Facebook to add a podcast player and recording tool

• Within the next few months, the Facebook app will include a podcast player, as part of an upcoming set of “social audio experiences”, as initially highlighted by Mark Zuckerburg in a Platformer discussion on Discord. The podcast player will work in the background, and offer live captioning; “RSS” wasn’t mentioned in the release or in Zuckerburg’s interview. 170 million Facebook users are already connected to a Page for a podcast, the company says. (Here’s ours).

  • To get into Facebook as a podcast, it appears that the podcast player will be an additional tab in your Facebook Page. What might help is check your podcast’s page info to ensure that you have added the Podcast category: that may allow your page to access additional features at launch.

• Facebook has also announced “Live Audio Rooms” - available for Facebook Groups, and to public figures. “With live audio, creators will be able to turn a live conversation into a podcast for everyone to listen to later,” says the company; you’ll be able to charge for access or accept tips using Facebook’s digital currency, Stars.

• Other announcements from Facebook include a new audio creation tool as part of the app, with automatic noise reduction, music and effects; Soundbites will be “short-form, creative audio clips”, which you’ll be able to record, or clip from shows; and all audio will be automatically captioned for accessibility.

• Apple are making a slew of new announcements today in their Spring Loaded event, live from 10am PT. It’s widely expected that Apple will launch a paid subscription podcast service. We’ll cover everything podcast-related in tomorrow’s Podnews.

  • Potentially related: we are seeing a significant increase in Apple’s podcast API not returning the RSS feed URL. This makes it very difficult to use the Apple Podcasts API to power a competing podcast website or app.

• iHeartRadio has announced a partnership with NFL to launch the NFL’s Podcast Network. A number of new shows will be produced as part of the deal.

• Glass Entertainment Group has partnered with Wondery on a slate of shows.

• In Singapore, Awedio is a new app bringing together radio and podcasts from SPH, the media organisation that owns The Straits Times and a set of radio stations.

• Tomorrow, Australian podcast publisher Mamamia will launch MPlus, a subscription service. It launches with Extraordinary Stories, a podcast series about the women who shaped Australia’s magazine industry.

• PRX has named Byron Green as Senior Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The company pledged to do better with diversity last year.

Thank you to Audacy, who’s companies Cadence13, Pineapple Street Studios and Podcorn are new gold sponsors today. Formerly Entercom, Audacy is a leading multi-platform audio content and entertainment company, and unapologetic champions of audio – everywhere, on every device.​ Their help allows us to remain independent. Here’s how to support Podnews.

Tips and tricks - with Podcast Day 24

• In The Pandemic’s Gift to Podcast Promotion, our Editor highlights a useful tool to promote your podcast on posters, flyers and postcards that everyone knows how to use now.

• Should you use music in your podcast? Rachel Corbett says: it depends.

Podcast News

The Los Angeles Times is launching a daily news podcast, The Times. Its first episode will be May 3.

In Canada, CBC Podcasts has released their first ever English-to-French podcast adaption: a new version of Brainwashed made in collaboration with Radio-Canada (the public broadcaster’s French-language service). Brainwash: les cobayes oubliés, hosted by Sophie-Andrée Blondin, is an elegant blend of translation and original reporting in French. They’re also working on Telling Our Twisted Histories with Mohawk actress Kaniehtiio Horn: a CBC/Radio-Canada collaboration as the English-language follow-up to Laissez-nous raconter: L’histoire crochie, due out in June.