Connecting Artists and Fans
Usability Testing
Summary
The high-level objective of this study was to discover points of friction for users when using Spotify. Focus was given towards the accessibility of features related to the purchasing of artist merchandise.
Users encountered multiple difficulties when interacting with merchandise systems on Spotify.
Organizations can leverage insights to improve user experience and help support stakeholders as they connect to fans through product experiences.
Background
Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming service that services 381 million users, including 172 million paying subscribers around the world. Spotify is usually the dominating streaming service in the markets it serves, and hence is the largest audio streaming service in the world.
Spotify as a platform hosts music, podcasts, and other audio content, but currently struggles to differentiate itself from other platforms such as Apple Music and Tidal.
This exploration was designed to gather behavioural data about Spotify usage, engagement with artists, and the ease of using the service.
As a Software as a Service (SaaS) application, Spotify’s revenue model is driven by subscription via Spotify Premium and ad revenue for Spotify Free Version users. In the last year, Spotify’s share price has slid, partly due to continued poor quarterly reports on KPIs.
In addition, artists – particularly smaller ones – often complain about how difficult it is to monetize on Spotify. As streaming becomes the increasingly popular option for music access, artists once reliant on physical album sales and radio plays are shifting to streaming platforms. But does it have to be this way?
In recent years, physical album and merchandise sales have become largely supplementary to income from touring and streaming. Merchandise is sold on Spotify through Merchbar, but are products accessible to users in Spotify’s current design?
This project relies on the usage of usability testing.
Goals
The high-level goal of this exploration was to determine:
Are there points of friction and difficulty when attempting to buy merchandise/tickets through Spotify?
How can Spotify best support artist merch/ tickets sales?
It is in Spotify’s best interest to empower creators to be able to open ways to monetize off their success beyond streaming share time. This can help increase brand loyalty for artists who use Spotify frequently, as well as enable consumers to build deeper emotional connections with the artists that they listen to on Spotify.
Method
Methodology: Remote, moderated usability test with post-test debrief and interview.
Through the usage of usability testing, researchers can find points of friction that users may come across as they interact with products with a limited number of participants. This would help accomplish key goals and answer research questions to solve business problems.
Participants were directed to complete tasks given. To offset carryover effects, the order of the tasks was randomized. No assistance was given to participants. Participants were directed to tell their thoughts (think-aloud protocol) as they went through the process. Notes were taken on the amount of time and the number of errors for each task. Sessions were done via screen sharing in Discord.
Example Task:
You decide that you really like the British singer, Adele.
Using Spotify, find where to buy tickets to see her in concert at Hyde Park, London.
Using Spotify, find where to buy ‘ADELE 30 CD’
Participants
I asked five Spotify users to attempt to complete the tasks through the desktop app. Both users from the ad-supported and premium plans were represented in the sample.
Given the scope of usability testing, maximizing internal validity is the highest priority task for this study.
Findings
Evaluations collected from usability testing were collected here, refer to the key below for meanings.
| UID | Gender | Location | Subscription | Age | Task 1 Completion | Task 2 Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F | Rostock, Germany | Ad-Supported | 22 | ❌ | ❌ |
| 2 | M | Sétif, Algeria | Ad-Supported | 20 | ✔ | ✔ |
| 3 | F | East Lansing, USA | Premium | 27 | ⭕ | ✔ |
| 4 | F | Auckland, NZ | Premium | 30 | ⭕ | ⭕ |
| 5 | M | Birmingham, UK | Premium | 26 | ✔ | ✔ |
Key:
✔ - Task completed successfully with no major errors.
⭕ - Task completed successfully, but with significant errors or deviance.
❌ - Task was not able to be completed.
Are there points of friction and difficulty when attempting to buy merchandise/tickets through Spotify?
The majority of users were unable to easily find artist merch on the Artist page. After finding Artist merch, users stated:
“I wouldn’t even know that this was available.”
“I didn’t even know you could buy CDs on Spotify.”
“I don’t usually look at the bottom of the page.”
Users were also unable to find where to buy tickets:
“Why on earth would Spotify put this all the way at the bottom?”
“You can buy tickets on Spotify? I didn’t even know you could do that.”
Participants who had cleared the task successfully also echoed similar sentiments about the relative difficulty of the task
“I only knew that this was available because I often explore a lot on Spotify.”
“I feel like most people would not be able to know that this stuff was here.”
Through the think-aloud protocol, it was discovered that users did not know that these tasks were even possible through Spotify, and were often confused on how they could even approach the problem.
This also gives pointers to the belief that perhaps Spotify is seen first and foremost as an audio-streaming platform. If Spotify were to emphasise a greater “retail element”, it would be good to consider whether that is something that users would be interested in doing.
These findings also indicate is that these tasks had a high cognitive load (took more effort) as many users did not even that these options existed.
How can Spotify best support artist merch/ tickets sales?
Some users expressed that they would rather buy merch using other methods.
“If I wanted to buy artist merch, I would just google it and select the top result”
“I typically would buy through Amazon.”
From the insights generated through the think-aloud protocol, most users feel as though other platforms for buying merchandise are more valuable.
In addition, given the difficulty users had for the tasks, it appears that a design that places merchandise in a more prominent spot could increase user engagement. If Spotify generates a cut from these sales, then it could potentially increase the revenue streams that Spotify depends on to deliver on key metrics. In addition, Spotify can potentially partner with major retailers such as Amazon (worldwide), Alibaba Group (worldwide), or Shopee (SEA) to push artist merch to Spotify’s userbase.
Limitations
Value alignment
Despite a high-level understanding of Spotify’s goals when connecting artists and fans, it is difficult to gauge whether the conclusions are worth acting on.
Spotify likely has a higher interest in promoting audio content, particularly podcasts, as opposed to physical merchandise or tickets.
Sample constraints
Key users, especially those that are not digital natives, were not available to participate in this survey.
Older pools of people may have varying levels of difficulty.
Next Steps
Follow-up usability explorations, and A/B testing on new user interfaces could address a couple key questions. Does a new design improve interactivity with these features? What do user listening behaviours indicate? Does a group have higher engagement with merch if they use that new version? Does a newer design correlate with certain listening activities? These answers can be answered throughout the UX design process.
The hope with A/B testing is to allow analysis on whether exposure to merch systems changes user behaviour. If Spotify takes a cut of revenue generated through e-commerce platforms, then it presents another revenue stream that Spotify can leverage to make further investments into musical experiences in the future.