Spotify introduces new TikTok-style vertical feed for discovering new music
Written by WOM writer on February 13, 2024
Featuring 30 second audio snippets. A handy new feature or further evidence of our dwindling attention spans?
Spotify has introduced a new TikTok- and Instagram Reel-style feature that allows users to vertically scroll through a limitless feed of short snippets of an artist’s music.
The feature – accessible via a GIF-style button on the left hand side underneath an artist’s monthly listener count or an album title – shows short sections of an artist’s music videos or dynamic album artwork alongside the brief song clips, with the goal of enabling users to discover more music quicker.
Additionally, each discography is accompanied by hashtags of relevant genres, which users can hit to jump to a broader genre-based feed to discover other artists and songs.
Spotify users can click the GIF-style icon to access the new vertical scrolling feature. Credit: Sam Roche/MusicTech
A source from Spotify tells The Standard: “This is all part of our ongoing effort to enable listeners to discover fresh finds, while also allowing them to quickly sample content they can enjoy later.”
From within the vertical feed, users can add tracks to their liked songs to revisit later, while there are also quick buttons to share and mute tracks and follow an artist.
The new feature is evidence of the increasing cross-pollination occurring between tech giants and their services. Just last year, TikTok began rolling out TikTok Music – its own music streaming platform – and now Spotify, the biggest player in the music streaming world, is taking a leaf out of the user experience of TikTok itself.
New Spotify feature allows you to scroll through an artist’s discography like TikTok.
It previews 30 seconds of each song. pic.twitter.com/83Pc77O2u3
— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 10, 2024
Source: Laviea Thomas – musictech.com
