Spotify, a premium music streaming service, is set to begin using NFTs in unlocking its music playlists. Though the project is starting out small, the NFT community will be able to use a token-gated system to unlock exclusive content on Spotify. Spotify is running this as a pilot project and is currently accessible or limited to certain regions and platforms.
As of now the service is only available to Android users in the UK, USA, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Iphone users on the other hand cannot access the service because last year Apple made a move to restrict the functionalities of NFTs. This is because Apple has their own payment methods and mandates its users to make use of Apple paying methods to purchase services. The platform although allows its users to mint NFTs and view their balances and that is the end of the functionality of NFTs on the platform.
The pilot project to use NFTs as a way of unlocking exclusive content on Spotify has captured the attention of Kingship which is a subsidiary of Metaverse under Universal Music Group. Under this service Kingship has released a special playlist that can only be accessed by Kingship key card NFT holders. Overload is another music company that has commenced using the service.
Exclusive playlists are unlocked using NFTs which involves linking your crypto wallet such as Metamask, Rainbow or Zerion to authenticate the NFT that unlocks the playlists. Fluf and Kevin Rose’s Moonbirds have also released playlists that can be unlocked using their respective token holders.
Spotify has said that it routinely carries out tests to enhance the user experience of the platform. The company while commenting to Kingship and Overload said they have no news on future plans but this indicates that Spotify may soon offer more content that is token gated including albums and podcasts. In recent days Spotify has listed a lot of web-3 related jobs meaning they are dedicated in exploring this concept for a large scale application in future.
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In conclusion, I know that more streaming services will be willing to onboard this concept into their services in the near future. This will be accelerated especially since Spotify has demonstrated that the concept is applicable and that the necessary technology is in place to offer users exclusive content. This concept could also help content creators get an earning out of their content. This concept however may face reluctance in uptake due to the current crypto winter and other associated scams like FTX and Voyager. As of now, its a wait and see scenario and more updates will be available on March 8 when Spotify will be holding an event called Stream On that is keen on unlocking possibilities for more content creators.
