Spotify has revolutionized the music industry, but profitability has remained an elusive goal for the streaming giant. Today, it announced a new effort in that direction: Alerts paid for by artists or their labels.
The alerts will take the form of full-screen recommendations that have been tested on the platform’s mobile app in recent weeks. Premium users can turn off the alerts.
“Discovering new music should be simple, and now we’re making it even easier,” a blog post on the company’s website reads. “You’ve probably noticed the occasional full-screen recommendation in your Spotify mobile app, letting you know that one of your favorite artists has a new album out. Based on interviews we’ve conducted with Premium users, as well as your shout outs on Twitter, listeners seem to like this feature.
“We personalize these new album recommendations based on your listening taste, combined with human curation. With an upcoming test we’re running in the US, we’re giving artists and their teams the ability to directly tap into this process and connect with the fans that care most about their music.”
The company is transparent about who is paying for the alerts, although it leaves the door open for the program to be modified in the future. “In this test, we will let artist teams pay to sponsor these recommendations, giving them the power to tell their listeners on Spotify — across both our Free and Premium tiers — about their latest release,” it reads. “You’ll now hear from a wider range of artists, which means you’re less likely to miss out on new releases from your favorites.
“One thing that won’t change is that these recommendations will continue to be powered by your music taste, so you will only hear from artists that you frequently listen to or follow,” it concludes. “We hope you enjoy these recommendations — but if you’re not into them, Premium subscribers can turn them off.”