Spotify’s new design turns your music and podcasts right into a TikTok feed

Spotify is redesigning the core homescreen of its app, attempting to make it simpler for customers to search out new stuff to hearken to — and watch. The brand new design goes heavy on imagery and vertical scrolling, turning your homescreen from a set of album covers right into a feed that rather more intently resembles TikTok and Instagram. As you scroll, Spotify can also be hoping to make it simpler to find new issues throughout the Spotify ecosystem.

The brand new look, which Spotify simply introduced at its Stream On occasion, is evident proof of the type of firm (and product) Spotify desires to be. Over the previous couple of years, it has invested closely into podcasts, audiobooks, reside audio, and extra, all in an try to be greater than only a music app. The corporate additionally desires to be a house for creators: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek advised The Verge in 2021 that he hoped to have greater than 50 million “audio creators” on the platform. Spotify has additionally pushed for years to make video podcasts occur and is now largely watching as YouTube pulls it off.

Put all of it collectively, and that’s quite a lot of issues to shove right into a single app referred to as Spotify. Spotify has been on a seemingly relentless quest to nudge individuals towards content material that’s extra differentiated and extra worthwhile, which frequently meant making it tougher to hearken to music. That’s why the app’s new design appears to be partially meant to create extra devoted house for all these new sorts of content material. Spotify has for years tried to search out methods to place podcasts and music and every part else facet by facet however appears to be recognizing that one of the best reply is to offer every factor more room to breathe.

Going ahead, while you open Spotify, you’ll nonetheless see a bunch of album and playlist covers on the high. However beneath, you may see an autoplaying video podcast, which you’ll be able to bounce into with a faucet. Otherwise you may see an enormous, Instagram-style picture meant to let you know somewhat extra a couple of playlist you may like.

On the high, in case you faucet on “Music” or “Podcasts & Reveals,” you’ll be taken right into a vertically scrolling feed that appears much more like Instagram Tales or TikTok than the Spotify you’re used to, devoted to simply that part of Spotify. You’ll be able to flip via as many as you want, each autoplaying to offer you a way of what it’s, or faucet on one to dive in and save or discover it additional. 

There’s an apparent stress within the design, between Spotify eager to make the app a calmer and extra navigable house whereas additionally looking for new methods to entice individuals into new issues. There’s extra autoplaying content material than ever within the app now and plenty of methods to shortly preview songs and playlists with out hitting absolutely diving in. Full-screen vertical scrolling is all over the place now and is an clearly great tool for discovery. Billions of customers are used to swiping via a dozen issues they don’t like earlier than touchdown on one they do. And on this new look, each tune or playlist or podcast will get a momentary further likelihood to seize you. 

Playlists have been Spotify’s major — and, for all intents and functions, solely — supply of discovery, however within the new design, there’s a a lot higher emphasis on getting you into new issues. That makes specific sense in podcasts, the place Spotify desperately wants to search out methods to recoup its enormous investments within the house. Ek might have admitted he made a mistake in betting so massive on new sorts of audio, and the corporate has scaled again its workforce within the house, however that doesn’t imply he’s slowing down.

The opposite new factor you might discover in Spotify is extra customized AI. The Sensible Shuffle characteristic, which quickly provides tracks to your present playlists, is supposedly an enchancment on the “only for you playlist” thought Spotify has been engaged on for years — and don’t neglect DJ, the AI spinning data and internet hosting your personal private radio present.

Spotify is the most important participant in music streaming however continues to wish to personal audio in an excellent greater approach. That’s what the brand new design actually exhibits: that Spotify is now not a music app and shouldn’t appear to be one — and, hopefully, not appear to be a mish-mash-y mess of content material, both.