For many companies, who have grown up with apps or some services on the Internet, the point at which one thinks they can make their own hardware comes. Google has gone this way, Amazon just as well, and recently Snap Inc (Snapchat), just to name a few.
It looks as if Spotify wants to also rank here and try on its own hardware. Concrete information does not exist, but at Zatz not Funny! One has stumbled over job announcements of the Swedish music streaming service, which actually allow the conclusion that Spotify is based on its own hardware.
As highlighted in the picture, one refers explicitly to the Pebble Watch, Amazon Echo and the Snap Spectacles. This fits with the job advertisements because once a Senior Product Manager for hardware is searched for, as well as a product manager for Voice.
So what could be planned in the company center in Stockholm? Undoubtedly hardware and most likely in the form of a wearable. Here the job vacancies in the full text:
Sr Product Manager hardware
We are looking for a passionate and seasoned Senior Product Manager who wants to join the Platform & Partner. You want to be an industry leader in the industry? A category product Akin to Pebble, Amazon, and Snap Spectacles. You will define the product requirements for internet-connected hardware, the software that powers it, and work with suppliers / factories to deliver the optimal Spotify experience to millions of users. Above all, your work will affect the way the world music & talk content.
and further:
Product Manager – Voice
As a product owner for voice, you will be responsible for the strategy and execution of Spotify’s voice efforts beyond our core apps. Our tribe is responsible for all of the Spotify consumer experiences outside of Spotify’s core iOS and Android applications. We focus on areas like desktop, TVs, speakers, cars, wearables, headphones and partner applications. Voice is quickly becoming a key. Aspects to be included in this role include voice input and feedback, content resolution, technology choices, and data protection.
Even if Spotify did not mention the three devices of Pebble, Amazon and Snapchat in the hardware announcement, you would have thought about it in this direction – Wearables on the one hand and a hardware that can be controlled by voice on the other ,
Personally, I would like to point out that, as the above-mentioned products suggest, one is looking in different directions and would like to work to make the Spotify Experience as easy as possible and to improve it both on the road and at home. At the same time, I also suspect that Spotify is not very far in this way, so these hardware plans are rather abstract. Sure – the staff for it is still apparently still, even if the hardware job advertisment is already disappeared again and can only be seen thanks to web cache.
So do not expect Spotify to appear in the near future with a fancy bracelet, headset or similar, or the Swedes conjure up an Amazon echo competitor from time to time. However, we can expect Spotify to be very specific in this regard and we would like to explore how to design such a hardware.
Who knows – maybe this is also the last step that Spotify has to go in order to make a butterfly out of the start-up caterpillar, which in spite of a great idea is currently mainly burning money, that makes it both financially good for the company As well as the artists are fairer paid than is currently the case. We will keep this in mind, even if Spotify is not willing to confirm these plans
