Spotify Testing Music Playlists Through NFTs

Spotify is now helping NFT-based communities to unlock exclusive content via token-gated playlists, according to a series of tweets by Kingship, a metaverse band under Universal Music Group.

The pilot project is limited to certain regions and is currently available only to Android users in the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. iPhone users can’t access the feature, because Apple restricted the functionalities of NFTs last year.

Under the pilot, Kingship has released a special playlist that can only be accessed by Kingship key card NFT holders.

The playlists are unlocked via NFTs, and the process involves linking your crypto wallet, such as Metamask, Trust Wallet, Rainbow, Ledger Live, or Zerion, to authenticate the NFT that unlocks the playlist.

Other communities such as Overlord, Fluf, and Kevin Rose’s Moonbirds have also released playlists that can be unlocked by their respective token holders.

Spotify Confirms Project

Spotify has confirmed the pilot and commented on Kingship and Overlord’s tweets without divulging any further details. The company said in a statement that they routinely conduct tests to enhance the user experience.

The statement reads: “At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience. Some of those end up paving the path for our broader user experience, and others serve only as important learnings. We have no further news to share on future plans at this time.”

This pilot indicates that Spotify may soon offer more content, including songs, albums, or podcasts that could be token gated.

Last year, the company published web3-related job listings in the engineering and marketing departments, suggesting that it has been exploring the use of blockchain technology.

The announcement of the NFT-gated playlists pilot comes just before Spotify’s Stream On event on March 8. The event may provide more information on Spotify’s plans to incorporate NFTs into its platform.

What’s more, the pilot comes after Spotify experimented with a profile feature in May 2022, allowing artists to promote their digital art.

Conclusion

This pilot program demonstrates that Spotify may have the necessary technology in place to provide a greater range of content, such as songs, albums, or podcasts that could require token authentication.

In a down market where sentiment is low due to the crypto winter and all the connected scams such as FTX and Voyager have knocked confidence, it’s great to see brands like Spotify testing out NFTs.

And although, it’s not clear exactly what it entails, it’s hoped that the company will elaborate on this further during its upcoming event. That said, it is still super bullish that Spotify is piloting NFTs.