Here’s everything you need to know about how to find podcasts on Spotify, subscribe to them, download episodes, and listen to them on your smartphone, tablet, or computer.
How to Find and Subscribe to Spotify Podcasts
Subscribing to a podcast, referred to as following a podcast on Spotify, adds a podcast to the Your Library section of the Spotify apps. In addition to grouping all of your followed podcasts together for easy access, the Your Library section also automatically lists them by the date of their latest episodes. Essentially, podcasts with new episodes will appear at the top of the Your Library Podcasts list while those with old episodes will be placed at the bottom. Here’s how to find and follow podcasts with the iOS, Android, and Windows 10 Spotify apps.
How to Download Podcasts on Spotify
Spotify podcasts can be downloaded for offline listening but only on the iOS and Android apps and only for Spotify Premium subscribers.
How to Create a Spotify Queue for Podcasts
Podcast episodes on Spotify can’t be added to regular playlists like songs can but they can be added to your queue, a kind of temporary playlist that lines up exactly what will play next. This can be useful when you know what episodes you want to listen to ahead of time and don’t want to manually change podcasts between each episode. To add a podcast episode to your queue in the Spotify app, simply tap the ellipsis to the right of the episode you want to add and tap Add to queue.
How Gimlet Media, Anchor, and Spotify Work Together
In early-2019, Spotify purchased Gimlet Media and Anchor. Gimlet Media is an established podcast production company while Anchor is a popular service for creating, publishing, and monetizing podcasts. Both companies continue to function with a fair degree of independence since the acquisition but naturally delegate some resources to their new parent company, Spotify. For example, Gimlet Media produces some podcasts exclusively for Spotify while the technology behind Anchor is said to be used to help improve the technology behind Spotify music and podcast streaming service.
Spotify for Podcasters
Through the Spotify for Podcasters program, content creators can upload podcasts and collect revenue from subscribers. Podcasters don’t have to pay anything to host their content on Spotify, so when a user subscribes to their podcast, the creator keeps nearly all of the profits. Since the Anchor podcasting platform integrates seamlessly with Spotify, it’s easy for creators to add videos, polls, and other interactive tools to engage with their audience.
Benefits of Listening to Podcasts on Spotify
There are several reasons why some people prefer to consume podcasts on Spotify over other services such as Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.
Fewer apps. A lot of people already have a Spotify app installed on their device for music consumption so listening to podcasts on it as well means they don’t need to download another app or sign up for an additional service.Simple UI. The Spotify user interface is fairly easy to understand compared to some other apps like Stitcher.Device support. Spotify has support in all of the major smart speakers and in several car models in addition to iOS, Android, and Windows devices.Podcast discovery. Spotify’s algorithm frequently recommends new podcasts based on previous episodes that you’ve downloaded or listened to.
