Spotify is now testing Your Offline Mix, a playlist feature that’s automatically available when devices don’t have an internet connection. Photo credit: Ivan Akimenko
Spotify is officially testing “Your Offline Mix” – a playlist that, as the name suggests, can be accessed when devices aren’t connected to the internet.
Streaming giant CEO Daniel Ek confirmed the offline playlist test in a short tweet. “We’ve been testing a new feature called ‘Your Offline Mix’ – a playlist for those times when you might not be online.” wrote The 40-year-old included an airplane emoji and a screenshot in his message.
However, the Stockholm native is refraining from announcing a potential release date for Your Offline Mix, which TechCrunch says has been in development for “a couple of years.” In any case, the mentioned screenshot shows a 210+ minute runtime for the offline playlist, which the text describes as “a mix of your recently played songs for when the mood is high but the connection is low”.
Fan reactions to Ek’s post – who appears to have become increasingly active on Twitter this year – appear to be generally positive. Some have requested information on the possible launch date and whether podcasts will eventually be included.
Others, on the other hand, indicated that they had already downloaded their favorite songs on Spotify – paying users have long been able to listen to them offline – and took the opportunity to demand the introduction of various features.
“Meaningless,” said one critical observer. “How about making sure the record label was named and you could click through to explore a label’s entire catalogue? That’s what real music fans want.”
“Cool idea, but I’d still like an ETA for Lossless,” commented another Twitter user. “The drop in quality after using Apple Music is quite noticeable on a decent set of headphones. Now there’s a solid Windows app for AM, I have almost no incentive to listen to Spotify as it sounds worse.”
Ek’s announcement of Your Offline Mix comes at a time when Spotify is transforming its team and podcasting strategy in pursuit of profitability.
On Monday, the Bumble-affiliated platform announced about 200 podcasting layoffs (several positions at Parcast and Gimlet were affected), before reportedly tackling syndication of some of its exclusive programs. When the market closed today, Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) stock was worth $150.48 per share — up nearly a percent on the day.