Spotify Seemingly Confirms Plan To Launch ‘Superfan Clubs’ & ‘Alternative App Stores’

Spotify have welcomed the impending rollout of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union, boasting in a new press release that it means a brighter future ahead for the streaming giant – including the apparent launch of “superfan clubs” and “alternative app stores”.

READ MORE: How Will Record Companies Focus On Superfans This Year?

As per the European Commission, the DMA – which will take effect across the EU from March 7 – “establishes a set of narrowly defined objective criteria for qualifying a large online platform as a so-called ‘gatekeeper’”, with consumer benefits including “more and better services to choose from, more opportunities to switch their provider if they wish so, direct access to services, and fairer prices”.

So with the change, Spotify will be less burdened by roadblocks placed on them in the online market – particularly by Apple. Noting the challenges they’ve faced with the latter company’s restrictive policies, “where we couldn’t tell you about offers, how much something costs, or even where or how to buy it”, Spotify say in the DMA will allow them to improve services “for artists, authors, and creators looking to build their audiences of listeners, concert-goers, and audiobook-loving fans”.

The company goes on to say that changes coming in March will include “direct communications in the Spotify app about subscription offerings, upgrades, product prices, deals, and promotions”. It’s in a breakdown of this update that Spotify seems to have revealed some major plans for the platform’s future, with the company saying it’ll be able to inform users “about new products for sale, promotional campaigns, superfan clubs, and upcoming events, including when items like audiobooks are going on sale”.

At the time of writing, Spotify have not formally announced any plans to launch any their own superfan club(s). And that wording clearly wasn’t just a slip of their copywriter’s tongue: later in the press release (which is publicly assessable here), the company says it’s “looking forward to a future of superfan clubs, alternative app stores, and giving creators the ability to safely download Spotify for Artists or Spotify for Podcasters directly from our site – and that’s just the start.”

As we’ve seen in recent months, the wider music industry is getting more and more serious about catering to superfans – an untapped market that could be worth $4.2 billion USD ($6.4 billion AUD) to those that take advantage. For example, Lucian Grainge – chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group – said a priority for the major will be to give artists the power “create experiential, commerce and content offerings for their fans”.

Grange wrote in an internal memo that the “next focus” of UMG’s ever-growing business plan “will be to grow the pie for all artists by strengthening the artist-fan relationship through superfan experiences and products”, with the company “already in advanced discussions with [its] platform partners”. One of those “platform partners” could, of course, be Spotify.