Spotify is officially expanding its AI-driven “Prompted Playlist” feature to include podcasts, aiming to streamline how users discover new audio content. Initially launched for music in New Zealand last year, the tool is now available to Premium subscribers across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and Sweden.
How to Use AI for Podcast Discovery
Premium users can access the feature by navigating to the “Create” menu and selecting “Prompted Playlists.” The system allows for highly specific natural language queries. For example, a user might input: “Make a playlist of true crime podcasts I would be interested in. Add highly rated series I might have missed, especially ones full of twists and turns.”
The AI not only curates the list but also provides a brief explanation for each added episode, detailing why it fits the user’s specific request. Users retain control over the update frequency, with options to refresh the list daily, weekly, or keep it static.
Enhancing Creator Visibility
This rollout addresses a significant discovery challenge on the platform, where over 34 million podcasts are discovered for the first time every week. Lizzy Hale, Spotify’s Global Head of Podcast Editorial, noted that the feature makes discovery “effortless and personal,” while simultaneously helping creators surface both new episodes and back-catalog content to highly relevant audiences.
In addition to user-generated prompts, Spotify’s culture team will surface curated Prompted Playlists on the home screen. These can be further customized by users, allowing them to tweak the AI’s suggestions to better match their evolving tastes.
Strategic Push into Podcast Ecosystems
This update follows a series of platform refinements designed to bolster the podcasting experience. Earlier this year, Spotify lowered the monetization barrier for video podcasts, requiring three published episodes, 2,000 consumption hours, and 1,000 engaged listeners over a 30-day window. As of February’s Q4 2025 earnings call, the platform hosted over 530,000 video podcasts, signaling a heavy commitment to multimedia growth.