For the 18-year-old brand that is Spotify, there has never been an attached comments section to go with the music tracks. This has placed it in a class of its own unlike SoundCloud, YouTube, not even Tiktok. But that is soon to change—at least for podcasts. On Tuesday (July 9), Spotify came out with the news of launching comments for podcasts, which needed to be credited as the podcaster to build the relationship with their audiences. This new addition is contained in the newly launched Spotify for Podcasters application, which gives the show host a chance to monitor statistics and engage with the listeners via smartphones.
“Most podcasts have for a long time been a one way speech and even though we have had other ways for more engagement inclusiveness such as Polls and Q&A for several years, people have asked for more ways to engage directly,” said Maya Prohovnik, Spotify’s VP of Podcast Product on the Spotify blog.
To support this initiative, Spotify presented some compelling statistics: Podcast Q&A or poll had 9m+ unique listeners so far this year; Both Q&A response rates and votes from listeners are up 80% YoY. Thus, Prohovnik stressed that interactivity contributes to improved audience loyalty.
“What we get to know further is that the listeners who participate a certain show are four times more likely to go back to that certain show within 30 days,” she said. “They also listen to twice as many hours per month, on average, than those who do not. So there is really something special – and something quantifiable – about fostering this link. ”
With the introduction of comments on Spotify’s podcasts, a natural question arises: Will it also be applied to details relating to music tracks? Although comments have not been officially unveiled by Spotify, Prohovnik remarked on inherent hints pointing to the fact that comments have been demanded by both podcasting programs and Spotify’s users.
Assuming that Spotify has already introduced the comment feature for music tracks, this will not be quiet unique, as You Tube, Sound cloud, and Genius has incorporate a way of allowing users to comment on tracks. Furthermore, they stressed that China’s music streaming platforms like those of Tencent Music Entertainment have first already established the social angle to music consumption. Some of Tencent’s features include the “Listen Together” that allows several users to listen to the same piece of music at the same time – more of a virtual party.
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Another related executive is Vivian Wei, the Vice President of Copyrights at NetEase Cloud Music, a direct competitor of Tencent spoke to MBW last year revealing that comments are valuable. “[Users] preview the comments while enjoying the songs,” she said. “Many artists are rather intelligent. They do not miss this chance and they reply in the comment section. They also engage in conversations with the fans. It is rather easy for them to gain a fan base. ”
The rationale as to why a comments section should be implemented from the side of the current streaming service as well as from the side of the current artists it reasonable. However, before Spotify can decide to enable comments on music tracks, it must address a crucial question: They are they willing to provide a place for subgroups to be created, disagreements to arise and people to engage in the KDR feud?