Spotify announced a new partnership with online database GIPHY to enable the discovery of new music through GIFs. The GIFs themselves will not play song clips, but through a series of new GIFs linked to Spotify, there will be an option to click a button that will lead to the platform directly to listen to the artist’s music. At launch, artists such as Doja Cat, The Weeknd, Post Malone, Nicki Minaj, The Kid LAROI, Conan Gray and others will have Spotify-linked GIFs available on the official GIPHY profile page. More artists will be added over time.
The idea behind the new integration is to help users connect with Spotify music from their everyday communications, such as text messages, group chats and other places where GIFs are used. This is similar to Spotify’s existing integrations with social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram, where users can share music through Stories and the messages they post. Essentially, it’s a user acquisition strategy that leverages online social activities, in this case, GIF sharing, while benefiting artists through the exposure they receive.
New Spotify-linked GIFs can be found on the artist’s page on GIPHY.com or through the GIPHY mobile app. Supported GIFs will include a new “Listen on Spotify” button at the bottom that will appear next to the GIF when shared. When clicked, users are redirected from the GIF to the artist’s Spotify page, where they can stream their music or browse to discover more songs they want to listen to. It is understood that GIPHY worked in collaboration with artists to bring their music to its platform, rather than their tags.
Spotify says the feature is part of a wider partnership it has with GIP, which will then focus on bringing a more interactive listening experience to users. The decision to partner with GIPHY follows the recent expansion of the existing partnership between Spotify and GIPHY’s parent company, Facebook. The social media giant bought the popular GIF platform in a deal worth $400 million in 2020, a couple of years after Google snatched up GIPHY rival Tenor. Since then, Facebook worked to better integrate GIPHY with its apps, such as Facebook and Instagram.
Earlier this year, Facebook and Spotify had also partnered on a new “Boombox” project that allows Facebook users to listen to music hosted on Spotify while browsing the app. This is powered by a player that allows anyone who comes across the shared music to click to play the content while scrolling through the feed.
Despite Spotify and Facebook’s ties, GIPHY notes that it explored its partnership with Spotify as a standalone opportunity, separate from Facebook. The company said it plans to pursue new partnership opportunities with Spotify to make the user experience even more interactive in the future as it continues its relationship.
Spotify says the new feature will be available to users worldwide from verified GIPHY artist pages.