The ubiquitous music streaming service Spotify is abandoning its trademark black and green for a bold redesign, which will see the brand injected with colour. The look was designed by the New York-based consultancy, Collins, and adds a number of “Duotone” colour combinations to the brand's palette, which the company hopes will shift the positioning of the brand from a technology brand to an entertainment brand. The duotone concept has been applied to band name graphics and photography, also incorporating angles, to give the images a distinctive look. It's quite striking, and is certainly more “Casual” and approachable than the brand's rather clinical old look.
The new design was unveiled last week at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, which takes place until Sunday (22 March), and the company will also be using the festival to bring back its "Spotify House" live sessions, which aim to put the music front and centre of the brand's refreshed identity. The live show takes place in an old garage, and will feature performances from celebrated acts such as The Vaccines and Run The Jewels, as well as various guest DJs and some unique “Soul Cycle” classes.
Spotify is abandoning its trademark black and green for a bold redesign by the New York-based consultancy, Collins
Leland Maschmeyer, founding partner and executive creative director at Collins, said they will be “Pulling the sheet off the car at SXSW,” and exposing audiences to the brand's brand new look. The hope is for the brand to appear as “Rich and lively as the music culture it fronted, rather than simply a technology service that served up songs.” Maschmeyer added that, “Because the system is so flexible it can go anywhere Spotify goes; from screens, to print, to environments and interactive experiences.”
The rebranding might help to draw attention away from a recently leaked email between Spotify and Universal, which suggested that Spotify could owe the music group as much as $1 billion in royalties in the next few years. Universal owns a stake in Spotify, and Spotify predicts that it will have an increasing importance to Universal and account for a 39% of Universal’s pretax earnings in the April 2016 to March 2017 year. That's a staggering percentage, especially when you consider that music streaming is still a relatively fresh concept.
The new design was unveiled last week at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, which takes place until Sunday (22 March)
Speaking of which; rival music streaming service Grooveshark also spruced up its image recently, with a new look that allows users to more easily find new music through recommendations. Grooveshark has always been seen as the poor man's Spotify (for one thing, it's not only free, but ad free), and it's also browser based, which many see as a significant drawback. According to a Grooveshark spokesperson, however, they are making a concerted effort to up their game and play with the big boys (or boy in this case). They said “This new release is focused around community interaction and sharing, with an improved navigation designed for listeners and from listeners,” and that “It represents the biggest user interface upgrade in the company's decade-long existence.”
