Spotify becomes latest app to be infected with Instagram-style Stories
The success of Instagram's Stories has caused an epidemic. Like WhatsApp and Facebook, Spotify is getting a 'Storyline' feature. It allows artists to tell music fans the stories behind their songs. The feature follows on from Spotify's 'Behind the lyrics' annotations that have been in the app since 2016.
Storyline cards will start appearing at the bottom of the Now Playing screen. You can pull up the Storyline whilst listening to the song, where you'll be given multiple cards containing text, lyrics and images. You tap to flick through the cards to learn more about the song you are listening too. Think of it as a way of being able to continually stare at your phone when listening to music....
Unlike the existing Behind the lyrics feature, Storyline is not a third-party service. The artists themselves can use Storylines to create the content. The UI is very Instagram-like. The Storyline feature has already started rolling out, so if you are interested, check your Spotify app to see if you've got it already. It won't appear on every song, of course, only the ones where the artist has recorded a story.
It is unclear if Spotify is planning on keeping its Behind the lyrics cards or if Storylines will completely replace it. A lot of the success of the new feature will depend on how artists take to it. It seems likely that smaller artists will use it as a way of promoting their music, providing listeners with more background information and a more personal touch. Whether or not major recording artists will take to it, remains to be seen.
One thing is for sure, however. Spotify is increasing its efforts to make its music streaming app a place where users stay, increasing interaction beyond simply firing up playlists and songs. For some users, like me, once I hit play Spotify is minimized and my smartphone is back in my pocket. Storylines is the antidote to that kind of behavior.
What do you think? Would you like to learn more about the songs you listen to via this new feature? Let us know.
Source: Android Police
