How to improve Spotify’s artist and album pages

More than 1.300 suggestions to enhance the most popular DSP

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Let’s dive into to today’s topic:

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Better Spotify artist and album pages

1.300 suggestions, that’s what Spotify received (for free!) when they asked how to improve artist and album pages.

Why it matters

Spotify is by far the largest DSP, both in terms of revenue and market share. On Spotify, music is consumed both mindlessly - through playlists and algorithms; and intentionally - through personal playlists, search, artist, and album pages.

It's safe to assume that consuming music without thought affects how we discover new music. Artist and album pages on Spotify are the first opportunity to make an impression on the artist's brand. And as we all know, we only get once chance to make a great first impression.

What’s happening

Chris Stoneman is a Product Manager at Spotify's Consumer Research & Development team. A few weeks ago, he asked on Twitter what people would like to see improved on the Artist & Album pages in the Spotify apps.

Stoneman received more than he expected: his tweet has been viewed almost 1 million times and has generated around 1,300 replies.

Chris Stoneman @CWStoneman

Our team at @Spotify is spending lots of time right now on how we might improve the Artist & Album Pages. What do you want to see?

These are my favourite suggestions:

HOUNDTRACK @HOUNDTRACK

@CWStoneman @Spotify Ability to hide stream count

Daniel Allan @imdanielallan

@CWStoneman @Spotify Allow artists to decide the order of their top 10 songs

Michigander @michiganderband

@CWStoneman @Spotify I wish there was a section where the artist could pick a set number of other artists to feature on their profile to either boost or just to show the community they’re apart of.

Sébastien Lintz @SebastienLintz

@CWStoneman @Spotify Critical: 1) feat. artist should get their songs listed as singles. Not that dumb “appears on”. 2) change the algo of the “fans also like” which is only updated one in a lifetime at the start (?!) 3) move artist playlist up and change it with “featuring playlist” (1/2)

J Herskowitz 👋 @jherskowitz

@CWStoneman @Spotify I’d love bio/about moved up near the header. Social proof of my friends that are already into them + indicate which tracks on album I’ve already heard/not heard.

Mike Warner 🎵📈 @askmikewarner

@CWStoneman @Spotify Native in app pre save for albums. The ability to highlight the artists podcast appearances outside of spotlight. Artist curated playlist that links to their artist profile instead of a user profile. Instant grat tracks as part of upcoming album releases. Merch album pages 😁

Mike Casey 🎷 @themikecasey

@CWStoneman @Spotify Make it way easier for fans to follow artists. Add a “follow” prompt menu option on the ••• menu for both tracks and albums, allowing fans to follow in 1 step without having to visit artist profile.

Mike Casey 🎷 @themikecasey

@CWStoneman @Spotify “tip artist” option in ••• menu bar at album & track level

Spose @spizzyspose

@CWStoneman @Spotify My top listeners’ email addresses

MVSE @MVSEofficial

@CWStoneman @Spotify Approving releases from your Spotify for Artists profile This would prevent the random releases that sometimes tag other artists that aren’t actually their releases (happens so often these days)

sʏᴅ sɪᴅɴᴇʏ @sydmusic

@CWStoneman @Spotify An engaging way to explore the artists behind the artists. Click on a writer of a song to see their cuts on other records. Click on a drummer to hear other records they played on. Use those music-loving creative minds to bring the joy of liner notes to the 21st century.

Yes. but..

Other DSPs like Tidal and Apple Music have already implemented many of these suggestions in their apps. However, since users are locked into Spotify with their libraries and the music industry continues to view streams as a key metric for success, Spotify remains the most important DSP to act on.

Take action now

Artists and label executives: Examine the suggestions above. Decide which enhancements to the artist and album pages could help you reach your growth goals. Update your marketing strategies and materials to be ready for these changes.

Go deeper

• Spotify's community sourced idea box (Spotify)

• Spotify’s test of a Friends tab on mobile hints at expanded social ambitions (TechCrunch)

Created with Midjourney using the prompt ‘Modern artist profile page on a music streaming service, realistic, web design, ux/ui, ux, ui, green and black colors, — stylize 1000’