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Spotify abandons Heardle less than a year after buying it

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Re: Spotify abandons Heardle less than a year after buying it

#61

Post by nerdponx »

Bukhmanizer wrote: post #46
transcriptase wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their UX is infuriating compared to a few years ago. Why does it take multiple clicks to get to search? Why are my playlists etc not front and centre? Pop-ups about new albums from artists that they know I’ve never listened to and never would? Every time I use it now, my inner voice is saying “get the fuck out of my way” to the UX itself. What are they optimizing for?

I think they’ve realized that as long as they don’t the licenses to the music itself, another company can always come along and eat it’s lunch (a la Disney+, Peacock, Hulu with Netflix. So they’re trying to raise the barriers to listening to “songs” rather than “whatever Spotify serves me”

Yet now they've removed playlist radios in favor of the "enhance" feature. Someone is asleep at the wheel.

Re: Spotify abandons Heardle less than a year after buying it

#62

Post by nerdponx »

ethbr0 wrote: post #37
pie420 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they get paid by Labels to promote certain songs and artists, similar to how labels pay radio to play only certain songs. Everything, from Amazon, to Spotify, to the Google Play Store wants you to click on promoted bullshit, not search for what you actually want. Welcome to the internet in 2023.

The difference should be that users pay Spotify for a subscription. Raise the prices if they need to, but don't try and have a subscription + "whatever ad bucks we can make" model.

Their business model has always been the latter.

Re: Spotify abandons Heardle less than a year after buying it

#64

Post by wpietri »

yieldcrv wrote: post #56
h4ch1 wrote: post #33

Just day before I saw Spotify had the same ADHD inducing reels/tiktok style music discovery thing on it. What is it with all these companies using the same UX patterns EVERYWHERE. As one commentor rightly said, Discover Weekly is the only thing keeping me on this platform, they even removed family mixes, my brothers and uncles are on my family plan, and even though we didn't keep in touch a lot that used to be a talk…

> What is it with all these companies using the same UX patterns EVERYWHERE. any guesses?

My guess is similar metrics yield similar solutions. With extensive copying, of course. You can bet that the product managers keep a close eye on things that are even vaguely competitive. But I think it's the metrics (and metrics-driven culture) that is the underlying cause.

Re: Spotify abandons Heardle less than a year after buying it

#65

Post by vanilla_nut »

pie420 wrote: post #32
transcriptase wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their UX is infuriating compared to a few years ago. Why does it take multiple clicks to get to search? Why are my playlists etc not front and centre? Pop-ups about new albums from artists that they know I’ve never listened to and never would? Every time I use it now, my inner voice is saying “get the fuck out of my way” to the UX itself. What are they optimizing for?

they get paid by Labels to promote certain songs and artists, similar to how labels pay radio to play only certain songs. Everything, from Amazon, to Spotify, to the Google Play Store wants you to click on promoted bullshit, not search for what you actually want. Welcome to the internet in 2023.

Additionally, artists can sign up to get prioritization in the radio and recommendation algorithms... at the cost of some of their royalties. You're likely already missing out on artists who don't pay the troll toll if you rely heavily on Spotify's recommendations.

Re: Spotify abandons Heardle less than a year after buying it

#66

Post by uejfiweun »

encoderer wrote: post #23

Spotify, get your shit together. You’ve wasted a fortune in podcasting and now you’ve destroyed your app UX. Nobody wants this crap. Everybody just wants better music discovery and instant access to their favorites.

Man, I must be the only person who actually LIKES the Spotify UX. The color scheme looks cool, the app is pretty intuitive and well designed IMO, and it also hasn't majorly changed in 10 years.

Re: Spotify abandons Heardle less than a year after buying it

#67

Post by celdon25 »

brink wrote: post #2

What was their original plan when they purchased it? Was it just an acquihire all along?

The replies seem to be full of low-quality guesses, which is disappointing to see on this site (assuming they were not using sarcasm). I’ll try to do slightly better and link the actual press release and include the official statement.

Hopefully someone who has access to the C suite at Spotify can leak the actual answer here (I’m sure they will get right on that). For future reference just Google “x acquires y” if you want to attempt to get any insight about “what x planned to do with y after acquiring”.

https://newsroom.spotify.com/2022-07-12/spotify-to-acquire-m...

> “We are always looking for innovative and playful ways to enhance music discovery and help artists reach new fans,” commented Jeremy Erlich, Global Head of Music, Spotify. “Heardle has proven to be a really fun way to connect millions of fans with songs they know and love and with new songs . . . and a way to compete with their friends as to who has the best musical knowledge. Since its debut, the game has quickly built a loyal following, and it aligns with our plans to deepen interactivity across the Spotify ecosystem.”

The official statement seems consistent with what was reported in this comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35570998

In other words, they tried to retool the tech toward an additional value proposition for both users and artists. The result failed to meet a quality bar, and therefore it was decided to axe the project.

Re: Spotify abandons Heardle less than a year after buying it

#69

Post by coldpie »

encoderer wrote: post #23

Spotify, get your shit together. You’ve wasted a fortune in podcasting and now you’ve destroyed your app UX. Nobody wants this crap. Everybody just wants better music discovery and instant access to their favorites.

There's a ton of competitors in this space. Try something else!

Re: Spotify abandons Heardle less than a year after buying it

#70

Post by Alupis »

encoderer wrote: post #23

Spotify, get your shit together. You’ve wasted a fortune in podcasting and now you’ve destroyed your app UX. Nobody wants this crap. Everybody just wants better music discovery and instant access to their favorites.

Come over to Pandora - the water is warm and your favorite songs are a flowing.
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