While streaming music is what helped propel Spotify to become one of the most popular streaming services out there, the company’s focus has been shifting.
Specifically, to podcasts. The market is huge, and still growing, and Spotify wants to be the go-to destination for people who want to enjoy their favorite shows. The company is already going pretty hard on podcasts in general, but now the company is making it easier than ever before to create playlists just like you can for music.
Today, Spotify announced that users can create playlists that include not only music, but also podcasts, letting them mix-and-match as they see fit. This will let users set up a list of music they’d like to hear, and then even put different podcasts back-to-back if they want to listen to that type of media without being interrupted by music. Or maybe they want to spruce up the shows with their own music preferences:
With this recently released, frequently requested functionality, users can build playlists of podcasts, or add podcasts to existing playlists for a mixed-media experience. Users can also set up a playlist of multiple podcasts in a row—perfect for a long drive or maybe a run—or integrate their favorite songs with news, comedy, or sports podcasts. (Here’s an idea: set up a selection of sunny, feel-good songs for before, after, and in between a bunch of great true crime podcast episodes—you know, to balance yourself out.)
The new feature is available now for iOS and Android users. To get your first podcast episode added to a playlist, you just need to follow these steps:
- Simply navigate to a podcast episode you love.
- Tap the three dots to the right of the track or episode.
- Tap “Add to playlist.”
- Select a playlist you’ve already created you like to add it to.
- Or, tap to create a new playlist from scratch.
- Play around with interspersing podcast episodes with music tracks to curate hand-picked listening sessions.
- Share with your friends or make your playlists public—others are sure to love them too!
It is worth noting here that this is only for mobile users at this point. Spotify notes that while you can listen to any of the playlists you create, even the ones with podcasts in them, on your computer, you can’t actually create playlists with podcasts in them on the computer — yet.
What do you think? If you’re a Spotify subscriber that listens to podcasts, is this new option something you’ll be quick to use?