Essay Sample on Digital Interface Analysis of Spotify

Suppose you are in the car with your friend, and they connect their Bluetooth and start playing music. This is not just your typical music from the radio, it is a playlist specially crafted by your friend for the exact moment you are in. Laid back, slow, mellow songs that you can chat over. Your friend gives you their Spotify username so you can listen to the exact playlist later on and take a peek at their other playlists as well. Better yet, you can make playlists of your own, listen to mixes designed just for you by the app, and discover new music. Spotify, one of the most popular worldwide music streaming apps, incorporates special design features that allow it to effectively serve its purposes and reach its targeted audience.  

The audience for this digital interface is any music lover or podcast listener, so the range of users is broad. However, in the age of technology, Spotify users tend to be on the younger side and more tech-savvy. Unlike conventional radios, CD’s, cassette tapes and vinyl records, Spotify has all the music and audio you could ever want with a few easy clicks on your phone or computer. Many artists who want to get their work out there also utilize Spotify as a marketing tool. The app has a feature where you can click on an artist’s profile and find everything you need to know about them in an organized list. At the top of the profile is a picture of the artist with their name in bold white lettering. As you scroll down, you come across their most popular songs and their albums, as well as songs by other artists that they feature on. At the very bottom is the “About” section written by the artist. The description often includes what genre of music they produce, some of their musical inspirations, their hometown, or their most popular or award-winning work. It can also include links to their social media profiles. Artists see their listeners as an audience and use this profile feature to connect with them and to share information with thousands of people at one time and in one place. 

        The purposes of this platform are to entertain and give artists the tools to express themselves and share their work. To narrow it down further, people use music for a multitude of different purposes. While there are an endless number of situations music can be used in, some of these purposes could be to have background noise while studying, to make workouts easier, to help you relax, to play at a birthday party or to sing as loud as you can with your friends. Another purpose of Spotify is to bring users together by way of similar tastes in music. One example of this is a feature recently added called “Create a Blend” that allows users to combine their playlists, which results in a mix that most closely reflects the tastes of both users. It is a fun and unique way to find similarities in your preferences and also find new music as well. This is a way to encourage bonding and community among listeners. Spotify will also inform users of concerts happening near them based on their listening in order to promote artists. This feature helps bridge the gap between the digital and physical music environment. 

The design of the platform relates to its audience and purpose in a few ways. When you first open the app, it brings you to a home screen where it displays the most recent playlists you listened to, as well as new releases from your favorite artists. This pertains to the purpose of entertainment, as you are able to listen to your favorite music curated yourself, and the audience being yourself. As you scroll, there are several sets of playlists such as “Your top mixes,” “Uniquely yours,” “Fresh new music,” and “The state of music today.” Each playlist serves a different purpose. The “Fresh new music” section written in bold white letters to grab your attention is one design example that demonstrates the purpose of artists displaying their work. Each playlist below the “Fresh new music” title contains a cover with an artist or two that you will find in the playlist. The bottom of the home page is where you can navigate further by clicking either “Search” or “Your Library.” The “Search” screen is similar to that of the home screen, with your top genres displayed at the top with all other genres below it. Here, you can search from thousands of songs, playlists, artists, podcasts and more.

The digital music streaming platform Spotify contains special design features and elements that allow the platform to successfully achieve its purposes and reach its audience. There is no doubt that Spotify does a great job at drawing in its music-loving users and keeping them engaged and entertained, as well as giving artists the opportunity to share their own pieces.