Come Spotify è diventato la pietra miliare dello streaming musicale

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Dall'alba di Internet, l'industria musicale ha affrontato una miriade di cambiamenti e problemi.

From the launch of iTunes and the iPod to problematic peer-to-peer file sharing sites like Napster to the emergence of (much more legitimate) music streaming business models, there have been quite a few changes in how people listen to music. 🎧

Ma uno dei più incredibili prodotti dell'industria musicale usciti negli ultimi 15 anni è Spotify, il servizio di streaming musicale svedese con un catalogo impressionante e una popolarità esplosiva.

 

With all of the competition in music streaming services, Spotify still remains the most-used globally (though Apple Music is making impressive gains, mainly in the US) with 180 million active users, including over 83 million paying subscribers. 👫

Come ha fatto Spotify, una società quotata in borsa e valutata fino a $30 miliardi, ad arrivare al punto in cui si trova oggi?

Let’s take a look! 👀

 

Catalogo completo = opzioni di ascolto universali

Spotify offre più di 35 milioni di brani, il che significa che praticamente ogni genere e regione è coperto in termini di preferenze musicali.

By having one of the most extensive music catalogs out there, plus including a free version of the service (more on that in a bit), Spotify has democratized the music industry as we know it. 🎶

You could listen to music nonstop for your entire life and never even come close to scratching the surface of what’s out there.

 

That’s an insane amount of music. 😲

But what makes Spotify iconic in this regard is that they understand how overwhelming their library can be – where do you even begin?

This is where excellent curation becomes crucial. 👌

From charts that offer rankings of the most-streamed songs in every country (or globally), to Discover Weekly playlists, which offers every user a customized weekly playlist of suggested songs based on their music tastes – Spotify is essentially guiding users to the content that they want.

Having charts gives users a snapshot of what’s popular all over the world, and helps users discover some new favorites along the way.

This also means Spotify has the chance to further promote content that is “hot” at the moment, through exclusive recording sessions and content from the artists directly. 🔥

 

Costruire la comunità attraverso la musica

Probably one of the most iconic things about Spotify is the community they have managed to create. 💛

Music is naturally community building – for many, it’s a passion. It can create memories or remind you of certain times in your life. Music brings people together in ways that many other things cannot. It’s an insanely powerful thing.

So with this in mind, Spotify takes it a step further. 🚀

Come? Attraverso la curatela delle playlist.

By using both technology and people together, they are able to create next-level curation for music that covers any genre, mood, season, occasion, location – you name it.

Spotify si avvale di un intero team di curatori musicali di vario genere e provenienza, che passano le loro giornate ad ascoltare musica e a comporre faticosamente playlist per gli utenti.

Want to get a taste of what that’s like? Check out this great video from BuzzFeed that explains the role in more detail.

 

A great example of this brilliant curation is one of Spotify’s most popular playlists: RapCaviar.

With more than 10 million followers, this playlist has been called a “movement” by The Verge and “the most influential playlist in music…which turns mixtape rappers into megastars,” by Vulture.

Those are quite some claims, but they’re pretty accurate – there are several instances of artists making it to the Billboard charts for the first time because they were featured on RapCaviar.

This further shows that the human aspect of curation is still very much alive and well – having someone who is passionate about a genre or topic curate the music is what is going to create the biggest buzz and have users feel like the content is fresh and dynamic.

Spotify’s commitment to discovery and thoughtful, human-driven curation really sets them apart from other services. 💪

Sure, Pandora created an algorithm to suggest similar songs to listeners, and Spotify has something similar with its radio feature, but there’s only so much that technology can do to bring you new, exciting music options.

But Spotify’s curators aren’t the only ones creating playlists, there are several musicians who also create and manage playlists.

In some cases, it’s just a collection of their favorite songs and what they’re listening to right now (or songs from their current set, if they happen to be a DJ). In other cases, it can be a way for them to promote themselves or their favorite artists. 👩‍🎤

The community aspect also comes from the users themselves. Music can be a big part of someone’s identity, and Spotify has learned to use this in a fun and engaging way.

Unless you’re on private mode, your friends can see what you’re listening to and follow playlists you create.

 

Ci sono anche playlist di fine anno che forniscono statistiche interessanti come i brani più ascoltati in streaming, gli artisti preferiti e la quantità di musica ascoltata durante l'anno.

Spotify ha utilizzato queste informazioni a proprio vantaggio nelle campagne pubblicitarie degli ultimi due anni.

Starting in 2016 with a campaign to thank 2016 for being a “weird” year, this campaign quickly turned into a huge, buzzy success with multiple iterations.

 

And let’s be honest, they’re hilarious – I can’t get enough of them.

 

Dagli annunci basati sulla localizzazione a quelli che richiamano le persone per le loro abitudini di ascolto, essi conferiscono a Spotify una voce distinta che gli utenti identificano rapidamente e con cui entrano in risonanza.

Spotify managed to use its user data in a fun, quirky way – which further adds to the sense of community.

 

Esperienza Spotify senza soluzione di continuità su tutti i dispositivi

Spotify is the only music streaming service that seamlessly allows you to stream your music from your phone, computer, speakers, TV, you name it – all from the app. 📱

You don’t even need a phone to control it. If you have a smart assistant speaker, you can simply ask Google/Alexa/whatever to play a song for you and it will connect to Spotify with ease.

More and more cars are adding Spotify to their list of apps as well. 🚙

 

In poche parole: si può ascoltare Spotify ovunque e dappertutto, senza alcun attrito nel passare da un dispositivo all'altro.

E ascoltare Spotify diventerà presto ancora più facile: Spotify e Samsung hanno recentemente annunciato una partnership che prevede l'integrazione nativa di Spotify nei prodotti Samsung.

As Samsung’s new go-to music provider, Spotify can reduce even more friction when it comes to switching your music from a speaker to a TV…or to a different speaker. 🔊

Partnership come queste dimostrano che Spotify capisce quanto sia importante offrire un prodotto facile da usare e accessibile.

By focusing on the users and their lifestyles – and understanding that people can listen to music anywhere in a variety of contexts – they are ensuring that their product is front and center, always ready when users need it.

 

Un modello freemium a valore aggiunto

Spotify is a freemium service, so other than the occasional ad and limitations on how many songs you can skip, among a few other restrictions, this means that you can listen to just about any song out there – for free. 😍

Questo è molto diverso da Apple Music o Tidal, che non hanno ancora rilasciato una versione gratuita dei loro prodotti.

While I won’t get into the pricing itself, it’s interesting to note that the free version is pretty good in itself – but Spotify Premium really offers users so much more, which makes it a well-justified investment. 💸

For ~$10 a month, depending on your region and whether you’re on a Family plan or a student, you get higher sound quality, offline listening and no more ads.

 

Creando un piano a pagamento semplice e lineare, Spotify è riuscita a creare un'offerta che copre praticamente qualsiasi stile di vita e budget.

Whether it’s a free plan or a paid plan, it’s all part of the same aforementioned community and the benefits of both are certainly there.

It’s ridiculously simple – and helps users adopt it as their go-to music streaming service with ease. 👍

 

Nuove strade per l'industria musicale

A volte può essere difficile tenere il passo con tutte le nuove idee e collaborazioni folli che Spotify propone.

A recent example is their partnership with Ancestry.com, the world’s leading genealogy site. You can order an AncestryDNA kit, and once your test results are in, you can visit a website to generate a playlist based on the regions that make up your genes. 🌍

It’s a bit out there, but it can expose users to new musical genres and regions, so in the end, it kind of works – plus the website is kind of fun to play with.

This also extends into the music itself – through a partnership with Genius, while listening to select songs on your mobile device, you can read the lyrics alongside interesting trivia and interpretations of the song your listening to in real-time.

 

Spotify manages to create an experience around the music – their users aren’t just listening to a song, they’re being fully immersed in the content. 🎤

Ma all'orizzonte non ci sono solo partnership uniche per Spotify.

A select few artists are now able to upload directly to Spotify, à la SoundCloud.

Questa nuova funzione significa che ci sono tonnellate di artisti indipendenti e non firmati che ora possono condividere la loro musica con il mondo senza ricorrere a un intermediario.

It’s by invitation only at this point, but it will be interesting to see how Spotify decides to expand on this strategy. 🤗

In any case, it’s a huge deal for the music industry.

Non solo stanno per competere con SoundCloud, ma stanno anche democratizzando ulteriormente il processo musicale, dato il loro peso e la loro influenza nel settore.

And all of these partnerships and plans come down to one thing: reaching users (and musicians) in unique and fun ways. 🙌

 

Nel corso degli anni, una pletora di elementi ha trasformato il modo in cui ascoltiamo e interagiamo con la musica.

And Spotify has been an integral part of that – which has led to them easily reaching iconic products status.

Spotify continues to push the boundaries of what consuming music means, and we’re excited to see what else they come up with in the future!

Keep rocking it, Spotify. 🤘

 

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