Spotify is now one of the latest companies to start testing the “Stories” feature just like on Instagram. This feature is right now in its testing phase with several popular influencers and artists roped in to curate their own public playlists on the streaming service.
This feature is currently available only on Android and iOS devices. Specifically, this feature integrates playlists with short videos that users can optionally click on and watch more. Spotify’s version will allow select users to share video clips that contain snippets of songs and album art.
If you use Spotify and you want to check out this feature then head over to their “Christmas Hits” playlist. On the cover art of the playlist featuring Mariah Carey, you’ll see a tiny circle with a prompt to “Tap to see the story.” The Christmas Hits story features videos from several artists who are featured on the playlist, including Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Clarkson, Ava Max, Pentatonix, Meghan Trainor and more, talking about their Christmas stories. You can tap on to move to the next story. There are also horizontal lines at the top that indicate how many screens still await them.
You cannot reply or react to the stories, since it is not a social platform like Instagram and Snapchat. But, there’s still an option to report stories. Curators are also able to preview songs that will be included in the playlist including video clips that contain small snippets of songs and are accompanied by album art.
Tech Crunch reports that the first influencer to test the feature was YouTube star Summer Mckeen, makeup and fashion content creator who currently has a social media fan base that includes 2.33 million YouTube subscribers, 2.1 million Instagram followers and 126,455 Spotify followers.
Spotify also confirmed the test to Tech Crunch and gave a statement, “At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience. Some of those tests end up paving the path for our broader user experience and others serve only as important learning,” a Spotify spokesperson said. “We have no further news to share on future plans at this time,” they added.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Spotify would start testing stories with artists. It said that it would let artists share stories with content on talking more about the song. Another report suggested that Spotify will let influencers add stories to playlists.
