Los Angeles (USA) (EFE).- The founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek, announced this Wednesday “a revolution” in the format of the platform that, starting in the coming weeks, will include videos, live events or artist merchandising sale, among other novelties.
“We have created an innovative and updated experience so that creators can continue to grow,” said the company’s also executive director during “Stream on 2023”, a corporate event held in Los Angeles.
Spotify, which has more than 500 million users around the world, thus confirmed its commitment to focus its future on a “more visual” aspect in which users have the possibility of “enjoying different formats” on the same platform.
“We are promoting more creativity, more discoveries and more personalization than ever, providing the best resources, support and interactivity,” said Ek during the presentation on Wednesday, which was attended by groups such as The Jonas Brothers.
The news
Among the novelties, the platform will allow the user to adjust their location and search for concerts in their geographical area that will be broadcast live through the application.
In addition, in this approach to the audiovisual format, the “Spotify Clips” function was announced, which will offer artists to add 30-second videos to their profiles to complement listening; as well as the “Countdown Pages” option, with exclusive recordings of the singers before or after the creation process.
This latest functionality will also give loyal fans the ability to save album release dates in advance and pre-purchase exclusive merchandise, ranging from vinyl to custom apparel.
Thus, the stage in which Spotify was dedicated solely to music distribution is now giving way to another in which, in addition, they intend to get involved in “other facets”, such as the sale of tickets for concerts online or the marketing of “merchandising”. .
“It is about letting creators know that we are present at all stages of their careers. We want to create a place where they can settle, prosper, grow and inspire”, Ek detailed.
The use of artificial intelligence
Finally, within the rest of the functions that will complement the new interface will be “Smart Shuffle”, which will be used by artificial intelligence to add similar music to playlists previously created by users; or the possibility of activating the chain reproduction of different podcast episodes.
This is one of the formats that has experienced the greatest growth in the last two years on Spotify, 84% according to the platform, and from now on it will also allow creators to include videos of their interviews or voiceovers, a 30-second preview for viewers undecided listeners or transcribed content on screen in real time.
The novelties, which will be progressively incorporated until they culminate in the coming months, will compose an interface similar to that of other social networks such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram in which users must scroll down the menu.
“We have reimagined our “feed” (menu) with videos, images and animations that improve the experience when browsing the platform”, concluded Gustav Söderström, current co-president of Spotify during “Stream On 2023”.