TIDAL What? Beats Music Who? Spotify’s New Features Will Get You to Stay Streaming
You know who’s not scared of a little competition? Spotify. The music streaming outlet — and T.Swift’s sworn enemy — announced a slew of new features ahead of Apple’s highly anticipated reveal of its own rebranded Beats Music service and in the midst of the controversial TIDAL. The brand spankin’ new features are music to the ears of runners, video lovers and those that never want to turn the tunes off, whether they’re at Starbucks or at home.
At a media event in New York City today Spotify announced three key category features that will be launching on iPhone + Android devices today. The apps new features include the ability to create soundtracks for any moment of your day, sync your playlists with your runs (similar to Adidas Go) and the introduction of audio and video shows. Spotify, are you trying to take over our lives?! Let’s take a closer look…
1. Spotify Now: No need to endlessly search for perfect playlists or new artists you *think* you may like as this all-encompassing feature will do it for you. Acting as your daily smart soundtrack that understands you more and more each day, Spotify Now will provide you with music for any time. Need the perfect tunes for that early Monday morning commute, an afternoon boost stronger than an espresso shot or even the perfect party playlist? The streaming service’s in-house experts — combined with your own personal picks — will recommend collections of tunes for any part of your day, adapting to your tastes and moods as you use it more. Effortless jam sessions, FTW.
2. Spotify Running: Nothing kills your momentum more than pressing the skip button in the middle of a run and that’s what this new feature is eliminating. Spotify Running syncs your pace with multiple-genre playlists, original running compositions and even your listening history to provide you with songs that are in line with your tempo and seamlessly transition so you don’t notice any changes to keep that heart rate up until you cross the finish line. All you need to do is lace up, do some pre-stretches and hit the pavement for Spotify to detect your movement and match music to your steps. In addition to that, later this year the music service will be debuting RunKeeper integration and its partnership with Nike, which includes original music and the ability to experience Spotify within the Nike+ app. It just might be time to sign up for that marathon after all…
3. Spotify Shows: After today the service is no longer solely about the music. You’ve always been able to listen to comedy albums, but now users will be able to find video clips and audio shows within the app without having to jump to YouTube. With podcasts from a variety of providers and video clips from platforms like ABC, Comedy Central, Maker Studios, TED, Vice Media and more, the music app is now stepping up its game to offer news, laughs and visual discovery. Forget TIDAL, Spotify just might be coming for more channels on your Roku too.
Our only question is — how will our data plans survive?
Which new Spotify feature are you most excited about? Is it your music streaming service of choice? Let us know in the comments.
(Photo via Spotify Facebook)