Spotify seems to be testing a way for anyone to easily make a podcast, as if that's what we need
Have you always dreamed of hosting a podcast about true crime or bad movies, but you’re not a rich celebrity like Conan O’Brien or the Obamas who can afford to pay someone who knows how to use Audacity? Well, Spotify seems to be preparing to launch a new system that could let anyone easily make a podcast—or more easily than they already can, at least, since it doesn’t seem particularly complicated to do so now. As reported by Endgadget, app researcher Jane Manchun Wong (who is apparently good at this sort of thing) discovered a page promoting an upcoming feature from Spotify that involves a “Create Podcast” button and would apparently allow anyone to record and publish from their phone and then publish it to Spotify or competing services like Apple Podcasts.
Anchor, the podcast creation platform that Spotify recently purchased, also apparently has a page about this, indicating that Spotify is hoping to merge this system for creating podcasts with its existing podcast offerings (it recently bought Gimlet Media and the true crime-focused studio Parcast, and it cut a big deal with the aforementioned Obama family). This would create a dedicated Spotify podcasting ecosystem, where nobody has to learn how to use Audacity or make big deals with Apple’s premium podcast initiative.
The obvious downside of this is that there are so many podcasts already, and making it very easy for everyone to make new shows means it’ll be very hard for them to think of what those shows will be about. Oh sure, if you have some fascinatingly unique point of view on general subjects, you could just be yourself and talk about whatever you want, but most podcasts need a gimmick—whether it’s three brothers, a magic tavern, or a garage full of cats. Here’s our advice: Go hyper-specific and make a podcast that’s just for one person. It’ll be like those Facebook ads that sell “It’s a Kevin thing, you wouldn’t understand!” t-shirts, but it’s a radio show where you talk about things that exclusively concern a real guy named Kevin. All we ask in return is a shoutout in your Blue Apron ads.