The streaming music giant has shared its ambitions of becoming the world’s biggest and most popular podcasting platform. Here are six suggestions.
Image via Spencer Camp at Prototypr.io
Spotify recently announced its acquisition of both Gimlet Media and Anchor, boosting up its podcasting abilities significantly. The podcasting industry is expected to grow to $700 million by 2020 in the United States alone. While Spotify has declared its intention to dominate the podcasting space, there are some things the company will need to do to become a podcasting haven.
Image via Spencer Camp at Prototypr.io
Separate podcasts and music
Spotify’s web app works very well, but once you go to mobile, the podcast tab currently is unwieldy. Finding your podcasts is not easy either as you have to go to your library and search in there. Spotify can benefit from clearly distinguishing between podcasts and music and making podcasts easier to discover and explore.
Image via Spencer Camp at Prototypr.io
Create charts, reviews and ratings
Spotify currently offers top charts for music, but is very limited when it comes to podcasts apart from an annual best list, trending and top podcast charts. Some possible improvements include adding top charts for every show category and top podcasts, like Apple does. Other possible features include allowing people to rate shows and leave reviews.
Image via Spencer Camp at Prototypr.io
Offer personalized playlists
Spotify made discovering personalized music easy and fun with its weekly playlists through Discover Weekly. Creating something similar with podcasts could help users find new podcasts. Often listeners find about podcast shows through friends, but having a direct, personal way to discover music would be appealing. NPR One app already offers this feature with personalized playlists based on a person’s listening habits.
Offer monetization options
Prior to its acquisition by Spotify, Anchor had announced a sponsorship feature where any podcaster could request a sponsorship. This allows a podcast creator to earn some money, while Anchor took a 30 percent fee. Podcasters usually have to partner with a larger podcast network to receive any ads or work very hard to even be noticed.
Provide private feeds
Private feeds enable individuals and companies to build and release internal podcast shows. Currently, Spotify does not offer this option. Apple lets you add podcasts via an RSS link.
Add call-in features like Anchor currently has
Similar to radio, Anchor offered users the opportunity to interact with their hosts. A podcast creator can field calls from listeners and even add people to conversations. When the call is completed, the podcast host can share transcribed video on social media.
By addressing the essential needs of podcast creators from content creation to distribution, monetization and interaction with listeners on one unified platform, Spotify can become a podcasting haven.