The recently Australian launched Spotify is looking to expand listeners’ musical palette with the creators of the music themselves in a series of new artist-curated apps for its digital music streaming service.
In a move to help set itself apart from competitors – such as Telstra’s new MOG service and similar streaming clients like Rdio, Deezer and JBHiFi NOW – FMQB reports that Spotfiy has secured four artists to curate new applications that cater to specific genres and catalogues, with a view to more artists and music experts contributing new programs in the upcoming weeks.
The first in the new series of Artist Apps comes from Quincy Jones, Tiësto, Rancid and Disturbed, with each providing a unique platform to explore Spotify and its catalogue.
Former jazz player, RnB titan and Michael Jackson producer, Quincy Jones offers Quincy Jones – The Stories Behind The Music; which features exclusive audio from the man himself in combination with tailored playlists and exclusive behind-the-scenes info about his amazing career. Jones has also provided insight and commentary on his own personal heroes and mentors as well as his own hit-making career in movies and music.
The highest earning DJ going today, Tiësto curates his own selection of the best of dance music that Spotify has to offer on Tiësto’s Club Life. The app will also feature the producer’s own picks for single of the week, album of the month, festival of the month, as well as a Top 20 music chart.
Punk veterans Rancid keep it simple, providing their self-titled Rancid app, with all four band members providing selections from their own record collections with annotations on the punk and hardcore music that inspired them.
Lastly hard rock act Disturbed have put together their eponymous app, presenting rock and metal selections and playlists from past, present and future. They’ll also be including playlist’s from some of their musician pals and commentary of their selections.
Speaking of the newly introduced Artist Apps series, Spotify’s Artist-In-Residence D.A. Wallach said “we wanted to create a space on Spotify where artists could have 100% creative control – giving the apps their own feel, functionality and direction, and building rich and engaging experiences for their fans.” Adding that, “our goal is to partner with artists to create the best possible experience for our users.”
Currently, the app section of Spotify is a bit light on the ground – with around forty apps available to users, with Triple J‘s own application currently topping the list as the streaming service’s most popular. Dan Rosen, CEO of Australian charts body ARIA, has also discussed the possibility of producing an app for the digital music platform, which could launch alongside their proposed streaming music chart before the end of the year.
