Last month, Spotify announced a partnership with Facebook to expand their music and podcast streaming via a mini player in a new initiative called ‘Project Boombox’.
With this partnership, Facebook is building a mini player that will allow users to listen to songs/playlists and podcasts being shared on the platforms without being externally linked to Spotify’s app or website. It has already been tested in non-U.S. markets, including Mexico and Thailand, and it’s expected to arrive in about a week.
“We think that audio is going to be a first-class medium and that there are all these different products to be built across this whole spectrum,” said Zuckerberg. “Of course, it includes some areas that, that have been, you know, popular recently like podcasting and kind of live audio rooms like this, but I also think that there’s some interesting things that are under-explored in the area overall.”
The mini player was designed to improve the experience of creators on its platforms, specifically the ability of musicians and podcast hosts to share their work in a more streamlined way.
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When a user posts an individual track or podcast episode to Facebook through this sharing feature, the post will now display in a new miniplayer that allows other people who come across their post to also play the content as they continue to scroll, or reshare it.
Spotify premium users can discover and experience songs and episodes with full playback directly from Spotify inside the Facebook app on iOS and Android though Spotify free users will be accompanied by ads.
Beyond Spotify shares to Facebook News Feed, listeners will also have the ability to play songs or podcasts via the miniplayer through select verified artists’ posts, or even from user-uploaded videos on Facebook that contain licensed music. Your podcast reach just got even greater.
There are over 3 million podcasts on Spotify and over 2.8 billion users on Facebook which means that the partnership allows Spotify to leverage Facebook’s reach to gain distribution and to drive both sign-ups and repeat usage of its app.
In an age where every app is reinventing their services to keep users on the platforms for longer, it appears Facebook is heading in that direction. The app started off with adding Reels and not to mention a ClubHouse-like audio feature therefore, the addition of music and podcasts on the social networking app is set to improve user experience which retention.
It seems as though Spotify’s arch nemesis Apple podcasts may be knocked off their podium as ‘the leading podcast platform’ after news of this partnership.
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Here’s how to launch the Spotify Facebook miniplayer
Launching the Spotify Facebook mini player is simple:
- Tap the “Play” button on the song you, your friend, family member, or favorite creator shared from Spotify to their Facebook News Feed.
- The first time you’re using the miniplayer, you’ll see a consent dialog open—click on “Connect” to continue.
- If you’re logged in to Spotify, the apps will automatically switch and playback will start from within the Spotify app. (If you’re not logged in, you will be prompted to do so.)
- Spotify keeps playing even if you keep scrolling down your News Feed, but you’ll have control over playback options so you can pause or dismiss the miniplayer.
