Quitting Spreaker

 

As regular listeners know, over the last year or so HPANWO Radio's broadcast platform, Spreaker, has been declining in quality. This decline has manifested in all kinds of ways; an array of pointless cosmetic redesigns, endless stupid bugs that take far too long to fix, an attempt to abolish the download button and the actual abolition of access for non-Listener account holders. The last one is a particular problem right now because Internet Archive has been hacked and is down for maintenance, so I have been unable to back up the last two shows into a place where people can access them freely. Last Thursday at 8 PM I tried to broadcast the HPANWO Show as usual, see: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2024/10/hpanwo-show-567-david-altman_17.html. I always start with a sound test and listeners in the live chat informed me that they could not hear the live broadcast. I restarted the show a few times, but the problem persisted. I had to cancel. I assumed this was another bug and so reported it to their tech helpline. I have received the following reply: "Hello there. Thank you for reaching out regarding recording live. Unfortunately, the Live feature while recording has been removed from the platform. While the live option is no longer available, we will still have the offline recording in the studio. The good news is that we are working hard to launch new features for hosts' and listeners' experiences... (This does not include replacing the live broadcast facility.) Best. CreatorSuccessTeam". So it was not a bug at all; it is an intentional upgrade. As a result of this news I am canceling my Spreaker subscription with immediate effect. This means on the 18th of next month my Broadcast plan will cease. To be honest, this is something I have been seriously considering for a while anyway, but it has suddenly become more urgent. The existing podcasts will remain on the platform, but I will not be able to add any more, and I don't want to. My account will revert to Listener, so I will only be able to use subscriptions and make comments, likes etc. It would be tolerable if this were a free platform, even if it were infested with ads, but it is not. I am paying these people seventeen pounds a month for this pathetic bullshit service, or I was until now. It is sad that such a formerly great app has let itself go so badly. I was really happy when I transferred over to it from BlogTalk. It was about half the price, allowed longer shows and was high definition. What will happen next? Well, don't worry; I'm not giving up. However, I now have to find a new home for HPANWO Radio. I'm not sure how long that will take, but I will keep all regular listeners posted with every update. I will not reactivate the station until I know it is in a secure place where neither I nor my listeners have to put up with such a shoddy, corporate, plastickfied and unprofessional fuckery of a user experience. I truly appreciate the support and interest all listeners have given me over the last thirteen years. HPANWO Radio will continue for the next thirteen, or longer; if fact however much longer it is needed!