OVERVIEW
Strengthening Spotify’s artist-fan relationship and interaction.
PROJECT TYPE
UX/UI Case Study
Independent Project
TIMELINE
Aug 2024
ROLE
UX Researcher
UI Designer
SKILLS
Product Design
Interaction Design
TOOLS
Figma
The Problem
Fans often feel disconnected from their favorite artists on Spotify due to limited engagement tools and infrequent recognition.
I’ve been a dedicated Spotify user since 2015 (nearly a decade wow). Over the years, Spotify has not only tracked the evolution of my music taste, including all my embarrassing phases, but I've also seen the platform grow with the introduction of countless new features. Like many other users, I’ve come to love Spotify’s unique focus on personalization, collaboration, and discovery, with some of my personal favorites being Discover Weekly, Spotify Wrapped, and Blend.
However, despite my deep appreciation for Spotify, I've often felt something was missing in my interactions with my favorite artists. As someone who’s consistently been among the top 1% of listeners for artists like New Jeans, Tyler, the Creator, and Kali Uchis, I do feel connected to them through their music. Yet, I frequently find myself wanting more content from them and often turn to other sites or apps to fulfill my needs as a fan. For super fans like me, a deeper connection with the artists we love would make the listening experience truly fulfilling.
The Challenge
How might we empower super fans on Spotify to more meaningfully engage with their favorite artists so that they can create a stronger sense of connection?
SOLUTION
Now Playing...
Final Product
I designed Spotify Bridge, a feature that helps superfans connect more deeply with their favorite artists through exclusive content and interactive engagement tools. Users are also recognized for their loyalty through badges and top listener charts, celebrating their contributions to the artist’s community, creating a more rewarding and interactive experience for both superfans and the artists.
Exclusive Content Hub
A dedicated space where superfans can view all exclusive content from their top artists.
🌟
Artist Bridge
A section on each artist’s profile featuring their exclusive content and a top listener chart.
🧑🎤
Recognition Badges
Badges displayed on user profiles to reward and recognize superfans for being an artist’s top listener.
🏅
RESEARCH
Desk Research
My initial research began with deeply understanding the artist-fan relationship through scholarly articles and case studies. I examined the psychology behind fan loyalty and engagement, the role of personal interactions in fostering deeper connections and how these relationships influence an artist’s success. I then began researching Spotify, by considering what they are currently doing to strengthen these relationships between artists and fans, as well as the gaps that exist.
Sarita M. Stewart’s research paper, “The development of the artist-fan engagement model,” highlights the significance of the artist-fan relationship in the music industry.
Key Insights
💖 🤝
Fans prefer ongoing interaction with their favorite artists.
🎧 👕
Artist-fan engagement drives merchandise consumption and loyalty.
💬 💡
Personal interactions are crucial for artist success as they increase engagement and support.
Spotify’s “Connect with Fans” on the Spotify for Artists website outlines these features that aid in strengthening artist-fan relationships:
Although these features do promote the artist-fan relationship, they still have limitations in terms of deeper engagement and personalized interaction. While Canvas and Clips allow artists to share visuals and short videos, these features focus more on showcasing content and the artist’s creative ecosystem rather than enabling personalized interactions with fans. Additionally, customizing the artist profile is valuable for the artist’s brand identity, but it doesn’t offer ongoing, dynamic ways for artists to connect with fans beyond initial impressions. Furthermore, features like Clips and Countdown pages are often updated only around album releases or major events, leading to sporadic engagement rather than continuous interaction.
One of the main business goals of Spotify is to create a successful two sided marketplace!
Focusing on the artist-fan relationship is crucial for Spotify as it directly ties into the platform's business goals. Enhancing this connection aligns with Spotify’s mission to revolutionize audio by offering innovative and interactive content, thereby redefining the traditional music experience. Strengthening the artist-fan bond also supports Spotify’s goal of creating a successful two sided marketplace, benefiting both artists and users by fostering deeper connections and attracting more participants to the platform. This focus on engagement drives increased music and merchandise consumption, as fans who feel more connected are more likely to purchase music and attend concerts. It also enhances user loyalty, leading to higher subscription renewals and upgrades, while encouraging users to spend more time on the platform. This extended engagement not only boosts Spotify’s user metrics but also provides more opportunities for monetization through ads and premium subscriptions, ultimately contributing to greater profitability.
Listening to the Listener
User Interviews
In order to learn more about the Spotify experience and identify user needs and pain points, I interviewed three individuals who have been using Spotify as their main music streaming service and have been in the top 0.1% of listeners for an artist.
Interviewed with
Amber
🎸
Fatima
🎧
Jerome
👨💻
Some questions I asked included:
What features of Spotify do you use the most to connect with your favorite artists?
What are some pain points you encounter while trying to interact with artists on Spotify?
What are some general pain points you have when trying to stay updated with artists' latest content?
What are some priorities you have when looking to engage more deeply with your favorite artists on a music platform?
What features would make you feel more appreciated or recognized as a loyal fan by the artists you follow?
How does the artist-fan relationship vary?
Competitor Analysis
The insights from user interviews provided a foundation for identifying key areas of importance, which informed my evaluation of these platforms. By comparing Apple Music, LastFM and Youtube Music’s features in terms of the artist-fan relationship, I was able to assess how effectively each platform meets the needs of both artists and fans, as well as identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Apple Music
LastFM
Youtube Music
Exclusive live events
In-depth interviews
Artist led radio shows
Artists can personalize their profile by adding artist playlists
Features upcoming events and live shows
Forums and groups for fan discussions
Detailed user listening statistics year long
Top listener board
Wide variety of content: videos, live streams, shorts, premieres, community posts for updates and polls
YouTube Music Recap shows top listener percentage and top artists
No tools for direct artist to fan communication or selling exclusive content
Lacks direct community building features like artist hosted forums
Emphasizes stats over personal interaction between artists and fans
User base is smaller and more niche compared to other platforms
YouTube Music competes with YouTube itself and fans may gravitate to YouTube for videos
Competitor
Pros
Cons
Research Insights
After conducting desk research, user interviews, and competitor analysis, I identified the three key pain points to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and help guide the development of effective solutions.
Infrequent and limited interaction
Spotify's interaction features, such as Wrapped videos, are limited and infrequent, offering fans motivational content only once a year. This falls short of meeting their desire for more consistent and ongoing engagement.
Recognition and value of loyal listeners
Fans feels valued when recognized as top listeners, but many platforms including Spotify lack detailed recognition systems. Also incorporating a ranking system for top listeners in beneficial, but should be done with a user friendly interface.
Exclusive and engaging interaction/content
Fans are interested in exclusive content such as behind the scenes videos and this type of content is underrepresented on many platforms. Also, there tends to be a lack of diverse features on the platform for interacting with your top artists.
SYNTHESIS
Identifying target users
User Persona
I developed user personas for both fans and artists, approaching the redesign from a dual perspective. Through extensive research, including user interviews, competitor analysis, and identifying common pain points, I synthesized the data to capture the preferences, frustrations, and behaviors of both groups. This approach ensures a more targeted and effective redesign for Spotify’s two sided user base.
Fan
Layla Kingsley
Age: 24
Occupation: Marketing Coordinator
Location: NYC
Follow
Background
Layla has been a Spotify user since 2017.
Top 1% listener of artist “Emory”
Avid music lover with a preference for indie music.
Attends live concerts frequently and follows several artists on social media.
Uses Spotify daily for commuting, working, and leisure.
Goals
To feel a deeper connection with favorite artists.
To be recognized for loyalty and support towards favorite artists.
To discover exclusive content and insights on their favorite artists.
To engage with the music community and share music experiences with friends.
Frustrations
Limited and infrequent personal interactions with artists on Spotify.
Lack of recognition for being a top listener and supporter.
Desire for more frequent and diverse exclusive content from artists.
Finds current interaction features like Spotify Wrapped videos motivational but too rare.
Motivations
Personal recognition and appreciation from favorite artists.
Access to unique, behind-the-scenes content.
Opportunities to engage more deeply with the music and artist community.
Artist
Emory
Age: 25
Occupation: Musician
Location: LA
Follow
Background
Emily is an independent artist with a growing fan base in the Indie genre.
Uses multiple platforms to engage with fans, including Spotify, Instagram, and YouTube.
Released two albums and several singles on Spotify.
Regularly performs at local venues and music festivals.
Goals
To build and maintain a loyal fan base.
To have frequent and meaningful interactions with fans.
To understand fan engagement and preferences better.
To monetize her music and grow her career through deeper fan connections.
Frustrations
Difficulty maintaining ongoing engagement with fans through Spotify's current features.
Limited tools for recognizing and rewarding top fans.
Lack of detailed insights into fan interactions and preferences.
Desire for more personal and frequent ways to share content with fans.
Motivations
Connecting personally with fans to build loyalty.
Sharing exclusive content that showcases her music making process.
Recognizing and rewarding her most dedicated fans.
Growing her fan base and career through deeper engagement.
Understanding the users
User Journey
I developed a user journey to illustrate how Layla and Emory might currently interact with the app, focusing on their emotional experiences while connecting with their favorite artists or fans. This detailed mapping provides crucial insights into their experiences, allowing for a targeted redesign to improve user engagement and satisfaction in their artist-fan interactions on Spotify.
Layla Kingsley
“I want to engage with my favorite artist more and learn more about them."
Engagement
Uses Spotify to listen to their favorite artists regularly.
Expectation
Enjoys features like Discover Weekly, thank you videos, and recognition for being a top 1% listener.
Disappointment
Realizes there is a lack of ongoing exclusive content and personal recognition throughout the rest of the year.
Outcome
Feels disconnected and frustrated, eventually moving to another platform that offers better engagement and content.
Emory
"I want to be able to engage and connect with my fans, especially the most loyal ones and develop a strong and loyal fan base."
Engagement
Uses Spotify to share content and connect with fans, since their music is already hosted there.
Efforts
Engages fans through Spotify Clips, updates and curated playlists, hoping to connect deeply.
Disappointment
Feels that the engagement tools are not providing stronger connections.
Outcome
Feels disconnected and frustrated, eventually considering other platforms that offer better tools for fan interaction.
DESIGN
Feature Ideation
After conducting research and synthesizing my findings into user personas and user journey to help guide my user centered design decisions, I started ideating on possible features. From my findings, I found that there is not much of a need for forums or messaging system, but instead a focus on a more personalized artist and fan experience would be crucial.
Feature Ideas:
Exclusive content from artists: Personalized playlists, song recommendations, behind the scenes videos, unreleased songs
Interactive content: interactive polls or quizzes related to the artist's work, fan submitted questions or requests that the artist can respond to.
Special access: early access to concert tickets or merchandise, access to limited-edition or exclusive merchandise.
Recognition and rewards: top listener badges or special icons on the fan’s profile, milestone rewards for long-term fans (e.g., anniversary messages), fan contributions (e.g., fan art or covers) showcased by the artist.
Initial journal sketches
Establishing structure & hierarchy
Information Architecture
I then developed a clear and organized information architecture for Spotify Bridge, mapping out all its content within Spotify’s existing structure, including the key features and additional elements.
Concept visualization
Low Fidelity Wireframes
After creating the information architecture, I proceeded to quickly sketch low fidelity wireframes to strategize improvements and determine how the content would be mapped out visually.
Sketches to screens
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
After creating low fidelity sketches, I transitioned to Figma to translate the hand drawn design to a iPhone 15 frame, aiming to visualize how it would fit on a phone and making necessary size adjustments.
Final Designs
CONCLUSION
Reflections
What are my key learnings from this case study?
My first in-depth and end to end UX/UI project was an incredible learning experience, where I gained a deep understanding of UX/UI concepts, tools and the overall design process. Though I encountered challenges and got stuck plenty of times, I found inspiration by learning from case studies of other designers and their processes, which helped me keep pushing my own case study with what I’ve learned from theirs. One of my favorite aspects of the project was definitely interviewing people who, like me, also love Spotify and music. Creating a feature that was not only helpful to users (both artists and fans) but also potentially beneficial to the company and myself, was rewarding. Looking back, if i were to have made this case study better, I definitely would have conducted user testing to make sure that I was thoroughly iterating based on validation.