Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video

Spotify looks to lure podcasters, listeners away from Apple with polls, Q&As

By

It’s no secret that Spotify has its sights set on total podcast domination, given its high-profile acquisition of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, along with several exclusive launches like The Michelle Obama Podcast and one that features the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, better known as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. But the streaming music giant is still looking for additional ways to attract both listeners and podcast creators to its platform, and its latest move is the introduction of podcast polls and Q&As.

If you’re a podcast creator, polls and Q&As give you a free way to increase your engagement with your audience. Normally, a listener has few ways to directly interact with their favorite podcasts, given that most platforms like Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts are essentially no more than a way to find, subscribe to, and play podcast episodes. With Spotify’s new tools, podcasts become interactive, with polls and the ability to ask listeners questions, right on the episode page.

Podcasters can see which Spotify users have responded, and in the case of Questions and Answers, they can choose to highlight individual responses as a way of encouraging more interaction. Polls can be used in a variety of ways, from gauging listener enthusiasm for a given topic to giving them a say over future episodes.

Related

For now, the feature only works on Spotify’s mobile apps for iOS and Android, but it’s available to all podcasters who use Spotify’s Anchor.fm publishing platform. As a listener, you can engage with any podcast poll or question without a Spotify Premium subscription, as long as the podcast isn’t a Premium tier exclusive.

Spotify podcast questions and answers.
Spotify

These new tools aren’t just window dressing. The podcast advertising revenue pool is expected to hit more than $1 billion this year, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and Spotify knows the key to grabbing the lion’s share of that money is attracting creators and listeners alike. So far, the strategy seems to be working. The WSJ predicts that this will also be the year that Spotify dethrones Apple for the title of podcast platform with the greatest number of listeners. Meanwhile, Apple’s market share of the podcast universe appears to be shrinking — from 34% in 2018, to 24% in 2021, according to Forbes. Apple and Spotify also compete head-to-head for streaming music subscribers.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like spatial…
Spotify now lets you mix tunes and talk with podcast playlists
free music streaming is killing the industry and its all your fault spotify pandora mem 4

Playlists are the lifeblood of the Spotify service. How popular are they? There are more than 3 billion user-generated playlists, according to the company. Well, get ready for that number to grow considerably: Spotify has added the ability to create new playlists of podcasts, as well as the option of adding podcasts to existing music-only playlists.

Given Spotify's huge focus on podcasts, the move isn't surprising. Getting its subscribers to listen to more podcasts is clearly a part of its strategy here, and Spotify has previously said that it wants to be about more than just music. "Over time, more than 20% of all Spotify listening will be non-music content." But the company also says its customers have been asking for this feature.

Read more
Spotify’s latest experiment is designed to boost podcast discovery
trends with benefits apple tv listener questions dt sings podcast

Spotify is no stranger to podcasting. In fact, the company has been investing heavily in the medium for a while, and now owns some impressive podcasting assets. But new podcasts, much like music or indeed any other form of audio content, can be difficult to discover. To tackle this, Spotify is conducting another one of its famous experiments, by creating human-curated podcast playlists.

The new feature is available to just 5% of subscribers in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Colombia, Chile, and Argentina, according to The Verge. Five podcasts playlists will start showing up on Tuesday, June 4. They'll cover comedy, true crime, “geek culture,” “walking (motivational),” and “relaxing (mindfulness).”

Read more
How to fix it when one of your AirPods isn’t working
The left and right Apple AirPods Pro 2 lying on a table.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where one of your AirPods suddenly stops working? It can be particularly frustrating, especially if you were in the middle of enjoying your favorite music or podcast, or catching up on a call.

When one of your AirPods isn’t working, you miss out on half the experience. However, there are a few things you can try to troubleshoot the issue and get your AirPods back online. These solutions work whether you own second-generation AirPods Pro, third-generation AirPods, or previous versions.

Read more