Years after terrestrial radio was considered on its last legs, it looks like digital radio or at least radio-like content is becoming the “in” thing again. With the likes of Clubhouse, Twitter’s Spaces, and Facebook’s Live Audio Rooms, audio is the new video. Amazon is reportedly getting in on the game as well as they’re developing a new app codenamed “Project Mic” which will give content creators the ability to create their own radio show and other audio-focused material.
The Verge reports about this new project that Amazon is working on to “democratize and reinvent the radio”. Creators will be able to get content from Amazon’s music catalog to put into their program. They can talk about the songs or playlist that they’ll be adding and even discuss non-music things like pop culture, sports, and comedy. The app is built heavily for music-focused programming but given the popularity of the aforementioned topics on podcasts, it wouldn’t hurt to add programs like that as well.
When it comes to access to the shows, listeners will be able to listen to them through the app that is currently being built but also on other Amazon services like Audible, Amazon Music, Twitch, and even Alexa-equipped devices. For the latter, they will be able to interact with the shows through Alexa commands. The app will also be optimized for car listening, which is one of the original ideas for old-school radio.
Most of the big tech brands have been dabbling now into audio-focused content after they saw the success of Clubhouse. We’ve seen Twitter, Facebook, Apple, Spotify, and even Sonos come up with their own features and platforms for creators to be able to make their own radio-adjacent programs. Amazon will reportedly work with celebrities and tastemakers/influencers to help kick things off and have content already on the app upon launch.
There’s no official word or comment yet from Amazon regarding Project Mic but expect them to start making noise soon. Having licensed music available for creators to use may be a big advantage for the brand so let’s see how they leverage this.
