Introducing: Anchor Stations
Building the future of radio, one station at a time.
When we launched Anchor back in February, we mentioned that one of our hopes was for Anchor to become a new type of radio, one that enabled voices from every corner of the world to be heard. We believe everyone should be able to not only hear the conversation — but be a part of it, too. Today we’re taking another step in that direction, and we’re excited to share one more sliver of our vision: Anchor Stations.
As of yesterday’s Anchor update, version 1.0.7, you can simply tap on any of the stations you see in Discover (the little magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen) and listen. Just like choosing a station preset on the radio in your car’s dashboard, stations make it easier to discover waves and conversations you’re interested in.
But unlike traditional radio, these stations (including topics like #News, #Learn, #Comedy, and #Travel) are playing waves recorded by people in countries all over the world (like Germany, Scotland, Saudi Arabia, and Australia, to name a few). And best of all, anyone can start a conversation or reply to anything they hear to join in.
If you’re already recording waves on Anchor and want to contribute to a station, there’s nothing extra you have to do. Anchor stations try to surface the best, most relevant content, based on a combination of hashtags, human curation, and other listening signals. So, if you want your next wave to be considered for a specific station, the best way to submit it is to simply add a relevant hashtag to your caption — just like you have been. That helps our system identify and categorize it.
Here’s a sneak peek of some of the conversations you can find in a few of these stations:
#News: Digg covers the Panama Papers
#Comedy: James A. Jefferson Jr. has opinions about fast food
#Learn: General Electric explains the concept of digital twins
#Wellness: Inspiralized on how everyone is a work in progress
#Music: Nino Lucarelli creates an original song in one day
#Family: NPR’s Here and Now on paid maternity leave
#Sports: Frank Danna interviews NBA legend Gary Payton
To check out Anchor Stations and add your voice to the conversation, head to the App Store to download the latest version of the app. And if you want to let us know what you think about stations, start a conversation with the Anchor team using the #feedback hashtag.
PS: Here’s our obligatory “we’re hiring” shoutout. If this vision of the future of radio speaks to you, we’d love to chat. Check out open jobs here or email jobs@anchor.fm.
