Throughout this year, Spotify has made several decisions in order to strengthen its catalog of podcasts. From renowned alliances to produce new original titles to paid subscriptions, including the incorporation of more technology and features. And in the last hours it announced the inclusion of a system that allows users to rate podcasts from 1 to 5 stars .
However, what appears harmless on paper – and is widely used when assessing experience with a product or service on the web – could quickly become a double-edged sword. Spotify touts the podcast rating system as a tool for audiences to show their favorite content creators how much they like what they do. And the approach is not necessarily wrong, but not everything is rosy .
As in most platforms where the star rating system is implemented, there are not many tools to control that the assessment is genuine . And while it can be limited to one rating per account, with Spotify having a free version it is easy to find an alternative to evade such a restriction. But perhaps the most serious problem is how to control hate, which can translate into a significant stream of negative ratings for no reason.
And this is not an aesthetic concern. If the ratings of a podcast are bad they will affect its visibility ; that is, Spotify will make it harder to find them. In part it is a logical determination, because there is a possibility that the content available is not good, misinforms or promotes a hateful message and, although the platform does not consider that it should have editorial responsibility for what is said in podcasts, nobody with a little common sense he wants such productions in the foreground. But again, there is no way to verify that the ratings are genuine.
For better or for worse, the ratings make it to podcasts on Spotify
In the announcement published by the streaming service, it is mentioned that users will be able to rate podcasts after listening to them . But that claim is quite misleading. The Verge indicates that it will be possible to establish a rating after listening at least 30 seconds of an episode. Today there is no rule about the duration of a podcast; it can be 10 minutes, half an hour, an hour or even more. This gives the impression that the margin required to establish a valuation is too small.
On the other hand, when a show receives at least 10 scores, the average of them will begin to be shown on its Spotify page . “By introducing ratings, we are making it easier for listeners to decide when to try out a new podcast that could be their next favorite. Because podcast ratings will serve as the first opportunity to attract new listeners, they have the potential to generate instant interest.” , they assure from the platform.
We will see what impact this new tool has on the podcasts that are part of the Spotify catalog, and if users use it correctly. For now, the service recommends content creators to reinforce the request for a positive rating to their listeners .
Spotify ensures that the possibility of awarding stars to podcasts will be available to all users of the service in the coming days . However, in principle the option will not reach countries like Russia and Turkey.
