PodMov Daily: Wednesday, August 10

Episode 698: Your Midweek Update

Why It Matters: Spotify Separates Music & Podcasts

Spotify’s redesigned home screen will have separate feeds for music and podcasts, solving the app’s primary UX complaint. For the first time, it will function similarly to an actual podcast app:  ‘Podcasts & Shows’ amps up recommendations and surfaces the latest episodes of users’ top shows. 

“It’s been oddly difficult until now to just open Spotify and find a podcast to listen to,” says David Pierce of The Verge. There’s more to the update than removing music from the mix. Listeners will be able to see episode descriptions, add to their library, and start listening without leaving the page.

In podcast industry land at least, it’s common to use Spotify for music and another app for podcasts. This redesign calls back to Star Trek: ‘Resistance is futile.’ Humans would just rather not switch apps, and now they don’t have to. (If Castbox and Tidal were magically fused, I’d be a happy camper.)

Pierce nails the point of putting podcasts front and center. A tab of enhanced recommendations “gives Spotify lots and lots of new ways to try to get you listening to Joe Rogan and the rest of its pods.” (The power of data compels you!) Rollout has begun on Android and will come to iOS “in the near future.”

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Here's what else is going on:

• Robot dance: Getting started with programmatic ads doesn’t have to be difficult, explains Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable. A new post digs through “different options, processes, and the pros and cons you have to pick from as you’re planning out how your show or network will tackle programmatic.”

• Group chat: “Podcast Networks: Everything You Need to Know” from the Black Podcasters Association is this Monday, August 15 at 8:00 ET. Denese Duran and Ann Smith (Podcasters Unlimited) will cover structures, pros and cons, monetization, advertising, and more. $10 registration for non-members.

• Summer camp: Thanks to Transistor.fm co-founder Justin Jackson for gathering tips to make the most of Podcast Movement this month. Event veterans say to arrive early, prep an answer to ‘What are you working on?,’ engage with speakers, and invite others for impromptu hangouts. (Not hangovers.)

• Hot seat: In other event news, this week’s PM22 update has yet another round of speakers and sessions, details on sponsored tracks from Quill, Descript, and RedCircle, and signups for the ‘chopping block.’ The first 30 seconds of your podcast could be critiqued by a panel of experts in real time.