Spotify is a Swedish corporation which offers music streaming services amongst others. It is mostly situated in the United States, Western Europe, and Oceania. The users of the application navigate easily and search music through specific artists, the name of the album, record label, genre, or playlist. Spotify was developed in September 2008 and by June 2015, the firm more than 75 million active users. The company generates capital since users must undergo premium subscriptions to enjoy the services. The Spotify Investor Northzone funded the Soundrop Spotify app with $3 million to ensure that it continue to develop high-quality features. From a small business, Spotify has turned into a multi-billion firm because of the increased subscribers of its services.
Since the Spotify music app was developed, it has undergone massive technological improvements. Recently, Spotify has launched a third batch of music app integrated into its desktop software, and this offers new methods to find interesting stuff to listen to when using the desktop, without necessarily subscribing for Spotify. Spotify is making ends meet by improving the features on the app with an objective of becoming “the OS of music.” It is speculated that the Spotify music app will be among the biggest innovation in the near future (Lamere). The director of the company claimed the app would become sort of a social media platform like Twitter and Facebook. Therefore, the app developers would be required to build their applications so that they can fit into the Spotify music app. The Spotify app can contain music playback not only as a desktop version but also as an iOS.
After it had been launched in 2011, the company limited free listening of the app. They teamed with Facebook and hatched a plan to cripple Spotify plays on Facebook, and this was a success. After Evolver.fm had posted a Hurricane Playlist on Spotify, the collaborative playlist opened ways for Spotify to develop into an operating system for music (Cramer et.al 2). In August 2011, Spotify pronounced an API that allowed iOS developers to come up with apps that will be integrated into its catalog of officially-licensed music. The app also runs on Smartphones and users can enjoy its services after subscribing to the Premium version of Spotify.
The third parties were allowed to develop HTML5 applications that made it possible to host the Spotify music app on the desktop player. The app had specifications like synchronized lyrics, curated playlists, and music reviews. After the app had garnered popularity because of supporting applications like The Guardian, the Fuse, Billboard, Soundrop, etc.
In March 20122, Spotify suspended their decision of restricting non-US free users to five plays of a specific song. The residents in UK and France were still restricted and could not enjoy the suspension of the decision. The Spotify music apps accounts opened six months ago, or more were subjected to the 10-hour-per-month limit. The subscribers increased immensely in 2012 and by August, the company was estimated to have a net worth of $3 billion.
Moreover, in March 2013, the 5-play restriction was also suspended in the UK. Also, the company did away with application updates like released messages and Browse. In the process, Browse application was developed to help subscribers to locate playlists and charts formed by other subscribers through genre, activity, or mood. In April, the Spotify app extended its services after partnering with Apple App Store, Windows Phone, Google Play Store and others (Buskirk). At the end of 2013, the free streaming feature was launched to assist iPhone and Android Users. The element helped the app users to enjoy shuffled tracks from a particular playlist. The tablet users also benefited from the feature as could listen to their preferred songs at any moment. The feature attracted more clients and Spotify benefited a lot.
In 2014, Spotify launched a new Web API that gave third-party a chance to incorporate the contents of Spotify with their apps. The Web API is centered on Representational state transfer policies that can be retrieved via HTTP. The Spotify Web API keep data on albums, playlists, and also tracks in JSON format. It also can uphold sensitive databases if only the right channels are applied (Dredge).
In 2015, Spotify partnered with Sony Computer Entertainment as their official music partner and they labeled the service, PlayStation Music. The partnership kicked off on March, and it was expected to take the place of Music Unlimited (Buskirk). In April, Spotify also entered into a partnership with Goldman Sachs to increase its revenue and fundraising initiatives. In June, the company joined hands with Seed Scientific, a firm that specialized in developing data services. In early 2016, the Spotify music app provided services in most parts of the world and was capable of raising $500 million via convertible bonds.
Spotify has a promising future and will continue to penetrate further markets if it keep on track. The Spotify Music app is improved on a daily basis to suit the needs and preferences of the intended users. Its services have extended to various parts of the world, and users can subscribe to enjoy the offered services. In the future, more technological innovations will help app developers to improve the features of Spotify music app to a different level. The primary objective of Spotify is to ensure that the app becomes like an operating system that is compatible to many gadgets (Garside 4). The Spotify music app has been an interesting innovation that will consumers to experience the music tastes and preferences.
Works Cited
Burskik, Eliot V. "A Brief History of Spotify’s Attempt to Become the ‘OS of Music’ | Evolver.fm." Evolver.fm | Evolving Music Past the Play Button. N.p., 22 Mar. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
Burskik, Eliot V. "A Brief History of Spotify's Attempt to Become the 'OS of Music'." The Huffington Post. N.p., 26 May 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
Cramer, Henriette, Mattias Rost, and Lars Erik Holmquist. "Services as materials: using mashups for research." Proceedings of the 2nd international workshop on Research in the large. ACM, 2011.
Dredge, Stuart. "Spotify Has Six Years of My Music Data, but Does It Understand My Tastes? | Technology | The Guardian." The Guardian. N.p., 6 Jan. 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
Garside, Juliette. "Ofcom: six-year-olds understand digital technology better than adults." The Guardian 7th August (2014).
Lamere, Paul. "Building a Spotify App." Music Machinery. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
