Over the past two years, Spotify became known for pricey, exclusive deals with popular podcasters, including Joe Rogan, Alex Cooper and Emma Chamberlain. But the audio streaming company also wants to help a broader swath of podcasters, an effort that was center stage at Spotify’s annual Stream On event in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Spotify announced a revamped TikTok-like home feed, with a vertical, video-heavy scroll. This will change the way music listeners stream, but it will also offer better recommendations and opportunities for creators to showcase their work. Its main announcement could address a major pain point for podcasters: Getting discovered by new audiences. The new feed offers preview snippets of audio and allows users to scroll vertically, similar to social media apps. (On Tuesday, Reddit also announced a TikTok-like feed with videos called Watch.)