Spotify, the music streaming service that reached 50 million premium subscribers last month, is apparently looking to get into the hardware business.
The company's ambition to get into hardware, possibly through a wearable or a smart home device, was shown through a posted job listing that was spotted by blogger Dave Zatz.
Job Listing Shows Spotify's Hardware Ambitions
According to Zatz, a trusted source indicated that Spotify will soon be following the footsteps of Snap as an app company that dived into the hardware business.
Zatz then cited a job listing posted by Spotify on its official website. The listing, which was for a senior product manager for Hardware, has since been taken down.
The description of the role indicated that the person filling the position will join Spotify's Platform & Partner Experience team "to build frictionless and creative Spotify experiences via fully-connected hardware devices."
The person will be tasked to deliver Spotify hardware to the service's customers, with the device described as a category-defining product similar to the Pebble Watch, the Amazon Echo, and the Snap Spectacles. He or she will also define details of the hardware, including its software.
What Hardware Is Spotify Planning?
It is far too early to tell what kind of device Spotify is planning to develop. However, the other devices mentioned in the job listing provides a glimpse of what inspired the company to make the decision to move into hardware.
Snap's Spectacles is a premiere example of a software company's successful foray into hardware. The wearable device filled a niche for the company's Snapchat messaging service and also took Snapchat beyond the confines of smartphones.
The Spectacles, along with the Amazon Echo and the Pebble Watch, are pioneering devices in new product categories. This would mean that Spotify is not looking to attach its brand to an existing device but rather to create a new category altogether that will make sense as a hardware product for a music streaming service.
Early speculation on what kind of device Spotify is planning includes voice-activated headphones that will store and play Spotify playlists and something like the Pebble Core. The Pebble Core was a standalone Android device that would have supported Spotify, but Pebble canceled it, along with the Pebble Time 2, as the company was bought out by Fitbit in December of last year.
Is This A Good Idea For Spotify?
With over 50 million premium subscribers and a sizable lead against rivals such as Apple Music, Spotify holds a dominant position in the music streaming industry. However, Spotify has not yet turned a profit, with a loss of almost $200 million despite revenues of $2.2 billion in 2015.
Spotify is already being used by most of its subscribers on smartphones and smartwatches, so it is currently unclear how the company will benefit if it releases its own wearable device. For the foray into hardware to turn out to be a good idea, similar to what Spectacles did for Snap, Spotify will have to come up with a unique product. What that device is, however, remains up in the air.
