Spotify is rolling out a new set of analytics features designed to help podcast creators better understand how audiences discover, engage with and return to their content.
The update introduces Audience Segments, which show how many listeners and viewers are new or returning over time, alongside Episode Trends, a benchmarking tool that compares the performance of individual episodes against a creator’s usual results.
Creators will also gain access to Long Term Engagement reporting, providing a clearer picture of audience retention across longer periods.
Spotify says this will help podcasters identify how effectively their content keeps people coming back.
A redesigned Discovery Journey feature maps the route audiences take from seeing content on the platform through to listening or viewing and then completing an episode.
The company says the tool is intended to give creators a clearer understanding of how discovery converts into engagement. Existing discovery analytics already track impressions and audience actions within Spotify’s ecosystem.
Another change is access to complete historical performance data, allowing creators to review audience activity dating back to their first listener.
The launch follows Spotify’s adoption of a revised podcast play definition. Play counts now represent the number of times an episode is watched or listened to for at least 30 seconds on Spotify.
The company introduced plays as a creator metric to help measure active engagement across audio and video podcasts.
Spotify says the new definition aligns with, and helped inform, the Podcast Plays metric recently announced by the Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting. The initiative aims to create more consistent measurement standards across podcast platforms.
The latest additions continue Spotify’s wider investment in creator tools and analytics. The company says the new reporting features are intended to give podcasters a deeper understanding of audience behaviour and stronger evidence of what content is resonating with listeners and viewers.
