Spotify Quiz Uses Algorithms To Recommend The Perfect Podcasts

Spotify is helping its users in some markets find new podcasts they're likely to enjoy based on their tastes. The company has introduced a new recommendation tool called Find the One that asks users to answer a few questions, then shows them a podcast show recommendation they may enjoy based on their music preferences.

Spotify's Find the One online quiz asks only a handful of questions, each related to the answer you provided for the preceding question. The answers narrow down the podcasts you may enjoy based on your responses, including whether you prefer more light-hearted or serious audio shows and the topics you prefer.

Users who aren't interested in the recommended show can choose a 'Show me more' option for a couple of other podcast recommendations. There's also the option to retake the quiz, which arguably isn't too well suited to find new shows — the questions are broad, and given how few responses you provide, it seems like only a decent way to potentially find a new show.

The recommended shows likewise appear to be large, popular offerings, ones diehard podcast fans have probably already heard of like "Radiolab" and "My Favorite Murder." Assuming the recommendations aren't to your liking, there's a tab menu where users can narrow down recommendations manually by selecting different genres.

According to Spotify, its algorithms have amassed enough data to find that music tastes and podcasts preferences are often linked. For example, pop fans are more likely to listen to talk shows, whereas BTS and Queen fans mostly just list to podcasts about those artists.