Spotify is experimenting with yet another strategy in an effort to increase user engagement while leveraging the influence of social recommendations. Some users in Vietnam are being prompted by it to record a voice-recorded playlist reaction. A podcast episode including this clip will be released. The prompt, which was discovered by a Reddit user, allows users to record a voice response all at once or in segments by stopping the record. They can add background music and alter their captures. Before submitting their episode, they will be able to link to the playlist.

Without disclosing how it will filter the records or whether it intends to expand the service, Spotify is conducting the test. Theoretically, this might encourage people to try their hand at audio creation for first time, but it’s unclear whether they’ll actually want to press the record button in response to a playlist.

For years, Spotify has been intermittently testing an in-app podcast recording feature. It released podcast episodes that a user had recorded on that person’s profile in a recent New Zealand trial. That sounds like a sensible method for the business to utilise Spotify’s friend connections, as a playlist recommendation from a friend is probably more useful than one provided by an algorithm. However, it doesn’t appear required to record a response podcast in order to make a suggestion.