Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Anchor, a Spotify-owned company, is addressing the copycat podcast problem that’s roiled the industry for the past month. In an interview with The Verge, Mike Mignano, Anchor’s co-founder and head of podcast mission at Spotify, says the company is recalibrating its automated copycat detection system, implementing additional rules and checks on people who want to monetize their show, and making it easier for creators to report copycat shows when all else fails.
Since August, publications like PodNews and Digiday have pointed out that Anchor has allowed users to upload rip-offs of legitimate, popular shows. People have found copycats of Serial, Nice White Parents, and The Ezra Klein Show, among others. Seemingly, Anchor’s seamless podcast…
