Like many of the other industries, the Novel Coronavirus pandemic has hit the podcast industry pretty hard. As creators cannot go to their respective studios to record new podcasts, Spotify-owned podcast platform, Anchor is now allowing users to convert their video conferencing sessions into podcasts.
Spotify has been pushing its podcast streaming service with the addition of many new features like curated podcast playlists and improved podcast suggestions based on listening habits. Now, as the podcast industry is struggling due to the ongoing pandemic, Spotify wants to take this opportunity and cash it out. So, the company has added the feature of converting video conference calls into podcast-ready audio to its podcast platform, Anchor, which it acquired back in 2019.
Now, the conversion tool of Anchor works with most of the popular video conferencing apps like Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, Twitch, Instagram Live and more. The tool can also take .MP4 and .MOV files and convert it into high-definition audio.
So, to convert your video call session into an audio podcast, all you need to do is record your video call session and upload it to Anchor’s website. As you upload the video, the conversion tool automatically extracts the audio out of the video file and you can find it in the “Your Episode” section of the website.
You can then further edit the audio file as per your needs by trimming or splitting it. You can also use the in-built background scores, sound effects and even a voice recording.
The addition of this feature comes at the best time for Spotify as the podcast industry is slowly gaining pace again. According to reports from NiemanLab, recently the downloads of podcasts increased by 4% and the audience increased by 2%, after a dry run due to the Coronavirus-led pandemic. Now, only time will tell us how much Spotify benefits from this move.
