Episode 267: Chocolove

About this episode

Podcasting 2.0 August 14th 2026 Episode 267 - "Chocolove" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 00 - THE SPOTIFY "SKIP AHEAD" BUTTON — THE BIG ONE <b>What it is:</b> Spotify is testing a button that appears on the playback screen the moment it thinks you'd want to skip — an intro, a sponsorship message, or an <i>entire ad break</i>. It is bigger than everything else on screen. One tap drops you at the end of the break, back in the show. Premium subscribers only, selected markets including <b>US and UK</b>, and only when the app is in the foreground. <b>Who broke it:</b> <b>James Cridland at Pod News, 4 August 2026</b> — an exclusive. Spotify never announced it. Semafor and most of the trade press picked it up afterwards; Cridland noted on air this week that some of them ran it <i>without credit</i>. <b>The number that makes it different from a skip button:</b> Cridland's arithmetic — skipping a typical ad break by hand is <b>nine presses</b> of the 15-second button, plus a correction tap when you overshoot. Skip Ahead is <b>one</b>. "Some people have said, oh, but you've been ab