Spotify

In the not too distant future, Spotify is expected to roll out a new subscription plan priced higher than its existing Premium tier. New logos uncovered by Chris Messina make it all but certain that it’ll be called “Supremium.” That sounds pretty goofy, but whatever.

I get the sense that Robert Kyncl, the CEO of Warner Music Group, feels there’s room for the price of music streaming services to go up.

TIL the Spotify mobile app allows you to play a unique version of the iconic Snake game that munches through the cover art for every song on a playlist of your choosing. Just head into the settings (the three dots) and tap on “eat this playlist.”

“Apple’s artificial constraints are stifling and we know our users deserve better,” Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s public affairs officer, wrote in a blog post today.

I’m firmly in the camp that says the evolution of music is always good. It’s through that lens I find stories like this one from The Wall Street Journal on Friday interesting.

Spotify has partnered with late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver to launch Strike Force Five. The proceeds will go to benefit the staff of their shows, who have also been out of work due to the ongoing Hollywood strike.

The music streaming giant has now rolled out its DJ beta — which creates and commentates on an ever-updating personalized playlist — to 50 markets around the world.

This story (which I found via the excellent Sunday Long Read newsletter) is mostly about the way the producer Jack Antonoff has changed music over the last decade. But it also has maybe my favorite description ever of how Spotify has changed music:

The subscription-based meditation app is bringing some of its relaxing audio tracks to Spotify. While that includes free content from several of its shows, including Calm for Sleep, Calm for Stress & Anxiety, and Calm for Meditation, you’ll still need a Calm subscription to access all the tracks.

Reddit user OhItsTom found Spotify’s group session feature in the desktop version of Spotify’s debug window.

Bloomberg reports Spotify “has already begun talking to partners about the product” adding full-length music videos to its app. After Spotify’s podcast plan went awry, it appears the company could try to take a bite out of YouTube (which also deeply integrates videos into its YouTube Music service) and TikTok.

The former Daily Show host’s new show will launch later this year, drawing on his signature humor and wit to interview influential figures and comment on hot topics.

That’s pretty much what Spotify is doing here. I saw this ad for the company’s subscription-based Soundtrap after opening the Mac app this morning.