Spotify today unleashed a fusillade of features targeted to its enterprise podcast customers, and to independent creators in the Spotify for Podcasters program. Fulfilling hints made in March, the company is now rolling out several publishing enhancements:
- Show page customization will enable creators to personalize parts of their podcast show page for the first time. This includes adding a bio and the ability to link out to existing social media handles, pin a “best place to start” episode for new listeners, and curate up to two entities (podcast show, music album, playlist, or audiobook) as “host recommendations.” Hosted and non-hosted creators can unlock this feature through Spotify for Podcasters this fall.
- Impressions analytics will enable creators to understand how their show gets discovered on Spotify. They can use their Spotify for Podcasters dashboard to see the total number of impressions for their show and individual episodes in the past 30 days, how they have trended over that period, as well as specific sources on Spotify those impressions came from. We’re also announcing new monetization analytics to better help creators monetizing with Spotify for Podcasters to track their earnings with greater accuracy and measure the performance of their ad campaigns and subscriptions — so they know exactly what’s working and how. Impressions analytics will be available to hosted and non-hosted creators, monetization analytics will be available to creators hosted and monetizing with Spotify for Podcaster. Both will launch this fall.
- Creator controls for podcast previews will make it possible for creators to edit podcast previews, so they can select which part of their podcast they want to have included. Spotify’s new home feed presents users with automatically-generated previews of their personalized recommendations, which helps more listeners discover more content, and this will give creators more control over that content. Hosted and non-hosted creators can unlock this feature through Spotify for Podcasters this fall.
- Automated Ads, Spotify for Podcasters’ monetization program that connects creators with global advertising brands, will soon be available to more creators in more markets. We recently extended the Automated Ads program from a US-exclusive program to one that now operates in the US, the UK, and Australia. After seeing success in those regions, Spotify for Podcasters plans to 3x the number of creators in the program by expanding to more markets and opening up eligibility to creators in existing markets.
- Spotify Audience Network Performance Dashboard, now available via Megaphone, provides a holistic view of how the Spotify Audience Network is driving supplemental monetization for enterprise podcast publishers using the platform. This dashboard showcases each podcast’s average CPM as well as a breakdown of impressions delivered by podcast, episode, ad location, and listener region. Publishers can leverage this dashboard in the Megaphone platform at any time to glean insights as they tailor their engagement with Spotify’s audio-first advertising marketplace. This is available to Megaphone customers beginning today, Wednesday, August 23rd.
For podcasters of all sizes, new personalization features are designed to distinguish presence and attract listeners. An expanded bio page gives room to personalize first impressions.
Podcasters (“soon”) can feature one episode more prominently on their show pages, to create a specific impression on new listeners.
Podcasts will also be able to recommend other podcasts (or musicians, or audiobook), as a way to create a multi-faceted impression. This also opens the door to cross-promotions.
Impression analytics are on the way, designed to help creators understand how people find their show.
New subscription promos are also designed into the feature set.
See more HERE.