Hello. Happy Friday. I hope everyone had a nice week.

—> Last week we had criminals allegedly using Spotify to launder money.

This week … Julian Klymochko, founder and CEO of Accelerate, cited a JP Morgan report that suggested artists could make up to $1,200 a month in royalties on Spotify if they uploaded a 30-second track and then programmed their phone to listen to it on repeat for 24 hours.

Daniel Ek was quick to deny.

"If that were true, my own playlist would just be 'Daniel's 30-second Jam' on repeat!" Ek tweeted back in response. He added: "But seriously, that's not quite how our royalty system works.”

—> Another item making the rounds has to do with the possibility that Spotify will soon let you share songs as “audio surprises” with friends.

As spotted by X user Saadh Jawwadh, Spotify is experimenting with a new “Share it as an audio surprise“ feature. As the name tells, this feature aims to make the entire audio-sharing experience a fun and mysterious task.

Once selected, you will be able to conceal the album art of the song and instead, replace it with a gift wrap before sharing it with your friends or family.

There’s all sorts of ‘testing’ floating around the platform — but it’s a long road, I imagine, from testing to official launch. But this looks promising.

—> The must-follow Rob Abelow over at X had a terrific thread recently titled …

‘If I Ran Spotify: I’d Do These 8 Things’

It’s very thorough, very interesting.

Here’s one of the 8:

1. GO ALL-IN ON MUSIC

Spotify went hard on 'audio' the last 5 years. • $1.27B on podcast-related acquisitions • <$25M on music-related ones

No more. I'm going deep on music - nurturing fandom & artists.

It’s definitely worth a look.

★SPOTlight★

⭐️ Spotify launches new paid-for ‘Showcase’ recommendation tool, starting at $100 per promo campaign

Spotify is generating less than USD $5 million per day from advertising. YouTube is generating $84 million per day. Meta is generating $346 million a day. Question: How can Spotify do better at closing the ginormous commercial gulf between its business and Big Tech in terms of generated ad money?

Answer: More ad products for the music industry.

⭐️ Why Goldman Sachs believes that Spotify will remain the world’s dominant music streaming service in 2030

How much longer can Spotify hold on to its position as the world’s biggest music streaming provider in terms of global paid-for subscriptions? According to Goldman Sachs, for a long time yet.

⭐️ Spotify appears to be planning free audiobook trials for subscribers

The pilot program will reportedly give subscribers up to 20 free hours of audiobooks per month.

⭐️ These are the rock and metal songs that have achieved a billion or more streams on Spotify

Queen, AC/DC, Nirvana, Journey, and who else? The rock tracks that have achieved over one billion streams on Spotify.

⭐️ Why Has Selena Gomez's Song 'Single Soon' Been Removed From Streaming Platforms?

It's not currently known why 'Single Soon' by Selena Gomez has been removed from platforms like Spotify and Apple Music but, as it stands, it doesn't even show up on the services when you search for the track. A technical glitch could simply be to blame here, or it could be that a remastered version will be uploaded soon.

▶️ Playlists ▶️

• Spotify’s latest personalized playlist, daylist, evolves with you throughout the day

• Spotify’s 5 Best Personalized Playlists

• Zach Bryan's Mugshot Covers Spotify's Outlaw Playlist

🎧 Streams 🎧

• Rema reaches 1bn Spotify-streams milestone with 'Calm Down'

🎼 Artists 🎼

• Why optimizing for followers on Spotify is a fundamental mistake

• ‘Blinding Lights’ and how playlist culture is changing modern songwriting

💡 Tips & Tricks 💡

• How to listen to Spotify’s huge library of audiobooks

• How To Use Spotify Duo

⚽️ Spotify FC ⚽️

• Barcelona to wear special shirt featuring iconic rock band's logo in upcoming Clasico as part of Spotify shirt sponsorship agreement

⚡️ Ek Notes ⚡️

• Spotify CEO Responds to Alleged Streaming Scheme for Artists to Make Money on Platform

• Spotify's CEO Just Taught a Powerful Lesson in Leadership. It Starts With Just 9 Words

🖌 Design 🖌

• How Spotify Achieved a Voluntary 99% Internal Platform Adoption Rate

🗣Podcasts 🗣

• Patreon creators can now publish subscriber-only podcasts on Spotify

• Spotify struggles to turn growing podcast listenership into ad revenue

🔥 News 🔥

• Spotify CFO Touts AI DJ, Podcasting “Evolution”: “We Are Signing Deals Differently”

• How criminal networks in Sweden use false Spotify streams to launder money

• See if You’ve Got What It Takes To Be a Spotify Star

🎵 New Adventures 🎵

Gaucho Steely Dan

Give Me An Inch Robert Palmer

I'll Sail This Ship Alone - Single Version The Beautiful South

Love Has Brought Me Around James Taylor

Raspberry Beret Hindu Love Gods

Things Have Gone to Pieces Van Morrison

Mr. Night Kenny Loggins

Sweet Side Lucinda Williams

Join OpenPlay next Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 11am ET for their next webinar!

The webinar will be hosted by Founder, Edward Ginis, and he'll discuss OpenPlay's newest features and tools from 2023, upcoming additions, and addressing attendee questions. Click here to register!

📧 Get in touch 📧

If you have a question, idea, request, or simply a desire to chat about Spotify, please email me at jeff.spotifynewsletter@gmail.com.

😀 Have a Nice Weekend! 😀