Spotify’s decision to introduce comment sections to podcasts should come as no surprise. For years, apps have been copying each other’s most popular features. Whereas apps used to be limited to their respective “things,” today they want to do it all: you can post stories on YouTube, use AI-powered search tools on Instagram, and shop for clothes on TikTok. And, as of last week, you can experience the thrill of seeing what random strangers think about your favorite podcasts on Spotify.
In 2020, Spotify flirted with social tools, such as a Feature type stories for artists and a collaborative playlist feature for users. The following year, Spotify began allowing creators to add interactive questions and answers, as well as polls, to their podcasts, and began providing the option to select certain answers for the public to view.
Spotify’s new comments section requires podcast editors to review each comment submitted and select those they want to make public. But Spotify ultimately plans to Implement an option to make comments public by default. (and does not rule out eventually Extend this feature to music) as long as they comply with its content guidelines. (Spotify did not specify what its content guidelines are.)
This suggests that Spotify wants to become more like YouTube, which has allowed largely unregulated comment sections to exist beneath its videos since the early 2000s.
YouTube comments, of course, are notorious for being risky. For nearly two decades, the platform has struggled to control its users’ comments, which, in many cases, amount to anonymous harassment. (The comments below Rebecca Black’s “Friday” The videos are just an example of Online harassment out of control.) Too many YouTube commentators have also exhibited sinister and predatory behavior; in 2019, for example, YouTube Comments temporarily disabled on videos featuring children in an attempt to mitigate The platform’s apparent pedophilia problem.
Given that American political commentary takes up a considerable amount of space on Spotify’s global charts (Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, Ezra Klein, Jon Stewart and Tucker Carlson host some of its most-listened-to shows), the platform’s comment sections could very well become another outlet for anger.
Spotify is aware of these risks. In 2020, Joe Rogan, whose podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, is number one on the platform’s charts—He asked Spotify to enable comments about their episodes, but the company declined, citing in part the potential for commentators to abuse the feature.
Creators who allow comments will also be responsible for reviewing each one. A Spotify spokesperson highlighted to WIRED the “creator-controlled” nature of the update, saying the company has “consistently heard that creators love having control in their hands.”
However, this setup could deter some creators from opting in. A spokesperson for the Daily Wire, the conservative media outlet that produces The Ben Shapiro Show (Spotify’s 10th most popular podcast) tells WIRED he doesn’t plan to make the comments public on Spotify.
“We love lively discussions in the comments,” says the Daily Wire spokeswoman. But, she adds, moderating the expected volume of comments could prove nearly impossible. Ben Shapiro’s YouTube channel receives 3,700 comments a day, according to the spokeswoman. “Assuming it takes about 30 seconds to review each one (on Spotify), it would take 30 hours a day (more than three full-time positions) to moderate,” she says. “I can’t imagine who would take on this costly burden.”
