Conor McKenna (24103116)

In this portfolio, I will be exploring how Spotify became, and continues to be, the biggest streaming service in the world and what they did to differentiate themselves from other sites to create a strong and loyal community around the world. I will be exploring marketing theories such as the User-Generated Content Theory, Relationship Marketing Theory, and Consumer Behaviour Theory, along with others. I will also be speaking about majorly successful marketing campaigns they have done thought the years and linking them back to marketing theories  

Spotify is currently the go-to streaming service with over 345 million users in more than 100 countries (Buildd, 2025), and many people, if you ask them what app they use for music, will tell you ‘Spotify’. The main reason why Spotify is so popular is due to their reasonable price (with discounts for students and family), along with their user interface, because of how easy it is to discover new music tailored to your listening patterns. For example, if you’re into indie music, the Spotify algorithm will notice that you’re mainly listening to that genre and will then tailor the next song it plays to you based on that. The same applies to all music streaming services, but from what I’ve discovered after experimenting with a few streaming services, like Apple Music and YouTube Music, Spotify does it best. I will write about different marketing campaigns Spotify has done throughout the years and about how Spotify changed the way we listen and find music.

One of the main strategies Spotify uses to create such a loyal fan base is through their extremely tailored homepage and different playlists, which makes it easier for the user to access their music, along with new music they might want to listen to or what type of music they want to listen to reflecting on their mood or a style of music based of an Artist.

As we can see from my Spotify home page, there are many different places I can discover new music. At the top, there are recently played playlists, and then straight underneath, there is a new release from Happy Mondays (a band I have been listening to a lot recently) and next to that, there is a Discover Weekly playlist that shows me new music I might be into based on what I’ve been listening to over the past weeks. This links to Consumer Behaviour Theory by analysing the listening patterns of the user, and creating playlists based on their needs. 

Just from the home screen alone, we can see that Spotify strives to customise the customer’s experience to make them feel special, and to make the site easy to use. This is what keeps the customers’ loyalty towards the company as they get comfortable using it after many years making change a hassle.

This screenshot was taken from a link I clicked on Spotify on my chill playlist. This shows what and how Spotify used your data to personalise their services towards the customer, known as ‘Data-Driven Optimisation’. This is a key part of the Relationship Marketing Theory, which Spotify implements to promote loyalty. This transparency with the customer also helps build upon the relationship Spotify has with its customer further boosting brand loyalty. This links to Relationship Marketing Theory and the idea behind keeping customer retention to prevent dissatisfaction. 

Other streaming services pride themselves on having the best audio quality (like Tidal and Apple Music’s lossless audio), which is what you’d think a customer listening to music wants, but only a select few people see this as a priority when selecting their preferred music streaming platform. Many people want ease and usability in their day-to-day lives, which Spotify provides by having an easy to use user interface, and ready made mixes/playlists. 

Another major feature Spotify has is their ‘Spotify Wrapped’, which gives people an insight into the music they have listened to throughout the year, along with tailored statistics like how long they have listened to music over the duration of the year, and where they rank in their favourite artists’ top listeners. People look forward to this all year round and post it on their social media, with the hashtag #spotifywrapped. This links to User Generated Content Theory by helping build communities of people who like to listen to the same artists. It also creates engagement and virality by having people post there “wrapped” online which raises awareness. Without knowing, people have promoted Spotify all over social media, making people who are new to streaming services gravitate towards Spotify, as that is all they have seen. This here is not only relationship marketing but a prime example of viral marketing theory, which can be repeated yearly, building up excitement. This year within spotify wrapped spotify had artists send out a video message to the people that had them as their top artists thanking them for being a fan. This further helps users feel like their building a connection to the artist bringing the artists and fan relationship closer which helps benefit everyone including Spotify because then the user is likely to listen to them more 

Spotify lets users listen to their music library for free (with ads). This creates a try-before-you-buy model, inviting customers into their site. Other big streaming services like Apple Music and Tidal did not offer a free plan on their site, which leads to people getting attached to Spotify, and later paying for a subscription.  

Another theory used by Spotify was the blue ocean theory – A theory based on creating a new market instead of trying to compete in an already competitive one (blue ocean strategy, 2024), Before streaming music took over the market as the medium of listening to music, the main way was to buy music online through the likes of iTunes, which was expensive and would quickly add up. As a result, people resulted in pirating music, which took time and was illegal, or playing it for free on youtube which wasn’t convenient for listening on the go due to the fact you couldn’t close the app without the music stopping, and it included adverts, which were annoying and interrupts seamless listening. 

Spotify aimed to improve all of these problems within a new market, which was music streaming. You wouldn’t own the music, but you would have access to a library of music for a monthly fee. This was very popular with a lot of people as they would have acces to new music as soon as it would come out. 

As you can see in this graph (Audience, 2024), in the mid to late 2010s, streaming overtook digital in music sales by format. This shows that people were moving over from buying music primarily through iTunes and moved onto streaming services. Mainly Spotify.

(graph taken from https://audience.org.uk/vinyl-vs-streaming/)

One major way we now listen to music is through playlists, mainly based on how we’re feeling. For example, I use ambient music to focus and study on research, as I find it relaxing, and it keeps me focused. Spotify pioneered this way of listening to music by releasing mixes/playlists that are not only tailored to the mood you want to be listening to, but also the music you listen to on a day to day basis. This easy way of finding the music you want to be listening to makes you subconsciously use the app more in your day to day life and it becomes a part of your daily routine.

Music can be very social and you find it in many social settings like, birthdays, weddings, markets and festivals to name a few. But usually if there is not a DJ, only one person who would be able to control what music will be played. To fix this Spotify introduced a jam mode where other Spotify users would be able to control the music as well, all together. This also meant that if you didn’t have Spotify, you would not be able to join in on this, further pushing people to get Spotify. Another way Spotify has integrated itself within social settings involving music is by sponsoring festivals – One of the most notable ones being Glastonbury. Spotify linked up with Glastonbury’s and Vodafone App allowing festival goers to link their account to the app to give recommendations for artists they might want to check out based on their listening patterns (mobile marketing magazine, 2024).

Listening to music in the car is something everyone does. Spotify saw this and decided to capitalise on it. Listening to the radio was the main way people would listen to the music, listening to certain radio stations based on their music taste. For Spotify to change this, they did what they do best and that was making the experience personal and customised. Spotify launched a campaign in 2019 called “Your Daily Drive”. This was a curated playlist made for you by spotify to listen to in the car using the data it collects (Buildd, 2025). Along with playing music, you would get news breaths about current news. This wasn’t completely the same as the radio as it felt more personalised. This drives people to use spotify more when driving rather then listening to the radio. Spotify did introduce “the car thing” which was a voice-controlled  device aimed to make Spotify easier to use in the car. It was introduced in america on april 13th 2021 but was discontinued on the 9th of December due to low demand,  supply chain costs and rising costs due to inflation.

One of Spotify’s campaigns that helped connect with its customers was their “thanks 2016, it’s been weird”. This campaign featured billboards popping up around cities which featured people’s strange listening activities. For example one of the billboards said ‘dear person who listened to “sorry” 42 times on valentines day, you okay”’ (Buildd, 2025). This was a witty, funny and engaging approach to bring awareness to the brand. This made people feel more connected to the brand and it is a perfect way of executing user generated marketing and relationship marketing.

In conclusion, it is evident that Spotify has dominated the music streaming industry thanks to their marketing campaigns that utilise relationship marketing and Customer Behaviour Marketing. They have successfully implemented this to create a loyal fan base, by curating a homepage fit for each customer, and building a site that is primarily focused on the listener, and tailoring each person’s account to their personal taste in music. Spotify has changed the way we listen and find music through their clever campaigns (both online and in real life) and customer relations. From a company that was founded in 2006 and has amassed over 345 million users, it is clear they have perfected the market over the years compared to other sites. 

Bibliography –

Buildd. “Spotify Marketing Strategy: How Spotify Won the Market by Vouching for “Music for Everyone.”” Buildd, 2025, buildd.co/marketing/spotify-marketing-strategy. Accessed 10 Dec. 2025.

CreateTheWeb. “Vinyl vs Streaming.” Audience, 17 Jan. 2024, audience.org.uk/vinyl-vs-streaming/. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Kim, Chan , and Renée Mauborgne. “What Is Blue Ocean Strategy?” Blue Ocean Strategy, 2024, www.blueoceanstrategy.com/what-is-blue-ocean-strategy/. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Sensi, Jasdip. “Spotify Launches Glastonbury Partnership Bring Personalised Discovery to Festival App – Mobile Marketing Magazine.” Mobile Marketing Magazine, 10 June 2024, mobilemarketingmagazine.com/spotify-glastonbury/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2025.