How Spotify’s homepage UX evolved over 2006–2021
Spotify has been my go to music streaming platform. So I decided to go through Spotify’s website UX timeline and study how their website UX has evolved over the years. Spotify was founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentz. It was available as beta in 2007 and officially launched in 2008. As of in the third quarter of 2021, Spotify reported 381 million active users worldwide.
2006: The design was to advertise for the upcoming music platform, allowed users to sign up to updates via email. Design lacks styles or images except logo. Though they did good job keeping the focus to signing up for email updates.
The design was to provide update about the platform, beta version, job opportunity and signing up visitors for email updates. The font size is smaller, a lot of white space in the design. Overall the design wasn’t engaging at all.
2008: Lots of improvements in the design. Use of images makes the brand look more sophisticated. Navbar looks elegant. Logo could be smaller. Left side white-space column is bigger than right side. Coming soon message would be more welcoming than not available yet.
2009: No major changes
2010: Use of images and cards makes the design a lot improved and engaging. Log in feature, social media support, introducing Spotify mobile; a lot and big improvements.
2011: Not much change from 2010. Some of the graphics are cartoony which loses the sophisticated and elegant look present in previous design. Spotify unlimited plan isn’t giving any value other than no adverts which is a waste.
2012: They went for a minimal design with focus on “Download Spotify” which is straight to the point but lacks descriptive information about features and functionality. Social media buttons were removed.
2013: Spotify logo was changed and it is lot improved from previous logo.
2014: They went back to images and cards design. The imagery gives a sense of fun. Texts are easier to read. Overall design is very good and engaging.
2015: The graphics used are charming and engaging. Use of vibrant color gives it a cool look. Subscription features comparison is cleaner and concise. The logo was redesigned. Spotify family subscription, student discount is also appealing.
2016: Design is pretty similar to 2015. Use of white text color on colored background gives better readability. “Play on all devices” shows importance on accessibility. Use of dark backgrounds also increased. Social media buttons added back. Overall design is very eye catching.
2017: Vibrant colors keep their place but in different hues. White background increased than in 2016 version.
2018: They went for very minimalist design with focus being on getting visitors started with using Spotify. Also displayed partnership offer with Google Home Mini.
2019: Navbar color changed matching with hero section. Not much difference other than that.
2020: With less amount of descriptive sections, black navbar and big footer with black background, design feels darker. Given recent trends towards dark mode the design seems logical.
2021: No major changes.
It is amazing how far the designs evolved from 2006 to current date. And can’t wait to see how it will change in years to come while Spotify hopefully continues to be a great music streaming platform! What change we can expect in 2022, if any? Spotify home website is about their brand value and goals. So it will depend on change in company goal or launch of new features or products.
Source of Spotify website UX timeline images: http://uxtimeline.com/spotify.html
