In a year that has already seen tons of innovation and changes to the podcasting world, Spotify used its Stream On event to unveil a lot more changes for both users and creators of their platform. These changes bring greater insights and tools to creators and deliver a more immersive experience to users.
Although there were many guests and leaders from the company speaking at the event, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s goal for the event was to reveal the company’s new tools for supporting music creators and podcasters by helping them grow, engage, and monetize their content through the platform.
The Top 5 Podcasting Takeaways
- Anchor becomes part of “Spotify For Podcasters”
- New Audience Engagement Tools
- Video Podcasts Functionality is Coming for Everyone
- Refreshed Home Screen and User Experience
- Updates For Monetizing Podcasts on Spotify
1. Anchor Becomes Part of New “Spotify for Podcasters”
Spotify is combining Anchor, Spotify for Podcasters, and Megaphone into one tool for creators that will cut down on complexity while sharing new insights. Maya Prohovnik, VP of Podcast Product, announced that this new tool will be an all-new version of Spotify for Podcasters. Prohovnik said that this new platform, “brings together the best of those creator tools into a one-stop shop, with everything you need to create, publish, manage and most importantly, to monetize and grow your show.”
According to Prohovnik, the new Spotify for Podcasters platform is available for free to anyone, in every market that Spotify serves as of the event. Prohovnik later hailed the new platform as, “The foundation that finally enables us to build the future of podcasting.” With the new features and functionality, Spotify claims that it makes it easier than ever to create and cultivate a podcast.
Megaphone by Spotify is a paid podcast hosting platform for enterprise podcast publishers with an emphasis on monetizing podcasts. This makes it a great tool for podcast networks. Users of Megaphone have had access to extremely detailed and insightful listener data.
Anchor was a free podcast hosting service that was acquired by Spotify in 2019. For anyone hosting their podcast on Anchor, their logins still work and their shows have not undergone any changes, so they can breathe easy.
While many podcasters have used the old Spotify for Podcasters dashboard to claim their existing shows and check platform-specific stats, the new platform has much more in-store from advanced analytics to new ways to engage with the audience as you’ll see in the next takeaway.
READ MORE: 5 Podcasting Takeaways from HubSpot’s INBOUND 2022
2. New Audience Engagement Tools for Podcasters on Spotify
As part of the new Spotify For Podcasters, the company has added new features for all podcasts, not just those hosted on Anchor or Megaphone. Among these new features are chapters, Q&As, and polls which have already been rolled out for Spotify users on mobile devices.
Adding Chapters to Your Podcast on Spotify
All podcasters are now able to add chapters to their podcast episodes. This makes it quicker and easier for users to find and listen to the exact topics and themes within your episode that they want to hear about.
To add chapters to your podcast, simply include timestamps with labels in the episode’s description when uploading it to your hosting service. Once your episode is available, the chapters will show up once you click on the episode. As of writing this article, chapters only show up on mobile devices.
LISTEN TO MORE: Listen to Creating The Greatest Show on Spotify
Adding Q&As and Polls to Podcast Episodes on Spotify
These are two great tools that Spotify just added to every podcaster’s toolkit. Now you can ask listeners and viewers directly if they liked the episode’s topic, what they want to hear about next, or who they want to hear from. There are a million ways to use this to interact with your audience and I can’t wait to see some great examples.
To access these tools, claim your show on Spotify through Spotify For Podcasters or log in if you have already claimed your show. Once viewing your catalog of shows, select the show you would like to add a Q&A or Poll to and then navigate to the “Interact” tab within that show. Once there, you can set Q&A’s and polls for each individual episode and set the length that the poll will run for.
3. Spotify Video Podcasts Feature Will be Available For All Podcasters
Before the StreamOn event, the only way for podcasters to upload their podcast video to Spotify was by using Anchor, which to be honest wasn’t a great platform. However, that is all changing according to Spotify’s CTO & CPO, Gustav Söderström. Per Söderström, “starting right now, any creator, regardless of platform, can sign up to be among the first to get access to this feature.”
Sign up to get access to share Video Podcasts on Spotify
While describing the impact that video podcasts have had on some of Spotify’s biggest podcasters, VP of Global Podcast Studios Julie McNamara said, “it’s no surprise that adding video has really helped them connect with fans on a deeper level.” With the latest updates to YouTube regarding new features for video podcasting, it seems as though this is the way forward for the medium as a whole.
McNamara explained that when it comes to consuming their favorite podcasts, audiences love the ability to choose between watching, listening, or doing a little of both. McNamara went on to say that, “video podcasting is one of the fastest growing areas of podcasting, and we expect that growth to continue.” McNamara is the latest in a long line to tout the importance of video podcasting and we couldn’t agree more!
READ MORE: Understanding the Basics of Video Podcasting
READ MORE: Dimensions for YouTube Podcast Graphics
4. New Home Screen Feed and Changes to Spotify’s User Experience
As CEO Daniel Ek said last Wednesday, the all-new Spotify home screen user experience was, “the biggest change Spotify has undergone since we introduced mobile ten years ago.” The reason behind this massive update to the platform is to give music creators and podcasters a more engaging way to interact with their fans.
According to Ek, the refreshed home screen allows creators to highlight their individual creativity and, “chart new pathways to success.” The new home screen features audio and video content that drives discovery and shortens the distance between creators and fans.
Gustav Söderström described the new home feed as making Spotify feel, “alive.” Söderström also shared that the new Spotify, “is designed to help users discover content that drives deep, meaningful, and long-lasting engagement.” If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that sounds like a podcast…
A demonstration of the home feed showed that a user’s favorite playlists, podcasts, and artists will be shown in a “shortcuts” section at the top of the feed. Below this section, there were video and audiogram previews, from podcasts, music artists, and audiobooks.
The preview feature is an evolution from podcast trailers which the company debuted a few years earlier. These previews are powered by machine learning and highlight clips that Spotify thinks will be most engaging to that user. While discussing the new previews, Söderström shared that, “our tests showed that this leads to more listeners becoming committed fans.”
These same style previews will also show up on the music and podcast feeds and are meant to lead to greater discovery and engagement between podcasters and their audience.
Podcast listeners will also notice the new Podcast Autoplay feature as soon as the current episode they’re listening to ends. When a podcast ends, Spotify will start playing another episode that fits a user’s tastes and is relevant to what they just heard. This new feature should boost podcast discoverability and grow your show’s listenership.
READ MORE: How to Pick the Best Microphone for Your Podcast
5. Updates For Monetizing Podcasts on Spotify
Spotify’s Co-President and Chief Business Officer, Alex Norström, revealed some of the multiple ways the podcasters using the platform can earn revenue. Norström announced updates to the Spotify Audience Network (SpAN), podcast subscriptions, and Spotify’s new partnership with Patreon.
Similar to subscriptions on Apple Podcasts, podcast subscriptions on Spotify will allow podcasters to offer exclusive content to subscribers. Prices can be set by the podcaster. As of the event, the percentage of the subscription that Spotify will keep has not been announced.
Norström also introduced Spotify’s partnership and integration with Patreon. Creators can point to their Patreon accounts for their followers to show appreciation even without exclusive content. Patreon can provide an exclusive RSS feed that is only for your subscribers and provides messaging and community tools. Patreon charges based on membership fees taking between 5-12% based on plan level. There are also payment processing fees.
Looking Forward to What’s Next For Podcasting
It’s only March and yet we’ve already had major developments to Spotify and YouTube which are two of the top platforms used by podcast consumers. While all not all of these new features have rolled out entirely for everyone around the globe, they are a promising sign of things to come. With Spotify allowing shows hosted on other platforms to share video episodes, is this a sign of fewer entertainment silos? Right now, it’s too soon to tell. But as many of Spotify’s key leaders shared during the event, this is only the beginning of their updates and there is still a lot in the pipeline for the rest of this year. Don’t worry, change is good and we’ll be sure to keep you updated right here.
READ MORE: Boost Your Show’s Visibility On YouTube Using This New Feature
In the meantime, check out the latest episode of Creating The Greatest Show or schedule a time to chat with our team about starting a podcast for your B2B brand.