Spotify introduce layers to your streaming experience with multimedia Spotlight feature
The Spotify experience is getting deeper with Spotlight, a new feature that brings visual accompaniments to your music listening experience.
Spotify have launched Spotlight, a feature that introduces photos, videos, and text to their music streaming platform. Spotlight will introduce a visual experience that takes fans deeper into the minds of their favourite artists, their music, and give depth to their listening experience.
Spotlight launched yesterday adding media to selected playlists from Buzzfeed News, Cheddar, Crooked Media, Lenny Letter, Gimlet Media, Genius, The Minefield Girl, Refinery29 and Uninterrupted. Content will range from news, pop culture, music (obviously) and for some reason also sports and politics, though they may be covering as many bases as possible to start to test the waters.
Spotify’s head of studios and video, Courtney William Holt said: “We are excited to launch Spotlight, a new format that merges great storytelling, news, information and opinion with visual elements all delivered in playlist form across a number of content categories. Playlists play an important role in the daily lives of our users bringing them closer to the creators they love.”
It seems like they’re covering a broad range of entertainment which is a bold move after their failed video/shows section, offering news clips, comedy skits, cartoons, and more from networks. It was ended last year after failing to engage with people. However with Spotlight it seems that their content will at least be focused contextually to the playlists they are placed in, so that it’s reaching the right target audience.
Buzzfeed News’ editor-in-chief, Ben Smith says: “It feels like a generation ago that MTV News delivered the latest to a whole generation of music fans, but it’s not hard to imagine BuzzFeed News and Spotify doing the same in 2018. We’re incredibly excited to bring together our award-winning audo team, world-class journalism, and Spotify’s massive, dynamic platform to get listeners up to speed every morning. I can’t wait to see this project get off the ground next week and grow along with the future of news.”
Co-founder and president of Gimlet Media, Matt Lieber added: “We’re excited to see partners like investing in podcasting to enhance the audience’s experience of our storytelling. Everything at Gimlet begins with audio, and with Spotlight, through new visual expressions of shows, we hope to reach new listeners in fresh and original ways.”
Spotlight is available now on relevant individual playlists on Spotify with more to come in February, and further.