reddit.com/r/spotify
Spotify is one of the most widely used music streaming services on the market. It is user-friendly, intuitive, expansive, and social. Some of the features that set Spotify apart are the ability to see what friends are listening to, create collaborative playlists, and share songs with the click of a button. Who said listening to music needs to be such a solitary hobby?
Some people love Spotify for its combination of features from a traditional music streaming service with those of a social network, while others appreciate that it has a large library of music available. With over 30 million songs to choose from, there's always something for everyone.
And then, of course, there are the highly personalized algorithms that Spotify uses to provide a totally customized listening experience. Every week, for instance, you will be gifted a playlist called "Discover Weekly" composed entirely of songs that you probably haven't heard but are likely to enjoy. They base these playlists on your listening habits, and I find that it is an incredible way to find new music, especially if you are at a loss when it comes to what to listen to. In addition to "Discover Weekly," you will also be able to choose from several daily mixes that are made for you, split into genres for the most part.
Most music streaming services put a limit on how long playlists can be, so it is freeing to find that Spotify provides a boundless music listening experience. This feature is one of the most popular elements of streaming service Spotify, used by millions of people. A player can create as many playlists as they want, with no limits on length. I have been working on one for a few years now and it has reached nearly 10,000 songs!
There is a thriving subculture around crafting great Spotify playlists, with people sharing them with each other on Reddit in order to help one another out. People love to share music genres' subreddits with one another, as well as their own personal playlists. This is especially evident on the Reddit community for Spotify, where nearly all of the posts are about playlists.
Further down the page, it becomes apparent that r/Spotify is not just a source of playlists. This subreddit is also a home for Spotify users that want to discuss news about the streaming service, help resolve issues, and post personal testimonies. So although r/Spotify is self-declared as primarily a source of playlists, it is much more than that as well - a place where Spotify lovers can gather together to discuss what they're probably most frequently using app.
History
There is seldom a whole lot of historical information available surrounding subreddits. However, according to research I conducted, r/Spotify was created on November 11th, 2008. It currently has 183,000 subscribers and 500 to 1,000 members are online at any given time.
Spotify was developed in 2006 by a team of programmers in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded by Daniel Ek, former Stardoll CEO and Martin Lorentzon, who also co-founded the digital marketing company, Trade Doubler.
The company officially launched in October of 2008 and everyone was able to sign up for a free account from the very beginning. The fact that Spotify launched with an accompanying subreddit in November of 2008 shows just how quickly this music streaming service caught on.
Content
I have already touched on this earlier, r/Spotify is mostly dedicated to Spotify playlists. Users can post their own playlists or cool playlists that they have stumbled upon. The main goal of the subreddit seems to be to create a community of music lovers that aim to help one another find new music. There is also much in the way of news surrounding the company, announcements of changes to the service and features, and just a chill place to chat about one of the best music streaming services on the market.
That being said, there are some rules that are strictly adhered to. For one thing, r/Spotify makes it very clear that it is not to be used as a means of promoting your own music. Posts that include links to your own songs or albums are almost instantly deleted - self-promotion seems to be generally frowned upon here. Which makes sense? There is no shortage of subreddits dedicated to letting people share their own original music.
A few other rules of r/Spotify are that you cannot post images, ask or beg for followers, or post links to playlists on other music streaming sites. It is a simple community, in other words, one designed to discuss Spotify and share Spotify playlists.
Suggestions that I have for r/Spotify
I think that the idea behind r/Spotify is sound, and I love the thriving and active community that can be found there. The moderators make an effort to stoke community engagement by pinning interactive posts, such as the current Playlist Competition thread.
Spotify is well-organized and has a comprehensive list of flairs that you can easily filter by. Some examples of tags that you can either add to your own post or filter the subreddit by including News, Favors, Question, Technical Issue, Self Promo, or Complaint. This makes it easy to navigate this sprawling subreddit, as well as to let others know right away what your post will pertain to.
I think it would be helpful if you could tag your posts with genre so that people could find specific types of content more easily. The nature of the subreddit is intertwined with music, so it makes sense to me that posts should also be organized in terms of music genres.
Conclusion
If you're looking for a constantly-growing source of Spotify playlists to enhance your personal music library, r/Spotify is the place to go. If you just love Spotify in general and want to discuss it with other Spotify fans, this is the subreddit for you. Or if you have a question about a feature or a technical issue, consult r/Spotify to see if someone else has the answer to your problem.
If you're a Spotify user, then definitely join this thriving community and tap into its wealth of knowledge. This subreddit will turn you into an expert on the platform in no time.