Spotify is apparently experimenting with adding non-fungible tokens (NFT) onto its platform for the benefit of artists. According to Music Ally, some Android users in the US have received a survey asking them to participate in a test that lets them preview NFTs on artists’ pages.
The feature seems to be in the early stages, however, as the survey casts a wide net of possible perks and utilities that users might want with NFT purchases on Spotify. Some of the suggestions include adding the digital tokens to their library, interactive challenges, the ability to display them on their phones, gaining concert tickets, and showcasing their NFT ownership on their profiles similar to what Twitter has implemented.
so i got a pop up on Spotify asking for a survey but it’s actually about them implementing NFTs into their service wtf pic.twitter.com/O8iAf0ORXn
— whip shitties (@swiggity_swagg) May 13, 2022
The artists involved in this test are Steve Aoki and The Wombats, which shows an NFT gallery under the artist’s header and song list for users included in the pilot. It doesn’t seem as if Spotify will be getting any revenue for this as the current iteration only allows users to preview NFTs on the artists’ pages, but the purchasing is done by linking to a third-party marketplace such as OpenSea.
As pointed out by The Verge, an oddity of this feature seems to be that Spotify is only allowing previews of still artworks. Videos, GIFs, and sounds — which are all supported on the app — are not included in the NFTs and will require you to go to its OpenSea listing to watch it in its entirety.
While it’s common these days for any company to delve into the NFT space, Spotify might have missed the lucrative bus. The Wall Street Journal reported that, along with the decline of the cryptocurrency market as a whole, daily NFT sales have dropped dramatically by 92%, from 225,000 in September to only 19,000 as of 3 May.
(Source: Music Ally, The Verge)
