Meta and Spotify Partner to Enhance Music Sharing on Instagram

• Meta and Spotify are testing a feature allowing continuous music sharing via Instagram’s Notes, enhancing social and music integration.
• The feature, discovered by Alessandro Paluzzi, would let users automatically share their Spotify music on Instagram, with full control over sharing settings.
• This development builds on previous collaborations between Meta and Spotify, aiming to increase user engagement and challenge competitors like TikTok in music discovery.

Meta and Spotify are apparently exploring a new feature that would allow users to continuously share the music they’re listening to via Instagram’s Notes. This might dramatically improve the user experience on Instagram. This possible improvement, if implemented, would signify a closer integration between the popular social media platform and the world’s largest music streaming service.

The new feature was discovered by Alessandro Paluzzi, a well-known reverse engineer who routinely discovers unreleased app features. In a recent post on Meta’s Threads, Paluzzi provided a screenshot of a new Instagram feature that allows users to “continuously share” Spotify music. This would be a departure from the present feature, which allows users to choose certain songs from Instagram’s existing repertoire to share.

“You can stop sharing at any time,” says a notice in the screenshot, implying that consumers have complete control over their music-sharing options.

If this feature becomes accessible, it will add to Instagram’s 2022 launch of the ability to post 30-second song clips via Notes. Notes, which appear at the top of an Instagram user’s inbox, enabling them to quickly alter their status or send messages. Since its inception, the song clip function has been available in all areas where Instagram holds music license rights, making it a worldwide accessible tool for music sharing.

The possible connection with Spotify might automate these music-sharing posts, providing Instagram with a consistent supply of material even when users are using other apps. This would match the social networking activity that now exists within Spotify. Spotify users may now “connect with Facebook” to see what their friends are streaming via a dedicated tab in the desktop app. Spotify has also experimented with a Community feature that would allow users to view what others are streaming in real time on mobile devices, though this function has yet to be generally available.

This is not Meta’s first collaboration with Spotify. In 2021, the two businesses launched a mini player that let Spotify customers stream directly from Facebook. Given their previous collaborations and shared concerns about Apple’s App Store restrictions, more integration between the two appears to be a natural next step.

In recent weeks, there have been further evidence of a deepening relationship between Meta and Spotify. According to technologist Chris Messina, Instagram installed a “SpotifyiOS.framework” component to its app about the time it released Instagram version v.338.0. Messina also hypothesized that Instagram would link its new profile music function with Spotify, making the app a greater competitor to TikTok in terms of music discovery.

Both Meta and Spotify have motives for deepening their connection. Adding more social capabilities corresponds with Spotify’s continuing attempts to improve music discovery through social networking. Integrating more music-related content could help Meta keep user engagement and compete in the social media market.

As these firms continue to explore new ways to collaborate, customers may soon see even more inventive services that combine social networking with music streaming, blurring the distinction between the two. While it is unclear when or if this new music-sharing function will be released to the public, its development indicates that Meta and Spotify are keen to provide their users with more seamless and participatory experiences.

Source: TechCrunch