Spotify for Podcasters adds new integration with Riverside, sunsets some legacy podcasting tools

Spotify has announced an expanded partnership with video and podcast recording platform Riverside, and is sunsetting some of its legacy podcasting tools. The company is shutting down its web- and mobile-native creation tools, including its “Music + Talk” tool, which is an experimental feature that allows podcasters to include full licensed music tracks in their podcast episodes on Spotify.

The decision to shut down the Music + Talk feature, which first launched in June, is a significant blow to music podcasters, who share music tracks while discussing them in their podcasts. Spotify is also shutting down its Record with Friends and Voice Message features. Plus, it’s discontinuing the episode builder experiences on mobile and web.

The company says the changes, which will go into effect in June, are part of its efforts to refocus its attention from some of its legacy tools to “the next generation of podcast innovations.”

With the expanded partnership with Riverside, podcasters can now record and edit their audio and video podcasts with Riverside right inside the Spotify for Podcasters web product.

“You can bring in guests for remote interviews, make precise transcript-based edits to the recording, and use their comprehensive suite of AI tools to further clean up and enhance your content before publishing seamlessly through Spotify for Podcasters,” Spotify wrote in a blog post. 

When creators make a new episode in Spotify for Podcasters, they can now click the “Create with Riverside” button. Creators are able to record, edit and publish episodes without leaving their browser window. You can record a new episode or edit an existing one. If you record a new episode, you start by selecting what type of episode you want to create. Then, you can invite your guests to join and press record.

When you’re finished recording, you can edit out parts of your episode. change the layout for video episodes, add captions to your video or remove background noise. When you’re done editing, you can save your episode back to Spotify for Podcasters. Then, you can enter your episode details and add monetization if available. You can then press publish and your podcast will go live.

Spotify first launched its partnership with Riverside in 2022. The company says Riverside offers a podcast creation feature set similar to what exists in Spotify for Podcasters today, but with the addition of new video and AI tools.

Last week, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told investors that the company was not afraid of sunsetting things to refocus on value. He stated that “killing things that sometimes sort of work is a healthy thing to refocus and reenergize people on the things that really drive lots of value.”

The new integration with Riverside and the sunsetting of Spotify’s legacy tools indicates that Spotify isn’t exactly focused on developing in-house tools for creators, and is instead looking to expand its partnership with a company that is already respected by podcasters.