Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Podcast Q&A and Polls Help Creators Talk to Fans Where They Are

24/05/2023

Looking back, it's clear the early days of podcasting were uncharted territory. Avid listeners would finish an episode and engage with each other elsewhere-on, say, a Reddit forum or Discord channel-but rarely with the podcast host. There was a desire for deeper conversations, but there wasn't a channel. For podcasters, this disconnect kept them from the community interaction they needed to sustain momentum for their show.

In 2019, when Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek announced that podcasts and podcasting would be the next phase of growth for the company, it was an opportunity to reimagine the future of podcasting by making a historically one-sided medium more engaging and dynamic for both listeners and hosts. So, as we grew our podcast offerings, Spotify was also able to expand capabilities for creators with the acquisition of Anchor-the world's biggest podcast hosting platform-which has since become Spotify for Podcasters. In fall 2021, we launched Q&A and polls.

Podcasting can be two-way; it can be interactive. It can be a format that helps people connect with each other, instead of just one-way broadcasting, says Maya Prohovnik, VP and Head of Podcast Product at Spotify. As Spotify has become the number one audio listening platform in the world, as we've gotten a critical mass of listeners and creators in one place, it's allowed us to really innovate and add these new ways to interact over audio.

Q&A and polls enable creators to incorporate a level of engagement by asking questions or soliciting voted responses. The tools allow podcasters to directly communicate with fans in a way that's more personal. And since we enabled these features for all creators on our new Spotify for Podcasters platform, we've seen the number of podcasters who use them more than double.

The creator response has been really strong, and it's growing fast, says Alex Yamamoto, a Product Marketing Manager in Spotify's Podcast Mission who is focused on Creator Growth tools. For the creators who are using it, it's a way for them to get closer with their audiences. A lot of the creators we've seen have taken it in different directions. Some want to hear personal stories from their fans, others look for debate-like conversations. In general, it's about getting people talking.

Jump-starting conversations In December of 2021, a few months after the features rolled out, Sapphire Sandolo, host of Stories with Sapphire, started experimenting and saw fans engaging almost immediately. Before, you had to go off the thing that you were listening to the podcast to. You couldn't interact right then and there, she shares with For the Record. I think that's why people are really drawn to it. It keeps you there. You don't have to go find where the discussions are happening.

Sapphire Sandolo

Sapphire was quick to adopt the features and has been using them in creative ways ever since. Since Stories with Sapphire focuses on encounters with the supernatural in cultures around the world, her engagement with these tools focuses on normalizing the topics she covers. With the type of content that I do, people usually listen to paranormal stories because they have also experienced things, or they like to talk about paranormal stuff. Because of that, when I ask people, Have you experienced something similar?' people start chiming in because they most likely have, she explains.

Crafting the perfect question can be daunting, so our product team added a default question, What did you think about this episode? to all shows. With this addition, listeners and creators alike can experience and see the benefits from the Q&A capabilities-and get the conversation started.

The default Q&A helps people and it starts getting listeners engaged and using the tool, says Chris Larson, a Product Manager for our podcast fan engagement features. But where we really see benefits is when the creators put it in their own voice and customize it, either to their podcast category or to a specific show, or they ask about future shows and shape the direction of where they want to go. So, we're trying to encourage more of that. We've learned from creators that that's been really valuable. We look at the data and we see that it gets a lot more listener responses and there's more engagement there when it's been customized in their own voice.

For example, Teenager Therapy, a show hosted by a handful of Gen Z friends who try to normalize conversations around the harder topics within their lives, asks listeners to share their own personal stories. Gimlet's Science Vs podcast, which takes on hot topics in science and health, asks listeners questions about their prior knowledge on a subject. And head to Stories with Sapphire for a deep cut: What is your relationship with death?

In their own hands Prior to the development of these tools, podcasters found other creative ways to generate two-way conversations. Smaller shows, in particular, were able to utilize voice memos and other alternatives to mimic call-in radio shows. Some found workarounds maybe five or 10 years ago-it started being really popular to use a Google Voice number, remembers Maya. So people could call in, which is awesome, but it was not easy to set up. It was a lot of work for the fans and a lot of work for the creators-you had to listen to voicemails, export them, edit them. It was really cool to start to see that happening, but still really high friction.

Beyond those who chose to call in, podcasters weren't able to solicit feedback from fans. Now, Maya, who hosts a handful of podcasts herself, uses the Spotify for Podcasters fan engagement tools to crowdsource ideas for guests and topics and content.

For Alex, keeping these features conveniently available on the Sp
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-05-24/podcast-qa-and-polls-help-crea...
See more stories from spotify

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

15/05/2026

Join Calrec at MPTS 2026

Join Calrec at MPTS 2026 | May 13-14 | Stand A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media ...

15/05/2026

CTV's Data Gap Holding Back Bigger Ad Budgets, New Gracenote Research Finds

86% of media planners would move more linear TV budget to CTV if they had show-level targeting and reporting - and 65% would also shift dollars from programmati...

15/05/2026

Scripps Completes Station Swaps with Gray Media

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/05/2026

Clear-Com Takes Communications Further at InfoComm 2026

Clear-Com will showcase new communications solutions and major platform updates at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7005), June 17-19, in the North and Central Halls of t...

15/05/2026

Rise AV Launches Second Year of UK Elevate Programme Foll...

Following an outstanding inaugural year in 2025, Rise AV is proud to announce the return of its flagship leadership initiative, Elevate. The programme continues...

15/05/2026

Berklee Announces Lineup for Inaugural AI Music Summit

Berklee Announces Lineup for Inaugural AI Music Summit The three-day event puts musicians at the center of the future of music creation, ethics, and the indus...

15/05/2026

Lightware Highlights Scalable USB-C and AV-over-IP Innova...

Lightware returns to InfoComm 2026 with a focused showcase of scalable USB-C connectivity, next-generation AV-over-IP solutions, and technologies that help over...

15/05/2026

IAB Releases Campaign Data Standards 1.0 for Public Comment

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/05/2026

ARRI Expands Management Board

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/05/2026

Gray Media Names Joanie Vasiliadis SVP of Transformation

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/05/2026

Study: Data and Measurement Problems Reduce CTV Ad Budgets

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/05/2026

Upfronts: WBD Expands Advanced Ad Capabilities and AI Ad Tech

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/05/2026

VLAST Powers PLAVEs Asia Tour Encore with AJA Gear

Delivering a live, arena-scale production of a massively popular band is no small feat. Between expansive in-arena LED walls and a global live stream fed to onl...

15/05/2026

Sun Broadcast Futureproofs Dayalbaghs Multimedia Van with...

Connection is the heartbeat of any strong community, and with live streaming becoming more accessible in the modern era, it's much easier for faith-based or...

15/05/2026

Disguise and Creative Technology Power Eurovision for the...

Powered by GX 3 media servers, optimised IP-VFC workflows and on-site engineering expertise, the production delivers high-performance visuals for one of the wor...

15/05/2026

Why Trusted Measurement Matters More Than Ever in Retail Media

Against that backdrop, IAB UK has added retail media to its Gold Standard. Jan Pitt, Commercial Director at ABC, spoke with Liv McCullagh, Retail Media Lead at ...

15/05/2026

RT's statement on Derek Mooney's Earnings for the Years 2020-2023

Further to RT 's statement released yesterday and in the interest of full transparency, with the full permission of Derek Mooney, we are now publishing the ...

14/05/2026

Sweetwater and Airstream Unveil Mobile Dolby Atmos Recording Studio

Sweetwater and Airstream have announced a custom-built Dolby Atmos mobile recording studio inside an Airstream trailer, set to tour music festivals, schools, tr...

14/05/2026

American Association of Professional Baseball Expands Broadcast Distribution for 2026 Season

The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has announced a new par...

14/05/2026

ESPN to Establish Week-Long Super Bowl LXI Broadcast Center on Santa Monica Beach

ESPN has announced plans to transform Santa Monica Beach into a broadcast hub du...

14/05/2026

Amagi Announces Major Upgrade to CLOUDPORT Cloud Broadcast Platform

Amagi has announced a significant update to Amagi CLOUDPORT, its cloud-based broadcast playout platform. The update includes 250-plus features shipped in FY25-2...

14/05/2026

Clear-Com to Showcase New Products and Platform Updates at InfoComm 2026

Clear-Com will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7005, June 17-19, Las Vegas Convention Center), introducing a new product that builds on Arcadia Central Station...

14/05/2026

Ikegami to Exhibit at BroadcastAsia 2026 with Two New Viewfinder Premieres

Ikegami will exhibit at BroadcastAsia 2026 (Stand 5D3-1, Singapore Expo, May 20-22), introducing two new viewfinders alongside its existing camera, control, and...

14/05/2026

dB Broadcast Delivers IP-Based OB Trucks for Cloudbass Featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Cameras

Grass Valley has announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside ...

14/05/2026

NAGRAVISION and WPBSA Launch Play Snooker Digital Platform

NAGRAVISION, a Kudelski Group company, has announced a partnership with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) to launch Play Snooker,...

14/05/2026

Belden To Acquire RUCKUS Networks for Approximately $1.85 Billion

Belden Inc. has announced a definitive agreement to acquire RUCKUS Networks from Vistance Networks for approximately $1.85 billion. The transaction has been app...

14/05/2026

NVIDIA Releases Content Localization Blueprint for AI-Assisted Dubbing and Speech Translation

NVIDIA has released the Content Localization Blueprint, a modular reference arch...

14/05/2026

Disney+ To Stream Banana Bowl Championship Live This October

Disney has announced that Disney will be the exclusive U.S. streaming home of the Banana Bowl, the Banana Ball league season championship, streaming live this ...

14/05/2026

Arkona and Manifold To Exhibit on Magna Systems Stand at BroadcastAsia 2026

Arkona technologies and technology partner manifold will demonstrate their production solutions on the Magna Systems and Engineering stand (Booth 5D1-1) at Broa...

14/05/2026

Haivision Webinar: New Broadcast Contribution Products Featuring Minor League Baseball Case Study

Haivision will host a webinar on Thursday, May 21 at 10 a.m. ET / 4 p.m. CET cov...

14/05/2026

The CW Network and ESPN Announce ACC Sublicense Agreement Through 2030-31 Season

The CW Network and ESPN have announced a sublicense broadcast agreement for The CW to televise ACC football and men's and women's college basketball gam...

14/05/2026

Detroit Pistons Ink Local Media Rights Deal With Scripps Sports

The agreement marks Scripps Sports' first NBA local rights deal...

14/05/2026

Report: Broadcasting Among Hardest-Hit Industries as AI Reshapes the Workforce

A new report from education-technology company Wiingy testing post-ChatGPT predictions against three years of real-world data has identified broadcasting as one...

14/05/2026

Madonna, Shakira, and BTS to Headline First-Ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show

Global Citizen and FIFA have announced that Madonna, Shakira, and BTS will headl...

14/05/2026

Sundance Institute Names 2026 Episodic Lab Fellows

LOS ANGELES, CA, May 14, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the cohort selected for the 2026 Episodic Lab program, taking place at Dunaway ...

14/05/2026

Spotify Expands Music Access for Young Listeners, Extending Managed Accounts to Free Tier

At Spotify, we're focused on making every listening experience feel intentio...

14/05/2026

Spotify Brings Nashville's Songwriting Community Together for Mental Health Summit

Spotify recently welcomed songwriters, artists, executives, and music students t...

14/05/2026

Sonuscore update Lux Orchestral Strings

New articulations, ostinatos, Motion Scoring Articulation Sets & more Sonuscore's flagship cinematic string library has just been treated to a significa...

14/05/2026

Pr Recording & Residence

World-class studio opens on T rkiye's Aegean coast P r Recording & Residence have announced their official opening, introducing a new world-class reside...

14/05/2026

Nugen Audio update DialogCheck

Now supports channel layouts up to 9.1.6 Nugen Audio have just released an update for their AI-powered dialogue intelligibility and compliance tool. Set to ...

14/05/2026

UVI release Orchestral Suite 2

New recordings & one-key chord tool UVI have just announced the release of Orchestral Suite 2, a ground-up redesign of their all-in-one symphonic orchestra ...

14/05/2026

Rob Papen launch eXplorer 11

Two new arrivals & expanded factory content Rob Papen's all-encompassing plug-in and virtual instrument collection has just been treated to another upda...

14/05/2026

FSK Audio release QRonicle

Embed QR codes into DAW sessions FSK Audio's latest plug-in doesn't process audio, but serves as an organisational tool that allows QR codes to be e...

14/05/2026

SBS Board appoints Jane Palfreyman Managing Director

SBS Board appoints Jane Palfreyman Managing Director 13 May, 2026 Media releases The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Board of Directors is pleased to an...

14/05/2026

Transforming bold ideas into market-ready productions: Digital Originals returns

Transforming bold ideas into market-ready productions: Digital Originals returns 14 May, 2026 Media releases SBS, NITV and Screen Australia have announced ...

14/05/2026

Australia Uncovered Returns to SBS with Bold New Season Featuring John Safran on Free Speech and Powerful Stories of Justice and Survival

Australia Uncovered Returns to SBS with Bold New Season Featuring John Safran on...