Why Is Spotify Such A Successful Platform?

One of my favorite SaaS brands is Spotify. This platform is an integral part of my life and a part of its 345 million users' daily routine. Spotify was amongst the first legal streaming service available to challenge illegal file share services, and today it is the world’s biggest music streaming platform. So how has Spotify grown to be the biggest streaming platform in the world? There are several factors, but I want to emphasize the top four.

Precise Integrations

As part of the product development, Spotify integrated with Facebook, Google, and Apple which resulted in growth. Due to those integrations, the user can connect to the platform with one click, it can pull your data so you don’t need to fill in your email and password while registering. This feature alone enables to reduces friction and increases the conversion rate.

Moreover, Spotify created options where you can send songs to your friends via Facebook or Instagram and add songs from Spotify to your Instagram stories. With those changes, Spotify became viral among its users and created another experience that is more than just listening to songs.

Spotify sign up screen

Time Investment

Spotify lets users save music and build custom playlists it will customize to their taste. The fact that users tailor the app helps to increase the retention rate. After users are invested their time is more likely they will feel connected to the app and the odds of subscription will grow, otherwise, their time investment and efforts will be lost.

Additionally, the app provides you the feeling it knows you and your preferences even better than you do. It lets you discover new songs and artists that fit your taste and your playlists, and in that way, its increases the value you generate from it.

The time investment and the suggestion algorithms are both key reasons that make users want to convert.

It Is All About The Mood

“Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends.”

Alphonse de Lamartine

There is a big correlation between our feelings and the music we would like to hear. for example, if we are in a depressed mood we would prefer to listen to a quiet song instead of a joyful one.

Spotify, which is known for its personalized media recommendations algorithms, suggests songs that are suitable for users’ preferences and now trying to generate fitting music for any situation or mood. By entering your library you can select one of the filters in the ‘Liked Songs’ playlist without needing to create or search for another Spotify playlist.

When the music speaks to you it is an easy choice to keep on listening, thus it is a powerful way to increase retention and keep people coming back to the app.

Spotify ad puts emphasize on the user's mood

Smart Business Model

Spotify is a freemium service, you can listen to every song you like for free but with some limitations or advertisements. In that way, it attracts a mass of users who want to listen to music for free. The free plan alone offers a real value proposition for the users such as access to a massive song catalog for free, the discovery of new music and artists, the convenience of streaming online music, etc.

The user journey will always lead to the premium plan, it has several moments that trigger in-app notifications or push messages, like when the user tries to skip an ad, skip songs 8 times or select a specific song from a list. When the user is getting serious about the music he will receive a notification that recommends a better experience for him.

In conclusion, Spotify is the biggest music streaming platform and it is not a surprise. It focuses on the user and his desires and makes listening to music an easy and fun experience. The variety of songs, easy and intuitive UX, the business model, and its algorithms make it so successful app.