In its 18 years of existence, Spotify hasn’t had a feedback part to go together with its music tracks. That units it other than different music platforms, resembling SoundCloud, YouTube and TikTok (if you happen to take into account TikTok a music platform).
Now that’s about to alter – at the least on the subject of podcasts hosted on Spotify.
The streaming service introduced on Tuesday (July 9) that it has begun to roll out the flexibility to put up feedback on podcasts, a transfer it says is vital to podcasters’ capability to develop deeper relationships with their audiences.
That’s on prime of a brand new Spotify for Podcasters app that allows podcasters to handle their exhibits – together with managing their presence on Spotify, checking stats, and interacting with audiences – from cell gadgets.
“Podcasts have traditionally been a one-sided format and, whereas we’ve provided different interactivity options like Polls and Q&A for a while, folks have advised us they need extra methods to attach instantly,” Spotify VP of Podcast Product Maya Prohovnik mentioned in an interview on the Spotify weblog.
To again up its assertion that audiences need extra interactivity, Spotify provided up some statistics: Greater than 9 million distinctive listeners have interacted with a podcast Q&A or ballot simply this yr, and Q&A responses and votes from listeners are up 80% year-on-year.
Prohovnik careworn that interactivity means better viewers loyalty.
“We’ve discovered that listeners who work together with a present are 4 occasions extra prone to return to that present inside 30 days,” she mentioned. “In addition they take heed to twice as many hours per thirty days on common than those that don’t. So there may be actually one thing particular – and one thing tangible – in enabling this connection.”
With feedback coming to Spotify’s podcasts, a pure query to ask is: Will the identical occur with music tracks on Spotify?
Spotify dropped a touch that it could be contemplating simply that: Prohovnik famous in her interview that feedback “have been a long-requested characteristic from each podcasters and Spotify listeners.” As in music listeners…?
If Spotify did launch feedback on music, the transfer wouldn’t essentially be revolutionary; in spite of everything, those that take heed to music on YouTube, SoundCloud or Genius can already touch upon tracks.
“We’ve discovered that listeners who work together with a present are 4 occasions extra prone to return to that present inside 30 days.”
Maya Prohovnik, Spotify
The thought of turning music consumption into an internet social occasion is a very giant precedence at China’s music streaming providers, which have arguably taken the lead in innovating the social facet of music consumption.
Streaming providers owned by Tencent Music Leisure supply a “Hear Collectively” characteristic that permits a number of customers to take heed to the identical music on the similar time, in impact making a digital listening occasion.
In an interview final yr with MBW, Vivian Wei, Vice President of Copyrights at Tencent competitor NetEase Cloud Music, made a compelling case for feedback.
“[Users] learn the feedback whereas listening to the songs,” she mentioned. “Plenty of artists are very sensible. They seize this chance and so they reply within the remark part. They work together and talk with their followers. It makes it very simple for them to construct up a fan base.”
So the case for a feedback part – from each the angle of the streaming service and the artists – is there.
However earlier than Spotify can decide on whether or not or to not open up its music library to commenters, it must reply one considerably powerful query: Do we actually need the Kendrick Lamar-Drake feud coming to our platform?Music Enterprise Worldwide
