Decoder with Nilay Patel

Why Spotify wants to look like TikTok, with co-president Gustav Söderström

Mar 14, 2023

Gustav Söderström, Spotify's co-president and chief product and technology officer, shares insights into the platform's significant redesign. He discusses the shift towards a TikTok-like interface aimed at enhancing content discovery. Alex Heath, a tech journalist at The Verge, engages Söderström about the role of AI in improving user recommendations, the balance between user experience and business sustainability, and the challenges of adapting to artist needs in the evolving digital landscape. They also explore Spotify's innovative goals for content engagement.

01:00:49

Episode guests

Gustav Söderström

Alex Heath

AI Summary

Highlights

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Spotify's redesign with a TikTok-like feed aims to optimize AI recommendations and improve user interfaces for better music and podcast discovery.

Spotify is testing an auto-play feature for podcasts, while still allowing users to skip ads, emphasizing relevance and user experience.

Deep dives

Spotify's Redesign to Emphasize Discovery and Feeds

Spotify announced a major redesign with a focus on helping users discover new music and podcasts. The redesign incorporates a TikTok-like visual feed, optimizing for better AI recommendations and more efficient user interfaces. The goal is to improve discovery and expand users' taste profiles. While video podcasting and autoplay features were highlighted, the majority of podcasts remain audio-focused. Spotify aims to balance formats and not prioritize one over the other. The company is also testing an auto-play feature for podcasts, pulling episodes from the listener's other shows and suggesting new ones. However, skipping ads in podcasts will remain possible, as Spotify sees skippable ads as a measure of relevance. The premium HiFi tier was also mentioned, acknowledging changes in the industry but confirming that it will be introduced in a way that works best for Spotify and its listeners. No specific timeline or details were provided for the introduction of HiFi or spatial audio.

Spotify Optimises their Feed for Long-Term-Retention, not CTR

01:53

How Spotify Makes Decisions Internally

01:37

Designing a Single Application for Multiple Content Types

01:31

What Does Spotify’s Push Into Video Mean for Audio Creators?

02:54

Intro

2min

Spotify's Shift: Embracing TikTok's Aesthetic and AI-driven Discovery

3min

Navigating Spotify's Challenges and Industry Dynamics

2min

Spotify's Journey: Balancing Innovation and Efficiency

24min

The Shift to Long-Term User Engagement and Monetization Strategies

3min

The Rise of Self-Released Artists on Spotify

5min

Navigating User Interface Changes

17min

Navigating the Future of Spotify: Premium Tiers and Audio Quality

2min

Gustav Söderström has worked at Spotify for a long time; his first big project was leading the launch of its mobile app back in 2009. That makes him the perfect company leader to talk to about Spotify’s recent redesign, which introduces a visual, TikTok-like feed for discovering new content on the app’s homepage. As his boss CEO Daniel Ek put it last week, it’s “the biggest change Spotify has undergone since we introduced mobile.”

With the title of co-president and chief product and technology officer, Söderström is responsible for not only how Spotify looks and feels but also all the AI work happening behind the scenes to power its increasingly important recommendations. According to Söderström, it turns out that improving those recommendations is actually at the heart of the big redesign. “I think companies that don’t have an efficient user interface for a machine learning world are not going to be able to leverage machine learning,” he told Alex Heath on the newest episode of Decoder.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napster

Spotify is laying off 6 percent of its global workforce, CEO announces

Spotify’s new design turns your music and podcasts into a TikTok feed

Alex Heath's Tweet

Functional versus Unit Organizations

Two-Pizza Teams

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/23402123

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

It was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.