Listen to a song and explore Spotify’s MVP story

🎵 Listen to a song and explore Spotify’s MVP story below. 

Spotify was introduced in 2006 as an audio streaming and music service platform, founded by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. The music streaming service was launched in 2008 and became available in only a few countries in Europe, including Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France, and Spain. 

Forming the Idea of Spotify and Its Early Years 

The widespread practice of illegally downloading music from file-sharing networks was a serious issue back then. Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon recognised a gap in the market for a legal service that could provide consumers with access to a large library of songs for a reasonable price. Major issues in the music industry, such as piracy and the difficulties of downloading and storing songs, were to be resolved with Spotify. 

During its early years, Spotify encountered numerous obstacles, including opposition from record companies and music industry leaders who were doubtful of the profitability of music streaming services. Yet, the company started small, and they were able to secure licensing agreements with major label and record companies such as Universal and Sony. 

Building the Product 

Spotify prioritises developing MVP to validate product concepts with actual users. Instead of investing too much time and money in building a full product that may not fulfil consumer needs, Spotify swiftly iterates and enhances their core product based on user feedback. Both users and artists influenced Spotify’s decisions while building the product.  

In 2006, Spotify tested the demand for its product in real life by asking users to enter their email addresses if they wanted to be informed when new features were added. The company utilised lean startup principles and agile methodology successfully and developed the product iteratively. 

Using a continuous delivery methodology, Spotify is able to roll out incremental product improvements on a regular basis. This allows the company to act on customer feedback rapidly. In 2008, Spotify was only available on desktops with limited features such as creating playlists, discovering new songs, and sharing songs with friends. In 2009, Spotify released the mobile app for iOS and Android. Two years later, users were able to follow each other in the app to see their playlists and friends’ listening habits. New subscription plans, personalised playlists, the library feature, displaying lyrics, and many more improvements have been made over the years. In 2021, Spotify removed the default shuffle feature for albums upon a request from the artist Adele. This way, Spotify enhanced its core product in a way that all types of users could benefit from. 

Today 

As of today, Spotify is the leading music streaming service, operating in over 170 countries, with more than 180 million subscribers, over 430 million monthly users, and 100 million songs. Currently, Spotify also offers podcasts in addition to music streaming. 5 million podcasts are available on Spotify. 

 Key Takeaways from Spotify's Story

• Innovation in Response to Challenges: Spotify addressed the issues of piracy and limited access to music by offering a legal streaming service with a vast library of songs.

• Agile Development Approach: Spotify embraced lean startup principles, agile methodologies, and continuous delivery to iterate and improve their product based on user feedback.

• User-Centric Focus: User feedback played a crucial role in shaping Spotify's features and decisions, ensuring a personalised and engaging music streaming experience.

• Constant Innovation: Spotify continuously enhances its core product by introducing new features, expanding its platform to include podcasts, and responding to artist and user requests.

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Starting small doesn't mean you can't grow. Spotify started simply but strongly with an MVP and continuously added new features. Get off to a running start with the assistance of DoganTech's expertise in building your MVP. Book a call with us to begin your journey with an MVP.