The Conversation (0)
Ariana Baio
Mar 10, 2023
International Women's Day Spotify playlist curated by The Blessed Madonna
content.jwplatform.com
It’s the TikTok-ification of Spotify.
On Wednesday, Spotify unveiled a massive change to its design which users are not too thrilled about.
Now, Spotify’s homepage will now include a TikTok-like feed where users can scroll to discover new music, podcasts, books, and more.
The homepage will feature vertical videos when possible for music covers and podcasts. New music will also feature a small caption describing the song or artist, similar to Instagram photos.
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Users can scroll, similarly to Instagram or TikTok, where new music, podcasts, recommended playslits, books, and more will appear.
“Our goal is not to steal time, it is to help users save time,” Spotify’s chief product officer, Gustav Söderström, said at the Stream On event.
Söderström insisted that the new design will help users “discover content that drives deep, meaningful, and long-lasting engagement” rather than get users to spend more time on their app.
According to Söderström, this new design will help musicians, podcasters, and authors more of an opportunity to be discovered.
But users were not happy about the change as they prefer keeping their TikTok and Spotify interfaces separate
\u201c@alexeheath @eldsjal I don't need video clips "and other stuff" - I just want a nice clean main tab where I can find the playlists that I've chosen, easily.\n\n\u2757\ufe0f\u2757\ufe0f Especially when I'm paying for a subscription.\u201d— Alex Heath (@Alex Heath) 1678299245
\u201c@alexeheath @eldsjal why can't services remain focused on whatever they do best?\u201d— Alex Heath (@Alex Heath) 1678299245
\u201c@alexeheath @eldsjal Jesus, spotify. I just want music in my music app. I don't want TikTok videos. I don't want podcasts. I don't want audiobooks.\n\nI. Just. Want. Music.\u201d— Alex Heath (@Alex Heath) 1678299245
\u201c@alexeheath @eldsjal Please no. I just want to play music, I like the feed idea, but put it elsewhere.\u201d— Alex Heath (@Alex Heath) 1678299245
\u201c@alexeheath @eldsjal My app has been showing this way for the last week. It\u2019s horrendous. Destroyed the user friendliness of finding new playlists to try\u201d— Alex Heath (@Alex Heath) 1678299245
Other social media pages like Instagram and Twitter have implemented similar feeds that allow users to separate discovering new content and seeing content from people they already follow.
While TikTok’s for you page has always been an essential part of the app, other platforms adding it doesn’t sit well with users who do not want to see the same format across multiple platforms.
\u201cSo anyway this new Spotify vertical discovery feed that\u2019s being announced tomorrow has\u2026 already appeared on my phone \ud83d\udc40\u201d— Stuart Dredge (@Stuart Dredge) 1678179758
Additionally, the new change will give users a chance to "sample" music before adding it to their library, autoplay podcasts to a similar episode, smart shuffle, and their artificial intelligence DJ.
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