Spotify is now testing ‘Your Offline Mix,’ a playlist feature that is automatically accessible when devices lack an internet connection. Photo Credit: Ivan Akimenko
Spotify is officially testing “Your Offline Mix” – a playlist that, as its name suggests, is accessible when devices aren’t connected to the internet.
Daniel Ek, the streaming giant’s CEO, confirmed the offline-playlist test in a brief tweet. “We’ve been testing out a new feature called ‘Your Offline Mix’ – a playlist designed for those times when you might not be online,” wrote the 40-year-old, including with his message an airplane emoji and a screenshot.
But the Stockholm native opted not to disclose a potential release date for Your Offline Mix, which has according to TechCrunch been in development for “a couple of years.” In any event, the mentioned screenshot shows a more than 210-minute runtime for the offline playlist, which the text describes as “a mix of your recently played songs for when the vibe is high, but your connection is low.”
Fan responses to the post from Ek – who appears to have become increasingly active on Twitter this year – seem generally positive, with some having requested information about the possible launch date and inquired as to whether podcasts will ultimately be included.
However, others yet indicated that they’d already downloaded their favorite songs on Spotify – paid users have long been able to listen offline – and took the opportunity to call for the rollout of different features.
“Meaningless,” weighed in one critical observer. “How about making it so the record label is credited and you can click through to explore a label’s entire catalog? That’s what real music fans want.”
“cool idea, but i’d still like an ETA on lossless,” commented another Twitter user. “the quality drop off after using something like Apple Music is very noticeable with a decent pair of headphones. Now there is a solid Windows app for AM, i have almost no incentive to listen on Spotify since it sounds worse.”
Ek’s announcement of Your Offline Mix comes as Spotify is revamping its team and its podcasting strategy amid a push for profitability.
On Monday, the Bumble-partnered platform announced about 200 podcasting layoffs (affecting a number of positions at Parcast and Gimlet), for instance, before reportedly embracing the syndication of some of its exclusive programs. When the market closed today, Spotify stock (NYSE: SPOT) was worth $150.48 per share – a close to one percent boost on the day.