Anchor 3.0

The easiest way to make a podcast. Ever.

4 followers

The easiest way to make a podcast. Ever.

4 followers

Welcome to Anchor 3.0: the easiest way to make a podcast. Ever. Anchor just got acquired by Spotify along with Gimlet Media: https://www.recode.net/2019/2/6/18213456/spotify-podcast-gimlet-anchor-q4-results/?ref=producthunt

Launch tags:iOS•Tech

Launch Team

Wispr Flow: Dictation That Works Everywhere — Stop typing. Start speaking. 4x faster.

Stop typing. Start speaking. 4x faster.

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Maker

Hi, Product Hunt community! Not too long ago, we launched Anchor to the world right here on Product Hunt, quickly amassing an amazingly dedicated user base and a community of people all over the world sharing short form, social audio with each other. It was awesome and super inspiring. Anchor gave creators tools and a platform that made it easier than ever to be heard: by letting them create their own personal stream of audio, filled with music, sound effects, and voice captured by the high-powered microphones we all have in our pocket (our smartphones). But we heard time and time again that what creators truly wanted was to make a real podcast and have it heard everywhere people are listening. And that's where Anchor 3.0 comes in. Today's update, Anchor's biggest ever, features a re-imagined mobile app built for effortless podcast creation (free for iOS and Android), a brand new web dashboard with creation tools and analytics, expanded distribution options, and unlimited podcast hosting that's 100% free for everyone. Since our mission is to democratize audio, we believe in removing all friction that stands in the way of you creating your content and getting it heard — that includes paying for hosting. It's the easiest way to make a podcast. Ever. I'll be answering questions here on PH all day. Hope you enjoy the product!

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8yr ago

Status - 2 - #NoBanNoWall

@mignano congrats on going full podcast! I have loved watching Anchor evolve. I'll miss Stations. I really liked that interaction, but this makes so much sense.

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8yr ago

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Maker

@mattahorton Thanks, Matt!

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8yr ago

SeekWell

@mignano I had an idea for a podcast recently and this might push me over the edge to do it. What do you think of a podcast that converts high quality business essays (e.g. @paulg) and articles to audio?

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8yr ago

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Maker

@adithya Thanks Adithya! Our goal is to make it easy for creators to not only make a podcast, but monetize it as well.

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8yr ago

@mignano Hi Mike, Do you have full Tutorial / Demo videos - I think that will be very important for me to see if this product is a good fit for me. Rather than just downloading the app - stumbling around, and deleting it. Love the concept though.

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8yr ago

Transistor

@mignano you mention in the post that "podcasts are incredibly difficult to... monetize." How are you planning on helping creators monetize their shows?

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8yr ago

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Maker

@mijustin Thanks, Justin! We're got some awesome monetization plans in the works that make it really easy for creators to monetize their audience directly (without needing a massive audience to attract the attention of big advertisers). It's too early to reveal all of the details, but there are a number of proven models already working in the audio space that you can imagine we'll be incorporating :)

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8yr ago

AI or VA?

@mijustin @mignano In terms of monetizing for Anchor and the creator, I noticed that Anchor places an ad on the start and end of the show and includes an Anchor watermark on the cover art. Are there plans to have a free & paid Anchor plan (like Spotify) but where the free creator's podcast has ads that are paid to Anchor and the paid creator's podcast has ads that the creator can get paid from in some way?

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8yr ago

Spotify

Maker

@richp_ Hey Rich! We've actually removed the bumper at the beginning of episodes, so all that remains is the less intrusive one at the end. You can also remove the Anchor watermark from your cover art in your settings :)

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8yr ago

AI or VA?

@mayafish Great news! In terms of quickest way from podcast idea to launch, you're the top option + the feature of background music works so well for times that the recording isn't optimal. Love your work!

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8yr ago

Transistor

@mignano another question: Anchor doesn't ask me for my Apple ID when it submits to iTunes, so I'm assuming Anchor owns my feed + access to the iTunes analytics? Also, do all Anchor shows have the cover art watermark? (Noticed Joel Olsteen was using it here!)

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8yr ago

Spotify

Maker

@mijustin Hey Justin! You actually can decide whether you want us to distribute your podcast for you (the default for most people, who'd prefer easier setup and automatic distribution to new platforms) or whether you distribute it yourself (more manual control and access to things like off-platform analytics). You can also turn off the Anchor watermark in your settings :)

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8yr ago

ShoutEngine

Hi Mike. Love all the new updates. I was just wondering if with the new update can we record two or more podcasts within a day where they are not behind the prior one? Let’s say three (3) independent episodes that aren’t linked or behind another?

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8yr ago

Spotify

Maker

@markjohn1 Hey Mark! Absolutely. You can make as many episodes as you want, and work on them simultaneously - they'll all be drafts until you're ready to publish them, and you can publish them in whatever order you want. Let us know if you have any other questions!

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8yr ago

Hi Mike Maya and team. Congratulations! It’s been fun watching Anchor evolve and I look forward to using the platform even more this year. I just switched my podcast over a few weeks ago and released a new episode in which I narrated an annual report. Love the way Anchor lets me chapter these so people can skip around. I’d love to know if I can replace an episode/podcast file? Looked around docs but couldn’t find anything. I shortened an episode and want to update the rss for other podcast players. Sorry for the support question here, just wanted to make sure I commented on this release because I am very stoked on Anchor, even more so that I know you’ll keep iterating. Congrats again

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8yr ago

Spotify

Maker

@gregofisch Hey Greg! So glad you're enjoying it so far :) If you update the audio in Anchor, it'll actually auto-update your RSS feed on other podcast platforms; you shouldn't have to change anything manually outside of Anchor. To upload a new audio file, just log in to your web dashboard at anchor.fm and click on the episode you want to edit. Let us know if that doesn't work or if you have any other questions! Always happy to help.

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8yr ago

@mayafish the web dashboard is so awesome! Substantial and clean. Great first release. Thank you guys so much. Easy and done.

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8yr ago

@mayafish @mignano had two more follow up questions as im about to launch a new series. 1. How are Spotify shares treated in Anchor on the user/listener side? Does it play the whole song or a clip? Does it matter what OS or what device the user is on and/or does it matter if the user is a non, free, or paid Spotify account holder? I hear the whole track in creator mode but just want to be sure I know what the listener will hear. 2. Can you a look at the way embeds are treated? This was a significant advantage with hosting on Soundcloud as their player adjusts to the size of the container or screen. The Anchor embed breaks responsive layouts and has unnecessary padding. Can you guys make this just work out of the box. I love the new Anchor and want to promote the show as best heard on the platform, but I should be able to share it on the web through a medium that looks and sounds good no matter what device, OS, or screen size.

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8yr ago

Product Hunt

It's been fun seeing Anchor evolve since it started gaining attention at SXSW a few years ago. The app started more as a "Twitter for short audio bits" and seems to have evolved into more of a creator tool. I'm curious how (or if) your vision for Anchor has changed, @mignano.

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8yr ago

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Maker

@rrhoover Thanks, Ryan! It's the same vision (we aim to democratize audio), but we realized that since there's so much demand for listening to podcasts right now, that that's what people want to create, too. We looked around at all of the awesome tech we had built over the past year and realized there was no better combination of products to solve an actual problem people struggling with: making podcasts without having to be a pro. You'll notice the app has a lot of the existing mechanics around short-form and casual creation. Whatever you're interested in making -- be it a short, two minute news briefing, or a full fledged 40 minute podcast episode, the new Anchor makes it easy and frictionless.

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8yr ago

Hi - At 23 seconds in it shows that you can hook in apple music or spotify for adding tracks. How are you able to get around the copyright issues?

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8yr ago

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