Spotify has announced changes to its app and user experience, with a focus on creators.
The update announced at Spotify’s new annual Stream On event includes a home feed with music, podcasts and events and an audiobook section, as well as smart shuffle for new recommendations and autoplay for podcasts.
At The edited feed is no longer static and looks like TikTok merged with Instagram Stories. South Africa does not have access to audiobooks; it is only available in the United States, England, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
The multimedia-heavy feed uses more data to automatically play videos from the front page and, like IG stories embedded in the feed, allows you to scroll through the vertical tracks of the carousel. It includes podcast recommendations that preview snippets.
The app has been redesigned to allow users to engage in different ways, just like TikTok, so you can discover new content longer. It feels busy with videos constantly playing in the feed, although audio snippets from podcasts should help with finding new shows.
The new feed combines insights from users and creators around the world with machine learning tools to create features that are automated for creators and intuitive for users, said Gustav Söderström, co-president and chief product and technology officer at Spotify.
“Spotify is the first platform to enable great previews in music, podcasts and audio. Listeners will now be able to see and hear short clips powered by machine learning, right in their home feed, making it easier to find content we think they’ll like ,” he said.
Thanks to a new feed of visual clips, users can scroll through music, podcasts, and audiobook previews (in supported markets) until they find something they like, said Ziad Sultan, vice president of personalization at Spotify. With a quick tap, users can start listening, save to their library or find out more about an artist, series or creator.
The recent launch of DJ in the US and Canada, a personal artificial intelligence guide, is an example of how the company is building on its innovation by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in new ways, Sultan said.
“DJ is created using a combination of Spotify’s personalization technology, which recommends music based on what you know; generative AI in the hands of music editors; and the dynamic AI sound platform from the acquisition of Sonantic 2022, which makes real sounds from text,” he said.
The company is improving its podcast segment through personalization, the same way it helps discover music.
“Our personalization efforts have helped music discovery grow significantly over the past several years and we are focused on doing the same for podcast creators by driving discovery, delivering listeners the right content at the right time, and accelerating category growth in around the world,” Sultan said.
From the creator’s perspective, Spotify hopes to attract more podcasters through the Anchor hosting platform it acquired back in 2019. It offers an all-in-one solution for creating and developing podcasts in the Spotify app for Podcasters.
It also announced a partnership with Patreon, a membership platform that allows individuals to run their own subscription service, which now integrates podcasts from Spotify.
The company says podcasters will be able to publish patron-only content on Spotify, and subscribers will be able to link their Patreon account to their Spotify account to access Patreon-exclusive podcasts where they’ve listened to all the audio content.
Last year, Spotify announced the African Podcast Fund and selected four South Africans who got a share of the $100 000 grant pool.
The Managing Director of Spotify Africa, Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, said in Stream On, Spotify for Podcasters is reimagined, combining the best Spotify creator tools into a one-stop shop for creating, managing, growing and monetizing podcast content.
“Mpoomy Ledwaba (Wisdom and Wellbeing), for example, just hosted the very successful Unlimited show, in partnership with Spotify. The team also worked with Gugulethu Nyatsumba (After School is After School with Sis Gu) on his first podcast live show, ” he said.
“This is a year-long program, and the goal is not only to fund these creators, but also to increase their platform and allow them to grow their audience.”
A new update to the Spotify app is rolling out globally, with the audiobook feature available in select markets.