I have mixed feelings about this product.
On one hand, it is the best darn thing I have seen in the post-podcast space period. On the other hand, as I am building something in the same space (I'll avoid the shameless plug here) I thought "shoot, these guys got it RIGHT".
I can only say: respect. This is a brilliant, brilliant concept really well executed. May you have a lot of success. I will definitely be using Anchor.
@tapefinder Borja - thank you so much for the encouraging words. But please don't be discouraged! It's going to take a lot of great products by a lot of different people with unique and interesting perspectives to really shine the spotlight on audio that it deserves. I'm really looking forward to trying your product when it's ready 😄
@bentossell@mignano@benrbn Well, what can I say when someone has a home run? (is "have" the right verb? Sorry I am not a native speaker).
Our approach is different, targets people already producing audio so it is not the same. I am not discouraged, just humbled and completely in awe. You just effing nailed it. I can see podcasts being transformed in a series of consecutive waves that people can respond to. I see the potential in inserting wave ads.
Damn, can I invest in this? I mean it.
@bentossell@mignano@tapefinder@benrbn I agree with the above comments. The great thing about spaces like this (content creation and consumption) is that they are going through explosive growth right now, and expanding to include new niches every day. Music, video and publishing are similar; there is ample space for multiple products/services, and certainly enough room to figure out how to differentiate yourself amongst other players.
And yes, agree with Ben, love it when people in the same or similar spaces are supportive of one another. Helps build a broader communal dynamic, and leads to more opportunities for both parties in the long run.
Ahoy, Product Hunters! Mike from Anchor, here. You can listen to this comment: https://anchor.fm/w/98abdd
My co-founder Nir and I have always been big fans of talk radio and podcasts, but we’ve found it difficult to record and share our own voices. We also think that radio should be multi-directional, instead of a one-way conversation.
So, we built Anchor to solve these problems and enable anyone with a smartphone to easily record and publish 2-minute audio clips, sort of like bite-sized podcasts. Best of all, audio in Anchor is interactive -- so anyone can respond with their actual voice, like a real conversation. This sparks an immediate group discussion that anyone can join. Here’s an example: https://anchor.fm/w/98a765 It’s like starting an interactive radio show right from your phone.
Given that the PH community is into product design, I thought I’d also share our product philosophy with all of you. We call it “audio-first”, and it’s kind of like when the web went mobile-first. We believe audio products should be built more for your ears and your voice, and less for your eyes and your fingers. To that end, Anchor has elements of audio cues, narration, transition music bumpers, the ability to listen with your phone closed/in your pocket, etc. Recording works by holding the phone up to your ear, just like talking on the telephone. And when the product becomes more mature, we hope to even have voice recognition and voice commands, too.
Ask me anything here on PH... or on Anchor with your voice!
--
We're also doing some fun AMAs on Anchor right now. Here's one with @Borthwick, ask him anything about pre-seed investments: https://anchor.fm/w/98b640
@mignano Have been using similar apps like Zcast and Unmute. Live audio calls or podcasts is an interesting alternative to live video streaming apps like Periscope or Blab app. Its less friction to join a audio podcast than video, more like a natural way of how we communicate with others using phone calls. Last year was all about Live Video, this year could be the year of Live Audio :). Good to see more apps in this space, definitely an interesting space.
Just downloaded the app. Love the onboarding flow, great way to explain how the app works. I skipped twitter login by mistake during onboarding and could not slide up the screen. Had to slide down and signup using email. Was that an intentional flow ?
Just did my first wave :) What the best way to reach you for feedback ?
@kwdinc Thanks for the kind words, Kevin! We currently don't support going backwards in onboarding - but we've actually gotten the same feedback from others lately, so we'll probably make a change to support that soon.
The best way to reach us for feedback is to record in Anchor using the #feedback hashtag. We listen to every single wave, so we'll definitely reply to you there :) Thanks again!
@mignano congrats on the launch Mike! Although I've only been using anchor for a few days, I really love the platform and concept. Going to try and be a power anchor user 👍
@kwdinc@mignano Completely agree with Kevin, it could be the year of Live Audio. By the way, I think that this is the future of radio stations because in order to hold an audience they should interact with people more actively. And this kind of technology is the only way to do that.
P.S. Guys, thanks for what you're doing! Keep it up!
I've been a beta tester for Anchor for a few months now... it feels like the Twitter of audio...
There are some awesome people on there and interesting topics discussed.
I've had collaborative conversations about the rules around reclining your seat on an airline, to feedback on @matthartman's new podcast and also feedback on Anchor, on Anchor!
This whole collaborative audio/podcasting space is a really interesting one and I think it has some legs for sure.
I love the interface of the app and recommend checking it out!
I am still more of a lurker (as I seem to be on many platforms, Snapchat etc) but enjoying listening to peoples waves :)
@mignano & @nirzicherman can tell you more!
Here is their Introduction to Anchor post on Medium!
Oh I'm @bentossell on Anchor too (obvs)
@bentossell@matthartman@mignano@nirzicherman@anchorfm I agree with Ben here, and feel likes there's huge opportunity in this space. Reading Anchor's Medium article from this morning, I seized upon 2 words: radio democratization.
As I laid out in this tweet thread w/ @hunterwalk, content democratization is the emerging trend in written content and music, and so too I believe in radio and/or podcasting: https://twitter.com/adammarx13/s...
The brilliance in a service like this is not relegated solely to the engineering of the app (which seems well done), but is underscored by the service's high priority of community engagement. In the end, it's the communal feel of the service that will attract and retain users. That is the nature of democratized content services.
Inasmuch as I see conversations focusing on the interface and technical aspects of the app, I'm more interested in keeping note of the discussions which form around the building of communities within the service. I think the most intriguing things we're going to see from apps like Anchor and others are going to be how they disseminate power in a way which does away with the need for "mainstream appeal." In appealing to each user on their own level (democratization of power and content), Anchor and others have the opportunity to carve out unique niches for themselves in which they exist as their own destinations for the creation and consumption of art (in this case, short radio podcasts).
The lasting winning factor in this is that art is art, its nature is to be shared and engaged with. The Anchor team have focused on a concept which many of us in art-related industries now view as a massively expanding universe of content and opportunity.
@adammarx13 Adam - @nirzicherman and I are truly grateful for your thoughtful words and feedback. We hope you're enjoying Anchor, and we look forward to talking to you on the platform!
One of the subtle features of anchor is that it's asynchronous, so the conversations have the ability to grow over time. Kind of reminds me of Medium. Look forward to talking with you all.
Congratulations to the Anchor team. I was lucky enough to start beta testing anchor this past summer, and have grown to love the product, and the community that has been growing inside Anchor. Anchor even has a coveted spot on my homescreen. This is an an excerpt from the first email I sent Mike & Nir with my thoughts on Anchor:
"I don't know what you envision Anchor to be in the future, but after using it a few times, to me it felt like it has the potential to be the a virtual dinner table, college dorm room, coffee shop, and favorite bar- really anywhere that people congregate to have conversations, and hear other people's thoughts on the things that they care about, and are interested in."
I encourage all the new users to jump right in, and record a wave, or respond to someone else's. Hearing the sound of your own voice is strange at first, but be assured it's strange for everyone. I'm excited that many more people will be joining the conversation, and I look forward to hearing from all of you soon!
@kunaltandon Thanks Kunal! I remember that email, well. You've been a fantastic beta tester and have truly helped us shape this product. Even cooler, I feel like we've gotten to know you as a friend almost exclusively from Anchor. I'm really looking forward to watching what conversations and connections unfold between people as Anchor grows and expands.
Thanks again for all your support!
Love this @mignano. Going to start discussing one type of cereal a day on Anchor, kicking off with Honey Bunches Of Oates, a personal favorite. Come find me on Anchor cereal fam.
Love the idea, unfortunately can't try it as I am on Android. I see this another step towards snack-sized content for audio, much like what we are trying to play at !
All the best :)
Freaking fantastic onboarding. I can see this being a great tool for short content marketing type content for us. Like someone else said, kind of like Periscope for audio. Except I don't have to put pants on for Anchor. =)
@chrisgscott Echo your thoughts! Amazing onboarding experience. Allowed me to soak in the product value right away before nudging me for a signup and as others have mentioned, this feels like the Twitter for Audio!
This is really well done. I love how each cast turns into a conversational stream of replies and like Twitter, I can see people turning to Anchor to share their thoughts and debate about timely topics (e.g. politics, the Grammy's, depression).
Are you planning to add a topic or tagging system to categorize these recordings, @mignano?
@rrhoover Thank you, Ryan! Nir, Kristin, and I really appreciate your kind words.
We love the idea of people using Anchor to have real conversations with others about things currently happening in their lives or throughout the world.
Regarding categorization - we're currently supporting #hashtags, which you can add to the caption of an original wave (we currently don't have captions on replies). We are also manually curating waves into a series of topics. You can see (hear) these by going to the Search/Discover section of the app (magnifying glass icon). However, in the near future, we want to make it easier for people to be able to directly contribute to these topics, so they don't have to wait for one us at Anchor HQ to actually hear it and place it into a topic.
And eventually, we want these topics to be personalized for every user. We want to make sure people are always being presented with great waves that we identify as relevant to their interests based on past listening habits.
This is an awesome product. You guys need to bring it to Android ASAP. When Meerkat was launched, it was only for iPhone users. Periscope launched later but they brought in an Android app earlier than Meerkat. Android is huge market. By doing this you can actually bring in a lot of people into your system and got to evaluate things quickly.
@invinciblesaad Muhammad - we're working hard to get to Android asap. Please drop your email into this form and we'll let you know when we're on Android: http://anch.co/anchorandroid
So excited for Anchor to launch! I've been beta testing for a few months and because the comments are the voices of real humans, they are authentic and really make you want to reply. Very different than any other platform I've seen (or heard!). Congrats @mignano and @nirzicherman!
@startstorms@mignano Thanks for the support, Dan! And for helping us beta test. We'd love to keep hearing your thoughts on product on Anchor, especially now that so many product-focused people are coming into the app. I'm sure it will lead to awesome conversations.
@startstorms@nirzicherman Thanks, Dan! It's been so great to have you as a beta tester and I look forward to hearing more of your waves! We've definitely got to meet up one of these days and nerd out on Product Management.
@natelegler Got lucky with the Twitter handle! And our PH launch is only as good as the PH community helps us make it! We're very grateful for people like you helping us make this launch day a lot of fun :)
Been playing around with this for a little while now. It's really fun to have actual conversations (asynchronously) with folks you know and don't about topics that interest you. It's early on but it'll be really cool to see where this goes! =)
Hey @mignano & @nirzicherman - I've been following your journey with Anchor for what feels like a year. The beta of Anchor has seen so much hard work. I've seen more iterating based on user feedback than I've ever seen in any other beta. I'm really looking forward to recording our podcast next Thursday for The App Guy. Congratulations on a successful launch
@paul_s_kemp@mignano Thanks Paul! It was great having you as a beta tester, and we really appreciate all the support/feedback. Really excited to be on your show!
@paul_s_kemp@nirzicherman Thanks, Paul! Your supportive words have been truly encouraging throughout the process. Thanks for hanging in there with us - we know it's been a long time. Looking forward to speaking in a few days!
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