This New Spotify Podcast Metric Might Change Your Listening Habits
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Spotify now shows how many times podcast episodes have been played.
- This new metric aims to help users find popular show episodes and to show creators what content is resonating.
- Spotify added five million new Premium subscribers in Q1 of this year, but it still trails YouTube as a podcast platform.
Spotify has been working to make podcasts a bigger part of its platform, even as YouTube continues to lead the space. Now it’s rolling out a small but potentially helpful new metric, letting you see how many times each podcast episode has been played.
As reported by TechCrunch, the new “plays” count appears across the app on episode pages, show pages, and even the home screen. It covers both audio-only and video podcasts, and the numbers are also visible to creators via Spotify for Creators and Megaphone.
Play counts have been part of Spotify’s music experience for years, so this move brings podcasts more in line with how tracks are displayed. That kind of transparency could help users spot breakout episodes and discover new shows they might otherwise skip over. For podcasters, it’s a useful way to see what’s landing with listeners and how their episodes compare to others in the space.
The feature was announced shortly after Spotify’s Q1 earnings call, where it revealed a gain of five million premium subscribers. That brings the total to 268 million, marking the company’s biggest first-quarter jump since 2020.
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