Anchor Added Editing Tools

Anchor has unveiled new editing tools for Anchor podcasts. These tools are available now in Anchor’s iPhone, iPad, and Android apps. The editing tools will be coming soon to Anchor’s web platform.

Now you can edit your podcast audio without needing anything but Anchor, available for free on iOS and Android. Like everything else from Anchor, these new editing tools make your life easier by providing everything you need to make your podcast sound great, and nothing you don’t.

Features of Anchor’s editing tools include:

Trim: Quickly trim the start and finish of your recording without needing to go into a heavy editing workflow. This is great for those times when you may have a false start at the beginning of your recording or a sign-off at the end that you decide to include in the podcast.

Split: You can split a recording into multiple segments, and use them together in one episode or spread across multiple episodes. The split tool comes in handy for inserting transitions, voice messages from your listeners, your intro jingle, or any other audio into your existing podcast.

Rename segments while editing: Remove any audio you don’t want to use with a single tap. As you split up your audio, rename the segments you want to keep without breaking your workflow, so editing is lightning quick and your segments are easy to find and manage later.

Smart Flags: Add flags while you’re recording so you can easily come back to important points when you’re editing (either to remove them or to highlight them in your podcasts.)

A Pod Connection Comes to Atlanta in October

A Pod Connection is a conference for podcasters, radio hosts, and bloggers It will take place at Le Meridien Atlanta-Perimeter on October 5-7, 2018.

Whether you’re a novice Podcaster or a Pro, this event is for you! A Pod Connection is a three day conference filled with Meet & Greets, Live Shows, Expert Panels and unlimited networking opportunities with podcast lovers just like you! Grab your tickets now and let’s Connect!

Featured Podcasts include:

The Panel ATL – An Atlanta based podcast featuring a rotating cast of POC with unique backgrounds, age ranges, and different sexual orientations. You can catch up with The Panel every other Monday, as they discuss sex, love, and dating as well as social issues and current events from our communities.

Petty Party Podcast – In Petty Party, five Dallas natives reunite to have sophisarachet conversation discussing topics truthfully but with a hint of pettiness. Consider this your modern day Gossip Girl, but no filter. So grab your cups and join the party.

Unicorns Talk Podcast – Pour up a glass of wine and snuggle in to your favorite spot for a weekly girl talk about Black women, our healing, and manifestation. Unicorns Talk Podcast is for life-livers, life-lovers, and life-enhancers. Join host Latrice Sampson Richards, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Life Coach, as we inspire each other with our stories, get real about our struggles, and learn the skills we need to move our lives forward.

Clearly Misunderstood – This is the home of the hottest opinion on entertainment news in talk radio! Clearly Misunderstood features a group of talented hosts: K. Janae, Soul Du Jour, and OhMarlinGreen. It is a weekly podcast based out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but catering to the world.

Social Complex – Just two educated brothas with a hint of no f*#cks given. Listen in each week as they dive into everyday situations in a complicated manner.

Schedule:

Friday 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM – Podcast Meet & Greet
Saturday 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM – A Creative Breakfast Think Tank Session
Saturday 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Panel
Saturday 12:00 AM – 3:00 PM – Live Shows
Saturday 3:15 AM – 5:00 PM – Panel
Sunday 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Brunch

A Pod Connection is currently looking for event sponsorship. They posted a tweet with more information about sponsor packages and how to get in touch with them for more information.

SquadCast Updated its Features

SquadCast enables podcasters to do remote interviews, in studio quality, from anywhere. The SquadCast Platform connects podcast hosts and co-hosts. It also helps with scheduling.

SquadCast helps podcasters to schedule recording sessions, invite guests with emails or links and organize recordings. It offers HD interviews that are recorded in lossless WAV.

Scheduling interviews with Guests was always part of the vision for SquadCast. They have moved away from the full Calendar page where Sessions could be scheduled that was in the beta app based on feedback from podcast hosts.

We moved forward by ditching the Calendar page & enhancing the scheduling flow within Studio. This improved the overall experience by removing any need for navigating between two pages. Hosts are either in Schedule or in Studio & switching between the two became seamless.

SquadCast has landed on a design improvement that called for adding two tabs, Future & Past, to the schedule. The Future tab is sorted in chronological order and the Past Tab is sorted in reverse, ensuring sessions stay organized.

Other features include:

Quick Session: A button that automates the scheduling process and joins you to the session immediately.

Request Backups: A button right within the Recordings panel that, when clicked, will open a dialog where SquadCast asks for some contextual info that’ll help them to move faster. Once submitted, a support ticket is opened with the SquadCast team that is pre-populated with session info.

Podcasters do not need to copy and paste the Session ID into the Intercom. SquadCast typically turns around a request for backups within a few hours.

Session Invite & Update Emails: SquadCast has decided to not only tailor email invites to Hosts and Guests, but also to send emails when a Session is updated. This ensures that everyone stays in sync and that all calendar events stay up-to-date as the Host dials in Session details.

BBC Podcasts Now on Spotify

BBC LogoPodcast listeners in the UK can now enjoy BBC podcasts on Spotify. It does not appear that the BBC podcasts on Spotify will be available for listeners who are not in the UK.

“The BBC is one of the largest content creators in the UK, and have worked with the biggest and best audio talent in the world,” explains James Cator, Spotify’s Head of Podcast Partnerships, EMEA. “To have a comprehensive audio catalogue in the UK, the BBC are essential, so adding the BBC to our rapidly-expanding catalogue of podcasts was a natural partnership.”

Today, the BBC podcast library boasts hundreds of programs across thousands of episodes and caters to millions of listeners across the UK and worldwide. Spotify has added podcasts from iPlayer Radio and BBC Sounds to the platform, making hundreds of BBC podcasts available to Spotify users in the UK.

The BBC podcasts that are now on Spotify include thousands of episodes across a number of diverse genres including Comedy, News & Politics, Educational, Sport & Recreation, Lifestyle & Health, Business & Technology, and Kids & Family,

A few of the BBC podcasts on Spotify include:

Short Cuts: Short documentaries and adventures in sound by Josie Lang.

Desert Island Discs: Eight tracks, a book and luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Kristy Young invites her guests to share the soundtrack of their lives.

The Infinite Monkey Cage: Witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists’ eyes. With Brian Cox and Robin Ince.

Futuro Begins Community Podcast Lab Pilot

Futuro announced that its Community Podcast Lab will be piloted in Boston. This is in keeping with their mission of fostering new and diverse journalistic talent. The Community Podcast Lab is dedicated to developing, piloting, producing and distributing new audio projects by emerging POC storytellers.

The Community Podcast Lab will be piloted in Boston. We’ve partnered with MASSCreative and WBUR to create a 15-week course focused on elevating the stories and skills of people of color from Boston. The Lab itself will be hosted out of the PRX Podcast Garage and will be totally unlike anything else currently available.

The Community Podcast Lab Program is currently looking for participants who have little or no experience in audio production to develop stories about communities and by communities of color. Each participant will complete a 6-10 minute audio story that they will then present at a graduation event and listening forums throughout the city. Many of the stories will also be broadcast nationally.

The program will provide hands-on training and experience in audio storytelling including using audio equipment and digital editing software. All participants must complete 15 weeks of training at the PRX Podcast Garage. During the 15-week program, participants will be paid a weekly stipend.

This program is open to applicants 18 years or older. You can apply now by filling out a form If you are selected for an interview, you will be notified in September. The program will begin in early October.

WBUR is Seeking a Senior Podcast Producer

WBUR- FM is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned by Boston University. WBUR is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston. WBUR is seeking a Senior Podcast Producer.

The Senior Podcast Producer will produce and oversee a podcast for WBUR. This will include reporting and producing stories, creating an editorial vision for the podcast, researching ideas for the podcast, and writing and editing podcast content.

The Senior Producer will be responsible for overseeing the development of the podcast as well as the distribution and marketing of the podcast. The candidate will work closely with the podcast reporter and guests, and will liaise as appropriate with WBUR departments such as Community Engagement in order to produce events centered around the podcast.

This job requires a Bachelor’s degree. Master’s degrees preferred with at least five to eight years of related experience. The position is listed as Full-Time/Regular, and the location is Boston, Massachusetts.

Visit the WBUR website for more information and to apply with a resume or CV.

Skype Extends Support for Skype 7 for “Some Time”

As you may recall, Skype announced in July of 2018 that they were rolling out an updated version of Skype for desktop. It was intended to replace Skype version 7, which is also called Classic Skype. It turns out that Microsoft has decided to extend support for Skype 7 for “some time”.

Skype 8 had a bunch of new features added to in, including call recording – something very important for podcasters who use Skype for their shows. The feature would enable podcasters to record a show through Skype without having to use third-party recording software.

When Skype announced the rollout of Skype 8, they said that only Skype version 8.0 would work after September 1, 2018. This gave users the opportunity to update their version of Skype and try it out. It appears that many Skype users were dissatisfied with Skype 8.0, and wanted Skype 7.0 back.

On August 6, 2018, Microsoft Agent Forum Owner Babs replied to a post left on the Microsoft website. The post was titled: “Skype 7 (Skype classic) to be discontinued soon.” The post included a link to the blog post about the roll out of Skype 8.

Microsoft Agent Forum Owner Babs posted the following update:

Based on customer feedback, we are extending support for Skype 7 (Skype classic) for some time. Our customers can continue to use Skype classic until then. Thanks for all your comments – we are listening. Watch this space.

I’ve searched the forum, looking for updates, but haven’t seen any. There doesn’t appear to be any specific information about how long Skype 7 will remain available. But for now, if prefer Skype 7 to Skype 8, you can still use it for your podcast. Hang on to your third-party recording software for a while.

Anchor Introduced Listener Support

Anchor has introduced Anchor Listener Support. It is Anchor’s system that is intended to allow podcasters, whose podcasts are on Anchor, to monetize their content.

Starting today, any podcaster, regardless of audience size or experience level, can collect recurring monthly payments directly from their listeners. There’s never been an easier way to start generating revenue from your podcast.

Anchor Listener Support feature can be accessed by any Anchor creator in the United States. It can be activated from your Anchor dashboard (on desktop and on mobile). This adds a Listener Support button to your public Anchor profile along with a link in your show notes on every app or website where your podcast is available. Listeners can support you from anywhere, even if they don’t have an Anchor account.

Anchor recommends that podcasters ask their listeners to support them in the audio of their podcast episodes.

When a listener clicks through those links, they will be presented with the option to make recurring, automatic monthly payments to support your podcast. They can choose from one of three support tiers: $0.99, $4.99, or $9.99.

The listener will need to enter their payment information, and their charge will be processed by Stripe. Listeners who are on an iOS device, or a Mac with a Touch Bar, can pay with Apple Pay. On Android or in any Chrome browser, they can pay with Google Pay.

Anchor says that when podcasters are ready to collect their money, they can tap the Cash Out button in their Anchor dashboard. Anchor says they will send the money right away.

Anchor will take a 4.5% fee, alongside Stripe’s 5% + $0.10 processing fee from each translation with a podcaster’s supporters. There is also a $0.25 Stripe payout fee when you cash out the money to your bank account.

The ability for a podcaster to get paid through Anchor Listener Support, of course, depends mostly on whether or not the podcaster has listeners who want to use this system to support that podcaster.

As with other systems that pay creators (such as Patreon or Medium) there’s always a chance that you could end up with few or no supporters. It may work for you – but is definitely not a “quit your day job” type of situation.

Podcasters Should Take Control of their RSS Feeds

Who has control of your podcast’s RSS feed? Blubrry posted an informative blog about why it is so important for podcasters to own their RSS feed. Losing control of it can result in big problems.

In the early days of podcasting, podcasters promoted their shows by pointing people towards their show’s RSS feed. It was located on their website, and looked something like: yoururl.com/feed. Listeners would come to a podcaster’s website to listen to and download episodes.

Over time, things changed. Today, podcaster are found on Apple Podcasts or Google Play. Listeners generally go their first instead of directly to the podcaster’s page. In addition, there are some podcasting hosting companies and services that take control over the RSS feeds of the podcasts that are using their service. This situation is often presented to new podcasters as an easy way to get started.

However, there are problems that can happen when a podcaster does not have control of their RSS feed. For example, it is possible for Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and other places where people find podcasts to one day decide to remove your content. If that happens to you, the thing that will save your content from disappearing from the internet is its RSS feed that is on your own website.

Another reason that podcasters should take control of their RSS feeds is because it is entirely possible that the service you have placed it on could one day disappear. Such is the case of Mevio. In September of 2005, it acquired Podcast Alley, which was a place where podcasters could host their podcasts for free.

In 2014, Mevio abruptly closed down their service. There were a lot of podcasters who were frantically trying to move their shows somewhere else – and others who missed the deadline and lost everything. I remember there being a lot of very upset podcasters who were unable to find another host for their content before Movie closed.

Keeping control of your RSS feed ensures that your podcast will remain accessible to your listeners.

TPX Announced Partnership with HowStuffWorks

TPX, Canada’s podcast advertising experts, announced a new partnership with HowStuffWorks, the leading for-profit publisher of entertaining and informative podcast content.

The agreement gives TPX (The Podcast Exchange) the first right to market and sell advertisements in the HowStuffWorks podcast network in the quickly growing Canadian market and is made possible due to HowStuffWork’s ability to geo-target relevant host-read advertising.

“This agreement signifies growing confidence in TPX’s position as Canada’s leader in podcast advertising,” stated Jean-Marie Heimrath, President &CEO of TPX. “Our value-add includes published research and in-house expertise to help agencies research, craft, target and curate successful and uniquely Canadian podcast advertising campaigns.”

HowStuffWork’s President and CEO Conal Byrne echoed Heimrath: “As HowStuffWorks Grows year over year, launching new hit shows every month to add to our stable of mega-hits like Stuff You Should Know and Atlanta Monster, we are seeing our audience growing around the world, too – and Canada is no exception. We want to deliver not just the best content for these fans, but the most relevant, highest-quality advertising. We have full confidence in TPX to help get us there in the Canadian market.”