It was one of the biggest news of 2023 in the streaming world. Spotify, the world’s leading streaming service, unveiled its latest design and user interface. While it’s not yet available for everybody around the world, it is starting to be deployed, and it seems like everybody is talking about it. And not always in a good way… As we all know, streaming platform services are evolving in an increasingly competitive market. Especially with the arrival of players like Amazon Music, who are starting to carve out a serious market share. What is this new interface? What’s new with Spotify’s latest design?
And above all, will it change anything for Soundiiz’s users?
Why did Spotify change its design?
The last few years have seen the emergence – and explosion – of TikTok. The app has taken everything by storm and has become, as it evolves, a more powerful music promotion tool than any other. Many songs and artists have seen their trajectory change following a massive sharing on TikTok and there are strong correlations between the emergence of a song on TikTok and its number of streams, on any streaming platform, be it Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, etc. As a matter of fact, we recommend this interesting article published by Business Insider on how TikTok is changing the music industry.
Everybody wants to catch up! And by everybody, we mean streaming platforms.
Spotify is aware of this and wants to follow in the footsteps of TikTok, an app famous for its infinite scrolls, which allows – as it’s the goal of any application designer – to stay on the app as long as possible and not to leave it.
Spotify is modernizing its interface by adapting to these new user habits. The undisguised goal is to become, in the long run, more than a music streaming application. The process was initiated after the Swedish company invested in the podcast and audiobook sectors. But Spotify has obviously decided to embark on another adventure: video.
Spotify, in a statement published on its website, summarizes its new ambitions in these words: “built for deeper discovery and more meaningful connections between artists and fans”. Spotify wants to extend discovery and allow its users to have access to new songs, albums, and podcasts.
Explore, explore, explore: this could well be the new motto of the company.
What’s new?
- A redesigned home screen
Spotify will display a vertical navigation scrolling endlessly, just as Tik-Tok does. At the top of the home page, you should find your usual categories. But just below, there will be an album cover or video which you can access or save in your libraries. This vertical scrolling should make it possible to highlight more podcasts and audiobooks.
- A desire to facilitate the search for songs and artists to optimize the listener-artist relationship.
Artists will be able to post messages for their fans, in written, audio, or video form. These videos can last, as of now, thirty seconds tops. The length could increase in the next updates. TikTok originally featured short videos and evolved towards videos lasting several minutes.
- The arrival of the “Smart Shuffle” function.
Spotify will be able to add relevant songs to the playlists you are listening to and have already built. After the end of a podcast episode, a new one will be launched to increase the discovery of new shows.
Co-President and CTO Gustav Söderström, introduced the Smart Shuffle feature as follows: “Smart Shuffle brings new life into listeners’ playlists by recommending and visualizing additional songs that perfectly connect with the playlist.”
- The arrival of the “DJ” feature
It uses artificial intelligence to offer content that is ever closer to the tastes of its users. According to Spotify, it is one of the most awaited features by Spotify’s community. The firm is known for its precise and evolving algorithm, with its Playlists and “Daily Mix” meeting the tastes of its users.
What does the Spotify community seem to think?
To say that these new features are met with a lot of criticism is an understatement. Some users are complaining about the “Smart Shuffle”. While it is based on relevant content recommendations, inserting, or rather “forcing” them into pre-made playlists seems to be a problem.
Others also regret that Spotify seems to be moving away from its primary objective: making music, and nothing else, available to as many people as possible. And making it easy for everybody. By adding additional content, such as video, they fear that music listening is weighed down.
Also, others fear that all applications will tend to copy the navigation model of TikTok. And with this new version of its interface, Spotify seems to be well on its way.
There also have been some complaints about Spotify’s Hifi option: where is it, and why hasn’t it come out yet? The new Spotify interface arrives before this new and long-awaited feature, and it seems to be frustrating for some users.
What does it change for Soundiiz?
Absolutely nothing!
You’ll be able to find your playlists in the same way, and at the same place, on your Soundiiz homepage. We remain compatible with this new interface and will remain this way with its next evolutions!
It might be useful if you REALLY DON’T like Spotify’s new interface, as you don’t want to lose your data when you migrate to a new streaming service. To Apple Music, for example?
If you’d like to check what streaming service best suits your needs, we wrote an article detailing the differences between Spotify and Apple Music. It could be useful if you want to switch between services!
And if, on the opposite, you like Spotify’s new design and want to try it, you can migrate your data, from Deezer, or Apple Music for example, to Spotify using Soundiiz.
Soundiiz allows you to keep everything in the same place, and then move from one streaming service to another with no data lost.
