Spotify
The new layout, which includes image heavy design and vertical scroll, is reminiscent of social media feeds on apps like ByteDance's TikTok and Meta Platfrom's
Spotify announced the new app revamp during its Stream On event on Wednesday, where it also unveiled new tools for content creators like podcasters and musicians, as well as new features to enhance user experience.
The company said its new home screen will now offer a stream of previews from Spotify's large ecosystem of content that users can save and share with others. Spotify has grown its content offerings beyond music for some time, investing heavily into podcasts, audiobook, live audio, and more.
The company has also pushed to offer video podcasts, notably signing a licensing agreement with "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast through 2023. Now Spotify will offer video feeds for Enhanced discovery in its Search section to attract users towards different content.
For the content creation side, Spotify showed off a new version of its Spotify for Podcasters dashboard, which organizes its tools for creating, managing, growing, and monetizing content all in one place. The changes follow Spotify's acquisition of the podcast creation service Anchor. The company also announced a new partnership with Patreon, which enables creators to expand their business through direct donations from fans.
"Everyone benefits from this partnership," said Alex Norstrom, co-president and chief business officer at Spotify. "Spotify users can listen to all their favorite content in one place, and at the same time, Patreon podcasters can increase their income and grow their audience. These tools give you the ability to choose how you monetize. We will continue to explore more options for you to build out your business."
Beyond podcasting tools, Spotify unveiled a new feature for Spotify for Artists called "Marquee," which is a full-screen, sponsored post recommending new music releases to users that have shown interest in an artist's music. Moreover, the company showed new "Discovery Mode" and "Showcase" features that allow artists to identify songs they want to promoted on the streaming service and introduce more listeners to their music on the app's home screen.
"The most important thing we, at Spotify, can do for creators is to reduce the distance between their art and the people who love it -- or who would love it as soon as they discovered it," Gustav Söderström, co-president at Spotify, said in a release.
Spotify also revamped its playlists, which have previously been the app's main source of content discovery, to have greater emphasis on new content. With its "Smart Shuffle" feature, the app will temporarily add new tracks to existing playlists created by users.
Some of the new features are already live on the app, while other will roll out in the coming months, Spotify said.
The company announced Wednesday it had surpassed 500 million active users per month.
