• Spotify has added a new 'skip ahead' button for all podcasts on the platform, except for Spotify Originals
• It allows you to skip over built-in ads and other promotional content, but does not apply to ads sold by Spotify
• Ad-funded shows could be significantly impacted, now there's concern for the future of podcasts

One of the best parts of having a Spotify Premium membership is the ad-free music streaming experience, however some podcasts still come with ad interruptions — but the platform has quietly rolled out a solution users have been pining for.

Last week users spotted a new ‘Skip ahead’ button that allows listeners to skip through certain parts of a podcast episode more efficiently, including sponsorships, introductions, and any kind of promotional content. This doesn’t apply to ads sold by Spotify, however.

Though Spotify hasn’t formally announced the new tool, it’s been cropping up for more users (including myself) since it was first spotted. We reached out to Spotify, who shared the following statement with us:

“We regularly conduct tests at Spotify — some tests become permanent features, while others help inform future product development. We're exploring ways to make podcast listening and viewing more intuitive for Premium subscribers based on how people use the platform, with the goal of helping listeners spend more time enjoying podcasts. We'll continue to evolve the experience as we learn.”

If you thought that all podcasts in Spotify were ad-free like music playback, you’re mistaken. Basically, when creators record podcast shows they often receive sponsorship from brands which are mentioned throughout an episode, so these podcasts are delivered to Spotify with ads already baked in.

Prior to the rollout of the ‘Skip ahead’ button you could skip through ads by tapping the 15-second skip icon, but this required a lot of guesswork and you're more prone to accidentally skipping further than needed. With Spotify’s new skip function, it skips through promotional messages straight through to the beginning of the next section doing the work for you.

It’s safe to say that many subscribers will be thrilled about the addition of the ‘Skip ahead’ button, because skipping through ads is one of the most-shared pet peeves among podcast listeners. Besides, it’s frustrating to be paying for a ‘Premium’ experience and still having to sit through these segments. It also puts a lot of the control back into the hands of subscribers, but what looks like a mere skip button to users is industry-changing for creators and businesses.

For a large number of ad-funded podcasts, creators and hosts rely on users to listen to promotional messages in episodes in order to generate revenue. Not only is it one of the primary ways for podcasters to make money, it's a tactical way to sneak ads into the Premium experience.

While the tool is a big win for listeners on the one hand, others argue that it opens the door for a huge loss on the other — the more users skip through an episode’s ads, the less money hosts make. And because the ‘Skip ahead’ button appears when a creator promotes premium subscriptions for brands that sponsor them, they miss out on other opportunities for monetization.

In addition to the losses it could pose for podcasters, the hypocrisy of Spotify exempting its own shows and ads from the ‘Skip ahead’ tool has sparked criticism as it could have a serious impact on its competitors and their ad-funded shows.

Max Tani from Semafor dissects in his own coverage, sharing the following: “The new skip button underscores Spotify’s push toward premium subscriptions. It’s prioritizing steady, recurring revenue and cementing a two-tiered advertising system, in which marketing bought directly through Spotify can’t be skipped — while publishers’ own ads can be, devaluing them”.

With these concerns circulating, Spotify clarified to us that its new 'Skip ahead' button won't cause any long-term changes to podcasts and creators alike. The platform told us that its new skip button "has been designed to improve the Premium listener experience while maintaining the integrity of ad delivery".

The platform added that it's been "seeing audiences reinvest the time saved by listening to more content and spending more time with podcasts overall, so [we] don't expect these changes to impact monetization for creators negatively".

Spotify’s new skipping function is still very fresh, but one that's already proven to be quite divisive. It's unclear whether or not the company will device to build on this, but as far as the user experience goes, the tool seems to have improved it slightly.

The 2020s has seen a huge shift in music, and the thirst for new releases has never been this parched — we have the pandemic to blame for that. Now, artists are pumping out albums like never before, and it’s become quite the challenge to keep up with this sonic saturation.

Back in 2023, I decided to take action. I started recording my favorite songs released throughout the year by adding them all into one big playlist on Spotify, starting afresh and creating a new playlist at the turn of the new year. Three years later, I’ve kept up the momentum, and now I’ve got four stacked playlists (one each for 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026).

But as the years have gone by, my playlists have done more than simply record the songs that defined every 365 days. Not only can I immediately refer to them whenever someone asks me ‘what were your favorite songs of 2025?’ for example, but they give me a comprehensive overview of how my music taste has evolved.

It’s become integral to my music streaming regime, and Spotify folders have helped boost my playlist organization further — but I’m waiting for an easier way to group my favorite albums of the year.

Spotify locked playlist folders behind the desktop experience for 15 years, but since it rolled the feature out for mobile back in April, it’s been a huge help in grouping my playlists, especially for my ‘Year in Music’ series.

Following the launch of folders, Spotify increased its Library pins limit from 4 to 20, so now I can finally pin my ‘Year in Music’ folder to my library without having to scroll through the cluttered mess to reach it. It’s a win-win situation, but I still think there’s room for improvement.

While I love a hit single, albums are my favorite way to enjoy music, and New Music Friday has brought back the album release as an event (thank you, Beyoncé). Though you can now freely group playlists in folders in Spotify, I’m still waiting for the platform to roll out the option to do this with albums.

That said, there’s currently a small workaround. You can create album folders by adding all the songs from one album to a playlist, then adding that playlist to a folder to keep track of your favorite releases, repeating the process with each album.

It’s handy, but it adds more steps to the process and doesn’t look as neat or refined. Additionally, I’ve also tried adding several albums to make one monster playlist of my favorite yearly releases, but this ends up looking even more ridiculous.

For a music platform that prides itself on being the first one with social media-like features, Spotify sure needs to improve the organization of these tools. As a result of the messiness of my Library, I’ve resorted to using third-party services to group my favorite albums into chronological and concise lists.

Musicboard is one of my favorites because you can review music, curate your own lists, and interact with other music fans more smoothly. It’s essentially Letterboxd for music, and just like Letterboxd Pro, you can have access to additional features and customize your profile to reflect your musical identity. That said, it would be even better if I could do this from one place in the streaming platform that gives me my music fix.

It’s refreshing to know that there are platforms out there that understand what tools music enthusiasts want alongside access to the music itself. For me personally, my listening experience isn’t over as soon as a song or album comes to a close — I need to actively log what I’m listening to, and having a cluttered abundance of albums saved into one massive list in Spotify just wrecks my nerves.

Spotify wants to introduce new ways for listeners to engage with the artists they love the most, all while expressing their own creativity.

The streamer’s audio mixing feature for playlists has sky-rocketed in popularity, introducing a new way for listeners to modify their playlists. Now Spotify is working on a new AI-powered fan-made covers and remix tool — and it’s seeking the help of Merlin.

Spotify’s upcoming remix tool will come as a subscription add-on, though we don’t know when it’s due to drop or how much it will be on top of the current $12.99/ £12.99/ AU$15.99 monthly Spotify Premium plan.

Despite knowing very little about it, we do know that the remix feature will garner significant attention across the board of users, artists, organizations, and analysts alike. So what’s the end-goal for Spotify, and what are people saying about its potential knock-on effects for musicians and listeners?

What is the agreement?

On August 4, Spotify and digital licensing partner Merlin announced a new agreement that would give artists on labels under the Merlin name the option to lend their music to Spotify’s remix feature. Merlin is the second organization to sign on to the deal, following Universal Music Group in May.

For Spotify, the goal is simple: to ‘give listeners a new way to engage with the music they love from participating artists and songwriters,’ as stated in the announcement. Spotify also says the tool ‘will create an additional revenue stream for participating artists’.

However, despite knowing the tool will be AI-powered, Spotify hasn’t gone into detail as to exactly how it will allow listeners to create their own remixes of their favorite songs. The discourse around AI-generated slop is still a hot topic, and Spotify is still bearing the brunt of harsh criticism, so its venture into launching AI-powered music add-ons has left everyone scratching their heads.

What are Spotify’s competitors saying?

As far as rival music streamers go, it’s safe to say the top dogs aren’t too interested in integrating AI throughout their respective UXs. While the likes of Apple Music and Tidal use algorithmic recommendations to fuel discovery, the number of generative AI tools is nowhere near as saturated as Spotify.

Listening to an artist’s music in the way it was released is the only concern for most companies, particularly for Dan Mackta, Managing Director at Qobuz, who gave us the following statement: “Qobuz isn’t looking at anything like this. The finished music that great artists release is good enough for us and our community”.

The desire to keep the traditional listening experience in place is quite prevalent on the one hand. Some users just want to kick back with an album or playlist, hit the play button, and let the music do its thing. But as music analyst and founder of MIDiA Research Mark Mulligan points out, the yearning for active participation is growing.

Mulligan detailed this in a comment shared with us: “A growing share of consumers want to do more than just listen. Audio modification is an opportunity both to tap into consumer creativity and fandom. Playing around with your favourite artist’s song is an ultimate expression of fandom”.

Additionally, he backed this up with his own findings from the recent MIDiA Q1 2026 consumer survey: “The potential of audio modification is significant. Consumer demand is clear, with 54% of consumers interested in some form of audio modification, from changing speed to swapping vocals, rising to 80% for 16–19-year-olds”.

Participatory music is a rising phenomenon, and software labels like A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya want to create experiences that go beyond just listening to a song. However, AI is out of the question, and the creativity is placed in the hands of the user, not generated by a machine.

What are artists/ organizations saying?

In light of Spotify’s announcement, it’s not just competitors that are having their say on the AI-powered remix tool. Additionally, artists and music organizations are questioning the long-term financial effects the feature could have.

Musician’s Union is a UK-based organization that represents artists in all areas of the music industry, and its General Secretary Naomi Pohl views Spotify’s partnership with two minds.

“The Merlin and Spotify announcement sounds positive as it suggests artists will have the choice to participate in licensing deals or not and, crucially, that they will share in any revenue generated by the use of their works. This is better than the blanket approach taken by some major labels,” she tells us, but she also raises concerns about how artists will be paid, adding the following:

“However, as with music streaming royalties, there is a question over how artists signed to independent labels will be paid by their label. Artists should in theory get 50% of any revenue their label receives, but in practice this may not happen in all cases as it will depend on the label’s interpretation of the artist’s contract. Many artists signed before AI deals were even conceived of. And, as with music streaming, session or backing musicians on tracks currently stand to receive no share of revenue”.

When it comes to royalties, Spotify has faced severe criticism due to its payment model. Because Spotify pools money generated from subscriptions, it means the most streamed artists over the year will receive a higher percentage of the profits made. So, even if you spend an entire year supporting and streaming an up-and-coming indie band, your subscription money is still going to artists like Taylor Swift.

Royalties aside, the other concern lies within the protection of music in its original form. PRS for Music, who handle the rights and royalties behind music, feel this strongly. “More generally, streaming services are embracing new technologies, including AI, to give fans new ways to engage with the music they love,” a PRS spokesperson told us.

But despite these emerging consumer tools, what could easily get lost is the care for the music itself. PRS fears this will become less of a priority, adding “Creators, and their work, must be central to the development of these new tools. They must be designed specifically to protect the integrity of the work above all else, and to ensure creators are fairly paid for the value they bring to each and every platform”.

At the end of the day, these platforms are there not only for fans to listen and engage with music, but they're there for artists to allow fans to hear music the way they intended. Though Spotify's AI-powered remix tool would be a creative addition to the service, how long will it be before everyone reverts to streaming AI-generated mashups instead of the real thing?

• Spotify is rumored to launch its own song ID tool
• Changes in the Android app were spotted, with references to 'Identify a song’, ‘listening’, and ‘analyzing’
• It could add a level of convenience when adding identified songs to a playlist, just like Apple Music's Shazam shortcut

There’s one thing that Spotify has over Apple Music, and that’s music discovery features, though the latter service has the edge when it comes to music recognition — but that could all change soon.

In a recent investigation from Android Authority, the outlet found lines of code in the latest version of the Spotify app which suggest the platform is working on its own song identification feature. Though this has only been found in Spotify’s Android app, we wouldn’t rule out the possibility of it launching on iOS.

As it is with every rumor, we’re taking this with a pinch of salt until more information surfaces, but Android Authority’s findings present some pretty convincing evidence, showing text that reads ‘Identify a song’, ‘listening’, and ‘analyzing’. It seems the feature will need access to your device’s microphone, and will display pop-ups when a song can’t be identified.

Essentially, it sounds like Spotify is developing its own in-house version of Shazam, which could act as a band-aid for many music fans out there who, like myself, rely on third-party music-recognition software to put titles to songs.

When Apple bought Shazam in 2018, it thrust the music-recognition platform right into the iOS experience. Instead of needing to use the standalone Shazam app, you can add the ‘Recognize Music’ tab to your iOS Control Center for easier access, and Shazam will be right there at your fingertips.

It also works wonders for quickly adding songs to your Apple Music library. When you Shazam a song, a pop-up reading ‘Add to Apple Music?’ appears and all of your tracks will be sent to your library. Until now, this level of convenience wasn't available for Spotify users.

Since Apple took ownership of Shazam, Apple Music and its users have greatly benefited, but listeners who use Spotify, Tidal, and the rest of the best music streaming services have been missing out. Not all was lost however; last year Shazam rolled out a feature where each song you identified using the app would be automatically added to a special playlist in your Spotify account titled ‘My Shazam Tracks’.

I have to say, this small but effective feature has become one of my most-used tools for keeping tabs on new music, but if you Shazam quite a lot of songs from different genres, it creates a very messy-looking playlist.

Even after my Shazamed songs have been added to ‘My Shazam Tracks’, I still go back into the playlist to individually move songs into my other playlists — which is why a native Spotify song ID tool would go a long way, and would be even better if you can add it to your iOS Control Center.

Just think about it: you’re out and about and a song starts playing which you know you’ve definitely heard before, but can’t remember for the life of you what it’s called or who sings it. A simple swipe down to the Control Center and a tap of a button gives you the song title in seconds, and then it directs you to your Spotify Library where you can add your recently-discovered song to a specific playlist.

We’ve reached out to Spotify for a comment, who replied with the following:

"We're always exploring ways to improve our product and deliver more value to users, but we don't comment on speculation around possible new features and don't have anything new to share at this time".

• Spotify has rolled out its first music video charts playlist
• It's part of the platform's steady expansion of its music video ecosystem
• Spotify is once again battling YouTube, but it's not close competition

Music videos in Spotify are becoming one of the most popular ways to engage in digital music streaming — now the service is expanding its video ecosystem in another attempt to one-up YouTube.

For the first time, Spotify is bringing music videos to its Charts hub with the launch of Music Video Charts Global, a new top 50 playlist of the most streamed videos. Additionally, the platform has also rolled out a new Videos for You editorial playlist, which offers personalized music video recommendations based on your streaming habits.

Music Video Charts Global rolled out on July 21, and is already playing a big role in Spotify’s gradual expansion of its video content. Recently, Spotify altered the video uploading process for musicians, allowing them to upload their own videos directly through Spotify for Artists instead of going through their label and distributor to do so.

Artists can also pitch videos to Spotify’s editorial team to give them a better chance to feature in playlists such as Best New Videos, Live Performances, and Today's Top Videos.

If you were like me and spent most of your youth scouring through music TV channels before they were sadly phased out, Spotify’s new music video charts might evoke a sense of nostalgia — but the platform is doing it in a way that’s designed for the streaming era.

Music Video Charts Global ranks the top 50 videos around the world based on daily music video streams, refreshing daily at 6pm ET / 11pm GMT / 8am AEST (the next day). Spotify also shared that it will spotlight the top 10 music videos across its social media channels every Tuesday — but there’s another reason why the best music streaming service is doubling down on its commitment to music videos.

Even though Spotify is trying to emulate these channels, a form of music consumption that once shaped listening habits, the platform is backing its music video expansion with data linked directly to streaming.

In an email sent to us, Spotify shared “After streaming a video on Spotify, listeners stream that song 64% more over the next three weeks, are 1.4x more likely to save it, share it, or add it to a playlist, and go on to stream the rest of that artist's catalog 57% more”.

For Spotify, its new ecosystem does more than lead to higher fan engagement and video views — it also gives artists an opportunity to boost audio streams. This is beneficial for both fans and artists, but as someone who doesn’t use Spotify for music videos I see this as just another way for it to compete with YouTube.

The Spotify-YouTube battle continues

Spotify has been playing catch up to YouTube ever since it rolled out music videos in 2024. Although there are users out there who do use Spotify for videos, and the platform has the numbers to support it, I’m just not one of those people. As soon as the music TV channels went bust, it was YouTube that filled the void for me, and it’s been that way ever since.

However, Spotify knows it can’t just build a music video ecosystem and hope that YouTube users will flock to it, it has to offer something extra — which is why it’s taken advantage of early releases. For example, artists like Taylor Swift and BTS have each released music videos to Spotify as exclusive content before uploading the videos to YouTube in the days after. This is where Spotify has the upper-hand.

Because Spotify is centered around music and audio streaming, it’s more likely that artists will gravitate towards the company when it comes to exclusive partnerships. Though YouTube has its own music platform, its standard video player houses content across countless genres from web series, interviews, how-tos, vlogs, and so much more — so music isn't the only place it makes its money. Besides, YouTube Music isn’t as influential as Spotify.

Do I think that Spotify is going good by bringing classic music video charts into the streaming era? I guess so — but I still don’t think it’s enough to entice loyal YouTube-first music video viewers to make the switch.

• Singer Lorde called out Spotify's AI 'About the Song' feature
• She says it featured incorrect details and limits free interpretation for listeners
• Users are starting to catch onto its flaws

Spotify is always dropping new tools to enhance your listening experience, but one of its newest features has been called out by one of the most influential pop artists of this generation.

New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde slammed the best music streaming service’s ‘About the Song’ feature which launched back in February. The tool is currently in beta, and pulls information from third-party sources to create AI-generated summaries of individual songs offering context and background.

According to the pop star, one of the summaries for her song ‘Current Affairs’ mentioned incorrect details which were sourced from themusic.com.au, stating the following:

“On her Ultrasound World Tour, Lorde turns Current Affairs into a full-on performance piece, stripping down to underwear while a dancer pours water over her stomach so the song plays out like the shower scene she talks about on stage”.

The singer didn’t hold back, taking to Instagram Stories to call out the platform while highlighting the dangers features like this pose on listeners:

“Hey @spotify I’m gonna go out on a limb and say we don't want this. Not only is this inaccurate (not the song I did that in) but reducing a song to an AI-generated meaning right at the source feels like it limits free interpretation IMO. At least make it possible for artists to opt out please,” she wrote.

It didn’t take long for Lorde’s comments to spark reactions from all corners of the internet, and Spotify has come forward to offer clarity from its side. We reached out to the platform for further comment, and a Spotify spokesperson replied with the following:

“We built ‘About the Song’ because fans want to dig into the stories behind the music. It’s still in beta. The info comes from articles across the internet, and when something’s off, we move fast to fix it, like we did here. Getting it right matters to us”. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the song summary has been removed.

‘Half the fun is figuring out your own meaning’

At the time of the feature’s launch, many Spotify subscribers welcomed ‘About the Song’ with open arms — I even went into detail about how much I couldn’t get over it and how it taught me things I never knew before. But despite the positive reception from subscribers, Lorde’s observation of the AI feature has sounded the alarm for music lovers.

Comment from r/Music

Aside from its inaccuracies, Lorde’s comments highlight another big issue with AI features like ‘About the Song’; they remove the listener’s opportunity to interpret the music for themselves. This has been the topic of many online discussions since Lorde aired her comments, especially on Reddit — ‘half the fun is figuring out your own meaning instead of getting AI Cliff Notes right away,’ one user says.

But according to others in the same Reddit thread, it speaks volumes about how art consumption is evolving. Whether you’re reading a book, watching a movie, or listening to an album, everyone looks at things differently which is what allows conversations and debates to flow. Another user went the extra mile, saying “If you need AI to tell you what it thinks the song means, you've stopped thinking”.

That said, Spotify isn’t the only music platform that dives into the background of music — Apple Music includes detailed summaries of albums located under the Play button — but these pockets of context are all written and developed by Apple Music’s editorial team, who don’t rely on AI for third-party sourcing.

But the album summaries is where Apple Music draws the line. As soon as you hit Play the platform leaves you to get lost in the music — which subscribers would rather have over what Spotify is trying to sell them.

• Spotify has quietly updated its Mixed Playlists tools
• You can now fine-tune transitions smoother by amending effect curves
• It's starting to crop up for more users, and it's a smash hit so far

There’s one thing that Spotify does really well, and that’s offering a roster of different playlist-making tools for you to really get creative with. Though some are AI-powered, Spotify’s Mixed Playlists encourages you to use your originality when compiling songs, all while putting you in the DJ booth.

Just as you’d get with music-mixing software, Spotify’s Mixed Playlists allow you to create smooth transitions between songs to ensure your playlist flows like a classic DJ set. Its mixing interface presents you with preset effects, and even tells you the key and BPM of each track — and now users have noticed a new upgrade that gives you even more freedom on the customization front.

A recent post on the r/truespotify Reddit page shows the latest update, revealing that you can now amend the Volume, EQ, and Filter settings even more by simply dragging each effect curve to control how the transition runs. According to a small number of users, this feature has been live for a few months, but the majority of listeners in the replies are only now running into it — myself included.

Spotify first launched Mixed Playlists in August 2025, hot on the heels of Apple’s own AutoMix function. But instead of relying on AI to mix songs, Spotify’s version puts the control right into your hands, and it quickly became one of my favorite new tools.

Prior to the update, you could create song transitions by selecting a preset which would automatically amend the Volume, EQ, and Filter settings, or you could go into each of the three and select your own preset to curate a custom transition. While these are still available, you can fine-tune your song-mixing even more, and after testing things out for myself I can see why listeners have taken to it so well.

For starters, it allows you to clean up the small but noticeable imperfections in your transitions that you can’t achieve by presetting the three audio categories individually. For example, if you go into the Filter category and select the ‘High-pass filter out option’, it’s stuck in one place on the audio track. When you tap the ‘Customize’ button, three points appear on the effect curve which you can move around the audio track display so that your chosen effect comes in at a specific time.

Comment from r/truespotify

However, there are a few small blips (not so much setbacks) with the feature that users have picked up on. When you start off with customizing your transitions, it can feel a little fiddly when trying to find the exact placement for each of the effect curve points but this you’ll get used to.

Additionally, other users have also pointed out that the effect curve points sometimes move back to their original spots after you’ve shifted them. I’ve only run into this a few times, so it’s not a major issue that’s going to put you off for good.

For once, it’s refreshing to see Spotify give one of its existing tools some TLC instead of pumping out new features without a lot of thought behind them. If this is the approach Spotify is taking from here on, just think of what it could do to improve features like this in the future.

Spotify has the upper hand out of all the best music streaming services because of its hyper-personalized feed and social features, but its app design isn’t the greatest.

I’m not the first power user to call out the platform for its stuffy and, at times, unorganized layout. The ‘Your Library’ section, for example, is a cluster of your recent activity, which you can only rearrange using the filters at the top of the screen — full customization is out of the question.

After using Spotify alongside Apple Music, there’s no comparison — the latter packs a simple and concise interface, with a bright and sleek finish, and there’s Spotify could certainly take a page out of Apple Music’s book on the organization front. However, one user has, at least, found a hidden setting that allows you to switch from Spotify’s dark color scheme to a brighter one similar to Apple Music's.

A Reddit post shared by u/Hot_Perspective (see below) shows two images of the Spotify mobile app with inverted colors enabled, which essentially replaces Spotify’s dark appearance with a ‘light mode’ one consisting of an all-white background reminiscent of Apple Music’s interface.

Do you know u can use Spotify in light mode in iOS it looks pretty 😍 from r/truespotify

The thing to note here is that it’s not actually controlled via the Spotify app; it’s all done through iOS or Android settings — and it’s simple to enable.

If you’re using an iPhone, open Settings and head to Accessibility, then tap Per-App Settings. From there, you’ll need to tap Add App and search for Spotify. Once you’ve added Spotify select Smart Invert and enable the toggle. Android users can enable this feature also by heading to Settings and tapping Accessibility, then Text and Display. Find Color Inversion and toggle it on.

What an eyesore

If you haven’t yet come across this tool, it’s a stark difference from Spotify’s traditional dark-theme interface to say the least.

While it flips the dark in-app color scheme on its head, it’s smart enough to know not to invert album and playlist covers, so not every part of the Spotify app is inverted — which I think is quite clever. But despite its accessibility benefits, it hasn’t been a huge hit with music fans, myself included.

For one, it doesn’t solve the issue of the cluttered and unorganized interface, it just adds funky colors to the app. That aside, it’s frighteningly bright, I’d say even brighter than the average smartphone display setting — the meme replies in the Reddit thread have cracked me up (see the countless reaction images).

Comment from r/truespotify

I can’t exactly explain it, but there’s something very 'uncanny valley' about Spotify with inverted colors. It sort of looks like Apple Music, but I know it’s not. I even lost my muscle memory while trying to navigate it — it threw me off that much.

As we all know, Spotify loves a good visual, and most songs on the platform display a short looping video in the playback section of the app, but inverted colors interfere with this, making visuals look like X-rays. But even if you like how it looks, it has a knock-on effect for both iOS and Android smartphones.

Because Android doesn’t allow this tool to be enabled for individual apps, you’ll have to put up with inverted colors across your entire system, which is quite a strain on the eyes. While iOS allows you to enable inverted colors for separate apps, you need to have the system-wide Light Mode setting turned on for it to work. This means that if you’re like me and prefer to use Dark Mode in apps like Instagram and iMessages, you’ll have to sacrifice this — it’s an all-or-nothing situation.

I think it’s appropriate to say that, overall, it doesn’t sit well with a lot of subscribers. It does, however, remind us that while Spotify has yet to fix a few layout issues, at least the platform has a solid brand identity.