Spotify expands EQUAL program with first dedicated podcast and audiobook ambassador roles

Spotify is giving its EQUAL program a new target inside podcasts and audiobooks, naming its first dedicated ambassadors for creators in both formats and rolling out a wider promotional push. The announcement comes as the company leans into creator-led programming across audio, a category where discovery and audience building often hinge on visibility and distribution.

EQUAL, which Spotify launched in 2021, has spent the past five years supporting women artists through what the company describes as editorial programming, marketing campaigns and “cultural moments” intended to help creators reach new audiences. Spotify said the initiative has supported more than 1,400 women artists across more than 40 markets since its launch.

Now Spotify is expanding beyond an ambassador model tied to artists generally, to create dedicated roles specifically for podcast creators and audiobook authors. The first two appointments, according to Spotify, are Morgan Absher, host of the podcast Two Hot Takes, and Grace Reilly, a romance author behind the Beyond the Play series, with her most recent work listed as Yes, Chef.

Spotify said both ambassadors will be featured across the service, including in a refreshed EQUAL hub in the United States. There, Spotify says the pair will spotlight women-led podcasts and women-authored audiobooks the ambassadors are “loving right now,” linking the ambassador concept to on-platform curation and discovery.

The company also said the launch will move beyond the app. Later this month, Spotify plans a visual campaign in Times Square, with two marquee EQUAL billboards. The placements are intended to broaden awareness of the program beyond existing listeners and creators.

In interviews tied to the launch, Absher described what the ambassador role means to her. She said she started her podcast “from the ground up” without a production company or platform, after a period where she was unemployed and unable to find a job in healthcare due to the pandemic. She added that she had few women-led podcasts to look to for guidance at the time, but now sees more women-led shows appearing alongside her on charts.

Absher, speaking in the same materials, pointed to the kind of community and debate she sees on her program and framed podcasting as an area with a “low barrier to entry,” while warning that inaction is the biggest obstacle. She also shared personal creative preferences, including her stated “pre-show playlist” choices and an example of a relationship “hot take” she said became a conversation-starter for differing viewpoints.

Reilly, in the launch materials, focused on EQUAL’s role in lifting women and pushing toward gender equity in the arts, and she positioned her author ambassador appointment as an honor within that broader goal. Spotify also noted that her next audio-first novella, Have Your Cake, is scheduled to arrive September 22 from SAB, Spotify Audiobooks’ in-house production arm and creative partner.

For now, Spotify did not lay out additional details about how the ambassador program will operate over time, such as the expected number of future podcast or audiobook ambassadors, specific performance targets, or whether EQUAL programming will tie to measurable outcomes like subscriptions or listen hours. The company also did not specify whether the Times Square campaign marks a one-time milestone or the start of a recurring series for the new roles.

What to watch next is how Spotify uses these ambassadors as a consistent discovery mechanism inside podcasts and audiobooks, particularly whether the refreshed U.S. EQUAL hub will add more creator-led editorial modules. Observers will also likely look for how Spotify balances promotional placements, such as large-format outdoor ads, with long-term support promised through programming and marketing, as the company keeps expanding EQUAL’s creator pipeline.