Spotify is revamping its podcast lists today to help listeners find new shows and keep up with what people are enjoying in their area. This brings a well-known and controversial feature in the podcasting industry to Spotify, making the app more on par with other popular players, such as Apple Podcasts.
The two initial podcast graphics will be called Trending and Top. Trending, which is partially based on the speed of growth in the number of listeners, includes 50 programs on the rise, while Top will be the 200 most popular programs in general and will be located by region. Top, which already exists in a much smaller form today, can also be separated into categories, such as business, comedy, and technology, in certain regions. The charts will be available in 26 countries, including the US, Mexico, the UK, Brazil, and Germany. Both will be updated daily.
Podcast graphics can be controversial, especially since the algorithms that determine their ranking are often opaque. People also try to play games with them, making people in the industry question their legitimacy. A Spotify spokesperson tells him The edge it has “overlapping systems” that will monitor fraudulent activity and remove bad actors from the service.
Spotify has battled listener bots in the past trying to inflate music works and royalties. In those cases, the incentive to cheat the system was greater because the scammers were paid per listen, provided they published and created the music. Podcasters aren’t paid to listen, which is one of the reasons Spotify has wanted to focus on the industry.
Still, people have tried to figure out how to play podcast charts on other platforms. Graphics could make shows more popular by exposing listeners to podcasts they haven’t listened to. In 2018, broadcaster John Perotti was able to pay $ 5 to someone online who then managed to get his little show to number 55 on Apple’s podcast list. The same could happen on Spotify as podcasters seek more attention and listeners.
