Spotify's new invention - music alongside talking

Having bought the podcast creation platform Anchor over a year ago, Spotify recently announced their latest venture: allowing users to create:

...a new kind of audio show combining talk segments and full-length songs.

Sound familiar?!

You’ve been able to add songs from Spotify (and previously Apple Music) to a podcast in Anchor for some time now. By default users hear a 30-second preview, but anyone with a premium account can hear the full track.

This exciting new development from the audio streaming giant means podcasts containing songs from their library can be played exclusively on Spotify in a similar way to a music playlist.

The new way to create opens up big opportunities for both organisations and individuals, especially given the ability to monetise shows through sponsorship (while adhering to their guidelines on this).

It comes two years after former Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy said, in an interview at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia conference:

The 20-year trend is linear dies, everything on-demand wins.

The claim was repeated by CEO Daniel Ek five months ago. He added:

While most external focus is on competition between streaming services, (our focus is on) the billions of users who are listening to linear radio.

I’ve always said not to underestimate Spotify’s ability to rapidly expand as an audio platform, but I disagree that "everything on-demand wins" - the shared experience of a live broadcast, used to its advantage, is unique and irreplaceable.

Not only do 89% of British adults listen to traditional radio each week (RAJAR) and 92% of American adults (Nielsen), the growth of live streaming platforms such as Twitch and Periscope prove this.

Putting that debate aside, anyone can see this has huge potential with on-demand content that’s enough of a draw (and I’m sure there are big-name signings to come).

Of course, it’s not solely about taking on the radio industry - it could also be seen as a direct response to Apple‘s linear stations and the fact podcasts in their directory (or any other) cannot feature commercial music without the publisher obtaining the necessary licences.

Anyway, I tested this out on Anchor/Spotify. At first, my show (featuring a load of crunch ‘n’ roll links) was rejected due to an imbalance of music and speech, which is fair enough, so I uploaded an interview on the end and got the thumbs up shortly afterwards.

For me, the most annoying thing listening back was the gaps at the beginning/end of songs, particularly those that fade in or out.

That’s not just me being a sad anorak (as much of one as I may be) refusing to think outside my radio bubble, it’s a frustrating listening experience when it doesn’t flow nicely - the equivalent of a playout system with no cue points/segue markers set on anything.

I’m not suggesting Spotify should give users the ability to edit, beat-match or even “jock” the songs (can’t see record companies allowing that anyway) but something needs to be done to allow smoother seamless transitions between segments.

In other related news, Spotify just announced they’re launching a new daily presenter-led morning show, ‘The Get Up’, combining news, entertainment and a personalised selection of music for the listener (based on their listening trends).

Hosted by journalist Speedy Motman, YouTuber Kat Lazo and Spotify’s Head of Cultural Partnerships Xavier "X" Jernigan, it’ll be pre-recorded (therefore lacking any real-time audience interaction that is a huge part of many traditional breakfast radio shows), released at 7am EDT weekdays and available to stream as a playlist.

Having an algorithm choose music curated to your own tastes sounds attractive - but if you crank up a workout playlist in the gym, unwind with chilled music at night and play nursery rhymes for the kids, you‘ll probably find it a difficult listen!

There should be further customisation options allowing users to pick genres, playlists, artists etc to prevent this from happening.

It’s still early days and there’ll be more to come. It may suit Spotify’s current agenda to dismiss linear/live broadcasting, but I wouldn’t rule it out completely further down the line if demand is still there.

Radio’s advantage right now is being in the moment; reacting to the day’s events, reflecting the mood and getting the right tone. That emotional connection is something Spotify hasn't yet grasped.