Spotify is going to compete with TikTok's remixes: let users try their hand at DJing - WSJ
Kyiv • UNN
Spotify is developing tools that will allow subscribers to speed up, merge and edit songs, compensating artists and labels for the modified versions streamed on the platform to attract younger users and generate new revenue.
The audio streaming company Spotify is developing tools that will allow subscribers to speed up, merge and otherwise edit songs by their favorite artists, according to people familiar with the discussion, The Wall Street Journal reports, UNN writes.
Details
"It's a bet on the future of music consumption, which Spotify hopes will deepen user experience and attract younger users, as well as bring new revenue to artists," the publication points out.
Fans, especially those in their teens and 20s, regularly alter songs for social media, adding their own style and then combining the most memorable bits into viral dance challenges, instructional videos, and memes. But artists and labels don't often get paid for altered versions of their songs, which are difficult to track and often distributed on various platforms, including TikTok and Instagram Reels, the publication notes.
According to the sources, rights holders - labels, publishers, and artists - will be compensated when fans stream modified versions of their music on Spotify.
According to the plans discussed by Spotify, the new tools could be a kind of playback function, with users deciding, for example, at what speed they want to listen to a song. Users will potentially be able to save their favorite versions in virtual collections for repeated listening.
These efforts, the publication writes, are an opportunity for Spotify to win back listening time, which it has so far lost to social platforms such as TikTok. According to Pex, a content identification and data company, 38% of songs on TikTok had their speed or pitch changed in 2023, up from 25% in 2022.
Some of the most basic features that Spotify is working on, such as speeding up and slowing down, according to the publication, will likely be available to regular subscribers, who usually pay $10.99 per month. More advanced song modification features could be part of a new, more expensive Premium plan that Spotify is developing.
Although discussions on these tools have just begun and license agreements have not yet been developed, the goal is to allow users to share their modified tracks through Spotify rather than on external platforms such as social media.
For reference
Spotify is the world's largest music streaming service, with 500 million monthly users.
