The rack introduces a new application for 99-second micro-podcasts

If everyone seems to be listening to the same podcasts, it's usually no coincidence. Sound-based entertainment and social networks are more popular than ever, but the medium is still hampered by discovery challenges. While successful podcasts are growing in popularity, expanding their media empires and earning large sponsorship partnerships, upcoming programs are struggling to attract an audience.

Racket is eager to discover the answer. The racket, now available in the iOS App Store, delivers an endless vertical stream of TikTok-style audio samples that are all 99 seconds or less. Anyone can quickly change the sound in the app, tag a recording with relevant tags, add a cover image and publish it in under a minute.

In addition, the company has announced a $ 3 million round of pre-seed investments from Greycroft, Foundation Capital and LightShed Ventures. The money was also supported by angel investors such as YouTuber LaurDIY, Jason Calacanis and Steve Schlafman. The racket intends to use the capital to recruit additional engineers, improve its design and increase its confidence and security resources.

The racket's crew has been together since 2019, after previously working on Capiche, a startup for software review that was sold to the SaaS buying platform Vendr in April this year. After that, the crew remained together, began experimenting with sound and developed the Racket.

Austin Petersmith, CEO of Racket, believes in the untapped potential of user-created sound. In an interview with TechCrunch, Petersmith likened podcasting to other forms of content production, claiming that if 100 million people produce videos on TikTok but only 1 million people podcast, the sound is nowhere near maturity.

The racket team feels that there are barriers to entry for sound that hold back the medium. "It's unusual to have such a small group of individuals creating this," Petersmith added. "It's practically difficult for new podcasts to get traction."

The racket tries to eliminate friction by reducing the format, simplifying the editing process and designing from scratch with discovery in mind. The racket believes that by limiting audio episodes to 99 seconds, it will inspire more individuals to joke and share their stories without having to create a complete, professional audio presentation.

"We have tried to reduce efforts so that people are more comfortable with mistakes and without sophisticated equipment," Petersmith explained, comparing Racket's structure to a tweet-length podcast.

You can search and follow people you know, but Racket is really about discovering things you did not realize you were looking for. Users can search "Rackets" for relevant tags or simply roll the dice and scroll through to see what appears. "We think we can raise the bar for people who have very fascinating, smart things to say ... that would not have been shared otherwise," Petersmith said.

The success of the racket, as with any social network, will be determined by the content created by its users. The app has only recently gone live, but the company saw a small subgroup of comedians who were interested in the format and invited each other throughout the test period. Petersmith reckons that other communities interested in the novel format will, of course, spread the message.

People often listen to podcasts while doing everyday tasks such as washing or commuting, but depending on how you choose to use it, the Racket has a more dynamic feel, similar to TikTok but for sound. You can actively swipe through to find what you want and get into a comment section, or you can just put your phone in your pocket and let the flow play through anything that pops up. At the moment, the content will be displayed randomly, but if podcasts are too long-winded for you, this can be good.

"We want to provide a platform for those who are not interested in watching their device all the time," Petersmith explained.