The Return of the Tavern Chat Podcast to Anchor/Spotify is Now!

As many have remarked recently, and justifiably complained, I had stopped uploading recent episodes of the daily Tavern Chat Youtube series to Anchor. The reason was simple - it could take up to half an hour for Anchor to upload and format a 15-minute video as a podcast, and the process often crashed. The process was worse for the live streams, as they are often 2 hours in length. The process hadn't always been so long and tedious (it was never quick), but something had changed on the Anchor side of things.

Recently, Anchor invited me to apply for their new "videocast" program, which promised to have uploaded videos available as video AND audio feeds on Spotify, and audio elsewhere. I applied and was accepted.

Late this afternoon I uploaded one of the recent videos I had recorded on Arduin. I went to the YouTube page to copy and paste the description, and in that time, the file had uploaded and converted. Literally, as fast as I could copy and paste, episodes were going live on Anchor.

I put up five episodes thus far, all touching on Arduin. I'll likely start uploading some Talking Crit live streams next, and see how long that process takes. I'm very hopeful.

I never thought I'd be saying this, but Anchor not just fixed a problem, but they improved the process from where it was before the slowdown.

It's almost like an early Christmas gift :)

(edit - the new episodes are now Season 2, with numbering starting from 1)

(edit two - this week's Talking Crit took less than 5 minutes to upload and process to Anchor - holy shit!)

Here's the link to the Anchor Tavern Chat Channel

Tavern Chat - Tonight's Episode was 365 is 365 Days!

I figured I should share this over on the blog side (Tenkar's Tavern has a huge milestone later this month but I digress) Tonight was the 365th episode of the Tavern Chat Podcast. 365 episodes in 365 days. I never would have guessed when I recorded the first episode that not only would Tavern Chat be around a year later, but it would have such a large and loyal following.

Truly I am blessed.

Additionally, today Anchor (my podcast host / service) added a new feature - Voicemails for All. Prior to today if you wanted to leave a voicemail you needed to use the Anchor app on your cellphone or tablet.

Now, all you need do is go here: https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/message

Pretty damn cool. I look forward to hearing from you all calling in ;)

The Tavern Chat Podcast - 100k Total Plays - Thank You!!!

We did it. Thanks to listeners like you, The Tavern Chat Podcast has 100k Total Plays. If you aren't a listener, why not? ;)

The Tavern Chat Podcast has a series of Fireside Chats (35 so far) with Designers & Makers from the OSR and beyond, a weekly Talking Crit with Erik & Mike (Bad Mike) and shorter pieces with gaming news and thoughts. There is a new episode every day.

You can use any of the following links to listen, or even better yet, subscribe!

Anchor
https://anchor.fm/tavernchat

Apple Podcasts
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tavern-chat/id1386740882?mt=2

Google Podcasts
https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy80MjA2MWZjL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/5PrKxXwIrfRm6SXPrEiqBq

Breaker
https://www.breaker.audio/tavern-chat

Castbox
https://castbox.fm/channel/id1290778

Google Play Music
https://play.google.com/music/listen?t%3DTavern_Chat%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16&u=0#/ps/Iduziflps4q5tz5inee5ghtfw3e

Overcast
https://overcast.fm/itunes1386740882

Pocket Casts
https://pca.st/zYQe

PodBean
https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/7jmfh-6e8bb/Tavern-Chat-Podcast

RadioPublic
https://play.radiopublic.com/tavern-chat-WezkVJ

Stitcher
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/anchor-podcasts/tavern-chat

TuneIn
https://tunein.com/podcasts/Sports--Recreation-Podcasts/Tavern-Chat-p1145738/

Spotify Buys Anchor - Seeks to Become Netflix of Audio

What interesting times we live in. Anchor, the home to many OSR and RPG podcasts due in large part to its ease of use, was just bought by Spotify.

Spotify CEO lays out his plan to become the Netflix of audio as the stock drops on earnings

Spotify made a major step in building up its original content on Wednesday, announcing plans to acquire privately held podcast producers Gimlet Media and Anchor. The move is just the next step in Spotify's ambitions to become the Netflix of audio by accelerating its spending on original content.

The music streaming service said it plans to spend up to $500 million this year on more podcasting acquisitions. CEO Daniel Ek said in a CNBC interview with Jim Cramer and David Faber that while "the magnitude of the numbers won't be the same" as Netflix's massive spending on original content, "I don't think it's unlikely that it is a Netflix type of story," in terms of increasing investment in the area.

"It's really about expanding our mission from just being about music to being about all of audio and being the world's leading audio platform," Ek said on Squawk On the Street.

Terms of the deals with Gimlet and Anchor were not disclosed, but late last week, Recode and Vulture podcast critic Nicholas Quah reported Gimlet would sell for north of $200 million. According to Quah, those terms would make it the largest podcast industry acquisition to date.

...

Anchor brings a different part of the equation to Spotify with its easy-to-use podcast creation technology. Anchor serves as a platform for podcast creators to make and distribute their shows. Anchor had 15 billion hours of content on its platform in Q4, Ek said in the blog post.



Spotify wants to build a podcast empire, starts by buying Gimlet and Anchor

Spotify picked up podcast companies Gimlet and Anchor as it looks for new listeners, the streaming service said Wednesday.

"Our podcast users spend almost twice the time on the platform, and spend even more time listening to music," Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in a statement. "We have also seen that by having unique programming, people who previously thought Spotify was not right for them will give it a try."

The announcement came as Spotify released its quarterly financial results, 

Amid the cultural shift to streaming as the most common way people listen to music, Spotify and Apple Music have emerged as the leaders in the race to dominate subscription tunes. Though Spotify remains the biggest streaming service by both subscribers and those who listen for free, Apple Music has been growing quickly and its iTunes service remains the world's de facto place to find and download podcasts.

The Tavern Chat Podcast - Episode #20 - Further Thoughts on the AD&D 1e Thief Class

FrDave had an interesting comment on Episode #18:

So...from a world-building perspective, does this view of the Thief Class mean that all demi-humans are sneaky, pick-pockety,and backstabby and are therefore generally untrustworthy? Or is all part of the "alien" nature of these cultures that doesn't value life and property as much as humans do? It is a very interesting POV that has implications far beyond allowing demi-humans into the end-game...

I answer FrDave's questions and delve a bit further:

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-20---Further-Thoughts-on-the-ADD-1e-Thief-Class-e1jdh9

I'm always looking for feedback and comments, either here at The Tavern or as voicemails on Anchor.fm

Tavern Chat Podcast - Over 600 Plays in 10 Days

Thank you.

The Tavern Chat Podcast has over 600 plays across various platforms in 10 days of existence - not too bad :)

More importantly, I’ve noticed an uptick in new OSR podcast over the past few days. Folks like Matt Jackson, Jason Hobbs and Tim Shorts are the ones that cleared the trail for folks like James Spahn, Glen Hallstrom, myself ad others who have followed their footsteps while also forging new paths. None of this would be possible without the support of the community.

Again, thank you.

When I return to my home office after this holiday weekend, I’ll put together a list of Old School Games that are using the Anchor.fm platform to put more gaming goodness into your hands via podcasting.

I’ll be back in the AM with another cast :)

The Tavern Chat Podcast Launches - Duck and Cover!

Yes, I have done did it. The first episode of the Tavern Chat Podcast is live. It may take a day or so to make its way through iTunes and such but you can listen now on the Anchor.fm website and the Anchor app (iOS and Android).

It's less than 7 minutes in length so it won't steal much of your time if you decide its simply too much Tenkar ;)

https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Wherein-your-Bartender-introduces-himself-e1g31v