RIIZE's Anton Launches His Own Spotify Podcast Series

K-pop singer Anton is trading the stage for a studio microphone: RIIZE's Anton will launch his own Spotify-exclusive podcast, "TON-AIR," later this month, with a six-episode run built around listener stories and song recommendations, SM Entertainment announced Thursday, according to Aju Press.

The concept leans on the singer's own strengths for this Spotify Podcast Series. The agency positioned music as the central theme of the program, and Anton's habit of sharing playlists with fans effectively becomes the show's engine: listener stories in, song recommendations out. A theme song composed by the host himself closes the loop, making the audio identity as personal as the content.

The podcast will debut at noon on October 20, 2026, with new episodes released every other Tuesday, the agency said. Rather than following the standard celebrity-interview format, the show centers on music: Anton will respond to stories and concerns submitted by listeners and recommend songs matched to each episode's topic.

The personal touch goes deeper than the playlist. Anton composed the show's signature theme music himself, according to the announcement, a detail that frames the project as an extension of the taste he already shares with fans. K-popit reports that the singer has a habit of posting playlists reflecting his musical preferences, and the new series expands that into a longer format where he can talk through music and everyday experiences, as K-popit detailed.

Why idols are betting on audio

The move lands in the middle of a quiet format shift across K-pop. Instead of relying solely on variety shows and brief fan-meeting segments, idols are building direct-to-listener audio spaces where conversations can run longer and feel less scripted. The pitch for this series fits that pattern: stories from fans, thoughts from the host, and a song to land the point.

That structure sets the series apart from the interview-led celebrity podcast, where the draw is a famous guest list. Here the draw is editorial: fans supply the raw material, and the host's job is curation and taste. It plays more like an advice column with a soundtrack than a press junket, and it gives the show a repeatable format that does not depend on booking bigger names each week.

Spotify has noticed the appetite. The Korea JoongAng Daily reported that the platform recently staged "Best Place to Be a Fan," a four-day Seoul event pairing live performances with interactive rooms and fan experiences featuring artists including RIIZE. An exclusive podcast slots neatly into that strategy, giving the platform a recurring touchpoint with one of K-pop's most streamed groups.

Early fan reaction suggests the audience is ready. On social platforms, listeners wrote that they were already counting down to release day, with one fan joking they had become someone "just endlessly waiting for lunchtime next Tuesday," according to posts collected by netizenspill. The nickname "DJ Ton" is already circulating.

A packed October for the singer

The podcast is one stop in a busy solo stretch for Anton. Earlier this month he was named a brand ambassador for Saint Laurent, attending the luxury house's Paris show, according to Soompi. Days after the podcast debut, the group releases a new single on October 26, 2026, and a second full-length album is planned for next spring, allkpop reported.

The experiment has limits. Six episodes is a short runway, and a Spotify-exclusive deal keeps the show inside one app, out of reach for listeners who get their podcasts elsewhere. If the series lands, the likeliest pressure point will be demand for a second season or an open feed.

For fans, the draw is simple: several weeks of hearing how one of the group's most music-obsessed members actually thinks about the songs he loves. New episodes arrive every other Tuesday, exclusively on Spotify, and listeners can follow the show now to get notified when the first one drops. Whether the experiment earns a second season will likely come down to one metric the format makes easy to read: how many listeners keep coming back for the next story, and the next song.