NFT owners have access to exclusive Spotify playlists
The music streaming service Spotify has launched a limited pilot test that gives NFT owners access to exclusive playlists.
Essentially, the company has put together a series of locked playlists that can only be accessed by users who own a non-fungible token. The pilot test includes participation from organizations such as Fluf, Moonbirds and Overlord, as well as the band Kingship. It is worth noting that only Android users have access to this experiment, possibly due to Apple’s decision to limit NFT use on iOS in October 2022.
According to Yahoo, Spotify officials revealed that the company conducts these types of tests on a regular basis. Some of these tests can result in product improvements, while others end up only serving lessons. The company has also not made an official statement about the future of this NFT pilot.
Spotify may use NFTs to form partnerships where it can encourage listening, as well as the sale of partners’ NFTs by placing music selections behind paywalls. In October 2022, Engadget reported that Spotify artists would be able to use their profile pages to promote NFTs alongside concert dates and merchandise. The feature was part of a test for NFT galleries and was available to a select group of US users on Android. It also involved the participation of Steve Aoki.
Other Spotify developments
According to Engadget, Spotify announced in January 2023 that it would lay off 6% of its workforce as part of a restructuring process for the company. The company did not give an exact figure for how many would lose their jobs, but company officials quoted by the same source revealed that Spotify is fundamentally changing how it operates at the top.
On average, Spotify will provide 5 months of severance pay to employees, as well as accrued and unused vacation time, healthcare during the termination period, immigration support and career support. Most of Spotify’s employees are based in the US, but the company also employs people in Sweden and the UK.
In March 2022, Spotify announced a multi-year deal with Google to introduce user-choice billing for its users. As part of this collaboration, users who downloaded Spotify from the Google Play Store were presented with a choice to pay with either Spotify’s payment system or with Google Play Billing.
According to the company’s press release, Spotify continued to communicate with users about its Premium subscription service, promoted discounts and promotions, and gave Free tier listeners the option to convert to Premium directly in the app.
