Tag: Spotify

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Spotify reaches 515 million monthly active users

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has taken to Twitter to announce the latest metrics from the popular streaming company. According to the infographic shared, this past quarter was the most successful one yet for the company in terms of monthly active users (MAU). Clocking in at 515 million, the MAU base grew by 22 percent year-over-year.

Ek also revealed that 210 million users of the platform are now paid subscribers, an increase of 15 percent year-over-year. The quarter, which ended on March 31st, is the strongest Q1 since Spotify went public in 2018.

Spotify doesn’t appear to be resting on its laurels, either. Back in March, the company began the rollout of a new TikTok-inspired interface. And before that, in February, we saw the debut of a new AI DJ to its premium users.

While this is all good news for Spotify, it hasn’t been immune to the layoffs and cost-cutting measures that have characterized tech companies in recent months. Back in January, the company announced a layoff of six percent of its workforce.

Just how effective these cost-cutting measures prove to be in the long run remains unclear.

Source: Daniel Ek

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Mobile Syrup

Have you heard about Spotify’s new AI DJ yet?

Through the power of AI, users on Spotify now have access to their own personalized DJ that will play them a curated selection of tracks based on users listening history.

The AI guide rolled out by the music streaming service sorts through the user’s latest music and looks back at older favourites to best deliver a stream of songs picked specifically for them. Users can even provide feedback, which the DJ will use to change and refreshen the song list.

To prevent itself from feeling lifeless, the virtual DJ also features commentary, giving listeners in-depth reasoning as to why the songs being played were chosen, what’s coming up next, and overall artist and track information.

If listeners don’t like what’s being played, they can hit the DJ button at the bottom right of the screen to have the AI model play another track or switch up the genre entirely.

The AI DJ launched to premium Spotify members on February 22nd, 2023, and users have since praised its accuracy and personal charm.

Spotify uses a blend of personalization technology and OpenAI technology to provide a personal listening experience to every user. The feature sounds pretty fluid, with the company getting Xavier “X” Jernigan’s voice to be the first model for the DJ. Spotify says it will continue to “iterate and innovate,” meaning more voices could be possible in the future.

The AI DJ is available on both iOS and Android versions of the app. Those who want to test out the DJ for themselves can do so by:

  1. Head to your Music Feed on Home in the Spotify mobile app on your iOS or Android device.
  2. Tap Play on the DJ card.
  3. Let Spotify do the rest! The DJ will serve a lineup of music alongside short commentary on the songs and artists picked just for you.
  4. Not feeling the vibe? Just hit the DJ button at the bottom right of the screen to be taken to a different genre, artist, or mood.

Be warned, however, as the AI DJ knows exactly what you’ve listened to. Don’t be startled if guilty pleasures like the Mama Mia soundtrack come through your speakers, even if you listened to it years ago.

Spotify Premium subscriptions are available for $9.99 CAD per month, and new users can get three months free until July 21, 2023. You can sign up here.

Image credit: Spotify

Source: Spotify

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Mobile Syrup

Spotify plans to shut down its independent live audio sharing app

After years of tinkering with ways to incorporate live audio sharing with its users, music streaming giant Spotify has announced that it will be shutting down Spotify Live, one of the company’s standalone apps.

The app previously known as Spotify Greenroom launched in 2021 after the company acquired Betty Labs. Much experimenting with branding was done to the solo app, including renaming it to its current moniker, Spotify Live in April of 2022.

The company also began to integrate some of its features into the main Spotify app around this time. This included live audio conferencing and allowing independent artists the ability to live stream their music within the app. “We believe there is a future for live fan-creator interactions in the Spotify ecosystem; however, based on our learnings, it no longer makes sense as a standalone app,” a Spotify spokesperson told Music Ally.

Spotify did not rule out the possibility of pursuing other means of live audio sharing, however. The company said that it will “continue to explore moving forward to facilitate live interactions between artists and fans.” Despite this, the digital music service did confirm its plans to shut down Spotify Live (via Tech Crunch).

Even with the concept of live audio showing real promise, including being backed by CEO Daniel Ek just a few years ago, Spotify hasn’t managed to effectively put it into practice yet.

The decision to shut down Spotify Live comes not long after the termination of a handful of live audio shows in December 2022, indicating the company may be second-guessing its plans for live audio implementation.

It should be noted that Spotify is not the only company that has started to shy away from live audio. Facebook’s parent company Meta announced its plans to shut down select audio products, such as the audio-sharing tool Soundbites, in May 2022.

Source: Music Ally Via: Engadget

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Mobile Syrup

Canadians can now listen to audiobooks on Spotify

Spotify’s Audiobooks are finally launching in Canada after being available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand for roughly five months.

The feature first released in the U.S. back in September 2022, before being expanded to the other countries mentioned above in November.

The addition of Canada to the list of supported countries means Canadians will be able to purchase and listen to a catalogue of more than 300,000 audiobook titles. The experience will be available in English and French Canadian, Spotify told MobileSyrup in an email statement.

“We’ve always believed that the potential for audio creators is limitless. This audiobooks experience is just the beginning of our journey — we’ll continue expanding our catalog and developing new ways for listeners to discover and engage with audiobooks,” wrote Spotify in a press relase.

Starting today, Canadians can go to the Spotify app and discover audiobooks alongside music and podcasts as a section in their library. Once you’ve found an audiobook on the app that you’d like to purchase, you’d need to head to open.spotify.com to purchase it. Once bought, the audiobook will be unlocked on the Spotify app and will be automatically saved in your library and available to listen to whenever you want. Audiobooks can also be downloaded for offline listening.

Additionally, playback speed controls are also included for audiobooks and “for listeners who want to share their opinion after listening to a book, we’ve also included a rating feature, which will publicly display the aggregate rating of the book,” said Spotify.

Read about Spotify’s expansion to Audiobooks here.

Image credit: Spotify

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Mobile Syrup

The Weeknd becomes first artist to hit 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify

Canada’s own The Weeknd has set a new Spotify record.

On February 27th, the Toronto-born singer-songwriter has become the first artist on Spotify to hit 100 million monthly listeners. For context, this is well above the runner-up, Miley Cyrus, who has 82 million monthly listeners. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift comes in at No. 3 with 80 million and Rihanna with 79 million.

This also comes just a few days after he dropped a remix of his 2016 single, “Die For You,” with Ariana Grande. In December, The Weeknd also released “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” for Avatar: The Way of Water, the third highest-grossing movie of all time from fellow Canadian James Cameron.

Notably, this isn’t The Weeknd’s only Spotify record. His 2019 single, “Blinding Lights,” is Spotify’s most-played song ever with more than 3.4 billion streams.

In related news, The Weeknd just dropped a concert special, Live at SoFi Stadium, on Crave. Later this year, he’ll also co-star in The Idol, an upcoming HBO drama he co-created with Sam Levinson (Euphoria).

Source: Spotify

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Mobile Syrup

BeReal adding Spotify integration, enabling users to share favourite songs

French social media app BeReal is said to be developing its own Spotify integrations. The platform has been steadily gaining more attention, attracting a larger audience. It appears as though users will soon be able to share their favourite songs with followers.

For the uninitiated, BeReal enables users to capture and share a photo every day at a different time. It’s designed to encourage users to share authentic moments with friends and followers, given the small window of opportunity. Now, it’s been discovered that users will be able to add music via Spotify alongside sharing a selfie or a photo.

Developer and app analyst Alessandro Paluzzi discovered this work-in-progress. As it’s been shared, BeReal’s music integration allows users to share a song from Spotify with their followers when posting their picture within the allotted window. It’s believed that the feature will launch for both iOS and Android.

On top of music, users can share podcasts when creating content for the platform. BeReal is said to be able to automatically detect when a song or podcast is being listened to. A link to navigate to the content within Spotify is also shared. The app also displays a message reading, “Listen to music or podcasts when you take your BeReal to share it with your friends.”

At the time of writing, it’s unclear when BeReal’s integration of Spotify will be available to all users.

Hive intended to integrate Spotify into its core social platform. Harkening back to the days of MySpace, an option to link their Spotify account to Hive was once active. However, since shutting down its servers as a result of a security issue, this no longer seems possible.

Header image credit: BeReal

Source: Alessandro Paluzzi via 9to5Mac

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Mobile Syrup

Spotify launches GLOW program celebrating the 2SLGBTIA+ community

Spotify is launching GLOW a new global music program created to celebrate the 2SLGBTIA+ community.

The program is supported by the Creator Equity Fund, which is used to foster equity in the audio space alongside programs like EQUAL and Frequency:

  • The GLOW Hub, a dedicated space on Spotify to highlight audio offerings of 2SLGBTIA+ voices for queer and ally users
  • Global Flagship Playlist, GLOW, which will be refreshed monthly and highlight tracks by 2SLGBTIA+ artists
  • A 360 program providing editorial and partnership capabilities, marketing support, and charitable components

To launch GLOW, Spotify is partnering with 2SLGBTIA+ artists like Arlo Parks, Bruses, Jean Seizure, Joesef, Leland, Liniker, Natalia Lacunza, Pabllo Vittar, Sam Smith, Tove Lo, and Villano Antillano.

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Mobile Syrup

Spotify might rebrand Anchor under its main podcast service

Spotify is asking some creators under its Spotify for Podcasters program what they think about a rebrand.

According to TechCrunch, Spotify is considering combining Anchor and Spotify for Podcasters under one platform called Spotify Creator Studio.

Spotify acquired Anchor, a free broadcasting service, alongside Gimlet Media in 2019.

The possible rebrand would see Spotify for Podcasters rebranded to “Spotify Creator Studio — Unhosted”  and Anchor to “Spotify Creator Studio — Hosted.”

The unhosted version will allow podcasters who host their shows on other platforms to access analytics and polls. Hosted will allow podcasts hosted through the Spotify Creator Studio to access free hosting, the mobile app, monetization, and features in the unhosted category.

Both categories would be free to access, TechCrunch reports.

“At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of surveys and tests in an effort to improve our user experience,” a Spotify representative told the publication.

“Some of these end up paving the path for our broader user experience and others serve only as an important learning. We have no news to share on future plans at this time.”

Source: TechCrunch

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Drake is Spotify’s King in the North

Drake has once again proven to be a Canadian favorite, topping the list of the most listened to artist in Canada in 2022.

He beat out Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Kanye West and Eminem!

Add to this success that the Toronto native is the third most listened to solo artist in the world.

Only Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift are ahead of him.

The 36-year-old rapper recently released a new album with 21 Savage, Her Loss, and it already has millions of listens.

The track Rich Flex alone already has close to 130 million listens… that’s phenomenal!

Harry Styles is also still dominant in Canada, with his song As It Was being the most streamed song on Spotify in Canada, while his album Harry’s House is at the top of the list of most listened to albums in the country.

For those of you who use the Spotify platform, the Wrapped playlists are available on the Spotify mobile app.

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Mobile Syrup

Spotify CEO joins Elon Musk in slamming Apple’s App Store policies

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has expressed support for Twitter chief Elon Musk in his ongoing dispute with Apple.

Earlier this week, Musk asked on Twitter if Apple “hate[s] free speech in America” after claiming that the company has “mostly stopped advertising on Twitter.” He also accused Apple of threatening to withhold Twitter from its App Store while criticizing the company for the 30 percent revenue cut it takes from developers. Musk has reportedly paused the relaunch of his $8 Twitter Blue subscription as he attempts to avoid Apple’s 30 percent cut.

Now, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has retweeted multiple anti-Apple tweets from Musk and launched his own lengthy Twitter thread to blast the company.

After referencing Spotify’s 2019 complaint against Apple’s “anticompetitive practices,” Ek said “over and over again, Apple gives itself every advantage while at the same time stifling innovation and hurting customers.” He went on to say Apple “acts in self interest but also doesn’t seem to care about the law or courts” or about “consumer choice,” accusing it of being “shameless in [its] bullying.”

“This bad behaviour is far-reaching and as Elon Musk recently pointed out, not widely understood,” he added.

“So how much longer will we look away from this threat to the future of the internet? How many more consumers will be denied choice? There’s been a lot of talk. Talk is helpful but we need action,” he concluded while tagging the U.S. Commerce Department, European Commission and European Commission VP Margrethe Vestager.

Ek’s comments also come just one month after Spotify published a blog post titled “Apple’s Anti-Competitive Behavior Hurts Everyone.” The blog cited a story from The New York Times reporting that Apple rejected its in-app audiobook purchasing system three times due to it violating its App Store rules. Spotify eventually conceded, but not without criticizing Apple extensively:

“The Audiobooks purchase flow that Apple’s rules force us to provide consumers today is far too complicated and confusing — confusing because they change the rules arbitrarily, making them impossible to interpret. Bottom line, we’re forced to make users work even harder to listen to an audiobook. This harms not only consumers, but, this time, also authors and publishers who now find themselves under Apple’s thumb.”

Outside of Spotify, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also recently backed Musk.

Sharing a Daily Mail article about Apple’s handling of personal data in China, Sweeney called the iPhone maker “a menace to freedom worldwide” that “maintain[s] an illegal monopoly on app distribution.” He’s also been retweeting several tweets that have been critical of Apple.

Sweeney has long been at war with Apple, most notably through a major antitrust lawsuit filed in August 2020. As part of the dispute, Epic’s Fortnite game featured a 1984-inspired ad to rally players against Apple and Sweeney even said “it’s everybody’s duty to fight,” controversially likening the conflict to the civil rights movement. A September 2021 court ruling largely favoured Apple, which Epic is currently appealing.

Apple has yet to publicly comment on Musk’s comments.