Spotify will soon be trialing a new feature in the US in which artists can pay to sponsor full-screen recommendations (essentially pop-ups) in the Spotify mobile app, across both free and premium (paid) tiers.
These full-screen recommendations aren’t new, mind you, but up to this point, they’ve been based on a combination of your listening history and human curation. With the test, they’ll partially be driven by whichever artists are willing to pay for the attention.
Spotify notes that the paid recommendations will still be powered by your music taste, meaning you will only see notifications from artists you frequently listen to or follow. What’s more, premium subscribers can turn them off if they wish.
In announcing the test, Spotify said that based on interviews conducted with premium members and shout outs on Twitter, “listeners seem to like” the current recommendation feature.
Full-screen ads don’t sound appealing but if they are truly in tune with your music tastes and help you discover new albums from your favorite artists, they might not be so bad.
Beck Kloss, Vice President, Creator, Spotify, said: “Part of our marketplace mission is to create tools that bring artists and fans closer together. With our unique understanding of listener preferences and ability to deliver personalized recommendations, we can help artists reach the fans that care most about their music, driving value for both artists and fans.
“We view this as the next iteration of the popular recommendation and discovery features listeners already love on Spotify.”
