Strategy to Grow Listening Habits and Engagement on Spotify

You are a product manager at Spotify. How would you increase engagement on the platform? ```hint Decide what engagement means here Listening hours, active days, saves and shares, and playlist creation can all be called engagement, and each pushes the product in a different direction. Pick a definition tied to why Spotify wants engagement, then choose one group of users to focus on. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is this about listeners, or should I also consider artists and podcasters on the creator side? - Should I focus on free, ad-supported users or on Premium subscribers, given that engagement drives ad revenue for one and retention for the other? - Does engagement include podcasts and audiobooks, or only music? - Is engagement a priority now because some segment is declining, or am I setting the direction? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A precise definition of engagement and how it connects to Spotify's business: ad revenue, Premium conversion and Premium retention - A justified target segment, defined by listening behavior rather than demographics alone - Specific pain points for that segment, grounded in how people actually listen - A prioritized set of solutions with an MVP, and the trade-off each carries - Success metrics with guardrails, and an experiment plan ### Follow-up Questions - If listening time rises but skips and thumbs-down also rise, has engagement improved? - How would you avoid raising time spent while lowering satisfaction, for example by autoplaying content users did not choose? - Your solution works for heavy listeners. How would you adapt it for someone who opens the app twice a week?