Music Giant Spotify Looks to Step into Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies are slowly but surely winning over the marketplace. Many new segments of the industry are looking to advance their current services by adopting a decentralised approach to business. 

Spotify, one of the world’s leaders in online music streaming, seems to be taking advancing steps into the crypto world according to their latest job vacancy posting.  

It is evident that the company is looking to hire an associate director that will head up innovations and developments with regards to payment strategies in the cryptocurrency arena. The post read: 

“You will evangelize the payments strategy & capabilities internally and externally to all key stakeholders.” 

It went on to say that the respective executive would drive new opportunities within the emerging systems of stable coins, CBDCs, cryptocurrencies, blockchains, and distributed ledger technology. 

 Not New to the Concept of Crypto 

Spotify forms part of Facebook’s Diem Foundation (the former Libra Foundation), which is set to launch a new centralised blockchain currency network in 2021. This means that crypto is no foreign concept to the company.  

Further involvement in the decentralised space was observed in 2017 when Spotify acquired MediaChain, a peer-to-peer blockchain-based sharing platform to help solve their payments and rights holder’s issues within the music industry.  

The music market leader appears to be preparing themselves for a future where crypto leads the way. While some politicians and businessmen are sceptical about the decentralised nature of cryptocurrency, it cannot be discounted that the principles of blockchain present an invaluable way to trace and register transactions – something a platform of Spotify’s size could truly benefit from. 

In a tightly contested market, where similar platforms like Apple Music, SoundCloud, and Tidal offer tough competition, it will be the adoption of new and immerging innovations like this that will keep Spotify on the cutting edge of development and drive up their customer base.  

 Set to Take the Monopoly? 

If Spotify has done their homework, and we believe they have, then they will have noticed how blockchain technology has been re-invigorating the music industry. 

Top music artists like Pitbull, Gramatik, and Lupe Fiasco are advocators of decentralised technologies in music. According to builtin.com, these artists punt the ledger system as… 

‘’…a way to efficiently release music, streamline royalty payments, eliminate expensive middlemen and establish a point of origin for music creators. Which is to say blockchain can re-establish the way music is produced, bought, sold, listened to, and managed in a fair and transparent way.’’ 

Artists are frustrated by the minimal benefits and royalties that they are receiving through popular streaming platforms at the moment and are moving to cut out the middleman completely. Spotify’s attempts to lead this segment may be a means to win over this corner of the market again and improve on their already sizable 320 million user-base. 

 Hearsay and Hopes 

For now, Spotify’s intentions are theories and speculation. Should the industry giant move steadily into crypto realms, it is sure to attract the interests of other big players to do the same.  

We should not be surprised to see the blockchain market grow in leaps and bounds over the next decade as a result of such initiatives.