Your Favorite Spotify Podcasts Now Allow You to Leave Comments

Spotify is launching a new mobile app called Spotify for Podcasters, along with a new commenting feature, to provide podcast creators with a new option to engage with listeners.

To add interactivity to the podcasting company for the first time, the new comments feature builds upon the Q&A and polling technology that was initially presented in 2021.

“Interactivity is a feature that already has listeners and creators buzzing: More than nine million unique Spotify listeners have interacted with a Q&A or poll just this year, and there’s been 80% year-over-year growth in the number of total Q&A responses and votes from listeners,” according to a statement from Spotify.

Spotify stated that it is thrilled to provide all creators—regardless of where their episodes are hosted—better options to manage their entire show, including fan feedback, with the inclusion of comments.

Podcast producers can now engage with listeners, manage their Spotify profile, view their most recent statistics, and monitor real-time growth by using Spotify for Podcasters on a desktop or its brand-new mobile app.

Also, users of the app have the option to leave direct comments on any podcast episodes they are currently listening to on Spotify.

“We’ve also added helpful new notifications, so you’ll know right away if you make it onto a Spotify chart if you get feedback from your listeners, or when your show hits an exciting new milestone,” added Spotify. “And we added the ability for podcasters to manage comments on their episodes—a brand-new feature which has just launched on Spotify,” it said.

According to Spotify, podcasts have always been a one-sided medium. Although the company has long provided additional interactive tools like polls and Q&A, users have shown a desire for more direct means of communication.

“Now, for the first time, listeners can actually have a two-way conversation with their favorite podcast hosts on Spotify, podcasters can get near-immediate feedback from their audiences, and real communities can form around shows,” said the announcement.

Marketers have become increasingly interested in podcasts in recent months, and they are ten times more likely to anticipate a rise in podcast ad spending over the next five years as opposed to a fall. More precisely, 49% of marketers anticipate more medium spending.

A growing number of people in Singapore (37%) anticipate a notable increase in ad spending over the same period, indicating that podcast advertising is becoming increasingly valuable in this developing market. Nevertheless, 11% anticipate a drop in spending on the medium.

The most recent study conducted by independent podcast company Acast, which polled advertising and marketing professionals in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and Singapore, revealed these findings. 62% of marketers who have already invested in podcast advertising anticipate increasing their ad spending in the upcoming years, according to Acast’s report.