Recently, Spotify conducted a livestream event, where they announced their vision for the future of audio and laid down the stage for how they would be operating for the rest of 2021. The livestream event was a chance for Spotify to showcase their new programs as well as the new features they built for over one million artists and their respective teams using the service every month.
For a full experience, you can view the whole event to hear from RADAR artists and how Spotify helps them develop a fanbase, see Halsey share her Canvas handmade art, watch a performance by Justin Bieber, and listen to Burna Boy talk on the matter of Spotify’s global expansion.
In this article, we will discuss the 8 most prominent highlights of the livestream event.
- New Markets
Spotify is bringing their service to more than 80 new markets in more than 36 languages. They claim that the move will help them reach a much larger global audience and allow fans to use the service regardless of their country. In a nutshell, these markets allow over one billion people to use the service – across the Caribbean, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.
- Language Additions
Spotify is a vital platform for labels and artists all over the world, which helps them build a fanbase, and now, Spotify is making it easier for them to do so by launching 25 new languages over the span of the year. That implies that an even larger portion of artists will be able to access Spotify in their local language so that it is even easier for them to achieve success on the platform.
- Broadening Marquee
Marquee is an advertising initiative that gives artists and music labels an opportunity to promote their music on Spotify for 55 cents a click. On their livestream event, Spotify announced that they are expanding the Marquee beta so that artists outside of Canada and the United States can join. They claim that artists from Australia, UK, New Zealand, and Ireland will soon be able to use the service. Read more on Marquee and see how baebadoobee, Justin Bieber, and Lyrica Anderson have used the service to advertise their new releases for the fans.
- Discovery Mode
Spotify claims that labels participating in their early tests are producing good results for their respective artists. By selecting tracks, they want to prioritize Spotify’s algorithmic recommendations in order for them to reach a bigger audience, drive additional streaming, and earn more from the platform. At the event, Spotify highlighted the success of ODIE, an artist who participated in the pilot. They claim that this year they will share more success stories of their pilots, and the availability of Discovery Mode will extend for more labels later in 2021.
- Canvas
Spotify announced their latest feature where artists can now directly participate in album art and add a Canvas to their tracks using Spotify for Artists. They claim that fans highly appreciate such short looping visuals and that there will be a larger probability of listeners sharing or saving the track. During the livestream, Halsey shared her experience with Canvas.
- Improving RADAR
Spotify claims that their global emerging artist program, RADAR, is getting bigger. They launched the initiative last year, and since then, 175 artists worldwide have received marketing and editorial support. They promise to include even more up-and-comers, supporting their growth both globally and within their local market.
- Clips
Another addition to their already rich inventory of artist tools is a new way for artists to portray themselves in short videos available on their playlists. They claim that this will allow them to share their stories and create connections with fans. Like those of Instagram and Snapchat, Spotify Clips could be viewed as a fresh addition to the artists’ inventory to have more content available for their fans.
- HiFi
Premium subscribers hereafter will have the opportunity to upgrade their sound quality by using the new HiFi feature. Claimed to be CD-quality lossless audio, this new feature will most definitely be appreciated by the Spotify user base. A long-awaited move that has been offered by direct competitors for quite some time already.
Overall, the
