Spotify has today unveiled a brand new feature named Anchor which brings for the first time the format of Radio to the streaming plateform world.

We're all used to listening a drive time radio show which delivers both a great playlist & a highly engaging commentary, this was the essence of many radio show. Today, Spotify is bringing them together with Anchor in a new format available soon on its plateform and offering the same experience but better.

A new interactive format

With this new listening format, listeners can now interact into the show, choosing the music within the episodes, liking, saving, and reading more about a track and its creators, all of this without even leaving the episode' page.

By rolling out new tooling within Anchor, Spotify is making it possible for anyone to create their own show. The new format solves many limitations inherent to audio creation & distribution, which have never before been able to leverage the power of music streaming.

Now with Spotify’s Anchor platform, shows can deliver both talk and music with a seamless listening experience that especially now allows artists to benefit from the interactions without the need for complicated licensing issues.

" We’ve heard for years that listeners want an easy way to discover and save the music that’s incorporated into their favorite podcasts. This new show format provides a listening experience that answers these requests, breaking the confines of the traditional podcast structure: this is an entirely new way to stream audio. "

- Spotify

A new on-demand production era

This new feature will enable a range of new listening experiences, for example, as during some BBC Essential Mix, artists will be able to create explainers where they talk through each of the tracks on their albums and give fans a new perspective, share hidden stories and interesting facts about each track. It might also pave the way for traditional radio hosts to move their shows to streaming formats and move away from the radio.

Some limitations

This new format will only work through Anchor, Spotify’s free Podcast hosting service for show creators & will initially roll out on the Anchor platform for creators in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.

For listeners you need to use either the Desktop app or Mobile app & those only with Spotify Premium will be able to hear full tracks as part of these shows, users on the Free tier will hear 30-second music previews. To enjoy the full experience you’ll want to use mobile but, on desktop it still works, however, the shows appear as 1 episode and the tracks appear in the play bar.

In addition to the launch of Podcast & Artist Cards, Spotify proves their on a continued mission to innovate by adding features that will woo both listeners and creators to the platform. To get started, check out Anchor’s blog post with all the details.