Spotify, one of the world’s largest music streaming service providers, continues to be a great reference for professionals talking about CX initiatives. In general, customer experience in the digital space became a burning topic over the past two years, with the technology boost initiated by the pandemic. Spotify was one of the global leaders to shift focus toward the changing needs of the customers as well as the planet.
Over the years, Spotify composed several sustainability reports that grew much attention in the CX world. Some of the reasons for this growing popularity lie in the tackled topics and the demonstrated comprehensive approach to CX. Today, we provide an overview of the most recent Spotify sustainability report and reflect on its relevance for CX experts, leaders, start-ups, and more.
What Spotify stands for?
The Spotify sustainability report shows us the company is investing a lot of effort in a holistic approach to CX. In all of the previously published reports, the business reveals to the public its yearly initiatives, making a study case of itself rather than using the opportunity to solely promote its products and services.
Surely enough, these reports can be seen as a promotional attempt to reach customers and clients. However, its value for all the CX industry remains. Through all the report findings, one can learn quite a lot about CX, especially if it’s an early starter looking for practical examples over theory.
Values and culture
Spotify starts its reports with the company value, mission, vision, and purpose. In the 2020 report, the team even reveals their ways of creating value, making a business case of their practices and initiatives. Moreover, Spotify talks about the general approach to customers and gives emphasis to the listening experience.
Here’s what we’ve found in the report from 2019:
“Our hope is that the audio ecosystem Spotify is building inspires generations to come and leads us all to embrace inclusivity, beyond the songs we add to playlists and podcasts we listen to, but in how we connect and support each other throughout our lives.”
People at the heart of everything
What we like about these reports is their focus on people. Spotify talks a lot about inspiring creativity among fans and providing personalized experiences for a seamless music experience. However, the company recognizes the need for implementing a holistic approach to CX to all its internal parts, making itself more inclusive for everyone. That’s why employees are the main part of this comprehensive report.
One of the most interesting parts of the report in 2021 talks about employee experience, particularly employee mental health. Spotify reflects on the challenges COVID-19 brought to the company and the actions that were taken to resolve them. Diversity, inclusion, and belonging were at the centre of their initiative to support people in a time of crisis.
Following all of the above, we can learn a lot from the Spotify sustainability report, starting with a comprehensive approach to CX. You’ll be pleasantly surprised that this report has much more to offer than practical tips for reducing emissions. In the end, sustainability is much more than single practice – it’s an approach that needs to take place from all and united parts of the world.
The green in the Spotify sustainability report
Considering 2020 was the warmest year yet, we should all pause and take time to explore our opportunities for a greener future. Spotify did this by conducting thorough research on its impact on the environment. The sustainability team calculated emissions produced in the workplace, during employee travel, or online customer application use.
Worried about the results, they immediately took action, reducing the total output for 2020 and beyond. On the journey to decrease the emissions and stop the negative impact on the environment, Spotify turned to renewable energy and a set of other policies and standards. We don’t want to spoil the entire report for you, so make sure to read it for more details!
In this short overview, we only scratched the surface of the Spotify sustainability report. We described the parts that were interesting to us and may prove to be of value for CX professionals. You can find the full report here. Give it a read and let us know your thoughts!