Spotify’s latest personalized experience, Blend, is rolling out of beta to Spotify Free and Premium users globally to help sync your tastes even further and put your music compatibility to the test.
Spotify in a blog post said, “We launched Blend Playlists in beta in early June as a new way for two users to merge their musical tastes into one shared playlist made just for them, making it even easier for users to connect, discover, and bond over the music they love with one another. Now, the experience includes new cover art to easily identify each of your Blend playlists, taste match scores to see your listening preferences compared to your friends’, and shareable data stories that are unique to every listening pair and can be shared across social channels.”
Blend, which will be updated daily and adapts based on what listeners stream, combines the best of Spotify’s personalization capabilities and collaborative playlist functionality into a single shared playlist, making it easy for users to get into a social listening session that is made just for them. But creating this experience was no simple feat. There’s a massive team behind the experience, blending their own different skills and expertise to bring it to life.
Arjun Narayen, Product Manager said, “There were dozens of people across the company who worked really hard to bring Blend to life,” he said. “I’m lucky to be a part of a team that’s similarly passionate about social listening and thinks music is something that can help bring people together. Part of my role in bringing Blend to life has been clearing a path for our talented engineering, design, and insights teams to bring ideas to the table, and then help narrow in on a simple product that’s fun to use and easy to understand.”
Speaking on what makes Blend unique from other Spotify offering, Narayen said, “I think the thing that makes Blend such a unique product is the way it helps people find common ground with one another. Blend is one of the first products we’ve developed that requires multiuser personalization, which has its unique challenges but also helps us create some really delightful experiences when we get it right. Each time I make a Blend with someone there’s this awesome moment when we discover which artists and songs we both like and get to bond over how we discovered that artist or when we saw them in concert.”
Jen Lamere – Senior Engineer at TikTok said, “I started working on Blend midway through the project as a backend engineer. I spent a lot of time listening to feedback we were getting about Blend and collaborating with the other engineers on the team on how to innovate Blend. A lot of our challenges centered around trying to build the best product possible while building a system that works at Spotify’s scale.
“Blend is so different from most of the other Spotify offerings because it automatically combines the tastes of two different users into a playlist. It’s a great way to connect with your friends and learn more about them, and also makes long drives with friends way more enjoyable.”
Ready to get started?
- Tap “Create Blend” in the Made for You hub on mobile.
- Next, tap “Invite” to select a friend to join your Blend via messaging.
- Once your friend accepts, Spotify will generate custom cover art and a track list for the two of you filled with songs that combine your listening preferences and tastes.
- Share your Blend results across your social channels by tapping “Share this story” at the bottom
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