Spotify social music experience — George Antwi-Agyei

Spotify makes it easy to find music through algorithms, but its social signals do not always explain what a friend actually loves. This concept project, created with Adelaide, explores a more deliberate way to share songs and discover music through people you trust.

Friend Activity shows what someone is playing, but listening in the moment is not the same as recommending a song. The existing experience gives little context about affection or intent, while collaborative playlists can become difficult to follow.

The design goal was to make recommendations feel personal, keep sharing simple on a small screen, and give friends a clearer place in music discovery.

Existing Spotify social and profile screens, included as context in the original case study. Image source: Mobbin.

The team explored two signals: an explicit recommendation and repeated listening. In the concept, listening to a song more than five times in a week, or actively liking it, could indicate that it belongs among a person's favourites. This was a design assumption for exploration, not a validated measure of taste.

Annotated wireframe of the Spotify player exploring how listening behaviour could inform recommendations. — Early questions about how to distinguish a loved song from casual listening.

Friends could still recommend songs directly. The proposed flow puts a recommendation action in the player, then lets someone choose the friends or Circles who should receive it.

Diagram mapping the steps for recommending a song to friends. — The recommendation flow starts from the song someone is already playing.

Three mobile screens showing a song, its recommendation action, and friend selection. — A listener can recommend a song from the player and choose who receives it.

The home screen concept gives friend recommendations a visible place among other music. It also moves the profile entry into bottom navigation so a listener can reach their own profile and their friends with fewer steps.

Wireframes exploring the home and profile navigation.

The profile entry moves into bottom navigation. Existing screen source: Mobbin.

A small preview on the home screen lets listeners discover recent suggestions without opening a separate social area first.

Wireframe and mobile design showing a Recommended by friends row on Spotify's home screen. — A dedicated row offers a quick route into friend-led discovery.

Friend Mix is a proposed view of songs that friends have recommended. Circles are smaller trusted groups for sharing songs and playlists. Together, they give recommendations a place that is distinct from followed artists and podcasts.

A route from the profile to a friend's music.

Mobile screen flow for opening and exploring a Circle. — A companion route into a trusted Circle.

Sharing listening activity should remain a choice. The concept relies on Spotify's privacy controls: people would need to enable Listening activity before their activity could be shared. A deliberate recommendation also gives the sender more control than passive activity alone.

Spotify app privacy settings showing controls for listening activity. — Listening activity remains governed by the listener's privacy settings. Image source: Spotify app.

This is a proposed experience, not a shipped Spotify feature. It explores how explicit recommendations, trusted groups, and friend-led discovery might make social listening feel more purposeful while keeping privacy choices visible.

Read the original case study on Medium.

The problem

What counts as a recommendation?

Discovering music from friends

Friends and Circles

Privacy and limits

Reflection