Building a new product area at Spotify
We were tasked with building new features that would help creators connect more intimately with their fans, ultimately creating new lines of revenue for artists and Spotify.
Product area lead
Design lead
The Spotify for Artists team was tasked with creating a new monetization offering for fans and artists, and creating new revenue streams for Spotify.
As a product area lead, I was responsible for the success of the 50 person product area, which included setting goals and OKRs for the various squads, setting goals for the team, and communicating the vision. Alongside my fellow leads—tech, product and research—I set the roadmap for how the products evolved from 0 to 1, all while gathering feedback from artist and fans to inform iterations.
As design lead, I was responsible for the design of everything the product area built. This involved guiding the designers I managed, as well as socializing the work outside of our immediate team, communicating progress to leadership, and collaborating with designs across Spotify.
My roles for this projectWe started by looking at what we already knew about creators and fans.
3 NEW PRODUCTS •
3 NEW PRODUCTS •
Most artists make money by touring and selling merch. Why not help them sell outside their shows?
Product #1
Product #2
Fans and artists have been telling us for years that they wanted more ways to connect. Why not build something to foster that connection?
Fans want to connect with their favorite artists outside of just shows. Why not give them a way to directly support and connect more intimately?
Product #3
Merch integration •
Merch integration •
Product #1
We built an integration with Shopify, giving artist the ability to connect the stores they already have and sell anything they want to their fans.
Learn more > (coming soon)
Live artist rooms •
Live artist rooms •
Product #2
We incubated a brand new product that allows artist to connect intimately to their top fans.
Fan communities •
Fan communities •
Product #3
We began testing a new subscription product that would give fans more access to their favorite artists.
Takeaways from the experience
Creating a new product area was a pretty massive undertaking. We had to create a mission, vision and goals from scratch, while also determining OKRs that were flexible enough to account for the ups and downs of innovation , while also realistic enough to justify the efforts.
Leading a product area taught me how invigorating incubating new products can be from a leadership perspective. Innovation is always a rollercoaster of success and failure, but staying positive while also knowing when to admit failure feels really different when you’re responsible for a team of 50 people.