Every Friday, Spotify’s playlist editors curate the latest and most anticipated hits out there to headline the New Music Friday playlists – that you need to listen to, now. To accompany the relaunch of the playlist we proposed a visual identity that builds from the same concept urgency.
We needed to be bold, fresh and vibrant. For these reasons, we went with the italicized version of Spotify Circular, but made our thickest font-weight, Black, even thicker – and added a tail to visually communicate speed. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​We wanted to create an identity that allows for the artists’ own styles and emotions to shine through with no treatment to their photos. And, in a similar fashion to how many culturally impactful editorial magazines create their covers, we simply decided to work with our own brand palette to choose the most suiting accent for each cover. In order to accommodate for a wide variety of artist provided images we’ve made simplified color palettes offering editors 15 options to pick from.
The revamped playlist, which has 43 versions worldwide, will continue to serve as the leading destination for listeners who want to discover new music from both established and emerging talent. With over 3.5 million followers in the U.S. and 8 million globally, it’s an achievement and milestone for artists to have their new tracks included on the list.
The marketing for New Music Friday truly happens in all channels, so we set off to create layouts that function well in OOH, social, artist-generated social, and on the Spotify platform. The launch campaign includes placements around New York City, Los Angeles and Toronto. We developed a motion language that works both as an intro animation and transitions between content. It’s supposed to give a quick glimpse of what you’re about to see, but most of all, set up the stage for what has just arrived. The playlist worth the wait.