Spotify is becoming a social network. The new comments feature allows podcasters to respond directly to their audience. It’s the latest in a line of features from Spotify, including Polls and Q&As, all designed to make the app more interactive.
The 2023 revamp brought a TikTok-like discovery feed. Now artist profiles opened up sales of merchandise and tickets. Stories by users further increase the social side of Spotify. Comments are an interesting feature, but how far will this go? Will this eventually extend to music artists? Spotify’s VP of Podcast Product hinted it might. This would notch up the activity of larger fanbases orbiting musicians. Apple tried and failed with Ping and Connect, but Spotify hasn’t claimed itself as a social network and has also slowly rolled out social features, observing the market.
This music app adds in-app video feeds set on TikTok. CEO Daniel Ek confirmed this influence, concentrating on increasing user experience by taking cues from market trends. Spotify Clips enables artists to share videos of 30 seconds. Countdown Pages and video messages keep fans engaged while waiting for Spotify Wrapped. This strengthens the bonds between artists and fans. Comments are yet another method through which Spotify retains the users engaged within the app. Users can share thoughts in quite a similar way to traditional social networks. It is going to vie for users’ time or money from ads by turning into a social network, with audio at its center.
