{"id":31395,"date":"2018-11-13T10:47:23","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T15:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-ai-generate-content\/"},"modified":"2018-11-13T10:47:23","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T15:47:23","slug":"spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotify: Can machine learning drive content generation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction: Spotify<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spotify is a wildly popular music streaming platform that has become ubiquitous among it\u2019s millennial user base. With more than 190 million monthly active users, and 87 million premium paid users, Spotify is growing quickly [1]. As millions of users access the music platform every day, Spotify has access to an unprecedented amount of data about music preferences of the masses. Through the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence, Spotify has begun to utilize this data to provide better services to both the content creators and consumers.<\/p>\n

Why Machine Learning?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having reached a critical mass of users, Spotify is now using machine learning to capitalize on the quantity to make sure their users stick around. They are continuously collecting information about what a user listens to, how often, and when they save a song to a playlist. Using all of this information, Spotify is able to implement a few different methods of machine learning in order to predict what songs a user will like with uncanny accuracy [2]. These methods are critical to product development and process improvement at Spotify, because it is their main differentiator. Pandora, Apple Music, and Amazon Music are just a few of its competitors, but none have the same amount of user data generated on a daily basis [3].<\/p>\n

The ability to provide impeccable recommendations as well as unique content like the \u201cDiscover Weekly\u201d and \u201cRelease Radar\u201d is a significant pull for new users, as well as a critical for the stickiness of the product to existing users [4]. As Spotify \u201clearns\u201d about a user\u2019s preferences, the personalized playlists improve, and users are incentivized to continue the use of the product. The service Spotify provides beyond just access to music is hinged upon their ability to show users new music that is curated for their taste. This is why they keep coming back for more.<\/p>\n

Source: Quartz [4]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Spotify\u2019s Machine Learning Innovation Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spotify has been making active efforts to stay agile and well equipped for the advances made in machine learning in recent years. In Spotify\u2019s short term, they have acquired many data and machine learning-focused companies. For example, they acquired Niland in 2017, which is a machine learning product that helps provide better search and recommendation power. They also acquired MightyTV for its content recommendation service and Sonalytic, an audio detection service [5]. They are using this strategy to keep abreast with the latest innovation in this space.<\/p>\n

For their medium-term strategy, they have been making talent acquisition a priority by seeking out data scientists and statisticians that will be a source of future innovation. Francois Pachet, a science and AI music composition expert, was recently hired, signaling an interest in AI-generated music [5]. \u00a0With the launch of \u201cSpotify for Artists\u201d, Spotify is also starting to offer more services to the other side of the music industry \u2013 content creators. This tool generates analytics and trend information that can help artists to connect more closely with their audience [6]. This is just the beginning of the applications of machine learning and big data to content generation.<\/p>\n

Recommendations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spotify should continue to invest time and money in both sides of their business \u2013 content curation and generation. By evangelizing this technology on both sides, they would be able to grow their user base (driving revenues) as well as develop greater relationships with artists and the music industry (their cost drivers). In the short term, Spotify should continue to make acquisitions where applicable and hire top talent. Seeking risk takers from related industries and academic will drive innovation forward.<\/p>\n

In the medium term, Spotify should begin to explore the curation of other forms of media. Podcasts are already available on Spotify, live talk radio may be an interesting foray. One can also imagine music videos are a simple next step, giving way to longer form video content in the future. As Spotify\u2019s artificial intelligence-generated content research continues, these other forms of media may be an interesting application of these innovations.<\/p>\n

Open Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How can Spotify capitalize on AI-generated content? Do you expect users to engage in this kind of content beyond the \u201cnovelty\u201d phase?<\/li>\n
  2. Should Spotify expand beyond music into video content? How can would this affect their place in the competitive landscape?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    (711 words)<\/em><\/p>\n

    References<\/strong><\/p>\n

    [1] Spotify. “Spotify Technology S.A. Announces Financial Results for Third Quarter 2018.” News release, November 1, 2018. Accessed November 12, 2018. Spotify Technology S.A. Announces Financial Results for Third Quarter 2018.<\/p>\n

    [2] Ciocca, Sophia. “How Does Spotify Know You So Well?” Medium. June 21, 2018. Accessed November 13, 2018. https:\/\/medium.com\/s\/story\/spotifys-discover-weekly-how-machine-learning-finds-your-new-music-19a41ab76efe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    [3] Aswad, Jem, and Roy Trakin. “As Spotify Prepares to Go Public, How Do Its Competitors Measure Up?” Variety. April 03, 2018. Accessed November 13, 2018. https:\/\/variety.com\/2018\/music\/news\/as-spotify-goes-public-how-do-its-competitors-measure-apple-music-amazon-1202741460\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    [4] Pasick, Adam. “The Magic That Makes Spotify’s Discover Weekly Playlists so Damn Good.” Quartz. December 22, 2015. Accessed November 13, 2018. https:\/\/qz.com\/571007\/the-magic-that-makes-spotifys-discover-weekly-playlists-so-damn-good\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    [5] Marr, Bernard. “The Amazing Ways Spotify Uses Big Data, AI And Machine Learning To Drive Business Success.” Forbes. October 30, 2017. Accessed November 13, 2018. https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/bernardmarr\/2017\/10\/30\/the-amazing-ways-spotify-uses-big-data-ai-and-machine-learning-to-drive-business-success\/#74a3aa8a4bd2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    [6] Constine, John. “Sound Lessons from Spotify: How Technology Can Power a Business.” TechGenix. January 22, 2018. Accessed November 13, 2018. http:\/\/techgenix.com\/lessons-from-spotify\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Spotify is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to explore both content curation and creation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11873,"featured_media":31417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[4627,1188,346,249,2738,2484,425,1633],"class_list":["post-31395","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intellgience","category-consumer-technology","category-machine-learning","category-music","category-spotify","category-streaming-services","category-sweden","category-united-states","hck-taxonomy-organization-spotify","hck-taxonomy-industry-technology","hck-taxonomy-country-sweden"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2018\/","yoast_head":"\nSpotify: Can machine learning drive content generation? - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spotify: Can machine learning drive content generation? - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spotify is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to explore both content curation and creation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/1_2IR284QJInlk1G3mrtty8g.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Spotify: Can machine learning drive content generation? - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/1_2IR284QJInlk1G3mrtty8g.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-13T15:47:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/1_2IR284QJInlk1G3mrtty8g.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/1_2IR284QJInlk1G3mrtty8g.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Spotify: Can machine learning drive content generation?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Spotify: Can machine learning drive content generation? - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Spotify: Can machine learning drive content generation? - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"Spotify is using machine learning and artificial intelligence to explore both content curation and creation.","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/1_2IR284QJInlk1G3mrtty8g.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/","name":"Spotify: Can machine learning drive content generation? - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/1_2IR284QJInlk1G3mrtty8g.png","datePublished":"2018-11-13T15:47:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/1_2IR284QJInlk1G3mrtty8g.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/1_2IR284QJInlk1G3mrtty8g.png","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/spotify-can-machine-learning-drive-content-generation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Spotify: Can machine learning drive content generation?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/31395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11873"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/31395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}