Broadcastr, a New Social Media Platform for Location-Based Audio Content, Launches Beta

Broadcastr is a social media platform that enables the recording, organizing, listening, and sharing of audio content via a map-based interface. Just like in human memory, every story is bound to a place. Whether dishing last night's details to friends, uncovering local lore, perusing restaurant reviews, listening to travel guides, tuning in to citizen journalism, contemplating oral histories, or sharing hilarious anecdotes, Broadcastr's goal is to amplify all of our voices.

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Dec 20, 2010, 06:00 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 20, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the founders of Broadcastr, a new social media platform that enables the recording, organizing, listening, and sharing of audio, announced the service and kicked off an exclusive, private beta.

Broadcastr.com features a map-based interface for micro-podcasts on any and every subject under the sun, from a band's tour diary to real-time reporting from global hotspots.

On Broadcastr Mobile (coming in January to Android and iPhone), users will be able to take a GPS-enabled walk as stories connected to their surroundings stream into their headphones, like a museum tour of the entire world.

Users of Broadcastr can record their own content, create playlists, follow their friends, and share stories on Facebook and Twitter. "Social media is missing a verb," says Broadcastr co-founder Scott Lindenbaum. "We tweet. We blog. We YouTube videos, and we connect on Facebook. What about our voices?"

For the past three months, the Broadcastr team has been recording stories and sourcing archives from notable cultural figures, unique individuals, artists, performers, and organizations and pinning those stories to Broadcastr's interactive online map of the world. The service will launch with more than 3,000 stories in locations ranging from Antarctica to Zimbabwe.

A simple yet dynamic platform, Broadcastr is designed to change the way we perceive the world. "An earthquake in Haiti. Unrest in Iran. On Broadcastr, you can hear the testimonies of the people on the ground, in their own voices, in real time," says co-founder Andy Hunter.

Lindenbaum, formerly a sponsored snowboarder, emphasizes that much of the site's appeal will come from user-generated content. "From a tip about the best cliff drop a mile out of bounds, to a guided tour of the area's best bars, Broadcastr can do it. College students can follow their friends and listen to last night's debauchery while they walk to class in the morning, and tourists in NYC can learn the history of a park or neighborhood as they wander through it for the first time. The list goes on and on."

On Broadcastr, people can experience their world through the voices, anecdotes, and histories of the community that surrounds them. "The map is an intuitive way to discover stories," says Hunter, "but it's not essential; for example, you can search the world for love stories and listen to them all day, regardless of their location. We see Broadcastr as the evolution of talk radio. Just like YouTube changed video forever, Broadcastr lets us all participate as creators and curators."

Broadcastr expects to open the private beta to the public in early 2011, complete with an impressive roster of partners and users. Early content providers include Fodor's travel guides, USC Shoah Foundation Institute, the 9/11 Memorial Foundation, NYC Dept of Parks, UNICEF, as well as individuals such as Andrew Jenks (star of MTV's World of Jenks) and comedian Michael Showalter.

On December 20, 2010, www.broadcastr.com launches their private beta with a release party at SPiN NYC.