With more than 3.2 million podcasts on Spotify, it's impossible for listeners to know every show that drops. Fortunately for fans, our Podcast Editorial team is here to help. They follow the trends, listen to new episodes, and determine what shows should be recommended to Spotify users across a variety of genres. By highlighting different shows and topics-such as true crime-the team gives podcast creators a way to build new audiences while helping listeners discover a new binge.
So when Sounds Like A Cult was placed in the coveted spot on Spotify's main podcast page, it was thus propelled into the earbuds of new listeners.
Cohosted by Isa Medina and Amanda Montell, Sounds Like A Cult offers a humorous take on the true crime genre as each episode examines modern-day cults. From cheerleading to astrology, they analyze what it is about the topics, people, and companies that results in such a loyal fanbase. And it seems that the creators struck a chord with listeners because their show soon made its way onto Spotify's Top 50 charts and even ranked in the top 10 in the Comedy category.
Fans have been craving more from Isa and Amanda, so Spotify worked with the duo to create a new curated playlist called The Cults We All Follow. The collection features some of their favorite episodes across a variety of podcasts, giving listeners who love Sounds Like A Cult new shows to check out. For the Record recently spoke with the hosts to learn more.
What gave you the idea for this podcast? The podcast initially stemmed from Amanda's book Cultish. There were so many fascinating cults from pop culture and the zeitgeist that didn't make it into the book, and we wanted to explore them in a fun and conversational, but still insightful, way. We were inspired by the juicy-meets-bantery format of cult-followed podcasts like My Favorite Murder and Be There In Five, so Isa's hilarity combined with Amanda's nerdiness felt like the perfect way to cover the cults we all follow!
When it comes to the people and things who are at the center of these cult groups, are there any shared characteristics or qualities that lend themselves to this level of fan worship? You can't earnestly compare the cults of Trader Joe's (which happens to be our favorite cult that we've covered) and The Bachelor franchise to flat earthers and multilevel marketing schemers, but that's why we have our three cult categories-Live Your Life, Watch Your Back, and Get the F*ck Out-which we use to classify the cult of the week at the end of every episode.
As a broad generalization, though, what these different groups offer is the promise of belonging, ritual, and meaning, which are fundamental human drives that a lot of us find ourselves sorely lacking during this turbulent time in history. Some groups mostly deliver on their promises, but some become powerful by way of deception and exploitation. We genuinely hope these conversations make people feel better equipped to engage in life's cultiness the healthy way. That's why our sign-off at the end of every episode says, Stay culty . . . but not too culty!
How has working with Spotify helped you broaden your audience reach? Spotify is the perfect platform for us. The core Spotify listener seems savvy and curious, and that's exactly the type of listener who vibes with our show. We would not be where we are today without Spotify's support. Almost 90% of our listenership comes from Spotify.
How was having your podcast featured on Spotify's True Crime Scene section on the main podcast page impactful? The Spotify true crime feature was vital for us. True crime fans are always thirsting for new pods, but it's becoming harder to find ones that add something new to the mix-not to mention, in these tough cultural times, we don't always want to listen to a pod that's going to make us feel worse! We basically made this show for Spotify's true crime listener demo, and Spotify's audiences really trust their playlists, so getting that exposure was like lightning in a bottle for us.
After the Spotify feature, we saw a significant uptick in streams and shares on social media. Appearing in this section seems to have caused a word-of-mouth snowball effect, and we're so grateful for it.
What are some ways you've seen success with the podcast? Sounds Like A Cult wound up on Spotify's Top 50 charts (and Top 10 in the Comedy category), and after gaining some traction, we were able to sign with the podcast network All Things Comedy to receive production help and actually start earning revenue from the pod! Up until a couple weeks ago, we just made the whole thing on our own in our bedrooms for free. We've also seen a flood of new followers engaging with us on social media. Our listeners are so engaged, constantly messaging us and recommending episode topics.
You recently announced that the podcast is moving to a weekly format. What factored into the decision to release episodes more frequently? The least we can do for our supportive listeners (or culties, as we call them) is to use these new resources to deliver the show weekly! Our team agrees it's also just better for the growth of the podcast not to have long mid-season breaks. Consistency is everything.
Can you tell us about the curated playlist you made for Spotify? What podcasts made the list? We wanted to curate a diverse mix of episodes from shows that you might not think of as cult podcasts but that comment on the cultiness and scaminess in various corners of everyday life in a smart, entertaining way.
All you culties out there, are you ready for more? Check out what shows made it onto Isa and Amanda's The Cults We All Follow playlist.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
With more than 3.2 million podcasts on Spotify, it's impossible for listeners to know every show that drops. Fortunately for fans, our Podcast Editorial team is here to help. They follow the trends, listen to new episodes, and determine what shows should be recommended to Spotify users across a variety of genres. By highlighting different shows and topics-such as true crime-the team gives podcast creators a way to build new audiences while helping listeners discover a new binge.
