Nick Viall Dishes on Relationships, His Podcast, and How He Discovers New Music on Spotify

We love helping listeners discover new music on Spotify, and when it comes to features that guide them toward their next favorite songs or artists, personalization tops the list. With Spotify playlists like Discover Weekly and daylist; playlist-enhancing features like Smart Shuffle and Jam; and curated, AI-powered experiences like DJ; nearly 2 billion music discoveries happen on Spotify daily.

But it’s not just fans who love discovery. Creators around the world are constantly sharing their favorite playlists, products, and people with their followers, which in turn helps fans fall in love with the next best thing. And in For the Record’s ongoing Discovery Monday series, we connect with creators to pick their brains about recent finds, from new music to podcasts and beyond.

This month, we’re talking to author, podcaster, and former Bachelor star Nick Viall. Nick’s time in the spotlight started when he was a contestant on the love-driven reality television show The Bachelorette and continued when he was subsequently chosen to be the star of The Bachelor’s 21st season.

In recent years, Nick has expanded his platform beyond the reality TV realm with his podcast The Viall Files, on which he discusses dating, love, and romance. From “Ask Nick” segments to famous guest interviews, the show gives fans a chance to hear Nick’s—and others’—perspective as he tackles everything from friendship, relationships, and the situationships in between.

For the Record sat down with Nick to chat about his love of podcasting, what he discovers from his followers, and his latest favorite Spotify finds.

What have you been up to lately? What new things have you discovered that you’re enjoying right now?

Recently I’ve been focused on expansion. Everything about my life right now is expanding—my family, my team, my network. And so I’ve discovered the excitement and the hard work that comes with trying to grow the world around you. I truly love what I do and I feel very blessed to do it with the people and the team that I have.

One way you connect with fans is on The Viall Files. What does the podcast format allow you to do that other mediums don’t?

We work really hard to deliver quality, entertaining content and especially with the interviews that we get to do. A podcast, with it being of the long format that it is, it really gives you an opportunity to expand, and my goal is to have my audience feel like they’re sitting in the room with me. 

And whether it’s interviewing or having our callers call in for our “Ask Nick” episodes to share their relationship stories and struggles, we get a chance to offer advice through the mistakes that we’ve made in the past. It’s all very rewarding and a lot of fun. I feel very lucky that I get to do what I do.

Your podcast covers all things dating and love. What is your favorite topic or segment that you cover on the show?

The relationship and dating space is always going to be a favorite of mine. I’ve always been really interested in social dynamics. Going back to school and becoming a therapist is a goal that I’ve stated that I want to do for the last chapter of my professional career, whenever that is… 

And really, when it comes to that space, everything about our show aims to help people value themselves a little bit more than they sometimes do. And we try to steer people to just make good decisions for themselves. We don’t try to yuck anyone’s yum or criticize anyone for whatever type of lifestyle they want, and we’re just here to help them process the good and the bad in a more honest way because we don’t have anything personally invested in their outcome.

How would you say your experience on The Bachelor helped equip you to talk romance and share advice with your listeners?

Being a part of The Bachelor franchise certainly gives you an incredibly intense version of falling in love, dating, disappointment, and rejection. You also have to understand if your ego is driving your decisions or if you’re actually making decisions that are really sound for your heart. I think going through that experience further taught me how to handle my emotions. And I want to try to pass that knowledge along to the people I talk to to help them with their own relationship struggles.

When you’re on the hunt for inspiration or to discover something new, what tools or resources do you use? 

I will definitely use my show from time to time to put something out there: “Hey, this is what’s going on, would love some feedback.” Google is always really great. And friends for sure. That’s how I definitely like getting referrals and references from people and mentors. Personal connections with people is probably my favorite way to learn. And for music, quite honestly, Spotify is where I discover all my music. Music and podcasts.

Any recent discoveries you’ve been listening to?

SZA is someone I’ve really enjoyed for a while now. And I’m obviously a big Taylor Swift fan. And sometimes I like looking for interesting, dramatic music that we can use for our show. I’ll use Spotify to discover random music soundtracks and things like that. I got into the country genre recently, so Zach Bryan is someone I’m a big fan of. 

What about podcasts?

In addition to being a pop culture and relationship fan, I’m a big football fan—and specifically I like to discover new niche Packers podcasts on Spotify. I listen to them all. I can’t get enough of nerdy football analytics talk, so that’s what I do in my car and what I listen to when I want to unwind and decompress.

What’s your favorite way to discover new music or podcasts on Spotify?

I like to use Discover Weekly. I don’t consider myself a very knowledgeable music person, especially compared to some people. So I really rely on Spotify’s searches and various playlists to help me discover and find new music that I like or podcasts that I enjoy. That feature is great.

Discover more about Nick and his take on love and relationships on his podcast, The Viall Files.