Job listings recently posted by Spotify suggest that the company is close to launching one or more connected hardware products. Currently open job listings relevant to the company’s hardware ambitions include Operations Manager – Hardware Product, Project Manager – Hardware Production & Engineering, Product Analyst – Hardware Products, and Senior Project Manager Hardware Production.

The Operations Manager listing is explicit about Spotify’s plans, saying:

Spotify is on its way to creating its first physical products and setting up an operational organization for manufacturing, supply chain, sales & marketing.

The responsibilities listed for this role also suggest Spotify is far enough along with one or more products that it will soon be talking with vendors and planning distribution, if it has not started that already:

You will define and manage Distribution, Supply, Logistics, Fulfillment, and Customer Service for Hardware Products. You will also work with partners to deliver the optimal Spotify experience to millions of users. Above all, your work will impact the way the world experiences music.

Along with others, the Project Manager listing specifically calls the new product “connected hardware,” suggesting something along the lines of a smart speaker—but it could also be a smartwatch, headphones, or any number of other products. Here’s what the listing says:

We are looking for a passionate Project Manager with experience within Hardware Production and Engineering that will contribute in the creation of innovative Spotify experiences via connected hardware.

These are not the first job listings suggestive of a coming hardware product, either. As briefly recapped by The Guardian, previous listings have said Spotify has been working on hardware “akin to Pebble Watch, Amazon Echo, and Snap Spectacles” that the company hopes will be “category defining.”

Smart speakers have attained popularity recently, and Spotify is not the default service on any of them. You can’t use it at all with Apple’s HomePod (except through AirPlay), but you can manually set it as the default on Google Home and Alexa devices, including the Sonos One.

While Spotify is currently the global leader in paid music streaming, Apple Music is its chief competitor in many markets. Further, Apple’s HomePod is positioned as an Apple Music device. Spotify might wish to have its own service-specific speaker.

Even if that is the case, we’d still be left with many questions. Would the new device have a voice interface, and if so, would it use Alexa, Google Assistant, something proprietary, or something else? Will Spotify aim for the high end with regard to audio quality, like the HomePod and the Sonos One, or the low end, like the Google Home Mini?

Whether it’s building a smart speaker or something else, Spotify is likely entering a crowded space with no prior hardware experience. The product is going to have to be very good, with exceptional Spotify-specific features, to stand out.

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1263005