022:
September 1, 2022:
    Anchor was still the #1 podcast host in August, according to new data from John Spurlock's Livewire, but the company's share of new episodes continues to fall from a high in April. Meanwhile, Buzzsprout increased its share significantly, from 7.9% to 9.0%: the highest share for six months. There were 1.6m new podcast episodes published in August, up 5.4% from July.
August 30, 2022:
July 21, 2022:
    It's eleven years since Amy Winehouse died; We Miss Amy Winehouse is a companion podcast to an Edinburgh Fringe show from Suchandrika Chakrabarti. The show, on Anchor's Music + Talk platform, asks Amy fans from the worlds of comedy, music and journalism about their favourite Winehouse tracks, when they first heard the songs and why they, too, miss Amy Winehouse.
July 18, 2022:
    Interestingly, Anchor appears to have slowed in growth. Our page which measures podcasters switching their shows appears to show the number of podcasters leaving Anchor is almost as high as those joining the podcast platform.
July 13, 2022:
July 7, 2022:
July 6, 2022:
June 30, 2022:
June 13, 2022:
June 10, 2022:
    "Every new Anchor show brings 2.5 additional monthly active users to Spotify", said Maya Prohovnik. The company also unveiled that Anchor powers 3m podcasts on Spotify - so, "these figures suggest that Anchor has been responsible, singlehandedly, for 7.5m new users to Spotify. Given a majority of people do not listen to podcasts, the majority will be new podcast listeners. This is good," said our Editor on Twitter.
June 9, 2022:
    In her comments, Maya Prohovnik, who oversees Spotify’s creator tools across podcasting, described RSS as "outdated technology", and said they have been able to replace it for their on-platform distribution. She also claimed that every new Anchor show brings 2.5 new monthly active users to the Spotify platform.
June 7, 2022:
June 6, 2022:
    Our hosts changes page (we removed the ceased podcasts from there, which confused the graph) shows a large amount of shows switching from Anchor to Megaphone.
June 2, 2022:
May 11, 2022:
May 9, 2022:
May 5, 2022:
    Of interest, Anchor artwork appears as Google's Knowledge Graph image for My Favorite Murder, rather than the real podcast image. On Spotify, a search for "My Favorite Murder" takes you to a poorly produced music album by "Penny Bank", called "Murder Podcasts", with somebody reading out a critique of podcast artwork over a cheap electronic drumbeat; and a set of more than ten playlists with the artwork and shows jumbled up into a random order. "Spotify respects the rights of intellectual property owners", they say, though when we tried to find that quote, Spotify's main website had fallen over.
May 4, 2022:
    The world's largest podcast host, Anchor was down for much of yesterday; from around 8.45am to 5.15pm Eastern. Publishers had problems accessing its website or posting new episodes; listeners were unable to download episodes either.
May 3, 2022:
    Michael Mignano is to leave Spotify. He's said to have given his resignation last week, and leaves at the end of June. He was co-founder of Anchor and is currently Head of Talk (Podcasts, Live, and Video) at Spotify. In January he was “Global Head of Talk Verticals” Spotify; he had been “Head of Podcaster Mission” for a while, and has also variously been called “Head of Podcasts, Live and Video”, and “Head of Creation Platform”. He joins Courtney Holt and Lydia Polgreen in departing the company.
May 2, 2022:
    More than a quarter of new podcast episodes published in April were on Anchor, according to data from John Spurlock: Spotify's free podcast host was responsible for 25.8% of all new podcast episodes in April, breaking 25% for the first time. The rest of the top five were Buzzsprout, Spreaker, Libsyn, and at #5, Podbean which overtook Omny Studio last month. More ranking detail in The Tech Stuff, below.
April 28, 2022:
April 25, 2022:
    Podbean appears to be seeing a large number of migrations away from the service, according to our sample: a large amount making their way to Anchor. Worthwhile also noting AfterBuzzTV switching from Anchor to Megaphone; and our sample continuing to see iHeart podcasts shifting from Spotify's Megaphone to iHeart's Omny Studio.
April 22, 2022:
April 18, 2022:
    The OPAWG user agent list has been updated with a number of new services including Gaana's iOS app, Bullhorn, Newsly, ProCast, and Anchor's importing tool.
April 14, 2022:
April 12, 2022:
April 11, 2022:
    Podcast host Anchor's creator interface is now available in 35 different languages. Of the top five podcast hosts, Omny Studio is in six languages, Spreaker available in four; Buzzsprout and Libsyn only offer English, though YouTube is in 82 different languages. It's unclear whether support is available in all of them. Podcasting is growing faster in non-English languages.
April 4, 2022:
March 7, 2022:
    In our sample, we observed Buzzsprout losing 27 podcasts last week, and Libsyn losing 14. The podcast hosts gaining the most were, as they always are, Anchor and Megaphone; though Simplecast and Acast also saw a good number of migrations.
March 3, 2022:
March 2, 2022:
February 23, 2022:
February 2, 2022:
January 28, 2022:
    And, Jennifer Tribe, Supercast's Head of Marketing, spots a marketing opportunity: "I'd like to note that Supercast was also on the Open Access launch partner list: and we have rolled out our integration (as of Oct 2021). At this point, we're the only subscription platform offering it to all our podcasters."
January 27, 2022:
January 24, 2022:
January 20, 2022:
    Anchor podcasts are unplayable in some podcast apps. Popular podcast app Overcast rushed out an update after files are "now being served as AAC in some way that breaks Apple’s ExtAudioFile API," said developer Marco Arment, which "makes them unplayable in Overcast as downloads, but playable as streams". The fault in Anchor's audio also affects other apps. Arment tweeted more technical details; and added, in a tweet to Anchor: "It’s been two weeks that you’re serving malformed files, breaking media players, and losing the audiences of your customers. Do you care about this medium at all?" The company hasn't responded.
January 3, 2022:
December 31, 2021:
December 17, 2021:
December 15, 2021:
    Do Anchor podcasters find it too hard to get into Apple Podcasts? The Podcast Index's Dave Jones reports that "726,234 Anchor feeds in the index do not have Apple iTunes IDs". The company stopped auto-submitting podcasts to Apple in June, resulting in a significant slow-down for Apple numbers. (Earlier this year, Buzzsprout told us that only 60% of their shows have bothered submitting to Apple).
December 3, 2021:
    Data: Around 425,000 new episodes were published on Anchor in November, but the company lost 0.7% market share. In the top ten, the top 8 remains unchanged; Captivate is new at #9, beating Megaphone which remains at #10. (Podnews's Editor is an advisor for Captivate).
November 22, 2021:
November 18, 2021:
November 12, 2021:
November 11, 2021:
November 10, 2021:
November 3, 2021:
October 22, 2021:
October 11, 2021:
    The expiration of an old root certificate for Let's Encrypt continues to cause problems with some podcast platforms. NPR, RadioPublic and TuneIn are no longer updating any RSS feeds from Anchor or Feedpress, and others secured with Let's Encrypt. NPR, RadioPublic and TuneIn need to fix their servers to remove the old Let's Encrypt root cert: this fix helped us last week when we had a similar issue.
October 8, 2021:
October 7, 2021:
October 4, 2021:
    In case you missed an email, Anchor "identified an issue that caused plays to be undercounted between Sep 8-14". It recalculated all data on Sep 21.
October 1, 2021:
September 16, 2021:
    Podcasting on Anchor? We've discovered a bug: they're using outdated ISO 639:1988 language codes, which were changed in 1989 for Indonesian ("id", not "in"), Hebrew ("he", not "iw"), and Yiddish ("yi", not "ji") - so caution if you're podcasting in Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world. The RSS specification calls for ISO 639-1 codes ("en"), or optional country subcodes used in the W3C's standard ("en-GB").
August 25, 2021:
    Spotify will now let all US-based Anchor podcasters sell podcast subscriptions. They have added more price points, and - if a listener opts-in - publishers will have their email address. Unlike Apple, you can't subscribe in-app: and also unlike Apple, Spotify won't take any revenue cut (after payment platform fees) until 2023, when it'll be just 5%. International listeners gain access to paid content next month; and international creators can sell shows "shortly after".
August 23, 2021:
    Anchor now has more than 1.7m RSS feeds in the Podcast Index (1,711,303). 244,642 have updated in the last 90 days (14.2%).
August 19, 2021:
August 16, 2021:
August 9, 2021:
July 19, 2021:
July 7, 2021:
June 15, 2021:
June 11, 2021:
May 31, 2021:
    Last week, Anchor hoovered up plenty of paid-for podcasts, but also lost plenty too, according to our sample. SoundCloud was the biggest loser, with 20 losses; Megaphone was the paid podcast host gaining the most shows.
May 24, 2021:
May 20, 2021:
May 12, 2021:
    CNN is to make a new show, The Handoff, as an Apple Podcasts Subscriptions exclusive when the service launches later this month. Hosted by friends and CNN anchors Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon, it will be a longer chat than their usual 'handoff' between shows normally allows for. It's part of "a subscription to the CNN channel" on Apple Podcasts Subscriptions.
April 30, 2021:
    We asked whether Anchor/Spotify is likely to share names/email addresses of subscribers. They said: "In order to make this product truly creator-first, it’s crucial to our model that we explore ways for participating creators to connect with their subscribers. This is something we’re working on. You can imagine it may come in the form of existing Future Format features such as Polls and Q&As exclusive to subscribers, or with direct communication from creators to their subscriber base. We don’t have any specific details at this time, but will share more as the program progresses."
April 29, 2021:
    We believe that Anchor uses this tool to automatically add shows into Apple Podcasts without content approval (an arrangement both companies deny), so this special access, too, may cease at the end of May.
April 28, 2021:
April 26, 2021:
April 19, 2021:
    What does Spotify really think of RSS? Michael Mignano, the co-founder of Anchor and "Head of Podcaster" for Spotify, writes about the 'limitations and tradeoffs' with RSS, adding that Spotify is "also interested in pushing the medium of audio beyond the limitations of the RSS standard".
April 9, 2021:
April 6, 2021:
    80% of those abandoned podcasts are hosted on free podcast websites Anchor or Soundcloud, or Spreaker, which offers a free tier.
March 31, 2021:
March 22, 2021:
March 15, 2021:
March 9, 2021:
February 23, 2021:
    Anchor announced the launch of paid subscriptions later this year. Podcasters will be able to give their supporters additional paid-for features within Spotify. You can sign up for the waitlist. This will be "a limited beta in the US", starting this Spring, we're told. The demo in the announcement shows a podcaster being able to choose from $2.99, $4.99 and $7.99/month subscriptions as price points. Podnews was told that Spotify will take a small cut of the fee.
February 4, 2021:
    Ariel Nissenblat has launched a newsletter, Podcast Plunge. Each issue is anchored by a podcast episode, and then focuses on other pieces of internet about the main topic of the show.
January 27, 2021:
    Spotify's consumer podcast host, Anchor, has had a redesign. A new 'wave' logo, a new typeface (Maax), and a new direction in photography: "less about podcasting, more about podcasters". And yes, there's a podcast, Branding Out Loud, to hear more.
January 26, 2021:
    The .fm top-level domain-name is now most popular with podcasters, according to 2020 data from the company, with Castbox, Anchor, Podsights, Megaphone, Omny Studio, Transistor, and Captivate in the top 15 of a chart of DNS server responses.
January 22, 2021:
January 4, 2021:
    Also from that data: just seven companies host 75% of all podcast feeds in Apple Podcasts: Anchor, Buzzsprout, Feedburner, Libsyn, Podbean, SoundCloud and Spreaker.
January 1, 2021:
December 31, 2020:

the last big piece of M&A activity in podcasting? It was certainly the largest company still available: but there will be more acquisitions on the horizon. In particular, Amazon lacks the long tail that a consumer podcast host can give them - just as Acast bought Pippa, Spotify bought Anchor and SiriusXM bought Simplecast, Amazon could own a host of its own as a way to reach other platforms and to incubate new talent. Amazon also lacks any podcasting ad-tech companies; ART19, which hosts a number of the largest podcasts in the world, remains privately-owned. Let's watch this space.

December 3, 2020:
November 26, 2020:
November 25, 2020:
    According to investors Greystone Capital, Libsyn is "cheap, growing, with catalysts on the horizon", adding "unlike Anchor, Megaphone and Wondery, LSYN is profitable, and highly cash generative". Ouch. Libsyn is still looking for a new CEO.
November 6, 2020:
November 5, 2020:
October 29, 2020:
October 22, 2020:
    Want to do a "Spotify Show With Music" but not use Anchor? You can, actually - as a playlist. This playlist uses Spreaker for the talk, and Spotify for the music. It still is only playable in Spotify, though.
October 20, 2020:
October 19, 2020:
October 16, 2020:
October 15, 2020:
    Always wanted music in your podcast? Now's your chance. Anchor and Spotify have launched Shows with Music - a chance for proper, full radio-type shows with full tracks. However, shows only appear on Spotify and your listeners only hear the songs in full with Spotify Premium - but musicians do get paid as they would with any other Spotify play. If you're in the US, you can earn with Anchor sponsorships, but you can also upload your own ads, too. Available now in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, episodes containing music will undergo a review process before being published to Spotify.
October 14, 2020:
October 8, 2020:
October 6, 2020:
October 2, 2020:
    Spotify has signed a new exclusive - the Just Break Up podcast. Of note - it was hosted on Libsyn; had a short incubation period on Anchor some time between September 7-14, and then announced its exclusivity a week later on September 21. It'll become exclusive from October 19.
September 30, 2020:
    Spotify says the number of shows on its platform has increased by 240% so far in 2020. Since the last International Podcast Day, the number of podcasts created on Anchor, the company’s free podcast host, has increased by more than 380%. Today, the company has launched:
September 15, 2020:
    Anchor says it's cracking down on stolen podcasts, after Podnews broke a story last month that many top podcasts were being pirated on the service. "The copycats, Mike Mignano says, found a workaround in Anchor’s detection system," according to the story. We've reported a separate loophole to the company.
September 14, 2020:
September 9, 2020:
September 4, 2020:
September 1, 2020:
August 31, 2020:
August 24, 2020:
August 17, 2020:
    Anchor is hosting a large number of pirated podcasts from other publishers, we can reveal today. 30% of all the Podtrac top 20 podcasts are currently being copied on Anchor, according to our searches. The new podcast from NYT/Serial, Nice White Parents, has a further five pirated copies hosted on Anchor, using the original artwork.
August 12, 2020:
    An update from Anchor, following our story yesterday that Anchor could automatically delete your account without warning. Anchor say that they do not have an algorithm that automatically deletes duplicates; instead, the company uses a combination of automated and human-detected signals to assess potential infringement, and they tell Podnews that podcasts are always elevated to a human before any action is taken. In the case we reported on, the podcast had "similar content to the Libsyn-hosted Spotify listing", and it had other negative signals which led to its removal.
August 11, 2020:
    Exclusive: the robots are coming. Free podcast host Anchor could automatically delete your account without any warning. It happened to experienced podcaster Jonathan Mendonsa - and all for uploading a piece of audio that he owned. And as we went to press, we discovered one reason why. If you're with Anchor, you should probably read it.
August 4, 2020:
July 31, 2020:
July 30, 2020:
July 15, 2020:
June 18, 2020:
    Analysis: The podcast market appears to be horizontally consolidating. SiriusXM already owns Pandora and ad-tech company AdsWizz: their acquisition of Simplecast adds a capable podcast host and analytics company, and means they have capabilities in all sectors of the business. They join EW Scripps, who own Omny Studio, Triton Digital, Midroll and Stitcher; Spotify, who own Anchor, Gimlet et al; and Acast, who acquired Pippa and set up their own content studio last year. It's not enough, it seems, to be a great hosting company or a content-creator: the podcast companies of the future appears to need a foot in all parts of the business.
May 25, 2020:
May 21, 2020:
    In the UK, the BBC has said that they'll open BBC Sounds, their podcast app, to non-BBC podcasts. While others report this as if it's news, the BBC is merely restating their policy, and it has already contained a handful of third-party podcasts. In November 2018 at launch BBC Sounds contained two third-party podcasts; one was heavily edited, missing a third of its episodes and having all commercial content removed.
May 6, 2020:
    Start Here from ABC News has an interview with "World News Tonight" Anchor David Muir, who's just sat down with President
April 30, 2020:
    If you're wondering: "more than 70% of new podcasts on Spotify were created with Anchor", which may be how they've hit a million so quickly after Apple. Given that some major publishers aren't on Spotify - not least, Serial and most titles from the Australian ABC - it might be accurate to say that Spotify may have over a million podcasts, but not the same 1,036,965 podcasts that are available on Apple.
April 29, 2020:
    Free podcast host Anchor has unveiled a new service to turn your online video chats into a podcast. The service appears to work on most video platforms including Zoom, Skype, Facetime, Google Meet and others. (Most digital audio editors also accept files from these services).
April 24, 2020:
    Megaphone is apparently moving offices in Reston VA, USA, to a building looking like a sandcrawler from Star Wars. They'll join up to 1,500 salvaged droids the folks from Google, who are the anchor tenant.
April 6, 2020:
    Spotify-owned podcast host Anchor has quietly rolled two more improvements out to their service: 301 redirects are now available directly from your dashboard, as well as a method of claiming your podcast stats from Apple Podcasts Connect.
April 3, 2020:
March 25, 2020:
    Anchor's iOS and Android app has been updated with new remote recording features, dubbed Record with Friends 2.0. It's aimed to make it easier to record guests or multi-hosted podcasts.
March 24, 2020:
    Pandemic Check In is a podcast to help us all cope, trade tips, and check in with one another. Featuring mental health professionals from Brooklyn Minds, it describes itself as an old-fashioned call-in show. (Western Sound / Anchor)
March 20, 2020:
    Podcasting in the Dominican Republic in 2019 is analysed by Robert Sasuke. The Caribbean nation has seen a more than 400% growth in podcasting, mostly driven by Anchor (who host two-thirds of all podcasts there). 40% of podcasts from the country are inactive, though this is better than the global figure of 57%.
January 9, 2020:
    With all the news going on, here's a thing to get away from it all. Happy LDN Press are running a collection of short stories read by the authors for listeners to enjoy during their coffee break. "Some stories are dark, some are romantic and we even have some children's stories," they tell us. (Anchor)
January 8, 2020:
January 2, 2020:
    Given the new CCPA regulations, you might enjoy Terms & Conditions Apply, which discusses many subjects relevant to online data collection and privacy. (Anchor)
December 23, 2019:
December 19, 2019:
    The Extinction Rebellion movement is another thing you can thank the UK for - it came from there. However, the movement's last uprising, in October, saw protests and marches across the world: from the Tel Aviv stock exchange to the streets of Quito, from Istanbul to India. Global Warning asks: can the model be applied everywhere? And where are they going wrong? (Anchor)
December 12, 2019:
    Five Things is a new podcast from W Magazine. "Hollywood’s brightest sit down with W Magazine’s Editor-at-Large, Lynn Hirschberg, to talk about “Five Things” that have made them who they are." The first guest is Margot Robbie. (Anchor)
December 10, 2019:
    24% of all podcasts released in 2019 are in AAC/M4A format (the format Apple recommends). So says podcast host Blubrry, who have looked at MP3 vs AAC format files. However, the company points to M4A being the default for Anchor - and once you remove those, M4A format files only account for 4.3% of 2019's podcasts where podcasters have made a deliberate choice. One of those is ours.
December 3, 2019:
November 29, 2019:
    It's increasingly easy to stay within your 'bubble' - but Over The Edge seeks, instead, to discuss and understand other peoples' viewpoints on controversial subjects. Recent episodes focus on immigration and the race for President; future ones will tackle healthcare and illicit drugs. (Anchor)
November 18, 2019:
    There were over 11,100,000 new podcast episodes in 2018. Listen Notes have developed a new "stats" page, looking into their database of podcasts (which appears to include all in Apple Podcasts). 21% of podcasts are hosted at Anchor, and a further 11% at Soundcloud, the results show. (Some great data for any pitching documents!)
November 15, 2019:
    A wild Pokémon podcast has appeared! EXP. Share features two friends who play every generation of Pokémon game, gym by gym. Future seasons will see the hosts take on every game in the Pokémon franchise (so we've possibly a while to wait until that vague disappointment of finding yet another Zubat). Episodes drop every Tuesday. (Anchor)
November 14, 2019:
    This is who we are is a music podcast (and new album) from Sean Watkins. During each episode, Sean plays the studio track from his new album and follows it up with an intimate conversation with the artist who inspired the song. Guests include Jackson Browne, Inara George, Peter Asher, Kate Micucci and more. (Campfire Media / Anchor)
November 13, 2019:
    Websleuths is the biggest true-crime forum for citizen sleuths, and owner Tricia Griffith has teamed up with Jessica Everleth, an Emmy-nominated executive producer, to produce a podcast series featuring breaking news, high profile and unsolved cases, crowd solving, and exclusive guests such as true crime authors, filmmakers, investigators, and other experts. (Anchor)
November 11, 2019:
    The Chad Whittle Podcast speaks to media professionals: his guests have included reporters for ABC television, sports hosts, and the latest features Podnews's Editor. (Anchor)
November 8, 2019:
November 7, 2019:
    JetBlue, a US airline, has signed a deal with Spotify for podcasts in their in-flight entertainment system. As the airline’s exclusive podcast partner, the agreement will bring podcasts from Anchor, Gimlet, Parcast and Spotify Studios to seatback screens.
October 18, 2019:
    Are you a mess? Do you like jokes? Are you like, literally, everyone else in the world and love music? Then you’ll love Barely Composed, we're told: During each episode, Stacey Hardke, Dahlya Glick, and Gabi Van Horn chat with fellow comedians and musicians and attempt to create a brand new musical-comedy hit within sixty minutes. (Camp Fire Media / Anchor)
October 8, 2019:
    New independent series MOONFACE debuts tomorrow. It's a generational coming-of-age story between an Korean American son and his immigrant mother. He wants to finally open up to her by coming out, except they can’t speak the same language. All episodes are released tomorrow; creator James Kim is a producer for Gimlet. (Anchor)
October 3, 2019:
    Season three of I Burn Everything, a podcast about food and relationships, has launched. Hosted by actor Stevie Nelson and writer and comic Dave Horwitz, Noël Wells, an actor, writer and musician, is this week's guest. (Campfire Media / Anchor)
October 2, 2019:
September 30, 2019:
    Mark Egan, a video trainer, notes that it "looks like “The Office” is no longer the most epic media production to come out of the Slough Trading Estate", linking to this picture and the EstateLife Podcast. (Anchor)
September 9, 2019:
    Spreaker Prime: Frozen Truth is a deep dive, on-the-ground investigation of a new mystery each season. The most recent season investigated the 1995 disappearance of television news anchor, Jodi Huisentruit, from the parking lot outside her apartment in Mason City, Iowa. They’re using Spreaker Prime to increase exposure and maximize monetization.
August 29, 2019:
August 23, 2019:
    Creativity can be your best friend - but also your worst enemy. Right to the Source is hosted by successful songwriters Sarah Hudson (who wrote this) and Evan “Kidd” Bogart (who wrote this): they "dive deep inside the minds of other creative beings". (Anchor)
August 6, 2019:
July 31, 2019:
    Emma's Diary features stand-up comedian and actor Emma Willmann, in a daily podcast recorded from wherever she happens to be. (Anchor)
July 29, 2019:
    News doesn't have to be miserable and negative. In Happier News is a weekly roundup of positive and happier news stories, from a TV news reporter who spent years reporting the negative. (Anchor)
July 24, 2019:
July 17, 2019:
July 3, 2019:
June 27, 2019:
    Following our story yesterday about Anchor seeming to bypass the Apple approval process, Anchor have responded denying that's happening; and other podcaster publishers confirm that they are able to bypass the approval process. We've updated the story.
June 26, 2019:
June 21, 2019:
June 7, 2019:
June 5, 2019:
    When We Got To The Seventh is a new fiction podcast about reaching the seventh thing… it could be a marriage, a planet, a house guest, a victim, an answerphone message - anything at all. Every podcast episode tells a new story featuring a different character. (Anchor)
May 31, 2019:
May 24, 2019:
    My stuttering life follows husband, father, USAF Gulf War Veteran, and entrepreneur Pedro Pena on life with all its trials and tribulations as a person who stutters. (We do too, so good luck!) (Anchor)
May 22, 2019:
    Your Weekly Tech Update with Ray McNeal is celebrating episode 100. It features "the newest, coolest and most mind boggling side of tech available on the interwebs", and in episode 100, Ray hikes Phillip Island VIC, Australia. (Anchor)
May 17, 2019:
April 30, 2019:
    Spotify paid €50m (US$55m) for Parcast, their financial results say. More than 50,000 shows have been submitted through their podcast portal - and there are 250,000 podcasts in their system overall (the differences being Anchor's catalogue, presumably, as well as automated API-driven submissions from partner hosts like Libsyn or Omny Studio). Apple has over 700,000.
April 23, 2019:
    Luminary, the self-styled "Netflix of podcasting", launches officially today. As The Verge points out, Luminary doesn't have The Daily from the New York Times in it - an in-app message grumpily recommends alternative podcasts. Podcasts from Spotify, Gimlet Media and Anchor are also unavailable. Perhaps surprisingly, it does contain BBC content. The Verge's Dieter Bohn calls this "the upcoming podcast wars".
April 18, 2019:
    The Primary Ride Home is a new daily podcast from Ride Home Media, "the daily news podcast company". The podcast, hosted by Chris Higgins, is updated for 5pm every day. It's the second podcast from the company; the first was Techmeme Ride Home, a tech news podcast. (Ride Home Media / Anchor)
April 5, 2019:
    Anchor now lets you share Anchor podcast episodes and profiles direct to a Snapchat story, which will link back directly so anyone who sees your story can immediately listen in their preferred podcast app. Meanwhile, podcast host Pinecast has partnered with Headliner to provide Pinecast customers with one-click access to create social videos directly within their platform.
April 3, 2019:
March 27, 2019:
March 22, 2019:
    Anchor has added analytics metrics to its mobile app, so you can even check your download numbers on the loo bus.
March 20, 2019:
March 15, 2019:
    Anchor has released a newly redesigned statistics dashboard, including a new metric: Estimated Audience Size - the average number of plays your episodes get within 30 days after publishing.
March 11, 2019:
March 6, 2019:
February 22, 2019:
    What happens when people leave their regular routine and comfort zone and find themselves far from home, in foreign places and cultures unknown to them? 22.33 tells the life-changing stories that result. (Anchor)
February 14, 2019:
    How much did Spotify pay for Anchor? Spotify's filing with the SEC says (right at the bottom) that "the Group entered into agreements to acquire Gimlet Media Inc. and Anchor FM Inc. for purchase consideration totalling approximately €300 million, primarily in cash." That's US $338m; so if Gimlet went for $230m, as Nick Quah reported, then Anchor looks like it went for $100m.
February 11, 2019:
    MG Siegler, who is General Partner at Google Ventures, the investment arm of Google (and properly known as GV these days), writes about the Anchor deal. GV invested in Anchor; Siegler also personally invested in Gimlet.
February 8, 2019:
    Our informed Anchor purchase price of $50m? We've now heard a few others claiming $25m. Either way, it was significantly smaller than Gimlet; which many found surprising.
February 7, 2019:
    Relax, Reply All listeners. Here's a full transcript of the investor's call - including Daniel Ek saying: "Just to be very clear, the goal is not with Gimlet nor with Anchor to make any of their existing content exclusive, but to focus on the content that we're developing at Spotify and make more exclusive deals going forward."
February 6, 2019:
    Anchor now allow you up to three podcast sponsorships per episode with their Anchor Podcast Sponsorships service. "Placing three segments all together in the middle of your episodes is, for most podcasts, likely going to be the most efficient path to profit," the company advise.
January 31, 2019:
    The Europeans covers the most interesting stories and most fascinating people from Europe. (And no Brexit! Yay!) Hosted by a reporter in Paris and an opera singer in Amsterdam, it's back for season three. (Anchor)
January 21, 2019:
    Apple have released a set of online video adverts for the new iPad, including how to make a podcast on one. The ad highlights the Anchor app.
January 17, 2019:
    Podcast host Anchor claims that the number of podcasts carrying ads doubled last month, thanks to Anchor Sponsorships. The company is also keen to point out that they power 40% of all new podcasts (and it's estimated that they have 70,000 shows). However, according to recent data analysis seen by Podnews, over 93% of Anchor shows have already "podfaded", and haven't had a new episode in the last month. (Question: is it good to have over 60,000 abandoned shows from Anchor in podcast directories?)
December 26, 2018:
December 24, 2018:
    The team behind Anchor post their look back at podcasting in 2018. "As an industry, we’ve spent the year in limbo with regards to determining the best ways to make podcasting a viable business financially. The good news is that out of this uncertainty, many different business models have emerged and are continuing to evolve."
December 14, 2018:
    Anchor's design team have posted their design principles for their apps, where they design a "look that makes podcasting fun rather than complicated". The company also has a new support manager, Vincent Carbellano.
December 10, 2018:
December 7, 2018:
December 3, 2018:
November 30, 2018:
    Anchor launched Sponsorships yesterday. The company says: "Anchor Sponsorships gets podcasters paid by matching them with sponsors and helping them easily create custom advertisements for their shows. It’s a new world for podcast advertising, and anyone can be part of it." - not quite "anyone", since the feature is currently limited only to US podcasters. Sponsorships are host-read, and based on a cost-per-thousand basis based on plays. Anchor takes 30%.
November 16, 2018:
    The CEO of podcasting company Anchor, Michael Mignano, writes that No, Anchor doesn't own your podcast, highlighting the company's new, clarified terms of service. Much of the original terms date from Anchor's first outing as an audio social network; they've been clarified and "what it means" sections have been added.
November 15, 2018:
    Podcast app Pocket Casts have unveiled an entirely redesigned app for iOS, Android and the web (including new macOS and Windows apps). Highlights include a brand-new 'discover' section which is geo-aware, listening history, and more. The iOS version is available now; the Android version is in opt-in public beta; there is coverage in The Verge and CNet Libsyn report Pocket Casts was the #7 podcast app in September, with 1.42% of all downloads; Anchor suggests it's the #5 app, with 0.9%; it's based in Adelaide in Australia, but owned by a consortium of US public radio broadcasters.
November 13, 2018:
    Spotify, which is the #2 podcast platform according to Anchor and Libsyn, is testing shareable podcast playlists. A test has been seen by My Spotify Ideas which allows users to share individual podcast episodes (and, like all playlists, ask for the entire playlist to be downloaded). The test has disappeared.
November 8, 2018:
    Players is a new crossover podcast with former ESPN sports anchor Lindsay Czarniak. "She connects with the biggest names in country music and beyond about perhaps the only thing as important to them as music.. sports." (Cadence13)
November 2, 2018:
    Profoundly Pointless, by news anchor Nick VinZant, is a show in two parts. "The Profound part features fascinating interviews with everyone from athletes and celebrities to professional domintrixes and dinosaur hunters. The Pointless part seeks to answer life's greatest questions." (Podbean)
October 31, 2018:
    Dissect, a podcast "about the albums you love", has launched a Spotify-exclusive miniseries about The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. (Cole Cuchna/Spotify/Anchor)
October 25, 2018:
October 9, 2018:
October 5, 2018:
    Anchor has unveiled a new tool to help with podcasting: this time, the company have launched a cover art creator, working with Unplash.
October 3, 2018:
    Ashley Graham, a "supermodel, style icon and barrier-breaking body activist", has launched a new podcast called Pretty Big Deal. Her first guest is Kim Kardashian West, who we reported discovered podcasts earlier this year.
September 19, 2018:
    Podcast app Anchor has added 'smart background music' to their service. You can choose music by style or keyword, and it will be edited into your podcast with auto-dipping.
September 11, 2018:
September 5, 2018:
    Women Belong in the House is all about "the record number of women running for office this November". (Wonder Media Network / Anchor)
August 29, 2018:
    What is really the top hosting service? After feedback, Chartable have re-examined their numbers in an illuminating blog post. Of note: just 2.8% of podcasts are measured by Podtrac; Libsyn is hosting 28.2% of top podcasts, and Anchor is easily the most popular host over the last six months - even limiting it to podcasts with more than ten episodes.
August 24, 2018:
    There might be about 540,000 shows in Apple Podcasts, but they're not all active. In fact, according to Todd Cochrane from Blubrry, 75% of podcast [shows] are no longer in production, he tells Stephen Goldstein - a phenomenon known as "podfade". Separately, Chartable's hosting data suggests only 16% of podcasts on the free podcast host Anchor have published more than 9 episodes: that figure rises to 77% of podcasts hosted on the paid platform Libsyn. (Anchor is considerably younger, of course.)
August 23, 2018:

A correction - yesterday Podnews said that Anchor podcasters "were not subject to the same approval process as others". We were wrong: Anchor podcasts are subject to the same manual Apple Podcast Approval; although they're all posted under Anchor's account, which is a different process from other hosts. We've amended the post.

August 22, 2018:
    Anchor appears to have been responsible for 33% of all new podcasts over the last six months. Anchor (who offers free accounts) automatically posts all new podcasts to Apple through Anchor's own Podcasts Connect account, so Anchor podcasts were not subject to the same process as others.
August 20, 2018:
August 17, 2018:
    Anchor's Listener Support (Aug 10) is now natively supported in podcast apps, the company has just announced. "Support on Anchor" buttons are now visible in versions of Breaker and RadioPublic, with support from Castro and Podcast Addict promised shortly. Podnews also already supports Anchor's Listener Support links - here's an example. Anchor is also marking up these links using the rel="payment" pattern so they'll be visible in a future release of Overcast.
August 16, 2018:
August 10, 2018:
    Anchor have announced Anchor Listener Support. It lets listeners pay a monthly pledge ($1, $5, $10) for your podcasts through Apple Pay or Google Pay. Including payment costs, fees are 9.5% plus $0.10 per transaction; Patreon takes 0.5% more. Listeners can be anywhere and can use any app to listen, but Listener Support is only available to Anchor creators in the US.
August 2, 2018:
July 25, 2018:
    Is Anchor a threat to existing podcast hosts, or growing the market? Padraig from Castro has analysed the data. Separately, Anchor has announced a revamp of their mobile editing tools.
July 11, 2018:
    A new podcasting tool, currently in beta: Synth. "Synth transforms podcasting into tiny, 2 minute threadable pieces that are conversational, embeddable and playable back-to-back." (See also the original Anchor and the original Audioboo.)
July 4, 2018:
June 22, 2018:
    MacObserver claims that Anchor - a popular podcast host - owns your podcast according to its terms and conditions.
June 20, 2018:
    Anchor have released its first podcast editing app for iPads. It's free, and available now in the Apple App Store. It's compatible with external (lightning) microphones, deals with multitasking and does drag and drop. The company calls it "the world’s first-ever end-to-end podcasting solution for iPad".
June 15, 2018:
    Anchor, a podcast platform, no longer resamples audio files uploaded to the service, and defaults to stereo - a 'huge upgrade', according to the company.
June 13, 2018:
    Anchor highlight how to market podcasts. Interesting: "Using the word “podcast” or your show’s title in the description could prevent it from being promoted on third party distribution platforms."
May 24, 2018:
    Anchor launches "mobile importing" on its mobile app - a way of using audio clips you already have on your phone.
May 14, 2018:
    Podcast app/host Anchor is producing a weekly show on SiriusXM, a satellite radio network in the US, called This Week on Anchor. It will feature podcasters from throughout the Anchor service.
April 26, 2018:
    Anchor have written up a look at the first week of their Cohosts feature, which finds people to record a podcast with. They've also edited together a nice overview of what it sounds like, from podcasts on their platform.
April 16, 2018:
March 16, 2018:
    Anchor has launched a new tool to produce highlight videos for social media - now available on desktop as well as mobile. (As an aside: we'd love to share comparative stats when people use these tools vs just sharing a link to a podcast).
February 28, 2018:
    HotPod 153 is out. Nick is keen that you start preserving your podcasts, and also looks into the new Anchor.
February 26, 2018:
February 23, 2018:
December 27, 2017:
    Interesting idea: a (part-time) news anchor quits his job and rides for ride-sharing company Lyft - recording his passengers' stories and turning them into a podcast.
October 23, 2017:
September 29, 2017:
    Anchor, a rapidly-iterating podcast publishing platform on smartphones, gets $10m in funding.
August 31, 2017:
    Anchor announces "an easier way to edit audio on mobile". It doesn't use a waveform - instead, it uses word-by-word transcription, so editing is theoretically as easy as selecting a word.
August 29, 2017:
August 9, 2017:
    Another day, another service to make audio files into video files. This time, it's Anchor, the app that appears to either be rapidly expanding or has a damn good PR team.
August 1, 2017:
    Anchor has launched a migration service to allow podcasters to switch hosts. Free, and with plans to share revenue from preroll ads later.
June 30, 2017:
    Anchor, a "push to talk" type app - like the original AudioBoo, in many respects - now interfaces with Apple Podcasts and Google Play Podcasts. "Coming soon" - an RSS feed. Caution: they're doing this under their Apple/Google accounts, not yours, so don't expect any analytics.

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