Tag: tyson singer

VP of Technology and Platforms Tyson Singer Shares How Developers Can Solve Complexity With Backstage

February 16, 2023

As Spotify’s VP of Technology and Platforms, Tyson Singer keeps a watchful and anticipatory eye on the company’s tech infrastructure. He focuses most on ensuring that our platform is always evolving behind the scenes—while still working for our users. He also makes sure that we’re at the forefront of tech innovation through effective long-term investments in areas like open source and sustainability. No small feats. 

His team’s most recent success is commercializing Backstage, a developer portal that Spotify created internally and then open-sourced in 2020. “Open-source software is code that is designed to be publicly accessible—anyone can see, modify, and distribute it as they see fit,” Tyson explained to For the Record. “Opening up Backstage to the open-source community enabled external contributions that kept improving the tool, and the wide array of viewpoints made it an even more diverse platform for us and everyone using it.”

What does Backstage actually do? What is the problem it solves for enterprises? 

Backstage solves complexity—the kind of everyday complexity that can really bog engineers and their teams down, which then slows your whole organization down. Developers have access to more technologies than ever before, which comes with more responsibilities than ever before. Whether working at small or large companies, engineers use countless systems that all come with their own interfaces and ways of doing things. 

A Backstage developer portal puts everything in one place and is customized to whatever tools a company and individual developer team are using. So instead of switching between all these different tools and dashboards and systems, there’s just one front end for all of it — a single pane of glass. This unlocks speed, improved collaboration, or even just a smoother day. 

How did a company like Spotify come to create a tool for developers, and how has it evolved over time?

Years ago when Spotify was just starting to grow into the platform it is today, the software on the back end was becoming increasingly fragmented and complex. We needed to find a way to simplify the messy ecosystem and make it easier for developers to focus on what they do best: creating. It is central to our philosophy that happy developers make happy code.  

As I mentioned, we went on to open source it because it is fundamental to our entire platform, so we were incentivized to make the best product possible and make it the industry standard. It took off as an open-source tool and currently has over 700 adopters from companies like Netflix, Peloton, American Airlines, and more. 

In December, we took our first step into commercial software by selling a bundle of plugins to enhance the open-source version of Backstage. If you think of Backstage like your phone, then the plugins are like the apps—they are what make your phone more valuable and useful. We’re really excited about generating revenue that allows us to continue to invest in and support our open-source work. 

What are some innovative strides Spotify is making in technology and how does that align with our overall mission?

Spotify is obviously best known as the world’s largest audio-streaming platform, but that last part is often overlooked: platform. Our tech platform powers over 500 million creators with cutting-edge technology at a scale that is constantly growing. That means our engineers are building more, faster, while also making sure our platform continues to run smoothly. A core part of our company mission is to unlock human potential and creativity. Developers are creators—some of the most prolific creators, given that every company is now a technology company, and we’re really excited about the technologies we are building that empower them to do their best work. We plan to share more of those technologies so developers outside of Spotify can achieve the same experience. 

And finally, what’s on your “recently played”?

Mostly I listen to podcasts. One of my long-time favorites is Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy. I’m not a professional investor, but his guests often have very forward-looking and insightful views on technology and business. And I love his closing question, “What’s the kindest thing anyone has done for you?” as it reminds us and these successful folks that kindness and luck are a big part of success.  

Music-wise, my “recently played” is completely unpredictable, even to me. I thought when I checked I’d see Soundgarden, The Beatles, or Queen show up, but it was actually Norah Jones, Buena Vista Social Club, and Gipsy Kings. That’s the beauty of Spotify for me, there’s always great recommendations for every mood.  

Build the best developer portal possible with Backstage.

Unwrapping Wrapped 2019: Spotify VP of Engineering Tyson Singer Explains

February 18, 2020

As December 2019 drew near, people around the world were feeling excited—sure, for the holidays and the New Year—but also for Wrapped. For the past couple of years, Spotify has launched the elaborate end-of-year campaign showcasing the top songs, artists, albums, and, more recently, podcasts that users streamed the most throughout the year.

Last year’s Wrapped was no different, and with the dawn of a new decade, we also took a look back at the last 10 years of streaming.

But how was it all done? How were we able to deliver a seamless personalized experience for more than 200 million users across the globe around a decade’s worth of streaming data?

Well, we’re glad you asked.

Spotify’s Freeform ‘Unconference’ Gatherings Bring Big Ideas into Sharp Focus

February 20, 2019

Imagine showing up to a multiday conference only to find that beyond the light breakfast and lanyard, everything feels refreshingly informal. Yet, after two or three days, you and your colleagues have exchanged information and ideas essential to the development of your career—and that of the company. No, this isn’t too good to be true: You’ve just experienced an unconference.

Each year toward the end of September, Spotify dedicates a week to “unconferencing,” an empowerment-based concept that has its roots in the ’90s tech developer world. Any Spotify employee can offer up a high-level idea for an unconference; interested colleagues sign up, and things unfold organically from there. An unconference starts with a discussion and a vote on what people want to talk about—then they get to it. Even presenters can be determined on the fly. Critically, every working session or presentation ladders up to the larger theme.

“Unconference is, at its core, a form of disruption,” explains Tyson Singer, Spotify’s VP of Technology & Platform. “It improves upon the traditional conference structure because the attendees are the ones in charge. Not only is it most effective and engaging for them to drive their own professional development, everyone is invested in getting the most out of their time together.”

How they do so might depend on the size of the unconference. A smaller one might necessitate full participation in every session. But a larger unconference of, say, a few hundred colleagues typically allows more freedom: Attend or even volunteer to lead the sessions you want to; skip the ones you don’t. Large or small, however, the format lets everyone loosen up and speak openly on how they view their contribution to the company’s future, rather than the company telling them.

“We wanted to get everyone in the same space to discuss each function and how they fit into the larger picture,” says Angie Schmitz, Senior Data Solutions Lead, who organized a September 2018 unconference on voice-responsive technology for seventy colleagues. “It provided an opportunity for people to ask questions and network across all the work streams.”

An unconference needn’t be focused on tech, however. It can work well for just about any discipline, as well as across disparate functions. Senior Software Engineer Ariel Marcus, for example, arranged his September 2018 unconference for seventy-five attendees from design, product, engineering, and finance. It was, he says, “an amazing opportunity for collaboration across departments, disciplines, and continents.”

Even better is when unconferences overlap or occur consecutively in one location, as they typically do at Spotify.

Josh Blaney, R&D Engineering Manager, scheduled his three-day unconference on web culture just before one on machine learning—and attended both. “This was entirely outside of my wheelhouse,” he admits, but he can now see how his web work converges with a field that’s an important part of Spotify’s future. “I feel like I have a good grasp of the fundamentals,” he says.

Whether it’s one unconference or a couple strung together on different topics, the end benefit is clear so long as the attendees collaborate closely, start to finish. “[You] get a better perspective by listening to others,” Josh explains. “That’s really something special.”

Stay focused in your regular, conference-free workday with Spotify’s Morning Motivation playlist.