Spotify Looks To Wellness To Boost Engagement

NEW YORK, United States — Music streaming platform Spotify has launched a new wellness-inspired service that taps into consumer thirst for mindfulness, self-improvement and mental wellness.

‘Daily Wellness’, features a personalised mix of grounding motivational podcasts and feel-good music that the company claims can help listeners find positivity, mindfulness, or peace throughout their day. According to the brand: “No matter how you choose to incorporate wellness into your life, Spotify’s Daily Wellness Playlist makes it easy to add a little “me time” to your routine.”

And, at a time when individuals are prioritising their health and wellness more than ever before — a trend heightened in response to the coronavirus pandemic — the move is already paying off. 

According to the company, it has experienced a spike in searches for “chill” and “instrumental” playlists, as well as an “uptick in consumption of podcasts related to wellness and meditation over the last few weeks”. By curating that content into easily accessible and streamlined playlists, it hopes to give consumers another reason to come back to its streaming service.

To fit with the flow of ‘a typical day’ and help combat ‘real-time’ wellness concerns, the new playlist will update once in the morning and then again in the evening. In the morning listeners will be greeted with positive, motivational content to kickstart their day, followed by podcasts to empower and inspire, and then at night mindfulness exercises and relaxing music to prepare for sleep. The aim is to gradually embed itself into the daily habits and rituals of its users.

The new approach also ties in with what Spotify has identified as changes in consumer listening behaviour since global lockdowns and self-isolation came into play.

“It’s clear from our data that morning routines have changed significantly. Every day now looks like the weekend,” Spotify said.

The music service also revealed that listening time around activities like cooking, doing chores, family time, and relaxing at home have also risen by double digits over the past few weeks. So supporting this change in lifestyle behaviour through nuanced and personalised content is a clever way to add value to its model and position itself to come out the other side even stronger.

Despite the global uncertainty around COVID-19 in Q1, Spotify’s most recent financial performance report highlighted a positive performance, with the business having met or exceeded its forecast for all major metrics. User growth increased with 286 million total users and 130 million paying customers, which helped to bring in $1.95 billion in revenue — a trajectory it’s keen to keep intact.

Unsurprisingly, the company expects to see that growth slow over the coming months but is positive it will break the 300 million user milestone.

“We are in unprecedented times and, like most, we are trying to navigate this uncertainty as best we can. We are fortunate that as a business we are able to operate with very little disruption and our hope is that providing music, information, and an escape for many can provide some joy and comfort,” it outlined in the report.

As it continues to drive execution and innovation by tapping into new COVID-facilitated behaviours, that milestone might be sooner rather than later.