Tag: in-app experience

Discover Your K-Pop Persona With Spotify’s New Interactive Experience

April 23, 2024

In the last decade, as K-Pop cemented its status as a global phenomenon, Spotify has helped fans around the world keep their fingers on the pulse at every step of the way.

To date, our flagship playlist K-Pop ON! (온) has amassed nearly 5.4 million saves by Spotify users. Listeners can also merge their music tastes with some of K-Pop’s biggest stars through our Blend feature. In recent years, we’ve teamed up with groups like NewJeans, BTS, and BLACKPINK to create unique installations, pop-ups, and interactive experiences, all to bring K-Pop devotees closer to the artists and music they love.

And the love just keeps on growing. Since 2018, K-Pop streams on Spotify have skyrocketed by over 180% in the United States, over 420% in Southeast Asia, and over 360% worldwide.

Now, to celebrate K-Pop fans and their passion for the genre, Spotify is launching a new interactive experience, Your K-Pop Persona. Available until May 10, this in-app experience lets you discover and embrace what your ideal fan role would be in a K-Pop group and flex your results.

When you enter the experience, you’ll be asked five questions about the way you stan to help determine what your role might be in a K-Pop group. Inspired by the roles usually assigned to group members, you could be a Main Visual, a Main Vocal, a Main Rapper, a Main Dancer, or a Trainee.

Spotify Celebrates Ramadan With Listening Trends From Around the World

March 21, 2024

March marks the beginning of Ramadan, a cherished cultural event celebrated by Muslims worldwide. As families and communities come together to observe, contemplate, pray, and celebrate the Holy Month, they can also turn to Spotify for meaningful audio content. 

This year, our Ramadan hub is back with a blend of music and podcasts designed to foster self-reflection, wellness, and entertainment. When eligible listeners open the Spotify app, they’ll find carefully curated content for every mood and moment of Ramadan. Listeners will also find personalized content on the Your Ramadan 2024 playlist.

What does Ramadan sound like around the world on Spotify?

As Ramadan begins, many Muslims experience shifts in their daily routines, from work schedules to social interactions. Similarly, their Spotify listening habits also shift, as evidenced by our streaming data from 2023.

Our top finding? Audio was often used to set the tone as families and communities came together for suhoor, the predawn meal, with streaming spiking around 5 a.m. in most markets. Below, we unveil more 2023 listening trends across various markets to shed light on streaming patterns throughout the sacred month.

Egypt

  • Quran listening hours (audio consumption related to the central religious text of Islam, the Quran) spiked around 5 p.m. This aligns with iftar, the post-sunset, fast-breaking meal.
  • Before sunrise, listeners consumed more entertainment-based content.
  • A top podcast throughout the month: Finjan with Abdulrahman Abumalih. Hosted by Saudi journalist and TV presenter Abdulrahman Abumalih, Finjan covers a wide range of topics pertaining to the Middle East and North Africa.

Saudi Arabia

  • Quran listening hours surged around 8 a.m.
  • Before sunset, listeners consumed more spiritual and fitness-based podcast content. Before sunrise, preferred podcast genres included history and crime.
  • A top podcast throughout the month: Areeka. Hosted by Bibi AlAbdulmohsen and Talal Sam, Areeka mostly covers social topics, from psychology to common myths.

Indonesia

  • Generally, streaming spiked between 2 and 4 p.m., which aligns with ngabuburit, the waiting period before breaking fast.
  • Religion and spirituality-based podcasts were the most-consumed genre throughout the month.
  • Listeners gravitated toward well-being podcasts in the morning before shifting to music at night.

Spotify’s top Ramadan playlists

Our Ramadan hub contains a wide variety of curated playlists. In Egypt, the top Ramadan playlist of 2023 was Titrat Ramadan, which showcases soundtracks from the most popular Ramadan TV dramas.

In Saudi Arabia, listeners gravitated most toward Chill-oud. This playlist features songs played with the oud, a stringed musical instrument that is one of the oldest and most important instruments in Arabic culture.

Listeners in Indonesia favored the Your Ramadan 2023 playlist. This personalized playlist brings Spotify’s editorial and algorithmic worlds together to provide users with curated audio content that resonates with their respective Ramadan journeys.

Last but not least, the most-streamed Ramadan playlist in Pakistan was Hamd-o-Naat, which features devotional tracks for an immersive experience. “Naat” was also the country’s most-searched word during the Holy Month, reflecting a desire for poetic expressions of devotion and praise. Our Best of: Coke Studio Sufi playlist, which showcases Coke Studio’s top Sufi tracks, also saw 218% growth last year.

This year, Spotify remains dedicated to delivering a culturally resonant Ramadan experience for listeners around the world. For the ultimate audio companion throughout the sacred month, explore the Ramadan hub.

Share Your Top 5 BTS Songs in Our Latest In-App Experience

June 12, 2023

Over the last decade, BTS has become a global cultural phenomenon, putting K-Pop on the map worldwide. The group has fueled—and is fueled by—one of the most enthusiastic fan bases in the world. Each listener has their own special relationship with the band’s music. So to celebrate the group’s 10th anniversary, Spotify and BTS curated a special love letter experience: My Top 5: BTS Songs. 

This interactive experience lets listeners curate their personal favorite songs from a selection of BTS’s discography, then share their picks with friends on social media. BTS worked with Spotify to curate a special selection that celebrates much of their collective discography from the past decade.*

“Each step of our journey together has been unique and has sounded different along the way,” the band shared. “We hope many people enjoy this new experience with Spotify’s My Top 5: BTS Songs and share their favorites with us.”

Here’s how to enjoy My Top 5: BTS:

  1. Make sure you’re in one of the 48 markets where the experience is live** and ensure your iPhone is up-to-date with version 8.8.40.x. 
  2. Visit https://spotify.com/top5 on your device.
  3. The experience will present a curated selection of BTS’s songs. Select your five favorites. Then drag and reorder them in the visual display to create your top list. 
  4. You’ll receive your picks in a visual sharecard. Then, choose a sharecard backdrop with the option to highlight your BTS group bias—aka your favorite group member. 
  5. Finally, share your personalized digital card with your selections and compare with your friends on social media using #spotifymytop5.

My Top 5: BTS Songs marks the next iteration of this interactive experience on Spotify that follows My Top 5 moments with other iconic artists, including The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, and ROSALÍA. Visit https://spotify.com/top5 to get started. 

*The available songs to select from do not include the full BTS catalog or songs by other artists where BTS is featured

**The My Top 5: BTS Songs experience will be available in 48 markets: U.S., Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Poland, Turkey, U.K., Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Iraq, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Botswana, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay; and 15 languages: English, English-GB, French-CA, French, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Arabic, Spanish-LATAM, Korean, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, German, and Bahasa Indonesia.

Spotify’s New Interactive Experience Helps Latin Music Fans Find Their Flow

May 24, 2023

Green background with the text "Find your flow" in the center

It’s hardly hyperbole to say that Latin music has taken over the globe: Latin music streams on Spotify have increased by almost 170% in the last five years. From reggaetón to trap to hip-hop, Latin urbano music has found its place as a favorite among listeners, especially Gen Z. 

To celebrate and recognize the varied genres and musical styles within Latin urbano music, we’re launching a new experience, Find Your Flow, or Descubre Tu Flow, that gives fans bespoke playlists tailored to their musical tastes. The new interactive in-app experience will help listeners discover which Latin music styles best define them. 

How To Find Your Flow

When you enter the experience, you’ll be asked three questions about your tastes. We’ll combine your answers with your listening habits to determine your unique flow. 

The flows are defined by eight different personas. They are: 

  • Bichota: You are empowered and ready to dance. Your identity is strong. It’s not just a trend; it’s a lifestyle.
  • Perreadorx: The party is calling you, and you can’t miss it. You are adventurous, and the night is your favorite time of the day. Can you guess why?
  • Leyenda: You have a thing for classics; you start the perreo with “Gasolina.” You are always ready to play your anthems to become the soul of the party.
  • Romantic: Dedicating songs is your way of writing poems. You show your love with a verse, and as a true romantic, every lyric melts your heart.
  • Pegao: Your content is the most viral on social media. You know all the trends and dances. Singing with flow is your passion. You don’t miss a beat and are always on top of what’s cool.
  • Bellacx: The streets taught you everything you know about music. Your neighborhood always had the best beats to dance, twerk, and rhyme to.
  • Tóxico: You live your relationships through music, so you need an anthem for every aspect of your romantic life: breakups, infidelity, and jealousy.
  • Rookie: Your flow is not urban, but if you put your heart into it, you can get the party going.

Ready to find your perfect flow? 

  1. Head over to https://spotify.com/descubretuflow.
  2. Answer the three-question prompt.
  3. Based on your listening habits, we’ll suggest a unique percentage mix of eight personas.
  4. Then we’ll share a personalized playlist specially curated for you based on your persona mix.
  5. Like what you learned? Easily share your personas and your flow cards with friends on social media through the share button. 

Find your perfect rhythm and flow by visiting https://spotify.com/descubretuflow.

Spotify Celebrates the Holy Month of Ramadan With a New Personalized and Curated Experience

March 20, 2023

a visual look at the Spotify app's ramadan experience

This week marks the start of Ramadan, a month of spiritual rejuvenation, humility, and togetherness. As families and communities around the globe come together to observe, learn, pray, and celebrate, they can also turn to Spotify for meaningful music, podcasts, and talk content.

Those observing Ramadan have previously enjoyed curated Spotify playlists and podcasts that remained static throughout the month. This year, we’ve built a dynamic new experience for Ramadan. 

“We’re designing an experience on the platform that allows our listeners to take a more active role in discoverability as well as to foster more meaningful connections with artists and podcasters they love on Spotify,” said Gautam Talwar, Managing Director for Spotify Asia Pacific. “We are proud to deliver this supercharged Ramadan experience to our listeners during this important cultural moment to soundtrack their moods and moments across the Holy Month.”

When eligible listeners open the Spotify app, they’ll find new highlights, podcast quotes, clips, and music and podcast releases every day, plus a new topical theme each week. Listeners will also find personalized content on the “Your Ramadan 2023” playlist and see the music and talk content that’s trending in their countries, and podcasters are constantly developing and publishing new Ramadan-related episodes. 

“Ramadan has now become a time for podcast creators to think of special programming for their audiences. We are seeing more and more podcasters release series that are the ultimate companions to everyone observing,” shared Rhea Chedid, Senior Podcast Manager at Spotify. “Everything from shows about cooking and the history of Ramadan traditions and Islam, to audio scripted series that entertain and podcasts that review your favorite Ramadan television series, we are really witnessing creators think deeply about how they can better the lives of listeners through audio during this time.”

Nick Dahl, a Senior Product Manager, is one of the Spotifiers behind creating the Ramadan experience. We talked to Nick to learn more about what listeners can expect within the unique and personalized app destination.

What makes this Ramadan experience different from what Spotify’s done in the past?

In previous years, our editorial teams have curated playlists, podcasts, and talk content for our users during Ramadan, and this year we are taking it to another level. We are spotlighting content that changes each day, creating personalized playlists with songs picked just for listeners, and highlighting trending content that people are listening to in their region. We also made readings from the Quran easily accessible, and listeners can also find exclusive clips and greetings from their favorite artists and celebrities wishing them a blessed Ramadan.

Do you have a favorite element of the experience? 

A personal favorite are the daily offerings that change each day in the Ramadan hub. They highlight locally relevant stories about fasting, self-reflection, and wellness while also showcasing new releases from some of the most popular local creators in our markets.

Another impactful aspect is that our recommendations vary depending on where you’re located and what time of day it is. For listeners observing in Egypt, some popular music playlists they’ll find include Ramadaniyat, Titrat Ramadan, and Chill-oud. And they can easily access some of the most popular Ramadan-related podcasts, like Al Rassol, 1001 Nights, and Sukoun. Meanwhile, for fans in Indonesia, Refleksi Diri, OTW Ramadan, and Ketupat Lebaran are three popular music playlists we’re serving. Someone looking for podcast content can tune into shows like PODKESMAS, RAPOT, Podcast Ancur, Kita dan Waktu, and GJLS, each of which has Ramadan-specific episodes.

Why is it important to build app experiences like this?

We want our fans and creators around the world to feel that Spotify is part of every moment, from Ramadan to regular daily listening. To do this, we’ve built product experiences that celebrate local culture with our users. Each market is different from another, and each user has unique needs when it comes to their listening habits. That’s why we invest heavily in personalization and machine learning. We are able to create not just one version of Spotify, but rather 500 million different versions of our product tailored to each and every listener around the world. 

Ramadan is observed by more than 1.6 billion people around the world and we want to build a better, more localized product experience that celebrates our listeners’ cultures. Our long-term ambition is to become their number one choice as an audio companion throughout the fasting period—from dawn to dusk—and to celebrate the end of Ramadan with Eid.

 

Discover the Ramadan experience by downloading the latest version of Spotify on your mobile, and then search for “Ramadan.”  The experience is rolling out over the coming days on Android and iOS.

Everything You Need To Know About 2022 Wrapped

November 30, 2022

Listen to this story read aloud in 5 minutes and 30 seconds.


What were your 2022 listening milestones? Did you forge a deeper connection to your favorite creators, or explore new avenues of audio discovery that expanded your listening habits? 

Spotify Wrapped is all about celebrating the endless ways that millions of creators and fans connect through audio each and every day. Starting today, we’re commemorating a year gone by and inviting our fans to join in on the fun with the eagerly anticipated, personalized 2022 Wrapped experience. 

This year’s Wrapped experience is filled with fan-favorite features and exciting new ones that spotlight the many-layered elements of listening that make each and every fan unique. We know that no two listeners are the same—so, from the oddly specific to the unapologetically predictable, 2022 Wrapped encourages listeners to peer into the vibrant kaleidoscope of their listening and show it off to the world. Eligible iOS and Android users with the latest version of the Spotify mobile app can celebrate this ultimate combination of self-expression and play with their personalized experiences. (Creators, fear not: Artists and podcasters will also receive their own personalized Creator Wrapped to learn about and celebrate how their fans listened.)

We’re providing fans with some of their favorite Wrapped features plus a slate of new ways to discover and celebrate their year in listening. Just make sure you’re using the most recent version—8.7.78 or higher—of the Spotify app. (You can check this by going to Settings, then About. The app version you have downloaded will show up at the top of the screen.)

Here’s what to look out for:

Dig into your listening more deeply

Alongside our reveal of the top artists, songs, albums, and podcasts of 2022 that delighted our 456 million listeners around the world, fans can also head into the experience to see their own top lists across genres, songs, and podcasts, as well as minutes listened this year. (You can learn more about some of the genres here.) This year, we’re bringing back now-classic data stories and mixing in new features for a whole new way to discover your 2022 listening. 

The two new stories include: 

  • Your Listening Personality: It’s not only about what you listened to—but what that says about your music taste. This year during Wrapped, we’re showcasing 16 different Listening Personality types that Spotify created for 2022 Wrapped. Your Wrapped will showcase your Listening Personality based on how you listened to music throughout the year. Want to better understand how each of these special personas compare to one another? Find out all about them here.
  • Audio Day: An interactive story that gives you a peek into how your music taste evolved throughout the day, Audio Day showcases the niche moods and aesthetic descriptors of the music you listened to during morning, midday, and evening time periods.

How Spotify’s Newest Personalized Experience, Blend, Creates a Playlist for You and Your Bestie

August 31, 2021

Bonding with a friend or loved one over your favorite shared music creates a relationship like no other. Starting today, Spotify’s latest personalized experience, Blend, is rolling out of beta to Spotify Free and Premium users globally to help sync your tastes even further—and put your music compatibility to the test.  

We launched Blend Playlists in beta in early June as a new way for two users to merge their musical tastes into one shared playlist made just for them, making it even easier for users to connect, discover, and bond over the music they love with one another. Now, the experience includes new cover art to easily identify each of your Blend playlists, taste match scores to see your listening preferences compared to your friends’, and shareable data stories that are unique to every listening pair and can be shared across social channels. 


Blend, which will be updated daily and adapts based on what listeners stream, combines the best of Spotify’s personalization capabilities and collaborative playlist functionality into a single shared playlist, making it easy for users to get into a social listening session that is made just for them. But creating this experience was no simple feat. There’s a massive team behind the experience, blending their own different skills and expertise to bring it to life.

We got to know four of the Spotify team members who contributed to create Blend, and asked them about their role. They each also shared a little on why they’re so excited to introduce it to the world, and how music has played a part in their own relationships.

Arjun Narayen, Product Manager

“There were dozens of people across the company who worked really hard to bring Blend to life,” he said. “I’m lucky to be a part of a team that’s similarly passionate about social listening and thinks music is something that can help bring people together. Part of my role in bringing Blend to life has been clearing a path for our talented engineering, design, and insights teams to bring ideas to the table, and then help narrow in on a simple product that’s fun to use and easy to understand.”