Spotify testing Snapchat-like ‘stories’ on platform

The feature's been added to social media sites, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and even LinkedIn.

Dec 1, 2020

Streaming giant Spotify is testing out a feature similar to the stories found on Snapchat.

The feature is currently available on the site’s Christmas Hits playlist. Artists including Jennifer Lopez and Kelly Clarkson are featured, sharing personal holiday anecdotes. A version also showed up on a version of Megan Thee Stallion’s recently-released album, Good News.

In a statement to Endgadget, the company confirmed that the rollout is a test but noted users may ultimately be able to use the feature to add their short videos.

“At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience,” said a Spotify spokesperson. “Some of those tests end up paving the path for our broader user experience, and others serve only as an important learning. We have no further news to share on future plans at this time.”

The story feature has been added to many social media sites, including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and even LinkedIn.

Web video producer Marquees Brownlee is one social media user bemoaning the addition of stories to another platform. His tweet was liked more than 40,000 times.

In an article titled, “Spotify has stories, can this please stop?” Mashable notes that “the music streaming app has social elements, with publicly shareable playlists and the ability to follow friends, but the service is primarily about listening to music, which is why Stories do feel a bit out of place.”

The feature was previously tested by Spotify in 2019. This year, they have relaunched it on both Android and iPhone, looking similar to what’s on Instagram.

The stories will spotlight video clips of artists talking about their songwriting processes and other exclusives that may become a new marketing tool for artists, labels and the music industry at large.

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