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Given my growing interest in product management, I thought it might be cool to do a review on my favorite product, Spotify. The overall structure of my review is based off how I'd answer the "What's your favorite product and why?"question in a PM interview. First, I'll give some background info into the product. Next, I'll explain the ways in which Spotify delights their users. Then, I'll give an overview of its competitors in the market and explain why Spotify is the superior product. Lastly, I'll opine on the improvements that could be made to the product.
Product Info:
Spotify is a music-streaming service that has expanded into podcasts. Its user base is comprised of teenagers and young adults (age range ~18-30). Popular use cases include creating individual + interactive playlists and listening to music or podcasts. Personally, I use Spotify to listen to music for any type of occasion (drives, studying, etc.), to gain knowledge from my favorite podcasts, and to explore new music.
Product x User:
In delighting its users, Spotify does three things really well. First, they offer a clean and straightforward desktop and mobile interface, making for a seamless user experience and product navigation. Second, they boast a powerful recommendation algorithm that recommends songs and playlists a user might like based off their listening habits. This saves users time by solving the pain point of searching for new songs. Third, they have Facebook integrated into the product so that users can see what their friends are listening. This adds a sense of connectivity in the context of music. It's also another way for users to discover new music.
The main problem Spotify is solving for its users is that of wasted time. Spotify is essentially a one stop shop where users can access millions of songs on a single platform. They take the extra work off finding new music by generating extensive song recommendations that are unique to each user.
Competitors + Comparisons:
Three of Spotify's main competitors are Pandora, Tidal, and YouTube.
Pandora was one of the early pioneers in the music streaming service. Its product is modeled after the idea that you can take a personalized radio with you wherever you go. That being said, there isn't the freedom to listen to any song one wants on demand. For example, if you listen to Shawn Mendes radio, you might go through 10 of his songs before you hear the song you actually came for (Wonder).
Also, Pandora's user interface is pretty clunky and not super well organized. There is a "browse" tab that simultaneously shows cover images for music and podcasts, which makes it distracting to find what you're actually looking for.
Tidal is a relatively new entrant to the music streaming market. Jay-Z has a big stake in the product, which is geared toward serious consumers in the music industry and users looking for immersive streaming experiences (they stream select live concerts). Tidal likes to boast its best in class audio technology, which speaks to the serious consumer of music.
All things considered, Tidal has a niche user base that is small, yet loyal. They have a strong understanding of their user base, but it's clear that their product is not for everyone.
YouTube created a product devoted to making a name for itself in the music streaming space with YouTube Music. They were right to take advantage of their tremendous store of music and consolidate it into a music-specific application. It is clear they took some inspiration from Spotify when designing their product.
It is pretty cool that YouTube Music is able to offer music videos on their platform. However, the product would be much stronger if it were able to offer users a more collaborative experience. Spotify identified the importance of facilitating a connected ecosystem and answered by adding the Facebook integration.
Potential Improvements:
In the context of COVID-19, connecting with friends, families, and others is a pressing need. That is why, in terms of improvements, I'll focus on user engagement. The metric I'll look at specifically is duration of sessions.
I identified three different use cases in the time of COVID-19. First, friends would want to do a Spotify listening session together. Through this feature, they can listen to the same song or podcast at the same time. Second, artists are taking their live concerts online and need a platform for these concerts. Third, friends and loved ones may want to create a shared playlist with all their favorite songs.
The changes Spotify could consider to better service the three use cases are as follows. First, they could add a chat feature to Spotify listening sessions to facilitate communication. I have done Spotify sessions and still felt distant with my friends even though we were listening to the same songs. The ability to communicate through a chat feature would instantly create a sense of togetherness and may incentivize users to stay on the platform longer.
Second, Spotify could develop livestream capabilities so artists can stream their concerts exclusively on the platform. Spotify notifies users of special online concerts held by their favorite artists. However, users are directed to other websites that host the concerts. Livestream concerts, by their nature, would keep users on Spotify for a long time, as the artist would play multiple songs and may even interact with the audience in some way.
Third, upvote/downvote and commenting features should be added to playlists so that users can do more than just add songs. They will be able to get insight from collaborators on how to create the best possible playlist for an occasion. This will also ensure a more interactive and enjoyable experience with creating playlists.
What do you love about Spotify? Any product recommendations in mind other than the ones I've given? Comment down below!
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