Spotify may lead the way when it comes to music streaming, but it has to keep improving if it wants to stay on top - and that's no doubt part of the reason it's signed a deal with Genius to add a new level of interactivity to its apps.
Genius already provides lyrics and other track extras on the web, but the new deal brings all that information inside Spotify. Rather than being stuck with the album art on your phone, you'll be able to tap to view facts about particular songs and some snippets of commentary from the artists.
The new features are being previewed on a handful of Spotify playlists, including Behind The Lyrics: Hip-Hop. Genius says new playlists are going to be appearing soon - the feature is available now on iOS and coming soon to Android devices.
Umi oh my
You can also access it on the web. Install and launch the Spotify desktop client, then find a supported song from this list and finally click on the Watch Fact Track with Spotify button. Lyrics, artist quotes and other miscellaneous trivia appear as the song plays through.
"Umi means 'mother' in Arabic and 'ocean' in Japanese - there's also a legendary Hawaiian king of the same name." That's one 'Fact Track' we learned from Coldplay single Adventure of a Lifetime, so you get an idea of what you're in for.
It may sound gimmicky at first but it's an interesting way of learning more about a song now that we've done away with CD inserts and album packaging. Eventually, Genius says, it's intended to be a crowdsourced feature, with everyone contributing nuggets of knowledge.
Via The Next Web
