Shape, Test and Ship a Live Concert Experience Inside Spotify for Growth and Retention

You are a product manager at Spotify. The company wants more people to sign up and more existing listeners to keep coming back, and one of the leading proposals for both is to add live concerts to the app. Explain the feature in detail, then describe how you would validate it and how you would build it. ### Clarifying Questions - Does "live concert" mean streaming performances into the app as they happen, helping listeners find and attend shows in person, or both? - Should watching be free for every listener, included only in Premium, or sold per show? - If the two goals pull in different directions, which matters more: bringing in new users or keeping current ones? And is retention measured for free listeners, Premium subscribers or both? - Can we assume artists and rights holders are willing to take part, or is securing them part of the problem? ### Part 1 — Define the feature Describe the live concert feature: who it is for, what listeners experience before, during and after a show, and why it would attract new users and bring existing ones back. ```hint Tie each piece to a goal A single show is a spike, not a habit. For each part of the experience, say whether it helps sign-ups or retention, and what brings someone back to the app after the show ends. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - The target listeners and artists, and the problem the feature solves for each. - The experience end to end, with a focused first version and a list of what is deferred. - The mechanism by which the feature drives sign-ups and repeat visits. ### Part 2 — Validate and build Explain how you would test whether this idea deserves investment ahead of the other leading proposals, and how you would build and launch it if it does. ```hint Test the riskiest assumption cheaply List what must be true for the feature to work, from listener demand to artist supply and rights costs, and find the cheapest test for the one most likely to be false. Keep in mind that the fans most eager to watch would probably have stayed anyway. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Staged validation, from existing data and cheap tests to a pilot, with decision criteria set in advance. - A method that separates the feature's real effect on retention and sign-ups from self-selection. - The build plan: rights and partnerships, live streaming technology, phasing and team. ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A goal and target segment chosen before features, with a clear reason Spotify is well placed to offer live concerts. - A concrete first version and a deliberate list of what is left out. - Validation that tests demand, artist supply and economics, and measures incremental impact rather than raw attendance. - Success metrics for acquisition and retention, with guardrails on stream quality, cost and core listening. - Risks such as rights costs, an uneven supply of shows and live-event failures, each with a mitigation. ### Follow-up Questions - Your pilot shows that attendees retain far better than non-attendees, but the randomized test shows only a small lift. How do you read that, and what do you recommend? - Rights costs turn out much higher than expected. What cheaper version of the idea would still serve both goals? - How would you schedule shows so that listeners in many time zones can take part?