Live Artist Rooms: building intimacy at scale on Spotify

Spotify had the audience. Artists had the fans. Both sides were begging for a bridge between the two on the platform.

Spotify was a one-sided marketplace — creators release content, fans consume it. There was no way for artists and fans to connect directly. Meanwhile, the creator economy was shifting power away from attention-based platforms toward platforms built on fandom.

The numbers made it clear: only 16,000 artists on Spotify earned more than $30k in royalties in 2021. Over 70% of income for mid-tier artists already came from outside of streaming. The alternative path to success — one built on superfans, not superstardom — didn't exist on Spotify yet.

Co-leading a 50-person product area from blank page

I set the OKRs, shaped the roadmap from pilot to beta, and owned the design vision across all three products we shipped. Alongside my fellow leads in tech, product, and research, I defined what monetized fandom looks like on a streaming platform.

As design lead, I guided the designers I managed, socialized the work across Spotify, communicated progress to leadership, and drove the visual and interaction direction for everything the product area built.

Testing ideas with real artists and real fans

We ran a structured pilot with 3 artists and subsets of their superfans — weekly feedback sessions, rapid concept testing, willingness-to-pay probing. The pilot shaped every product decision that followed.

The key finding: fans showed some interest in exclusive static content, but their willingness to pay for it was low. Interest in interactive, real-time experiences was dramatically higher. They wanted any opportunity to interact with their favorite artists live.

We ran a focus group with the band Lion Babe and a separate one with their fans for a constant feedback loop to iterate on designs

An early prototype of the live listening prototype with Elohim

Live artist rooms for artists and their top fans

We built live artist rooms where artists can invite their top fans into an intimate conversation. The rooms include chat for fan-to-fan community, real-time reactions to music and announcements, and the ability for artists to play new releases so top fans get an early listen.

Three principles from the pilot guided every design decision: it had to be music-centric, it had to foster intimacy, and it had to build community — not just between artist and fan, but between fans themselves.

Artists offer tickets to superfans, fans purchase them to support and receive direct connection with their favorite artists and bands.

Artists can invite their top fans to have an intimate conversation with them

Chat functionality fosters community amongst fans and offers real-time reaction to music and announcements from the artist

Artists can play new releases in the room so top fans get an early preview of new music

Live Artist Rooms was one of three monetization products we shipped

Shopify Integration — most artists make money by touring and selling merch, but had no way to sell directly to fans on Spotify. We built an integration with Shopify, giving artists the ability to connect the stores they already have and sell anything they want to their fans right on the platform. This shipped and was covered by TechCrunch, Variety, AdWeek, and Music Ally.

Artist profile with merch tab powered by Shopify

Fans browse the full merch catalog without leaving Spotify

Product detail with sizing and pricing via shop.spotify.com

Full checkout flow with add to cart and buy it now

Fan Communities — we began testing a subscription product giving fans ongoing access to their favorite artists, beyond one-off events. This was the earliest-stage of the three products, exploring what a recurring fan relationship could look like on a streaming platform.

All three products came from the same product area, the same team, and the same research. Live Artist Rooms was the one that generated the strongest signal.

What the numbers said

Building from a blank page with 50 people

Standing up a product area from scratch means you're simultaneously making the thing and building the team capable of making the thing. The OKR work was some of the hardest — flexible enough to survive real innovation cycles, specific enough to justify a 50-person investment.

This project taught me how to hold a team's energy across a long, uncertain arc — and how to admit failure fast enough that it doesn't derail the long-term potential of the opportunity space.

Coverage