How Can Spotify Offer a Great Podcast App? Let’s Take a Look

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 — 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.

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.

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.

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.

WWDC: More of our Favorites - Podcasts, HomePod and Apple Music - Part 3

Apple has redesigned its entire App Store in iOS 11. Along with this large update, there is also a new Podcasts App. This is terrific news as discovery has been less accessible on Apple's podcast app.

1. Redesigned Podcasts App UI

While the overall idea of the app remains the same, the new Podcasts app in iOS 11 has significant changes to improve user experience with an improved interface design.

The podcast industry has also grown exponentially.

Podcast Consumption via Apple at WWDC 2017

At WWDC last month, Apple shared some statistics too:

• 400,000 Podcasts

• 14,000,000 Episodes created

• 10,000,000 Episodes downloaded

• 155 Countries for distribution and submission

A lot of key media players have also now forayed into the podcasting space, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, BBC, NPR, CNN, Bloomberg, MTV, Vogue, Verge, ESPN, Disney, Buzzfeed, Entertainment News and more. Well known individuals for their business acumen or industry expertise have joined the bandwagon as well, offering insight via interviews with guests. A good example is LinkedIn's co-founder and Greylock partner, Reid Hoffman who interviews entrepreneurs and business leaders in his Masters of Scale podcast.

Improved Presentation

The new app addresses some of the problems in the prior iOS version where it was difficult to add all episodes to the library and the listening order did not truly reflect the content best. In the new Podcast app for iOS 11, you can:

• decide how episodes are ordered and recommended
• add the full season to your library, with the newest episode at the top
• have collections of episodes
• use Quick Play to pick up where you last left off
• easily find episodes with clear, concise titles

This new format is ideal for narrative and storytelling content and encourages listeners to hear the whole season and discover new episodes. There are also four new tabs along the bottom of the interface: Listen Now, Library, Browse and Search.

You can also add more detail about any episode. This is ideal for podcast trailers, season trailers and episode bonus content.

Podcast New UI Details via Apple at WWDC 2017

Podcast Episode Notes via Apple at WWDC 2017

Podcast Analytics

Apple has also added analytics accessible via iTunes Connect to help determine:

• how many people are listening
• how much do they actually listening
• where are they listening

Here's an example from the podcast The Very Hungry Tourists.

New Podcast Analytics via Apple at WWDC 2017

2. New HomePod, High Fidelity Sound for Your Home

Apple announced its new smart speaker, HomePod at WWDC to be released in December. While the new HomePod is similar to the Amazon Echo and Google Home in lacking a display and being activated by the voice, HomePod differentiates itself with superior sound quality.

Given our work with and love for audio at Elf, we’re keen on trying out the new HomePod for ourselves. The ability to have distortion-free high fidelity sound with directional control is very appealing. HomePod achieves this with 7 beam-forming tweeters that come with individual amplifiers and an upward-facing woofer and a 6-microphone array. The A8 chip powers Siri and also has room-sensing technology. With its entry into the home audio systems, HomePod takes on the likes of Sonos and also offers integration with Apple Music.

3. Updated Apple Music

Apple has also updated Apple Music so you can discover and share music and artists with your friends. We like this new feature as well as the option to play 2 different tracks in 2 different locations in your home using AirPlay 2. It's easier to control your home audio system and the speakers throughout your home.

Together, all these updates make for a much higher quality audio experience from discovery to playing audio. We're excited to contribute to this via our Hayden's podcast Stardust launching in early 2019.

Podcasting's Growing...

In the last year, podcasting has seen a tremendous surge in growth with new players entering the market such as Wondery that is closing the year with over 10 million downloads for 2016.

What that means in terms of advertisers or actual revenue is not as clear since Wondery, like many other podcast networks, is privately owned. Wondery did however receive a substantial investment from Fox Networks. Midroll Media, owned by Scripps, also includes two networks, Earwolf and Stitcher, which it acquired earlier this year in June.

Midroll Media brought in over $20 million in sales last year, and is expected to bring over $30 million in 2016. Another well known player in the podcast market place is Gimlet Media who set the goal of $7 million for 2016, but now expects closer to $10 million.

Advertisers too are keen to join the bandwagon, increasing to 21% of advertiser and agency executives in a July Ad Age Perceptions survey, up from 15% last September. In addition, just under 60% said they have "discussed podcast advertising for potential media investment," up from 41% who said they'd done so last fall.

Elf is one of Ad Age's recommended premier partners who can help you with your advertising and marketing goals via podcasting to reach attentive audiences with high quality content.