Similar to the system Apple has long used for its own podcast app, Spotify announced on Thursday plans to begin rolling out a five-star rating system for its podcasts in order to make content more discoverable for potential listeners.
In a blog post, Spotify wrote that the decision to enable user-generated ratings on the more than 3.2 million podcasts the platform hosts is designed to “give listeners an opportunity to support their favourite podcast shows and enable a two-way feedback loop between creator and listener.”
If you’ve ever used Apple Podcasts, you likely already know the drill: Listeners will be able to use a “star” system to rank their favourite shows on a scale of 1 to 5, which will be compiled into an average rating that will be publicly displayed on the show’s Spotify page (along with the total number of ratings the show has received). While many podcasters swear that positive reviews make or break a show’s popularity with would-be audiences, Apple points out on a webpage for podcasters that “reviews can be helpful to listeners as they explore new podcasts but do not influence charting.”
One big difference between Spotify and Apple’s approach to podcast ratings is that Spotify users won’t be able to leave written reviews for shows they love (or hate).
The decision comes during a banner day for Spotify’s commitment to podcasting: Alongside the news of the new podcast ratings system, Spotify also announced that it had acquired Whooshkaa, an Australian company created to help radio broadcasters convert and their audio content into podcast format.
Both moves seem to underscore Spotify’s eagerness to invest in podcasts, which CEO Daniel Ek told The Verge earlier this month he believes will continue to supplant traditional radio formats in the future.
“If you think over the next 10 years for certain, what’s now radio is going to collapse and move from a linear space to an on-demand space,” Ek said. “That’s where I think we’re in this race to try to get as many people as possible to convert into streaming on demand and hopefully choose Spotify as their preferred platform.”
The new ratings feature is set to roll out to users over the coming days, and Spotify says it will be available “in nearly all markets where podcasts are on Spotify.”