Spotify Newsletter #155

Your Weekly Dose of Spotify News

Mar 31

Hello! Welcome to the latest issue of the Spotify Newsletter! So glad you are here for this week’s speedy rundown of the latest and greatest Spotify news.

The two key items of the week - featured directly below - would be the niche mixes, personalized playlists that combines Spotify’s mixes in a playful way, and the (hopefully) snazzy revamped design of the user profile section.

I’m looking at my profile now, and yeah… I can see where the design might welcome some spicing up here and there.

As noted on Phone Arena:

The new profiles seem to have a card-esque design, which brings out the user’s avatar as a focus. New user-related details such as the currently active subscription plan and a general location have been added next to what was already there.

Additionally, a new feature seems to be present, which allows users to set a “vibe”, which equates to a status on numerous other platforms, including popular texting solutions such as WhatsApp.

Wether or not a ‘vibe’ status is going to change my life in any meaningful way remains to be seen, but overall I am pleased to see robust design action taken on the profiles. I do hope there’s a ‘Steely Dan’ vibe!

What else …. I spotted a few more ‘Spotify is the pits, here’s how to switch’ posts floating around. I wonder what percentage of people leave Spotify, only to return soon after because the replacement was not so wonderful.

The TikTok-y stuff from a few weeks ago definitely caused a truckload of user rumblings, but it seems the dust has settled and people are back to streaming and sharing and playlisting, which doesn’t look or sound right, but it’s a real action whereas ‘a store/streaming platform or independent curator creates their own list of chosen songs specified to a genre or mood wherever it fits best.’

I found that on the ‘net so you know it’s correct.

Happy streaming and playlisting everyone!! Have a super weekend!!!!

★In the SPOTlight★

⭐️ Why Spotify wants to look like TikTok, with co-president Gustav Söderström

Gustav Söderström has worked at Spotify for a long time; his first big project was leading the launch of its mobile app back in 2009. That makes him the perfect company leader to talk to about Spotify’s recent redesign, which introduces a visual, TikTok-like feed for discovering new content on the app’s homepage.

⭐️ Spotify is testing new card-style user profiles focused on discovery

The company confirmed it’s now testing a revamp of its user profiles, which includes a card-style layout that lets users establish more of a social identity on the platform in addition to providing easy access to Spotify’s unique features — like its personalized recommendations, Blend playlists, co-listening experiences and more.

⭐️ Spotify’s Niche Mixes spare you from building your own weirdly specific playlists

Spotify has launched Niche Mixes, a new set of personalized playlists that combine familiar songs and new recommendations into weirdly specific categories. Niche Mixes is an expansion of the music platform’s existing Spotify Mixes playlist feature (such as Mood Mixes or Decades Mixes) that grants users more precision to shape their listening habits.

⭐️ 'Spotify has lined up interesting innovations to excite listeners and brands during IPL'

After four years of its journey in India, the music streaming platform Spotify decided to scale up its operations and ad business in one of the most significant markets of the world by taking the fast-track Indian Premier League (IPL) route.