This week marks the beginning of Ramadan, a month of religious rejuvenation, humility, and togetherness. As households and communities across the globe come collectively to watch, be taught, pray, and have a good time, they’ll additionally flip to Spotify for significant music, podcasts, and discuss content material.
Those observing Ramadan have beforehand loved curated Spotify playlists and podcasts that remained static all through the month. This yr, we’ve constructed a dynamic new expertise for Ramadan.
“We’re designing an experience on the platform that allows our listeners to take a more active role in discoverability as well as to foster more meaningful connections with artists and podcasters they love on Spotify,” mentioned Gautam Talwar, Managing Director for Spotify Asia Pacific. “We are proud to deliver this supercharged Ramadan experience to our listeners during this important cultural moment to soundtrack their moods and moments across the Holy Month.”
When eligible listeners open the Spotify app, they’ll discover new highlights, podcast quotes, clips, and music and podcast releases on daily basis, plus a brand new topical theme every week. Listeners may even discover customized content material on the “Your Ramadan 2023” playlist and see the music and discuss content material that’s trending of their international locations, and podcasters are always creating and publishing new Ramadan-related episodes.
“Ramadan has now become a time for podcast creators to think of special programming for their audiences. We are seeing more and more podcasters release series that are the ultimate companions to everyone observing,” shared Rhea Chedid, Senior Podcast Manager at Spotify. “Everything from shows about cooking and the history of Ramadan traditions and Islam, to audio scripted series that entertain and podcasts that review your favorite Ramadan television series, we are really witnessing creators think deeply about how they can better the lives of listeners through audio during this time.”
Nick Dahl, a Senior Product Manager, is among the Spotifiers behind creating the Ramadan expertise. We talked to Nick to be taught extra about what listeners can count on throughout the distinctive and customized app vacation spot.
What makes this Ramadan expertise completely different from what Spotify’s finished previously?
In earlier years, our editorial groups have curated playlists, podcasts, and discuss content material for our customers throughout Ramadan, and this yr we’re taking it to a different degree. We are spotlighting content material that adjustments every day, creating customized playlists with songs picked only for listeners, and highlighting trending content material that individuals are listening to of their area. We additionally made readings from the Quran simply accessible, and listeners may also discover unique clips and greetings from their favourite artists and celebrities wishing them a blessed Ramadan.
Do you’ve a favourite component of the expertise?
A private favourite are the day by day choices that change every day within the Ramadan hub. They spotlight domestically related tales about fasting, self-reflection, and wellness whereas additionally showcasing new releases from among the hottest native creators in our markets.
Another impactful facet is that our suggestions differ relying on the place you’re positioned and what time of day it’s. For listeners observing in Egypt, some well-liked music playlists they’ll discover embody Ramadaniyat, Titrat Ramadan, and Chill-oud. And they’ll simply entry among the hottest Ramadan-related podcasts, like Al Rassol, 1001 Nights, and Sukoun. Meanwhile, for followers in Indonesia, Refleksi Diri, OTW Ramadan, and Ketupat Lebaran are three well-liked music playlists we’re serving. Someone searching for podcast content material can tune into reveals like PODKESMAS, RAPOT, Podcast Ancur, Kita dan Waktu, and GJLS, every of which has Ramadan-specific episodes.
Why is it vital to construct app experiences like this?
We need our followers and creators world wide to really feel that Spotify is a part of each second, from Ramadan to common day by day listening. To do that, we’ve constructed product experiences that commemorate native tradition with our customers. Each market is completely different from one other, and every person has distinctive wants in terms of their listening habits. That’s why we make investments closely in personalization and machine studying. We are in a position to create not only one model of Spotify, however somewhat 500 million completely different variations of our product tailor-made to each listener world wide.
Ramadan is noticed by greater than 1.6 billion folks world wide and we need to construct a greater, extra localized product expertise that celebrates our listeners’ cultures. Our long-term ambition is to grow to be their primary selection as an audio companion all through the fasting interval—from daybreak to nightfall—and to have a good time the top of Ramadan with Eid.
Discover the Ramadan expertise by downloading the most recent model of Spotify in your cell, after which seek for “Ramadan.” The expertise is rolling out over the approaching days on Android and iOS.