Spotify wants more people to listen to podcasts, so it’s making the process of finding one that interests you even easier. Starting this week, the company will include a button on free users’ homepages that’ll ask them to pick topics that interest them in order to get podcast recommendations. The button will only show up for people in the US, Denmark, Great Britain, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Mexico, Ireland, and New Zealand who have never listened to a podcast on Spotify before, and the topic choices will differ by user and country. Spotify says show recommendations will be based off different factors, including local popularity. The launch of the button follows Spotify’s introduction of an automated, customized podcast playlist that’s designed to give listeners new shows to consume based on their taste, as well as an updated Alexa skill that gives people the ability to ask Alexa to play specific shows.

The playlist has the potential to start cracking the podcast discovery problem — it’s difficult to find new shows — but it’s only as good as someone’s listening habits. Spotify bet big on podcasts this year when it acquired Gimlet Media, Parcast, and Anchor, and as it dedicates its team to create more exclusive shows, it also wants to make sure all of its users take advantage of that investment by listening. The first step is to make the process of finding shows less daunting with recommendations based on their interests. The company says it’ll recommend programs across networks, not just Spotify-exclusive shows.

Update 12/13, 10:38 AM ET: Updated to include more clarification around show recommendations.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/13/21013255/spotify-podcast-recommendations-topic-button-alexa