You could wait for Spotify's redesign to debut at its "Stream On" event later today — or just see the new look when your app automatically updates. But you don't need to: the new redesigned Spotify home screen has already leaked, and you can see it below.
Stuart Dredge of Music Ally posted a video to Twitter yesterday (embedded below, mute your audio before you hit play, as it's blasting tunes) that shows off the new look. While the home screen begins with your normal buttons for playlists you might want to listen to, the bottom half of the first Home screen is where the new "Picked for you" section begins.
Watch the "Stream On" event here:
As you may realize, Spotify's doing away with its rows and rows of suggestions based on topics and themes, for a card-based layout. We can't tell if the sound in these cards auto-plays, but we're guessing they don't. The big push, though, is all about visuals.
Each card in this top section — the video shows cards highlighting a new single from DJ Eliza Rose, a Discover Weekly playlist with an animated graphic of a lighter with a cat on it, an episode of the BBC podcast "You're Dead to Me" and various playlists — seems personally picked for the user.
So anyway this new Spotify vertical discovery feed that’s being announced tomorrow has… already appeared on my phone 👀 pic.twitter.com/CbGoiIplvkMarch 7, 2023
And almost every card has some kind of animation, from soundwaves for the Eliza Rose song to bits of animation for the new Gorillaz album Cracker Island, which is labeled "Popular new release" under the "for you" section. When you get a card that's an album, Dredge says you can 'click' through clips of five different tracks from the album — much like advancing your stories on Instagram.
While this is a very stark difference from rows of square icons (seems like everyone's trying to get away from Netflix's look), it doesn't actually change what you're getting. Instead, Spotify is trying to make better use of the small looping videos you see while listening to songs.
There will also be new discovery-focused feeds in search, as Spotify says you can "Scroll up or down to explore short Canvas clips from tracks from some of your favorite genres. Then easily save the song to a playlist, follow the artist, or share it with friends—all from one place."
Other new Spotify features:
In an announcement post, Spotify also focused on three new (or new-ish) features. First, the new Spotify will continue to roll out the AI-based DJ feature, which it says is increasing listening time by 25%.
Then, Smart Shuffle helps increase the lengths of your playlists while it will also "perfectly match the vibe of an original playlist." To try it out, Spotify says "Use the Shuffle button to activate the feature. As soon as you turn it on, you’ll be able to start listening to your playlist mixed with new recommendations that match the vibe."
Thirdly, Spotify rolled out Autoplay for Podcasts — which places relevant episodes right after the ones you're listening to.
Analysis: Spotify is trying to fix the Discovery problem
While Spotify and many of its users love their Discover Weekly playlists, this push looks like the company thinks users need a new way to find all the content on the site. The simple assumption that a redesign was needed because the Home page's content wasn't being engaged with enough for Spotify seems likely.
One hopes you'll be able to stop it from promoting podcasts if you don't listen to podcasts on Spotify.
Overall, though, the new Spotify looks like a means for making the app more nimble. By adding video clips and interactive cards to the home page, Spotify can do more to promote its content online.
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