With more than 140 million active users globally – and more than 9 million in the UK – the music streaming service Spotify offers a potential route to new audiences for museums.
Of particular interest is its popularity with younger age groups. In 2016, Adweek reported that Spotify’s own data found that 72% of weekly US streams on the service were by “millennials”.
And research by Midia found that last December, 53% of 16-19 year olds in the UK were using Spotify on a weekly basis.
Launched in 2008, Spotify is an online music library that allows people to listen to songs, podcasts and videos for free. Paying subscribers benefit from improved streaming quality, offline music downloads and no advertisements.
One institution developing its use of Spotify is Tate Modern in London. The gallery has experimented with Spotify playlists in the past but for its current exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (until 22 October), it has taken a more strategic approach, and has been in direct contact with Spotify for informal advice and support.
This directly supports the exhibition. Tate Modern’s research found that while there was generally a good understanding of the importance of music in the civil rights movement, there was much less awareness of the role of art.
The curators wanted to find a way of integrating music into the show that did not impose it on people, says Jen Aarvold, Tate Modern’s senior digital producer. They put together a 40-song Spotify playlist that visitors could listen to while viewing the show.
Spotify provided a code that can be scanned on a phone using the Spotify app to start the playlist. This code is displayed on the gallery wall and in the booklet given to visitors.
“It makes the process much more accessible and user-friendly,” Aarvold says.
The tracks are aligned with the artworks on display, through connections with lyrics or album cover art. A postcard is handed to visitors on arrival, which informs them which tracks are intended to be listened to in each room – although initial testing found that many people prefer to follow their own schedule, Aarvold says.
The second playlist, which also has 40 songs, was compiled by Island Records to drive awareness of the exhibition among new audiences. It includes tracks by Bob Marley and the Wailers, Stevie Wonder and the American rapper Kendrick Lamar.
The playlist appears on the Island Records Spotify page, but it is also pinned to Tate’s page on the site. Several Island Records musicians have also pinned the playlist to their pages and shared it on Twitter.
Aarvold says that this partnership is particularly fitting because the president of Island Records, Darcus Beese, is the son of the late British civil rights campaigner Darcus Howe.
“Darcus Beese grew up around the civil rights movement and a lot of the acts he has signed to Island are influenced by it,” Aarvold says.
Using Spotify playlists means that Tate can embed the music on its website without having to clear the rights. It has created an online exhibition guide featuring the curators’ playlist as well as video footage and written content, to give a flavour of the exhibition for those unable to visit in person.
Spotify will share data with Tate on how many times the playlist code for the curators’ playlist is scanned, and how many times it is played. Through its own analytics, Tate will also be able to see how many people are reaching the playlists via its website, and how many people are arriving at its site via Spotify.
Spotify playlists are already used by many museums in the US, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, and several other London museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of London.
Another institution using Spotify playlists is the RAF Museum in London.
This year, it created four playlists including Love is in the air… craft for Valentine’s Day.
Ajay Srivastava, the museum’s public relations manager, says that while engagement is low, the process generates enthusiasm in the institution and is an element of its efforts to attract a younger audience: “It’s a bit of fun and it engages staff a lot, as well as our external audience.”
Of particular interest is its popularity with younger age groups. In 2016, Adweek reported that Spotify’s own data found that 72% of weekly US streams on the service were by “millennials”.
And research by Midia found that last December, 53% of 16-19 year olds in the UK were using Spotify on a weekly basis.
Launched in 2008, Spotify is an online music library that allows people to listen to songs, podcasts and videos for free. Paying subscribers benefit from improved streaming quality, offline music downloads and no advertisements.
One institution developing its use of Spotify is Tate Modern in London. The gallery has experimented with Spotify playlists in the past but for its current exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power (until 22 October), it has taken a more strategic approach, and has been in direct contact with Spotify for informal advice and support.
This directly supports the exhibition. Tate Modern’s research found that while there was generally a good understanding of the importance of music in the civil rights movement, there was much less awareness of the role of art.
The curators wanted to find a way of integrating music into the show that did not impose it on people, says Jen Aarvold, Tate Modern’s senior digital producer. They put together a 40-song Spotify playlist that visitors could listen to while viewing the show.
Spotify provided a code that can be scanned on a phone using the Spotify app to start the playlist. This code is displayed on the gallery wall and in the booklet given to visitors.
“It makes the process much more accessible and user-friendly,” Aarvold says.
The tracks are aligned with the artworks on display, through connections with lyrics or album cover art. A postcard is handed to visitors on arrival, which informs them which tracks are intended to be listened to in each room – although initial testing found that many people prefer to follow their own schedule, Aarvold says.
The second playlist, which also has 40 songs, was compiled by Island Records to drive awareness of the exhibition among new audiences. It includes tracks by Bob Marley and the Wailers, Stevie Wonder and the American rapper Kendrick Lamar.
The playlist appears on the Island Records Spotify page, but it is also pinned to Tate’s page on the site. Several Island Records musicians have also pinned the playlist to their pages and shared it on Twitter.
Aarvold says that this partnership is particularly fitting because the president of Island Records, Darcus Beese, is the son of the late British civil rights campaigner Darcus Howe.
“Darcus Beese grew up around the civil rights movement and a lot of the acts he has signed to Island are influenced by it,” Aarvold says.
Using Spotify playlists means that Tate can embed the music on its website without having to clear the rights. It has created an online exhibition guide featuring the curators’ playlist as well as video footage and written content, to give a flavour of the exhibition for those unable to visit in person.
Spotify will share data with Tate on how many times the playlist code for the curators’ playlist is scanned, and how many times it is played. Through its own analytics, Tate will also be able to see how many people are reaching the playlists via its website, and how many people are arriving at its site via Spotify.
Spotify playlists are already used by many museums in the US, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, and several other London museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of London.
Another institution using Spotify playlists is the RAF Museum in London.
This year, it created four playlists including Love is in the air… craft for Valentine’s Day.
Ajay Srivastava, the museum’s public relations manager, says that while engagement is low, the process generates enthusiasm in the institution and is an element of its efforts to attract a younger audience: “It’s a bit of fun and it engages staff a lot, as well as our external audience.”