Spotify’s Top Contributions to Music Technology

After over a decade as the world’s biggest music streaming service, Spotify’s impact on the industry is self-evident. For better or sometimes worse, it has changed the relationship between artists and their fans, and the middlemen that traditionally produced and distributed their tunes. The company first became profitable just a few years ago, after introducing sweeping new features for paying subscribers. Here are some of Spotify’s best contributions to music technology, which made finding and enjoying your favourite music that much easier.

Every Noise at Once

If you haven’t heard of Every Noise at Once, then you first need to know that it isn’t an official Spotify project. The site is the brainchild of Glenn McDonald, Spotify’s resident data alchemist from 2019 to 2023. During that period, he supercharged the Spotify algorithm and, using his privileged access to the company’s data, he created everynoise.com.

The site is a giant scatterplot showing over 6,000 genres, most of which you didn’t even know existed. Their arrangement may look random and messy (they’re called scatterplots for a reason), but in Glenn’s own words: “down is more organic, up is more mechanical and electric; left is denser and more atmospheric, right is spikier and bouncier.”

Just quantifying so many genres is a Herculean task that wouldn’t have been possible without Spotify’s data. It’s a very modern, data-focused look at music that’s reminiscent of Spotify’s mood filters, Netflix’s genre tags and even gaming websites where players can filter between different-themed slots, like the Hippodrome online casino. In an age where we quantify and find things by their aesthetics, Every Noise takes it to a whole new level.

Unfortunately, Spotify let Glenn go in 2023. This means he lost access to their data and so this pet project lies dormant. However, with so many genres already catalogued, it remains an invaluable resource for curious minds and those seeking new genres they vibe with.

Playlist Prompting

Much like the music streaming model itself, generative AI has sparked a lot of debate in artist communities. Spotify has embraced several AI features since OpenAI hit the scene in 2023, with the best being its promptable AI playlist. Where most AI works off of prompts to generate output, this feature uses prompts to sort through real music.

It basically enables users to describe a mood, and then the AI will do its best to find and compile a list of music that matches. The prompts can range from the emotional to the cinematic, one of their examples is “tracks for horse riding into the sunset.” The only limit is your imagination. Naturally, it might not always hit the mark, but you can tell the AI off and give it more refined instructions.

Expanded Song Credits Powered by WhoSampled

One of the most recent developments out of Spotify is their acquisition of WhoSampled. For years, WhoSampled provided listeners with a deep dive into their favourite songs. If the name didn’t tip you off, the third-party service tracks wherever a song has been used in someone else’s music.

Now Spotify owns them and, while WhoSampled will remain a separate service, it’s now powering extra features on the Spotify app. Those features are Song Credits, SongDNA and About the Song. Song Credits will go deeper than usual, looking at producers, sound engineers and other behind-the-scenes collaborators who made the music. SongDNA is a map showing sample connections between songs and other creative influences. About the Song will show stories, inspirations and other lore about famous songs, where available. It’s a great step toward proper crediting in an industry (and a content model) where the biggest stars can outshine everyone else. While it may be Spotify’s latest music tech innovation, it’s virtually guaranteed that it won’t be the last as the streamer tries to make that premium subscription worth the price tag.