What's all the noise about... Spotify?
Stop. Rewind. Play.
Photo by Omid Armin on Unsplash
So Spotify has gone all TikTok on us. At the recent Stream On event they announced a new focus on video content. It’s all about scrolling and swiping. It’s about visuals and video. It’s a lot of emphasis on what hits our eyeballs for what has historically been an audio platform.
I understand apps bending and swerving what they offer to provide content to keep us on their platform for longer, but audio is a special kind of content. One that comes alive in your imagination. Thousands of people can listen to the same podcast and each will experience it differently. Add pictures to that and we have additional information to process. We don’t need to conjure up anything, a version of it is provided for us and we start to miss the subtleties that audio offers.
But all may not be lost, the latest update boasts improved discoverability. And there is no other platform with the wealth of information about our listening habits to match Spotify. Personalised recommendations, swipeable previews and autoplay are likely to draw attention to new content.
Over to Sara Guaglion of Digiday:
“Podcasts are ‘very intimate, and they’re very unselfconscious because you don’t have a camera in your face most of the time… And if all of a sudden you have lighting and cameras and you have hair and makeup, you might lose some of that,’ the executive said. ‘You don’t want the fundamental creative of the thing to suffer, just because you’re trying to exploit it on other platforms.
“They added: ‘But then if that could help you find millions of more listeners, well then maybe that’s a worthwhile trade off. I think that’s what we’re all going to have to weigh as this continues to evolve.’
Cut the Tape
For podcasters wanting to be on Spotify it means thinking through the logistics of creating video content and working out whether it is worth the trouble for some extra listens (the algorithm will favour video content from here on in).
For listeners it means a change in what we hear from Spotify. Whether we are aware of it or not, a video podcast does not sound like an audio podcast. The voices we hear on video will come from people operating in a visual mode, and while that difference may be subtle, it will be there.
#Podcasting
New podcasts, partnerships and features revealed following Spotify's Stream On event || LA Times
New Spotify Experience demo from Stream On || YouTube
Spotify’s AI DJ promises personalised selection of music and spoken word || TechCrunch
Spotify partners with Patreon || Spotify
Ashley Carmen’s take on the Spotify update - “A TikTok artists can control” || Bloomberg UK
iHeartMedia Digital CEO Conal Byrne speaks to The Verge at Hot Pod Summit || The Verge
New Rode NT1 boasts XLR and USB-C connections || The Verge
Nomono Sound Capsule for podcasters recording in the field, wins SXSW innovation award || Podnews
Voting is now open for the Sports Podcast Awards 2023 || Sports Podcast Group
A "music-first approach" to enhance customer experience. CRO of Homonym Mike Constantino speaks out about the importance of audio marketing || ABS CBN News
#SoundDesign
Selena Gomez talks about the sound design in My Mind and Me ||ProVideo Coalition
Thinking in sound: Finding a unique sonic identity with commercial audio mixer Brian Battersby || Little Black Book
International examples of creative audio ads || Little Black Book
The sound gallery is open Monday to Friday at the British Library. 7million sounds to listen to - and it’s free! || British Library
#AudioFuture
Text to speech: AI trained on YouTube and podcasts has more human voice || BBC
#SocialAudio
Reddit Talks to shut down. Hosts can continue until March 21 || Social Media Today
Audio rooms can no longer be created on Facebook, and the feature will disappear completely from April 1 || Social Media Today
Indian social audio service SpeakApp celebrates 100K Downloads || Business Standard
Twitter bug on prevents Android speakers being heard in live Spaces || @morqon
Coming soon? Toggle ‘Spaces Host’ or ‘Spaces Speaker’ to get a notification when Twitter users go live || @ehikian
Creative clubbing in Clubhouse || @morqon
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We hear Malcolm read a sections from the book and Rick respond to each idea. Through their conversation we are prompted to explore the importance of authentic creativity and invited to ponder the realisation that creators have the opportunity to make something more radical than they can imagine.
Rick describes the book as “a call to arms to go out and make something beautiful - change the world.” I’m in - are you?
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