As Spotify continues to test its stories feature, it has tapped popular musicians to contribute to select Spotify-created playlists
If you're in the festive spirit and you're already listening to seasonal music, you might have noticed Spotify's Christmas Hits playlist is looking a little different.
EngadgetKris Holt
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the third act of a slow rollout. Spotify first tested Storyline in 2019 to let artists post directly to fans, then an Android teardown revealed Stories for Playlists living behind profile pictures at the top of playlist pages. Now the format is getting real content: popular musicians contributing to Spotify-created playlists, with the seasonal Christmas Hits playlist as the visible test case.
First-order effects
Featured artists get a promotional slot inside Spotify's own editorial real estate — their content appears at the top of high-traffic curated playlists rather than only on their profiles.
Listeners browsing playlists like Christmas Hits encounter artist contributions inline, changing the playlist page from a static tracklist into a mixed media surface.
Second-order effects
Labels and artist teams gain a new bargaining chip beyond track placement: competing for story slots in flagship playlists, which raises the value of relationships with Spotify's curation team.
Rival streaming services face pressure to match the format or concede that Spotify's playlists are becoming richer promotional inventory than theirs.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds alongside earlier moves to personalize some of its human-curated playlists and later artist-profile experiments like the NFT profile test, editorial playlists evolve from fixed tracklists into programmable marketing surfaces where curation, artist promotion, and platform merchandising merge.
The trend: Streaming platforms are converting editorial playlists from static tracklists into interactive, artist-populated media surfaces that double as promotional inventory.
@chriscantino It's been too long coming. Ceding audience engagement to Instagram and Youtube is unforgivable imho. Paywalled content à la OF would be another layer for artistes that they're in the best position to deliver.
@chriscantino
Chris Cantino on x
Many are skeptical. Here's a bull case: -Arms new artists with tools to grow audiences -In-app time goes up -More exclusive content on plat makes Spotify *the place* to discover and learn about artists -Lack of clutter because Stories are only from artists, labels, & curators
@cnyari
Cristian Nyari on x
Spotify has been experimenting with video for years albeit unsuccessfully. Discovery has also become a huge challenge in the age of music streaming. Ergo...a curated Spotify Stories feature could be a good discovery and education mechanism. https://www.engadget.com/...
@brsabel
Bersabel on x
@chriscantino with music playing such a crucial part of short form video, makes sense for spotify to test this and there's tons of potential, but they need to fix their IA for stories to have any chance
@h_thoreson
Hannah on x
This is going to ruin my idealized vision of the artist diligently honing their craft https://twitter.com/...
@avishsood
Avish Sood on x
We. Don't. Need. More. Stories. Formats. https://twitter.com/...
@andiironda
@andiironda on x
I swear I'm cancelling my subscription if they do this https://twitter.com/...
@scottcowley
Dr. Scott Cowley on x
Spotify Stories make more strategic sense than many social media platforms, but I get the sense that Story fatigue is real—both for creators and consumers. https://twitter.com/...
@extramichael
@extramichael on x
I'm okay with this one. I got an A/B test the other day and it's a good feature for connecting with artists. https://twitter.com/...
@cxy
C.Y. Lee on x
@chriscantino The big question is how many artists will be willing to participate with authentic-feeling content and if there will be a mechanic for fans to engage with them. Without a feedback loop, it'll be as ancillary and lifeless as Spotify Canvas
@drewcoffman
@drewcoffman on x
This rules, actually. Giving artists more ways to connect with their audience is a good thing. https://twitter.com/...
@chrismessina
@chrismessina on x
Ok, @Spotify adding stories is just... I dunno, I guess it makes sense if it's just from artists? #StoriesEverywhere https://twitter.com/...