Social audio app Anchor has released a long-awaited version 2.0 of its app, in which the push-and-pull between radio (listening) and social (creating) is slanted decidedly to radio. The new version is launched as Anchor receives fresh investment of $2.8-million from Accel Partners, with participating venture captial from Omidyar Network the Chernin Group
Anchor allows users to post audio clips. Earlier versions positioned Anchor as an audio-based social where users chatted back and forth by creating “waves.” An original wave could be two minutes long, and replying waves were capped at one minute. The basic usability resembled an audio version of Facebook.
Snapradio
The new Anchor experience (“Your kind of radio”) decidedly tacks in a different business direction, funneling users to lean-back listening first, with less emphasis on the lean-in process of creating original audio. Transparent wave threads that anyone could jump into with instant participation have been replaced by “Stations” — a sure indicator that Anchor has plunged its stake in the ground of radio, not social.
Anchor Stations expand the previous time limits to five minutes for clips. (Again: Good for listening; bad for social.) Listeners may “call in” to any station clip(doubling down on the radio metaphor). And as long as Anchor is appropriating other platform traditions, Station content disappears after 24 hours, like Snapchat Stories. Stations with existing content are called “on the air.” (All right, we get it!)
Some social aspect is preserved with the call-in feature, but the app’s design shunts users to stations, not people, and call-ins must be approved by the station owner before being posted.
All in all, Anchor is now geared more to semi-pro audio production, amenable to brand-building and brand-extending. For example, an indie podcaster might user Anchor to exhibit her personality, promote the formal show, and pick up some audience. Various music beds and sound effects are available, including an Applause button with which listeners can insert the sound of approval anywhere in a station’s audio. Spotify is also integrated — anyone may post a clip, and any listener with a Spotify account may link it to hear full songs within the Anchor app.
The semi-pro and professional attraction of Anchor v2.0 is emphasized by launch-partnering with content creators like This Amazing Earth which have established stations.
Shock
Existing users are in for some degree of shock, as the changes dramatically point Anchor in a new direction, and the app’s usability doesn’t have many familiar points of reference. We have heard wails of protest in audio posts today. But a conversation with one early adopter and active user was positive.
To us, Anchor 2.0 is a more radical jolt to existing users than SoundCloud delivered in December 2012 when it similarly shifted to a lean-back listening experience on a platform which was previously social and collaborative. Given SoundCloud’s immense success in building audience (notwithstanding its business uncertainties), we can understand Anchor’s rationale.