Twitter Podcasts 🦜
Substack and Twitter upgrading fast with Audio 🎙️
Hey Guys,
I’ve been pretty impressed with Twitter’s integration of audio spaces, so I’m not surprised to see them integrate Podcasting now better.
Even as Substack is killing it with product innovation and about to launch their Android app, audio immersion is now extremely important for Creator audiences.
Twitter says it helps people connect with unique and compelling voices around the world. With podcasts, they’re taking that connection to a whole new level. - Twitter Blog
So if the Audio spaces pilot has gone well, the tab will now include Podcasts. A new hub puts podcasts and live audio in the same place.
I’m still waiting of course for Twitter Notes (Forbes), the longer-form place for more thought leadership. While Twitter user growth and an employee exodus is not helping its case, for journalists and Substack Creators in Finance and politics, it is still an extremely fascinating space for breaking news.
Twitter is Redesigning in-App Audio Experiences
Tl;dr:
In order to make podcast integration as smooth as possible, the company redesigned the Spaces tab by introducing hubs that can be personalized.
The revamped Spaces tab and the addition of podcasts will be visible to a group of global English-speaking audience on iOS and Android starting yesterday. (launch August 25th, 2022).
As Substack has text-to-speech capabilities in its App, more Creators doing podcasts and more Creators launching Twitter audio spaces, podcasting from Spotify, to Twitter to Substack is becoming bigger - even TikTok’s parent is rumored to be making a Spotify clone.
Podcasting Discovery with Stations
Content is grouped by themes so listeners can find what they are looking for at a glance.
Back in 2020, Twitter announced the Twitter Spaces platform, which lets users host and join live audio rooms. Just two years later, it’s making it even better with Podcasts.
Radio free Twitter? Yeah, kinda. The redesign introduces personalized hubs for users called “Stations” that group content together based on different topics, such as news, music, sports and more.
Podcasts on Twitter will be integrated with Twitter Spaces in a way that I find both convenient and aesthetically pleasing.
The company will also try and curate content by utilizing existing user data, and giving podcast recommendations. How audio spaces pop up and how you will get recommendations to Podcasts is super important to give Audio its well-deserved niche in your feed and in-app experience.
Audio Discovery Upgraded 🐛
So it “feels” like audio is being upgraded in the early 2020s so far, even as more Podcasting makes it more Creator-friendly and Substack lowers the bar to entry for writers to also create audio-friendly content.
In Twitter now, the recommendations that you see will be based on the themes and people that you follow. Twitter users will now be able to access a personalized selection of live and recorded Spaces.
For the Creator Economy as a whole, the “stack” for writing, audio and video is getting stronger. One thing is clear, Twitter and Substack have gotten “audio” right more than LinkedIn has. The LinkedIn audio experiences I’ve had have been painful experiences that feel more like a juvenile clone of Twitch. Live audio events, live-streaming and podcasting are surprisingly hard to get right.
Layers
Once you open the Spaces Tab, you will see three sections. The top of the tab will show you Stations, which scroll horizontally and showcase different themes and Topics to listen to. Below that, you will see Spaces spotlight, which lists some of the top curated audio content. Lastly, you’ll see a list of upcoming Spaces.
This is an acceptable format for discovery.
Spotify takes it a step further getting into audio books. Spotify’s app design splits music and podcasts.
The company says it’s part of an effort to give you more and better recommendations, but it also addresses a common criticism of the Spotify experience. TikTok’s owner ByteDance, is certainly watching.
With podcast recommendations this is very interesting since of course, the more users listen, the more tailored the audio Stations will become. The pandemic was good for audio content and changed how we consumer media to some degree with Clubhouse of course and its impact on copycats.
For Substack and Twitter this is more important than it seems:
As mentioned by TechCrunch, Twitter says its internal research indicates that 45% of people who use Twitter in the U.S. also listen to podcasts monthly, so now the company will automatically suggest podcasts to help users discover content based on the topics they’re interested in.
Twitter users already really like audio content.
Podcast discovery has been pretty broken for the last few years. The Verge reminds us that: Podcast discovery is notoriously difficult, limited either to top 100 charts, hand-picked selections on apps, or — more often than not — word of mouth. Twitter’s integration of audio into its app is a UI and design triumph which gives me confidence.
I’m keen to see how Substack’s app evolves with the audio genre. Enabling Podcast Creators to be more easily found is very key.
According to Twitter, the new Spaces tab will provide a “more customized experience.” Users will see content based on their interests, and you can give a thumbs up or thumbs down to help Twitter refine the suggestions shown to you.
What do you think of this news?
That’s all for today, have a good weekend.