One of the announcements at last week’s Spotify ‘Stream On event was an expansion of its ‘Discovery Mode’ tool.
Tag: Discovery Mode
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US politicians say Spotify ‘can do better’ with Discovery Mode
In April this year, a group of US Congress politicians wrote to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek with some more questions about the streaming service’s ‘Discovery Mode’ feature.
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US politicians up pressure over Spotify’s Discovery Mode
Three members of Congress have sent CEO Daniel Ek a letter with some pointed questions about the Discovery Mode feature.
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Spotify explains how indie artist mehro used Discovery Mode
A blog post yesterday explained how independent artist mehro has used Discovery Mode. His team turned it on for two tracks in August for the three weeks leading up to a new release.
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“Commercial Considerations” influencing Spotify playlists, and how algorithms steer our discovery
Music tech journalist Cherie Hu spotted a small-ish change in the Spotify app: in official and algorithmic playlists you’ll now find an “About recommendations” section in the menu which includes […]
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Spotify aims to correct ‘misunderstanding’ of Discovery Mode
When we reported yesterday on Spotify’s defence of its Discovery Mode tool, we noted that its response to a recent letter from two US congressmen with questions about the feature would shed more light on its strategy.
That response has leaked, via Billboard, including the claim that “fears that Discovery Mode may lead to a ‘race to the bottom’ largely rest on a misunderstanding of the way in which Discovery Mode works”.
That’s in response to the question – discussed here in the past – about whether if everyone opts in to Discovery Mode, that will mean that they all receive a lower royalty rate, while diluting the promotional benefits. That isn’t addressed head-on in Spotify’s response, but instead the company focused on the idea of competition between smaller and larger artists.
“The alternative, after all, would be to deprive smaller artists of the tools they need to invest in their careers – reserving the most effective promotional channels only for those with the deepest pockets…” The response also notes that Spotify considers the pilot to have been a success. “Based on these early results and great initial feedback, we hope to move beyond our limited pilot stage, opening up the product to more artists and labels, later in 2021.”
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Spotify’s ‘Discovery Mode’ gains support from some distributors
Spotify has been coming under pressure over its ‘Discovery Mode’ test, which lets artists choose tracks to get a promotional boost in its autoplay and radio features, in return for a discounted royalty rate. Yesterday, the streaming service hailed some supporters from the distributors world: Believe and its TuneCore subsidiary, as well as DistroKid.
Spotify’s webpage for Discovery Mode is highlighting endorsements from Believe CEO Denis Ladegaillerie (“highly innovative and beneficial for independent artists”); DistroKid CEO Philip Kaplan (“a groundbreaking music marketing tool because it doesn’t require any upfront budget”); and TuneCore co-head and chief revenue officer Andreea Gleeson (“maximises the reach of the music, based on the merit of the music – not because a gatekeeper said so”).
There is also a case study of how Believe used the tool for 33 tracks by Argentinian artist Natalie Perez over three months. “14 performed exceedingly well and helped Natalie grow her daily listening base in the U.S. and Mexico by 57% across Spotify,” claimed the company.