New short-form audio app aims to deliver ‘authentic, unfiltered’ political commentary

A new app featuring content from pundits across the political spectrum is launching, and its founders say it will fill a gap they see in the audio media world. 

CenterClip will allow users to hear 30-second to five-minute audio posts from creators on the right and left weighing in on the latest news and current events, according to an announcement exclusively shared with The Hill. 

CenterClip founders Quinn Cotter and Lauren Williams said the app is breaking ground in two areas — offering a new type of online platform for audio media and a new way for the public to interact with the pundits they see online and hear on TV.

“We really are filling a gap both in the market from a tech perspective of what’s lacking in audio currently, and also in the political content perspective. And I think that that’s why there’s been just a lot of excitement on both sides, because we’re filling both of those openings in the market that we’re seeing,” founder Williams told The Hill. 

Unlike podcasts, which are longer and offer a less immediate reaction to breaking news, CenterClip aims to let the creators involved in the effort post immediate short clips about a range of topics. It will also let users sort through posts on a more granular level by specific topics. For example, about an approaching hurricane or tax cuts in England. 

The app also lets creators interact with each other, posting responses that lead to a thread of audio posts a user can explore. 

CenterClip’s founders said the app is trying to speak to the “middle 60 percent of the American public” that is “exasperated by the current echo chambers of traditional left and ring-wing media.”

“They want a normal, high-quality back and forth between the names they’ve grown to trust on other platforms, the names that they know from cable, the names they know from Twitter, the names they know from print publications, as well,” Cotter said. “They just want to be able to hear them in an authentic, unfiltered way in real time on the topics they care about. And it doesn’t sound complicated, but no one’s doing it and I think that’s why this great group of pundits from vastly different ideological perspectives, have wanted to join something different.”

“They’re just hungry for a different type of conversation,” he added. 

Republican creators joining the effort include Erin Perrine, a former President Trump staffer; Rina Shah, who calls herself the first “Never Trump” GOP delegate in 2016; and Jennifer Horn, a co-founder on the Lincoln Project. 

Democratic strategists that will provide content for the app include Ethan Wolf and Kevin Walling, a surrogate for President Biden’s 2020 campaign. 

Audio-based media has been gaining popularity in the past year or so. The audio app Clubhouse gained popularity last year. Twitter has an audio feature, Spaces, that allows users with 600 or more followers to host public audio rooms for users to join. 

CenterClip, though, is not looking to be a user-generated social media platform. At least for now, most users downloading the platform will be able to listen to the content, but posting is limited to the creators that are part of the effort. 

CenterClip has not yet publicly revealed its payment system for creators involved in the platform. 

The app is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.