Spotify · Product sense · Mid · 60 to 90 minutes

Spotify, Improve Repeat Podcast Listening

Spotify is an audio streaming service where people listen to music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

User segmentation
Funnel diagnosis
Prioritisation
Metric design
Experiment planning

The situation

The VP of Personalization has asked you, the PM for podcast discovery, to propose how Spotify should improve repeat listening to newly discovered podcasts. Podcast supply on Spotify keeps growing, but many listeners sample one episode and never come back to that show. Assume the following numbers: among listeners who start a podcast they have never played before, 38 percent play a second episode from the same show within 30 days, 18 percent follow the show, and the weakest repeat rate is for people who found the episode through Spotify surfaces like Home or Search rather than through an outside link. Leadership cares because low repeat listening makes recommendations feel noisy, weakens trust from podcast creators, and limits Spotify's ability to build lasting podcast habits. The hard part is that Spotify cannot simply push more podcasts everywhere. Music still drives most listening time, and aggressive podcast promotion that hurts music satisfaction would be a bad trade. Your job is to recommend a focused plan for a product area that helps listeners find a show they will keep listening to, not just click once.

What to produce

A 1 to 2 page product proposal

Your answer must

Define the target listener segments, and choose one primary segment to solve for first with a clear reason.
Map the current journey from first discovery of a new podcast to repeat listening, and identify the biggest drop-off you would address.
Recommend one primary product change in an existing Spotify surface, and name one or two reasonable alternatives you would not prioritize now.
Define one primary success metric, two to three supporting or guardrail metrics, and a target direction of change for the first quarter.
Describe an experiment and rollout plan, including key risks, dependencies, and what evidence would make you iterate or stop.

Constraints

Plan for one quarter of work with one PM, one designer, and up to eight engineers across client and backend.
Use existing Spotify app surfaces such as Home, Search, show pages, and playback, no new standalone app and no major app redesign.
Do not rely on paid marketing, exclusive content deals, or large manual editorial programs that do not scale.
Follow Spotify privacy standards, and do not assume use of sensitive personal data for targeting.

Format

Start with the goal and target user, then diagnose the drop-off, propose one focused solution, explain trade-offs, and finish with metrics and rollout. Clear prioritisation matters more than covering every idea.