After my detailed review and article about the new radio (including podcasting) from February 2017 (link ahead), Spreaker has already implemented 1.5 of my suggestions. The Italian-based company recently merged with Blog Talk Radio, so the expanded enterprise now has offices in multiple continents. Ahead are details about 1.5 suggestions Spreaker has made a reality, plus another improvement I didn’t request. I’ll also clarify a very sensible policy change it has made in the deployment of Spreaker’s optional custom Android app, which continues to be branded with the show’s name and logo.
Link to my February article review
Here is a link to my February 2017 article review (illustrated above): Spreaker platform for the new radio: compelling features + my suggestions
Spreaker has added an option to hide stats from public view
This is very good, although it wasn’t one of my suggestions. Now it’s up to the content producer whether or not stats a publicly visible.
Spreaker offers option for unbranded embeddable web player (without Spreaker branding)
For those who read my February 2017 article review, this is my suggestion 1, part 3. Now any Spreaker user at the Broadcaster plan or higher can elect to remove Spreaker branding from the embeddable web player. This is wonderful. Spreaker calls it “white label”. Although it wasn’t clear from Spreaker’s first announcement, after asking, they clarified that even after removing the branding, there is still a link to the live chat (if present), which is an included option for any new radio producer who broadcasts live and wants live interaction with listeners.
This live chat feature was already available and covered in my February article/review, both on the radio show page at Spreaker.com and in the optional branded app for Android and iOS. The live chat is still not an integral part of the embeddable web player, but the embeddable player has a link to it.
Spreaker adds compatibility for third-party stats like Podtrac, but with “leaks”
Spreaker has fulfilled my suggestion 2 half way. So far, the feature unfortunately it comes with “leaks” for someone who currently self-hosts (like my CapicúaFM show) and is considering migrating to Spreaker, due to its unique features of live broadcasting and extremely inexpensive branded Android and iOS apps (US$99 per year, per platform).
When I say “leaks”, I mean that the compatibility with Podrac only works on the RSS feed from Spreaker, not when episodes are played through Spreaker’s own players (web, widget or mobile apps). This is enough reason for me not to migrate my CapicúaFM show to the Spreaker platform (yet). As of publication time of this article, CapicúaFM has reached 295,025 listeners according to Podtrac. I am not willing to reset the odometer to zero, nor am I interested in excluding the listeners who are would hear from Spreaker’s web, widget or mobile apps. However, I do recommend Spreaker for a brand-new show, especially given its extremely inexpensive branded apps for Android and iOS, and its live broadcasting capabilities.
Spreaker changes the submission process for Android-branded show apps
In my February 2017 article/review, I went into detail about the advantages of branded apps for Android and iOS. At that time, the US$99 price per platform per year covered creation, maintenance and submission to the respective store (App Store for Apple and Play Store for Google) under Spreaker’s developer account with each one in the case of Android. This recently changed. As described by Spreaker:
We’ve decided to have our users create their own account on Google Play store and help them publish the app on their account. We did this in order to “sandbox” every user against potential violations to the ToS made by other users in the store (Google reacts pulling down all the apps in the same account – so if a user all of a sudden does something that Google doesn’t like, for example creating some questionable content, everybody else would be at risk). Nothing changes in the US$99/year subscription, though we are pinging all the users to quickly migrate their app to their own managed account. (It’s a simple process and then you just give us some management privileges and we can publish and update the app on your behalf).
In addition to that advantage (no risk of takedown because another show is at fault), the branding in the Play Store can also match the content producer’s brand name or network name.
For the moment, there is no suggested change in the handling of the custom iOS apps from Spreaker.
Do you need help to create your new radio show (podcasting and beyond)?
If you need help, just ask.
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