iHeartRadio USA has introduced a new feature into its app to enable messages and talkback to be sent to live stations and podcasts.

The feature brings telephone and whatsapp type calls and messages inside the iHeartRadio app as an interactive function.

iHeart’s description of the function says:

“Talkback lets listeners send song requests and participate in on-air conversations by recording their own voices. Simply tap to record when you have something to say, and when you’re done, tap again to send. Once sent, listeners’ recordings are then delivered directly to the studio, where they can be heard by… DJs or podcast hosts.

“This first-of-its-kind feature makes it simple for listeners to pause their listening, join in the conversation or make a request using their voice, and then seamlessly unpause and return them back to the content they were listening to. And with Talkback, the studios aren’t just receiving a transcript of what was said, but will hear users’ actual voices and be able to play them back in front of millions of other listeners.”

The function is available now for live radio streams and will soon be added for podcasts soon(see our earlier report).

While this is not a ground breaking feature in itself – people have been calling radio stations to talk to announcers for decades – what is new is the functionality that has been developed to allow audio and text interaction within the app and directly back to the studio playout system, rather than using third party apps.

When a listener pushes the record button, a countdown timer will appear to let them you know the recording is about to start, then users can record their message. The 30-second limit is meant to keep the recordings concise, but users can send multiple messages. After recording, users can hit play to preview or rerecord the message before sending it.