Spotify’s new Podcast Comments feature is part of the music streaming service’s commitment to “giving podcast creators new ways to grow and build stronger relationships with their listeners.”
The new feature expands on functionality introduced in 2021 when Q&A and Polls were introduced to encourage engagement between podcasters and their fans. Podcast creators can now use Spotify for Podcasters to interact with listeners, check their latest stats, and track growth in real-time. Fans can now also directly comment on the podcast episodes they’re listening to on Spotify.
Prithi Dey, podcast lead at Spotify AUNZ, told Mediaweek that podcasts have historically been a one-sided format, and the introduction of these new features will help creators “build powerful communities.”
“While we’ve offered other interactivity features like Polls and Q&A for some time, we’ve long heard from both podcasters and listeners alike that they want more ways to interact with one another,” she said.
“Now listeners can have a two-way conversation with their favourite podcast hosts on Spotify, while podcasts can get near-immediate feedback from their audiences, helping creators build powerful communities around their shows.”
Former head of growth at The Daily Aus and growth consultant Isaac Peiris says Spotify has “been making big moves” into podcasting and audiobooks on top of their foundation in music.
“The updated comments feature on top of polling, the discovery feed, and Clips suggest a strategic shift towards facilitating social interaction,” he said.
“By incorporating these social features, Spotify is positioning itself as the place for community interactions that are currently happening on social platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
“[Spotify is also] transforming passive listening into active participation, encouraging users to engage more with the content, artists, and each other.”
Spotify’s 2024 Podcast Trends Report found that 63% of people trust their favourite podcast host more than their favourite social media influencer, and this stat along with the rollout of features that encourage two-way interactivity Dey says “will only help build these communities and trust between creators and their fans.”
“Video is also becoming core to the Spotify experience, and has been an area that we have been investing in in order to connect creators and fans in deeper ways,” she said.
“This has been embraced by podcast listeners and creators in a growing way, and there are now over 250,000 video podcasts on Spotify.
“The video format can add an additional layer of authenticity and connection for fans, and that’s why we continue to hear that audiences want the ability to not only listen, but also watch their favourite shows on Spotify.”
Spotify’s success with video is a sentiment shared by TikTok and Instagram, as the 2024 Digital News Report released in June found that three in four (75%) of Australians say they have watched shore online news videos.
This figure is followed by longer online videos (62%) and live online video streams (59%).
The report states that the top source of online news videos for Aussies is news websites or apps (23%) followed by Facebook (18%) and YouTube (16%).
Peiris acknowledges that it’s still very early days, but if Spotify roll these new features out to music artists as well as podcasts, things will “get very interesting.”
“If Spotify can keep audiences on-platform by facilitating social interactions, they can carve out a unique niche in the social media landscape and capture a share of attention, as well as the ad dollars that come with it.”