Spotify Adds Public Play Counts for Audio & Video Podcasts

Spotify

Spotify introduces a new podcast metric called Plays, showing how many times an episode has been listened to or watched. Play counts will be visible across the app, including on homepages, episode pages, and show pages. For the first 24 hours of a podcast's release, it will display a 'New' label instead of a play count as initial listens build up.

Why It Matters: Much like YouTube’s view counts, Plays will help users discover trending podcast content and give creators a clearer way to benchmark performance within their category.