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Spotify piloting TikTok style feed and curating Netflix soundtracks
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 26 November 2021
And now for this week’s Spotify innovations. The streaming firm is testing a new feature called Discover which is basically a TikTok-style vertical feed of short-form videos that users can scroll through. Because, I mean, everyone else has ripped off the TikTok feed, so Spotify might as well do it too.
Spotify confirmed it was piloting the new feature after developer and entrepreneur Chris Messina spotted it on the beta-testing TestFlight app and then tweeted about it, though the streaming firm, somewhat predictably, didn’t say any more about it.
Seemingly the feed – which would be available via the main toolbar at the bottom of the Spotify app – is currently pulling in so called Canvas videos that artists and labels can already upload to the Spotify platform. Though if it rolls out – and becomes an important new music discovery tool – artists and labels might want to start creating bespoke content that works on a feed of this kind. We shall see I guess.
Elsewhere in Spotify news, the streaming firm announced an alliance with Netflix this week with the former officially curating and pushing music that appears in the latter’s telly shows.
“Today’s trending shows and movies aren’t just inspiring fandoms”, Spotify says, “they’re also fuelling internet-wide obsessions”.
In fact, they add, within two weeks of recent Netflix phenomenon ‘Squid Game’ going live, “Spotify listeners had created more than 22,500 unique themed playlists to keep the experience going. It’s clear that after the credits roll, viewers are left wanting even more – and they come to Spotify to hear it”.
With all that in mind, “the two streaming companies are coming together to launch an all-new Netflix Hub on Spotify where fans can get the full audio-streaming experience from the entertainment they love. On the hub, free and premium listeners in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and India can access official soundtracks, playlists, and podcasts, along with exclusive Spotify content”. Lucky, lucky us.
