You Can Now Leave Comments on Podcast Episodes Via Spotify

To retain podcast listeners, Spotify has made the experience more interactive.

The music platform Spotify is increasing interaction between podcast creators and listeners through a new feature it has just rolled out on its app. Episodes will now feature a comments section where fans can interact with content creators or comment on each other's posts. 

This new feature is turning Spotify into an audio social network where listeners can engage and share their thoughts in real-time. By allowing comments on episodes, Spotify creates a sense of community and connection and encourages discussions, feedback, and deeper engagement with the content, making Spotify more than just a streaming service. This is an important step toward a more engaging experience and co-creation.

So far, podcast creators have already received some interesting features on Spotify that other podcast apps don't offer, such as the ability to open polls or post Q&A sessions. With this new feature, the possibilities expand to include listener comments on individual episodes. According to studies conducted by the company, people who leave their comments on a post are four times more likely to continue listening to the show.

One of the main concerns that arise with the implementation of forums and comment sections is ensuring that they are safe spaces, free of violent speech, spam, or inappropriate comments. In the case of Spotify, they have chosen to configure these responses as private by default, so only the creator of the podcast can see them. The creators can then respond to the comments and choose which ones will be displayed publicly from their official accounts. Podcast creators will also be able to enable comment sections for specific episodes only or disable them altogether. Comments can be managed through the Spotify for Podcasts web app. A new smartphone app specifically designed for podcasters is also coming to app stores in the coming days.

Spotify currently has more than 250,000 podcast episodes in its catalog, making it one of the biggest players in the sector. The inclusion of comments could help it gain ground on YouTube, which has included this option from the start.