Spotify expands the solutions to creators’ discovery problem

The audio market’s growth will rely on the ability of platforms to service creators, especially as the barriers to entry continue to lower. One of the key challenges for audio creators is discoverability, with competition from other audio formats – making it even harder to be heard. To address discoverability, Spotify introduced RADAR podcaster playlists, which apply the same principles as their RADAR playlists for music discovery, but for a smaller number of audio creators than it does for music artists. Participating countries have their own playlists that each highlight three episodes from three different independent creators. Spotify’s Podcast Editorial team curate the playlists, focusing on inclusive, educational, and entertaining creators. In addition to playlist placements, Spotify will offer marketing and social media support for the creators, which will amplify their ability to reach and connect with new audiences. This is a key factor in their audience development, as most creators rely on cross promotional activities to find new listeners. 

Following the model of Spotify’s curated playlists for emerging artists is a crucial step to better optimise the platform for independent audio creators. While Spotify’s investment in audio began with celebrity deals, developing tools for independent voices is crucial to bring more content, and, in turn, more podcast listeners, to the platform. Providing this discovery tool for creators will amplify Spotify’s ability to help users, either current or potential podcast listeners, find new content. As 41% of podcast listeners use Spotify to access podcasts, Spotify has already demonstrated its ability to both convert music listeners to other audio content and maintain its lead in the audio market. Spotify’s next challenge is to reframe the audio economy by connecting creators with audiences in a way that the current system is not managing to do.

Roles

This report is relevant to the following roles:

Business Strategy