I’ve struggled with my use of Anchor for a while for my podcast and whilst it’s obviously a good option for people like me that require a free platform I’m uneasy about the way that they have been running their business.
This post by their co-founder is the final straw for me and I am going to be removing my account from Anchor and thus putting my podcast on hiatus for now. One of the beauties of podcasting is that it’s based on the open RSS standard and this post clearly shows intent to walk away from that and move completely into Spotify. I can see a future where you will only be able to listen to my podcast if you’re a Spotify subscriber and I don’t want to be part of that.
Since RSS only enables a flat audio file to be distributed to consumption platforms, creators gain limited and often inaccurate insight into how the audio is consumed, such as where it is being consumed, how much of the audio is being heard or enjoyed (or not), and whether or not the audio is even being heard at all (and not just automatically “downloaded”).
This is useful for some but for me it’s a step too far for me and my views on tracking across the web being bad enough as it is, this again shows intention. It’s seems to be all about moving away from RSS, bringing you into Spotify and monetising your listeners.
This is kind of clear already within the app and I’m seeing messages all over the place within the app that guides me towards trying to make money from my listeners, this even available in the UK and yet I still get reminded to add sponsors.
So yeah, I’m done with Anchor and will be on a quest to find a new option. I’ll see what WordPress can offer me, that isn’t tied to Anchor.
LJPUK 