Tag: Alexa

Interior Design Expert Bobby Berk Shares Top Tips for Making Your Living Room an Audio Oasis

November 16, 2023

a graphic illustration showing two people listening to spotify on television.

As the weather outside becomes more frightful, it’s time to make your living room delightful. So cozy up your home’s vibes by allowing your favorite music or podcasts to filter through the living room. From countless brands of smart speakers to easier-than-ever TV listening, it’s seamless to connect and enjoy audio with congregating family and friends. 

Bobby Berk knows a thing or two about cultivating the perfect ambience for a living room. The interior design expert and author is well-known for his stylish and youthful designs and has been one of the “Fab Five” on Netflix’s popular makeover show Queer Eye. This makes Bobby the perfect person for Spotify to partner with to show fans how audio and home design go hand in hand. And while your home decor aesthetic is as unique as your music taste, a few extra tips can go a long way in creating the perfect space for yourself.

For the Record sat down with Bobby to understand more about designing a welcoming living room space, as well as what you’ll find on his perfect music playlist for home entertaining.

What’s the historical function and significance of the living room?

From its beginnings in the late 19th century, the living room was a more formal space in the home used primarily for entertaining guests. It consisted mainly of more-tailored seating and a layout built around conversation. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that the living room became a more casual space for spending time with family, relaxing, listening to music, or watching TV. The design itself was also adapted to be more about comfort and a sense of coziness.

What are your top three tips for designing a welcoming, comfortable, and functional living room?

First, add seating that looks—and most importantly feels—good. Next, create a layout that encourages connection but is also open. Place your furniture in a natural, conversational grouping. You also want the layout to feel welcoming, so be sure to leave space to enter the room and move through it easily. Finally, bring in soft and cozy materials. Adding pillows, throws, and a soft rug underfoot will create a comfortable living room that you really want to spend time in.

What do you like to listen to when designing and working? How about for hosting?

If I really need to get focused and get things done, I prefer a chill instrumental mix like Focus Flow or Workday Lounge. When designing, I’ll listen to something more upbeat, a pop mix or one of my favorite artists, Rozzi.

My ideal hosting playlist would take you on a journey starting with smooth jazz and a cocktail lounge vibe. Then I would move into some pop classics and top 40 hits, get things a bit more energized, and then finish things off with more relaxed, ambient tunes.

How do acoustics, sound, and entertainment fit into your living room concepts?

I’m always thinking about how someone will use a space when designing, and that definitely includes entertainment and sound. You don’t want a living room to be an echo chamber, so I bring in materials like a rug, upholstery, and curtains to soften things and improve acoustics.

What’s your go-to smart speaker?

I have a number of Sonos speakers throughout my home, and I love that I can easily connect Spotify to just one speaker—like, if I want to sing in the shower, the portable speaker if I’m outdoors, or the whole house if I’m entertaining.

Spotify’s daylist provides you with a custom playlist multiple times per day depending on what you listen to around the clock. What are you loving about the feature so far?

My mood definitely changes throughout the day, so it’s nice to have a playlist that changes along with it! In the morning, I have a mix that gets me motivated and focused for the day, a high-energy workout mix for the afternoon, and something a bit more chill for unwinding at the end of the day.

Whether it’s a Feel Good Morning Niche Mix for those who love a fresh, light, and airy aesthetic or a warm pumpkin spice evening daylist for those channeling a cozy winter atmosphere on the couch, Spotify’s personalized playlists can help you feel right at home.

RADAR Unites K-pop Star AleXa and Arab Hitmaker Bader AlShuaibi to Create “Is It On”

May 25, 2021

K-pop, which has transformed from a burgeoning genre to a full-fledged musical phenomenon, has held onto its border-crossing world domination for some time now. And yet there are always new fans turning to the genre from around the world. One such place where K-pop found a particular popularity is the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): From January 2020 to January 2021, the genre saw a 140% increase in Spotify streaming from users in the region. 

So with K-pop’s prominence as a dominant genre in the MENA region, our Spotify RADAR team saw a unique opportunity to bring an artist from each market together to participate in a cross-border collaboration. The result? Spotify’s first RADAR KOREA artist AleXa and RADAR MENA’s Kuwaiti-Saudi-based creator Bader AlShuaibi’s new single “Is It On.”

“Is It On” is a K-pop-style track with high energy based on a distinctive reggaeton rhythm, a fresh melody line, a catchy lead sound, and a drop. Over the past year, Spotify oversaw a virtual collaboration between AleXa and Bader that will ultimately give both artists global exposure and help them expand their audiences to over 178 markets. Of particular interest are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Morocco, Egypt, and Qatar, which are currently the top five MENA countries streaming K-pop music.

“K-pop is a phenomenon that has blown up across the world, and as MENA is a crossroads of culture and trade routes from East to West since antiquity, it only makes sense that K-Pop makes a stop over in MENA,” says Spotify’s Wissam Khodur, Artist and Label Partnerships, MENA. “K-pop already has a healthy share of streams per capita in the region, but making the region’s first collaboration between both cultures and genres (K-pop and Khaleeji Pop) will help grow the appreciation for K-pop for sure and bring the artists closer to their fans.” 

RADAR was designed to help emerging artists around the world reach the next stage in their careers and strengthen their connection to listeners. Spotify provides RADAR artists with resources and access to integral marketing opportunities to help them boost their careers, in addition to expanded reach and exposure. When it came to this collaborative song, Spotify was available to support every step of the way.

“From a wide range of marketing support, including a billboard placement in New York Times Square to local and cross-regional playlisting, we’ve been excited for this RADAR collaboration featuring a K-pop artist for the first time in Spotify’s history,” explains Spotify’s Wootae Kim, Artist and Label Partnership, Asia. “We are confident to introduce both AleXa and Bader to each other’s market and globally in the most Spotify way, while continuing to connect K-pop with the world in creative ways.”

To celebrate the launch of the song, we asked each RADAR artist to reflect on the collaboration and what it meant for them as creators. Read what they had to say below. 

Bader AlShuaibi

You’re known for your pop hits. What elements were different in creating a K-pop song? 

Music is music, so the same passion was injected into this project, but the new element I felt during this song was that the tempo of the music was different than what we are used to in the MENA area. It was a fun, new, awesome experience.

What elements of your own creativity and style did you infuse in “Is It On”?

Trying something new in every production. In this one in particular I sang with a fast flow, I almost rapped. Something I’ve always wanted to try and I did.

How can music bring people together across borders? 

Music is a very passionate way of communication. The expansion of Spotify around the globe made it easier to understand what’s going on in every part of this planet. We can understand each other better with music.

AleXa

You became the first RADAR KOREA artist back in August 2020. What has your experience been like since then?

It is a huge honor and I still feel grateful for all the opportunities Spotify has provided. RADAR enabled me and my team to share our music and work of art to fans all over the world. I also got to meet new fans thanks to Spotify. I’m so grateful to everyone behind the scenes that helped make this possible! 

Why should your fans be excited for this collaboration? 

I really believe that this is a never-heard-before kind of project! It has lyrics in Korean, Arabic, and English. And the melody exudes a unique energy based on a distinctive reggaetón rhythm and catchy lead sound. Every element in the track is so distinctive and culturally outstanding on its own, yet they are all beautifully intertwined with each other. It’s a harmony of different cultures. 

I still remember during the recording session, everyone was so pumped up and excited, dancing and jumping to it. I really hope our fans and everyone who gets to hear this project can feel the same energy! 

What are you looking forward to in the future coming out of this collaboration?

I’m currently preparing for my comeback in mid-June, which is very soon! I hope that my lovely and beautiful A.I. Troopers (fan base) enjoy “Is It On,” and hopefully our song reaches new fans globally. I’m also hoping that through this project, more people get to understand that music is borderless and that music itself is communication when listeners can feel the beat!

Want more RADAR? Stream the global RADAR playlist below.

All Spotify Users in the U.S. Can Now Play Podcasts through Amazon Alexa

December 13, 2019

To date, Spotify users have been able to ask Amazon Alexa to play music, like their Discover Weekly or Today’s Top Hits playlists, but not podcasts. But for U.S. Amazon Alexa customers, that changes today. Now, Spotify Free and Premium users in the U.S. will be able to ask Alexa to play their favorite podcasts as well.

First, make sure to set Spotify as your default podcast and music provider in your Alexa settings. Then, all you have to do is call out, “Alexa, play The Joe Budden Podcast on Spotify,” or whatever podcast you want, to start enjoying podcasts on your Spotify account. It’s a seamless way to listen to your favorite podcasts, no hands needed.

In addition to requesting a specific podcast, users will be able to ask to restart an episode and pick up from where they left off in their Spotify app with Alexa just by saying, “Alexa, play the [podcast name] podcast. They can also request the latest episode, navigate to the previous or next episode, and even navigate by podcast time frame.

Try playing some of these new podcasts with your Alexa device: 

Ready to get started? All you have to do is ask.

Learn even more about listening to your favorite podcasts on Alexa here.