Spotify’s Playlists Get a Personal Touch with Custom Cover Art
Right then. Spotify has finally done something users have been asking about for ages – properly customisable playlist covers. I know, I know, this sounds like small beans compared to the ongoing debates about artist royalties and Joe Rogan and whatnot. But stick with me here because this is actually rather brilliant from a user engagement perspective.
Previously, your playlist covers were either the standard four-album mosaic (which looked naff if you had fewer than four tracks) or you could upload a custom image through the desktop app in some fiddly way that most people never figured out.
Now? You can do it straight from your mobile. Snap a photo with your camera, pull one from your gallery, whatever you like. The interface is clean and intuitive, which is more than I can say for a lot of Spotifys recent feature additions.
Heres why this matters beyond just aesthetics. Spotify announced that playlists with custom images see higher engagement rates. People share them more. They come back to them more often. Its psychology, innit? When something feels personally yours, youre more invested in it.
The update is rolling out globally over the next few weeks, so if you dont see it yet, hold tight. iOS and Android both getting it simultaneously for once, which is rare enough to mention.
One thing I would note – the feature only works for playlists you’ve created yourself. You cant go slapping custom art on your Discover Weekly or anything like that. Makes sense from a brand consistency standpoint but slightly disappointing if you wanted to make the algorithmic stuff feel more personal. Theres also no built-in editing tools beyond basic cropping. If you want fancy text overlays or collages, youll need to do that elsewhere first and then upload the finished image. Perhaps a future update will add more creative tools directly into the app. Id wager theyre watching how users respond to this before committing to anything more complex.
Small feature, big impact on the daily experience of using the app. Sometimes thats exactly what you need.
