Spotify has reversed its public view count update after podcasters speak out against public play counts.

Spotify changes its podcast view counts

Earlier this month, Spotify announced it would begin showing public play counts on podcast episodes to help boost discoverability. The idea was simple: showcasing how many plays each episode receives could help listeners identify popular content and discover new shows. 

However, the update didn’t sit well with many podcast creators.

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Why creators pushed back

Podcasts creators were quick to criticize the move, arguing that publicly displaying play counts could actually hurt smaller shows. The current format of podcasts makes it easier to level the playing field, enabling newer or niche creators to attract listeners. Some worried that seeing a low play count might deter potential listeners altogether, further alienating smaller shows while promoting the most popular ones. 

Early podcast growth often involves pretending as though you are talking to the masses, when you only have a couple viewers in reality. By enabling the view count, the change risked making it harder for these smaller creators to grow their shows. Instead, low public viewership numbers could make this humiliating.

This problem is made worse given that Spotify is only one podcast platform, so the viewing numbers may seem lower for those creators who distribute their shows across multiple platforms. Once again, this could only favour the larger shows with established audiences.

Spotify scales back

In response to the backlash, Spotify has adjusted its approach. Instead of showing exact view counts, the platform will now display public viewership milestones for episodes with over 50,000 plays. For example, once an episode hits 50K plays, a new milestone marker will appear at 100K, and so on.

Spotify believes that this will help “provide the best insights for creators and a clear experience for their fans”. It strikes a balance between still providing a way to signal popularity without discouraging creators who are still building an audience. Internally, podcasters will still have access to detailed performance analytics, including exact play counts in order to see what resonates with your audience.

Summing up

While platforms like YouTube have long embraced public view counts, podcasting has traditionally only seen public charts as a way to measure people’s perception about them. With YouTube recently launching its own podcast chart combined with Spotify’s retreat, this perhaps highlights a key difference between podcasting and other creator platforms.

For now, Spotify is aiming to support growth without putting smaller creators at a disadvantage. The new milestone system offers a middle ground where audiences can find what’s popular, without revealing just how small some shows may be.

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