With over 70 million songs and endless hours of audio content, Spotify has become the go-to destination for music lovers worldwide. Spotify controls 33% of the global music streaming market as of 2023. The market share of Spotify has steadily been between 32% and 43% over the last 5 years.
While it dominates the audio streaming industry, the app’s social features remain an area for improvement. Even after 14 years of it’s release, the only social feature that are available to users are playlist sharing, following other users and a friends activity tab (available only on desktop). In this case study, we'll explore enhancing social features within Spotify.
The problem statement is quite open-ended, so let’s narrow it down by asking probing questions.
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What is the objective of this improvement?
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Let's assume our objective is to find a way to increase deep engagement with the application.
<aside> ❓ What do we mean here by social features?
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Social features are tools and functionalities that enable social interaction between users on a platform. They allow users to connect, share, and engage with each other, fostering a sense of community within the platform.
<aside> ❓ Which platforms are we targeting?
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The change is independent of the platform i.e. mobile, tablet, desktop, etc.
<aside> ❓ Is the improvement for a specific Spotify plan, such as Premium, Freemium, or Family, or is it for all plans?
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It’s for all plans.
Spotify recently shook things up with its app overhaul. The new TikTok-esque video feature was meant to help users find new jams, but it sparked a heated debate online. After all, music listening is supposed to be a relaxing and passive experience; Spotify's previous personalization features were a hit for that reason.
Source: Spotify