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Spotify’s latest job listings show it’s ramping up efforts to produce hardware

Spotify’s latest job listings show it’s ramping up efforts to produce hardware

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One job description states that Spotify is ‘on its way to creating its first physical products’

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Rumors have swirled for a while about Spotify working on its own music hardware. Now, the company seems to be ramping up efforts, as indicated by three new job listings for its hardware division. As spotted by MusicAlly, one job description states that Spotify is “on its way to creating its first physical products,” and the company is currently setting up its operational organization for “manufacturing, supply chain, sales, and marketing.”

The jobs posted are for a Project Manager, Senior Project Manager, and an Operations Manager in Hardware Production. Spotify notes that the roles will contribute to “creating innovative Spotify experiences” via connected hardware.

Spotify wants to create “category-defining” products

Previous job listings said that Spotify wants to create a “category defining product akin to Pebble Watch, Amazon Echo, and Snap Spectacles” and suggested the inclusion of voice control features. Voice control is something heavily used in smart home devices like the Amazon Echo and other smart speakers.

It’s likely Spotify wants to create hardware that’s unique to its brand, given its references to the Pebble Watch and Spectacles, which were idiosyncratic to Pebble and Snap when they were released. They were also special because there wasn’t really anything else of their kind when those products debuted. They also gained somewhat of a cult following and garnered a lot of buzz across social media (at least before Spectacle fizzled out and sales tanked).

Spotify is most likely working on its own music product like a smart speaker, a wearable device like headphones, or something else that might elevate its software experience. Given the streaming service has over 70 million subscribers (as of January 2018), it’s more than well-placed to produce and market physical products globally. Currently, Spotify Connect allows users to stream their music via third-party speakers, TVs, and other products.

Though these job listings show Spotify is serious about producing hardware, it’s unclear when and if these products will be available. We reached out to Spotify, but the company declined to comment on the matter.