The way in which we create and share music is constantly evolving. As digital natives, we are obsessed with sharing information whether it is a picture of our breakfast, nail art, an auto-correct mishap, or a playlist of our favorite songs. Recently, music has played an increasingly significant role in the content we share online. The social music platform, Spotify, has leveraged this as an opportunity for brands to connect with consumers. Let’s check out some examples:

Songs You Sing In the Shower: In December 2011, Herbal Essences asked fans to share their favorite songs to sing in the shower. Realizing that many consumers have favorite shower-time songs, the brand jumped on this opportunity to connect consumers with their products through the common interest of music. The campaign was run through a Facebook app on the brand’s page that was built with Spotify’s API. Users were incentivized to add new songs to the playlist for the chance to win Herbal Essences products.  The public playlist currently has 689 tracks and over 1,000 subscribers. (http://spoti.fi/pIZSdK)

Diamond Jubilee Jams: Katie Couric recently helped her Twitter followers celebrate the Diamond Jubilee festivities by sharing a Spotify playlist featuring artists who performed to honor Queen Elizabeth II during the Diamond Jubilee concert as well as some of Britain’s most famous veteran artists. Couric tweeted the link to this playlist, “Diamond Jubilee Jams” out to her 450,000+ followers right before the concert…“brilliant.” (http://spoti.fi/K7hS0R)

BaROCK Obama: In February 2012, Obama’s team introduced their first Spotify playlist which consists of picks by the campaign staff and a few of the President’s favorites to spread word about his campaign and connect with supporters. The playlist features artists such as Bruce Springsteen, U2, and No Doubt. The Twitter handle @BarackObama announced the playlist’s creation and so did the President’s official Tumblr blog. More recently, Obama’s team has set up a page on BarackObama.com for voters to submit potential campaign songs that could be added to his newest playlist, “Obama 2012 Supporter Picks.” Additionally, Michelle Obama is motivating Americans to stay healthy by sharing tracks on “Michelle’s Workout Mix” featuring artists such as Willow Smith, Stevie Wonder, and Beyonce (#nowplaying J.Cole – Workout). (http://spoti.fi/JhrllU)

The Ultimate Fighter: The UFC recently used Spotify to run a campaign for the mixed martial arts reality show called, The Ultimate Fighter. Users listened to potential “walkout” music that would play during the season finale when the fighters entered the ring and were then able to vote for their selection on the UFC’s Facebook page. Results: The campaign has been named by Mashable “The Most Successful Spotify Campaign in History” and according to Spotify, the campaign attracted four times as many votes as any other campaign on the social music platform. (http://on.fb.me/JsC8yW)

Coca-Cola App: Spotify has the power to attract major brands (#nowplaying Kanye West -Power). In addition to the Coca-Cola application that will be released on Spotify, the social music platform will also become the exclusive music provider within Coca-Cola’s Facebook timeline. The integration doesn’t stop there; free Spotify trial codes will also be added onto special cans of Coke. This exemplifies how influential the platform can be for big brands and their sales, even on a global level. Now available in more than 13 countries, Spotify is continuing its global expansion with the support of Coca-Cola.

Bing: The search engine, and MRY client, has continued to prove itself an avid user of Spotify. To celebrate the 2011 holiday season, Bing created a playlist inviting users to post their holiday song favorites on the Bing Facebook page. Free Spotify trials were also given out to incentivize users to curate content for the playlist, which has more than 2,000 subscribers. Bing proved itself to be social again in 2012 by creating a Valentine’s Day playlist that also engaged users through cross promotion on the Facebook page. In January, Bing served as the “official search engine of Sundance” where they hosted the Bing Bar, an entertainment hub with speaker panels, film premier parties, musical performances, and after-hour parties. Another Spotify playlist was created to supplement this event, where users could go to access the music performed at the Bing Bar by artists such as Drake. More recently, Bing is launching a new playlist every week to blowout their Summer of Doing campaign. (http://spoti.fi/MAoXM2)

MRY: Beats for the Heat – As part of the Mr Youth transition to MRY, we will be showcasing our company’s taste in music by featuring employee Spotify updates on the MRY site (awesome, we know). Also, check out our first MRY public playlist, “Beats for the Heat,” which includes some of our favorite summer jams (http://spoti.fi/KRwxEh).

Success Factors & Benefits for Brands Using Spotify –The success of Spotify can be attributed to several different factors. Firstly, is Spotify’s seamless and sleek integration with Facebook. Once a user sees what their Facebook friends are listening to, they simply click on a song which will easily transition into the Spotify app opening up right on the desktop. Spotify also caters to all types of sharers. Those who love to share music and those who would rather not share at all both exist in the Spotify community due to the flexible privacy options (i.e. private session). Spotify has also enables third party applications to live on the platform and help people discover new music based on their preferences and listening habits.

Whether consumers are voting for a song or adding tracks to one collaborative playlist, music is social and has the ability to connect people all around the world. (#nowplaying Justin Bieber - All Around The World). With Spotify, brands can receive recognition for something that is already a common interest among consumers, music.  Although the platform has only been relevant in the U.S. for a year, it has already worked with major brands including Coca-Cola, Sprite, Motorola, Reebok, and Chevrolet. Brands that utilize Spotify to ignite conversation have an incredible opportunity to grow their community and have a significant online presence. So what are you waiting for? (#nowplaying Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For) Get social!

Written By Jackie Teller, @jackieteller