Spotify appears to be testing a new algo-personalised playlist, called Your Daily Drive, aimed at commuters. What’s interesting about it is that it seemingly combines music with podcasts – or at least newsy elements of podcasts.
The Verge broke the news, with screenshots of the test which were all in Portugese. Cue Spotify’s standard response to this kind of story: “We’re always testing new products and experiences, but have no further news to share at this time.”
It’s a logical move to create a playlist aimed at commuters, and it’s especially sensible to make it one blending spoken-word content with music. Why? Because this is going after one of radio’s remaining heartlands: the car. And we’ll direct you (again) to comments made in September 2018 by Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy. “The 20-year trend here is linear dies, everything on-demand wins. Instead of free / paid, it’s paid plus free, and free eats broadcast radio,” he said. “I don’t know what happens to news and I don’t know what happens to sports, but for sure, the combination of your phone plus a voice-activated interface enables the car, and the car is the principal user experience for broadcast radio.” View the ‘Your Daily Drive’ playlist through this lens, and you can see Spotify tackling that challenge of what happens to news – and what kind of content might draw even more drivers away from broadcast radio.
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