Spotify Tries Features That Make It Easy For Users To Find Podcasts

JAKARTA - Following the recent acquisition of Podz, a podcast discovery platform, Spotify is now testing a feature that helps users discover new podcasts they might like.

With the acquisition of Podz for $49.4 million, Spotify aims to accelerate its investment in its podcast service.

Podz was originally able to solve the podcast discovery problem with something it called the first audio news feed.

That is, it gives users a view of 60-second audio clips from various shows that they will scroll through in a vertical feed, similar to the format popularized by social apps like TikTok.

"At Spotify, we regularly perform a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience," said a Spotify spokesperson.

“Some of those trials ultimately paved the way for our broader user experience and others served only as important lessons. We have no further news to share at this time."

What makes Podz's technology interesting is that it doesn't rely on podcast creators to produce their own clips in its feed.

Instead, it uses a machine learning model that has been trained on approximately 100,000 hours of audio to help select which clips are automatically displayed.

At the time, Spotify was touting the acquisition to build and enhance a better, more personalized podcast discovery experience on its app.

With this test, we can see how the feature works. A dedicated Podcasts button will take users to a vertical feed, where they'll see the cover of the show while the audio clip is playing.

Clips are also transcribed as the user listens with the words in the clip highlighted as they are spoken. There is a play button to continue listening to the show and a "+" button to add episodes to the Your Episodes list.

As this is only a test, it should be noted that the feature is subject to change before it is released to the public. This feature can also be used to help Spotify gain an understanding of how users will engage with such an option, which can then be used to inform future product development.