Spotify adds polls and Q&A features to podcasts for all users

Spotify is releasing two new features that aim to make podcasts more interactive. The Q&A and Polls features allow podcast creators to interact with listeners directly through the platform for the first time.

The difference between the Q&A and the Polls is that the creator can ask an open question for the former, and that listeners have to choose between different answer options in the polls. The makers have to formulate the questions themselves. They can only add that through Anchor, a podcast platform that Spotify recently acquired. It is not possible for listeners to leave questions themselves.

According to Spotify, these features allow creators to get feedback on the podcasts directly through the platform for the first time. This is how viewers become “part of the show,” says Spotify. For example, the podcast creator can respond to the outcome of the poll of the episode in a podcast. The streaming platform hopes that this will make it easier for creators and listeners to communicate with each other, since that was previously only possible outside the platform.

The poll function has already been tested among a small group of listeners. It will be available to every user from Thursday. Spotify has been putting a lot of effort into podcasts lately. For example, the company is testing video podcasts among a limited number of creators and users can recently take out paid subscriptions to podcasts. Spotify has also released many exclusive podcasts in recent years, including that of Joe Rogan.