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Spotify is really interested in normalizing podcasts, as we all know by now, and is actively trying to get more people to start listening to them.
The company stated back in April that it wanted to develop an enhanced advertising model for podcasts with better “targeting, measuring and reporting capabilities.” Since then, we can see this being implemented in many ways and beginning this week we will see the introduction of a brand new feature that will further build on this model.
Spotify adds a new button that encourages users to actively find podcasts. It will be found on the homepage of free users’ apps and once pressed, will ask them to select different topics that fascinate them so that they can receive podcast recommendations based on the topics they have chosen. Spotify will introduce the button in certain countries: the USA, Denmark, Great Britain, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Mexico, Ireland, and New Zealand.
The launch of this app comes less than a month after the release of Spotify’s automatic podcast playlist, which is designed to give users new shows to listen to based on their taste, much like the current ‘Discover Weekly Playlists’. Recently, Spotify also released the sleep timer feature for iPhone users.
The real question is why Spotify gives so much priority to podcasts? It’s possibly due to a lot of revenue being generated by podcasts. Podcast advertising revenue in the US alone could grow to $659 million by next year, according to the 2018 IAB report.
What do you think about it? Would you like this new podcast option on Spotify for free users?
