Spotify's new podcast algorithm aims to suggest your next favourite show

Reading through endless articles on podcast recommendations can be a hard old slog *subtly hides the open tab containing Shortlist’s best comedy podcasts*. At least streaming giant Spotify seem to think so, as the service has announced it’s created a podcast recommendation algorithm to help you discover new shows.

Working in a similar way to their Daily MIx and Discover Weekly playlists that focus purely on music, the Swedish streaming service is applying the concept to the world of Podcasts.

The new Your Daily Podcasts allows users to both discover new shows and catch-up on their favourites and is set to feature in the “Your Top Podcasts” section of the Home tab.

That being said, for this new, magical section to appear, you’ll need to have listened to at least 4 podcasts in the space of the last 90 days.

The algorithms will analyse your listening behavior in order to come up with a mixture of new show suggestions, previously listened to episodes and new episodes you’re yet to listen to.

What is curious, however, is that the service claims to throw stand-alone episodes and evergreen content into the mix - and we’re yet to truly understand how the algorithm is able to differentiate between a mid-series episode from one that works as a stand-alone listen.

There’s also another subtle reason for Spotify’s new algorithm implementation - to direct you towards its new in-house shows.

The platform’s recent take-over of Gimlet Media - the NY-based company behind podcast heavyweights like Reply-All, Conviction and Science Vs. - and the introduction of Spotify Originals - like ‘We Need To Talk About...’ with Jolyon Rubinstein - means that their library of in-house content is expanding at a rate of knots.

It’s precisely the USP Spotify are aiming for in order to convince fans to stick around and subscribe - and the perfect reason to push exclusive content to the max.

Whatever the case, the new addition is certainly a time saver. It’s also going to be interesting to see what kind of content the new algorithm churns up.

• In the mood for some human-curated podcast suggestions? Take a peek at our pick of the best interview podcasts.