Streaming platform Spotify is expanding its video publishing tools with its free podcast creation software, Anchor, to creators globally.
The expansion includes making Anchor accessible to creators in 180 markets worldwide, and the additional ability to play videos in the background without pausing – available to both subscribers and non-subscribers.
A spokesperson for the company told PodPod: "We are significantly investing in making video podcasting a great experience for creators – empowering creators to reach new global audiences, own how they monetise their content, and interact with fans in new ways."
Spotify previously, in April, made Anchor available only in key markets – including the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and a few other countries including some in Europe. This expansion allows for the video publishing tools to become more accessible to a wider market across Spotify’s whole listenership.
"This is a huge opportunity for video-native podcasters, who will now have access to Spotify's audience of 433m monthly listeners," the spokesperson added, "and for audio-native podcasters, who will be able to start experimenting with video and deliver content that their listeners can engage with more deeply."
“We’ve been amazed by your creativity with Video Podcasts on Spotify since its initial launch last year,” said Spotify, when it announced its video podcast expansion to six further countries in July. “And we’ve been equally encouraged that so many of you continue to ask when you’ll be able to try the feature for yourself.”
In May 2022, a survey by US radio group Cumulus Media and research firm Signal Hill concluded that YouTube was the top preferred podcast platform in the US then, with 24.2% saying they preferred that platform, ahead of Spotify at 23.8%. According to tech industry news site TechCrunch, the new free background play feature gives Spotify a competitive advantage over YouTube, since the option is available only to premium subscribers on the video sharing platform.
Other features available on Anchor include allowing creators to set their own monetisation models with subscriber-only exclusive content, and the ability to record videos remotely through Riverside – in partnership with Anchor – and publish via a distribution path to Spotify from Anchor.
