Music streaming platform Spotify is shutting down Heardle, a music guessing game it acquired last July. The game, which is similar to the popular word-guessing game Wordle, allows players to listen to the introduction of a song and guess its artist and title within six attempts.
At the time of its acquisition, Spotify stated that Heardle would remain free for all players. However, the company has now decided to sunset the game on May 5 to focus on its other objectives around music discovery.
According to sources, Spotify’s decision to close Heardle stems from its desire to channel more of its energy towards music discovery through recent app changes. Last month, Spotify rolled out a significant redesign of its mobile app that introduced new TikTok-style discovery feeds for music and podcasts, alongside other features such as Smart Shuffle for playlist recommendations and a new podcast autoplay option. The app also features an “AI DJ” that learns what sort of music users like and plays those tracks.
Given these updates, Heardle no longer holds a significant place in Spotify’s overall music discovery efforts. In addition, like many tech companies that have undergone belt-tightening measures such as layoffs in recent months, there’s less of a financial incentive to invest in side projects such as a fun music game.
Heardle was developed by a small team of Spotify employees in their spare time before the company acquired it. The game quickly gained popularity among Spotify users, providing them with a fun and interactive way to discover new music. Spotify has not disclosed how many people played the game or whether it was profitable.
Despite the closure of Heardle, Spotify remains committed to its mission of helping users discover new music. With its recent app redesign and AI-powered features, the company is continually innovating to provide a more personalized music experience.
