Spotify has its own Stories feature now, too

Not to be outdone by Snapchat or Facebook's entire suite of apps, Spotify is testing a new Stories feature that allows influencers to preview their playlists with video and audio elements.

Spotify Stories look just like you’d expect them to except they’re tied to specific playlists, and can only be made by people Spotify thinks are popular. Influencers can include a short video of themselves, and then use other slides in the story to preview songs from the playlist.

The company isn’t creating any type of Stories “feed” in its app, according to TechCrunch, but instead expects influencers to share links to playlists through other social networks as they already do now.

It’s about discovery, not promotion — Spotify told TechCrunch that it isn’t offering this tool to artists themselves, just influencers, because it wants Stories to be used for music discovery rather than self-promotion. The company works hard on discovery features as a way to stand out in a competitive crowd for music streaming, where just about every service has the same exact library of music.

Spotify is well-regarded for its curated playlists like Discover Weekly, which uses AI to generate a new custom playlist every week based on your listening habits. Stories could be another way to solidify its reputation as the best place to find new music if influencers start using Spotify Stories as another way to connect with their fans. Or they could end up being too boring, who knows! Just because you like an influencer for their nice travel pictures doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll like their music tastes.