Spotify is testing new tools that will allow you to record, edit and publish podcasts directly from the company's main app. The company introduced this feature in New Zealand last month. This will remove the need of having a separate app — like Spotify-owned Anchor — to record and publish a quick take for podcasts.

Outgoing Spotify executive and Anchor co-founder Michael Mignano noted the launch of this feature and said this will allow users to make an episode with "no extra tools or hardware needed". He joined the audio streaming company after it acquired Anchor in 2019.

We started @anchor with a mission to democratize audio.

So perhaps it’s only fitting that as I wrap up my time @spotify, we launch this:

Starting in NZ, now any Spotify user can make a podcast episode within the Spotify app, no extra tools or hardware needed. https://t.co/1ZV3yzefEh

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The video posted by Spotify New Zealand gives us a lot of ideas about what kind of features we can expect with in-app podcast recording on Spotify. It shows that if you have the feature, you'll see a + button next to "Your Library" in the bottom bar on the home screen. If you tap on it, you have options to "Record podcast" or "Create playlist".

Image Credits: Spotify New Zealand (opens in a new window)

Once you tap on the Record podcast option, you'll see a landing screen, and a record button to start recording a clip. You can record audio in one take or hit the pause button to take breaks. Once you finish the recording, you can edit the clip and add background music through a preset of available tracks. After editing, you can assign a title, put a description of the episode, tag another podcast or a song and publish it.

Image Credits: Spotify New Zealand (opens in a new window)

At the moment, there are no details if this tool is available for users in other markets, and how you can access analytics for your podcast. We have asked Spotify for more details, and we'll update the story if we hear back.

The company had previously launched some Anchor-led features in the main app, like paid podcast subscriptions and video podcasts. However, these new podcast creation tools are probably the tightest integration of Anchor's features to date.

Spotify tested another "Create podcast" button in 2019, but rather than providing in-app tools, it prompted users to download Anchor at that time.

Last month, during its investor day event, CEO Daniel Ek said that while the company is in investment mode for podcasts, it believes the vertical has potential for a 40-50% gross margin. The company said it registered $215 million in revenue in podcasting last year, after investing more than $1 billion in the sector over the last few years.

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