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‘The Crown’ gets a companion podcast featuring creator Peter Morgan
Just one day after season three of The Crown premiered on Netflix, the streaming company announced a companion podcast that will let fans take a deeper dive into the show's production and background. Having insight straight from the brains behind the show may be of interest to fans: The series is hosted by Scottish DJ and presenter Edith Bowman, and features showrunner and creator of The Crown, Peter Morgan, as well as some of the show's crewmembers. The podcast will serve as a weekly behind-the-scenes look at each episode of the third season. Since Netflix dumped the entire seasons at once, some viewers may have already binged all of season three and will have to wait a while for the podcast to catch up.
Pandora adds podcasts to its web player and desktop app
Last year, Pandora introduced a library of podcasts which has grown from hundreds of shows to thousands. While the service offered many of the most popular series, the sticking point was that support was limited to the company's mobile apps. To make it easier for listeners to catch up with their favorite podcasts, Pandora has added the episodic content to its desktop app and web player, which is available to both free and paid users.
Anchor makes it easier to record one-minute podcast trailers
The DIY podcasting platform Anchor has a new tool for creators. Beginning today, users can record one-minute podcast trailers. Anchor will supply music and background image options, and the finished product will be easy to share.
Deezer reminds everyone it has podcasts with a dedicated section
Deezer wants to remind you that Spotify isn't the only streaming service to include podcasts. It's rolling out a "Shows" tab on iOS (Android and the web are coming later) that's dedicated to podcasts, radio shows and other non-music material. It divides audio into 15 top-level categories like comedy, education and fiction, and you can dive into sub-categories for more specific topics like parenthood. You'll also find podcast recommendations, and you can add any material to your personal library whether or not you're a paying Deezer subscriber.
Adobe's Project Awesome Audio cleans up recordings with a single click
Adobe likes to show off crazy tools it has been working on in a special portion of its MAX conference each year. The not-quite-ready features are known as "sneaks," and while not all of them make it into Creative Cloud apps, some of them do. Adobe is holding its annual design gathering this week, and as you might expect, it has a new batch of "sneaks" to show off. The company wouldn't give us the full details on all of them, but it did give Engadget a preview of one: Project Awesome Audio.
Marvel is working on a bunch of new podcasts for Pandora and SiriusXM
After producing two podcasts with Stitcher, Marvel plans to greatly expand its audio output in a move the company is describing as its "most sweeping podcast deal ever." Starting next year, the media giant plans to create five new scripted series, in addition to several unscripted ones, for SiriusXM and Pandora.
Spotify users can add podcasts to playlists
Today is International Podcast Day and to mark the occasion, Spotify is rolling out a new feature. You can now add podcasts to playlists. You'll be able to intersperse your favorite shows with songs you love, or just line up the latest episodes of all your podcasts so you can listen to them one after another seamlessly. However, you can only add podcasts to playlists through Spotify's mobile app -- you can't do so on desktop just yet, for some reason.
Popular podcast app Pocket Casts is now available for free (updated)
We're big fans of Pocket Casts here at Engadget. The podcast app is arguably the best option for listening to the regular episodic content, keeping them all organized and easily finding what you're looking for. Until now, you had to pay a one-time fee of $3.99 to get Pocket Casts on Android or iOS, but that is changing.
Facebook Watch gets more NFL highlights, news and analysis
The National Football League isn't done teaming up with tech companies. Today, the NFL announced it is extending its partnership with Facebook, a deal that began back in 2017, which will continue to bring highlights of all 256 regular season games, playoffs and the Super Bowl to Facebook Watch. In addition to these recaps, this year the league is serving even more snackable programming on Watch, including news and analysis clips, video versions of podcasts, classic game archives from NFL Films and special videos dedicated to 100th NFL season. Facebook says that, in 2017 and 2018, over 22 million people watched at least a minute of an NFL recap, a sign that people on its site have an appetite for this type of video content.
Pandora hopes to pad its podcast lineup with direct uploads
Pandora doesn't want to sit by the wayside while Spotify snaps up podcast listeners. The streaming music service has started accepting podcasts for "consideration" to be included in its catalog. Those who want a shot just have to submit their feed address, answer a few questions about their podcast and cross their fingers.
iHeartMedia is returning podcasts to their radio roots
If you own a radio network, how do you promote your podcasts? By calling back to the roots of podcass and airing them on the radio, of course. iHeartMedia has unveiled a Sunday Night Podcasts initiative that will air podcasts on 270 of its radio stations at the end of each week, starting with The Ron Burgundy Podcast on August 11th. You can also expect series like Stuff You Should Know, TechStuff and The Ben and Ashley I. Almost Famous Podcast, although just what you'll get and when will vary. It's up to the stations to choose the podcasts and time slots that fit.
Google puts playable podcast episodes in Search
Google continues its push into the world of podcasts, not only through its own podcast app but also by adding a new podcast feature to search.
What we're listening to: 'Soccer 101' and 'Athletico Mince'
In this month's installment of our audio IRL, we're getting ready for European football with a podcasts. The season starts this week, after all. Senior News Editor Billy Steele is getting a proper soccer education while Senior Editor Dan Cooper takes a more comedic route.
Spotify adds 8 million paying customers in three months
In the three months since Spotify crested the 100 million Premium user mark, the company has added another 8 million paying customers. It's another sign of health from a music streaming service that continues to grow in the face of tough and well-heeled competition. In its second-quarter earnings, Spotify said that its overall membership grew from 217 million last quarter to 232 million now.
Apple is reportedly planning to pay for exclusive podcasts
Apple reportedly is looking to buy exclusive rights to original podcasts, reported Bloomberg. The company has reached out to executives of media companies, but there's no clear strategy in place yet. Since Apple's share of the podcast market is so large (anywhere from 50 to 70 percent of podcast listeners are estimated to tune in on the Podcasts app), any movement would likely shake up the industry.
Nielsen wants to track podcast data by... calling people
Are true crime podcasts as popular with Millenials as they are with Baby Boomers? Does the under-35 crowd listen to wellness podcasts? Nielsen, the company behind the TV ratings system, will begin to survey Americans about their podcast consumption habits in order to sell the data to podcast creators and ad networks.
What we're listening to: Broken Record and Thom Yorke's 'Anima'
In this month's installment of our audio IRL, we're back to podcasts. Deputy Managing Editor Nathan Ingraham embraces the weirdness of Thom Yorke's new album and Senior News Editor Billy Steele can't get enough of Malcolm Gladwell's music history show.
Spotify’s Soundtrap audio editing tool to offer free unlimited storage
Soundtrap, the cloud-based editing tool for music and podcasts, has decided to throw in free unlimited storage for its non-paying members. Previously, Soundtrap's basic plan limited users to only five saved songs or projects. Starting today, those who own the unpaid version of either Soundtrap or Soundtrap for Storytellers (designed especially for podcasts) will have as much storage they need. The basic music recording tool will also grant users access to double the number of music loops (2,210, compared to only 750 before) and more software instruments.
Spotify continues to expand its lineup of podcast exclusives
Spotify has been on a tear as of late to build out the podcast side of its business, and it's adding another exclusive show to its lineup. The third season of sports-focused show Riggle's Picks, starring comedians Rob Riggle and Sarah Tiana, will only be available through Spotify.
Spotify redesigns Your Library to highlight podcasts
Spotify is rolling out a redesign of Your Library for Premium users, giving music and podcasts their own sections. Each has three distinct tabs you can tap or swipe between. In Podcasts, you'll have the option to view new episodes for shows you follow and those you haven't listened to (Episodes) as well as an overview of all the shows to which you're subscribed (Shows). The Downloads tab, unsurprisingly, includes all the episodes you've downloaded for offline listening.
