Spotify has announced that it’s acquiring Heardle. It’s the music guessing game spin-off of Wordle. This acquisition is Spotify’s first acquisition of a game, and is partially seen as a ‘tool for musical discovery’ by Spotify.
Heardle is one of the many spin-offs of Wordle and works similarly to the original game, but instead of guessing a word in a limited amount of time, players hear the opening notes of a song and are tasked with guessing the title. If you don’t guess the right song the first time, you will get a few more seconds to try and answer correctly (within six tries), or if you don’t the answer is revealed at the end. Different from Wordle, when you start to type your guess it will give you song suggestions. For example, I tried today’s song and (spoiler if you play the game today) it was “We Are Young” by fun. featuring Janelle Monae, but by typing ‘we’ the suggestions of ‘When We Were Young’ by Adele and ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ by Billy Joel were suggested.
The layout of the game hasn’t changed, and it will continue to have its own standalone website and be free for players. The only thing that has changed is that players can play the full song on Spotify after they complete the game, before it would link to Soundcloud. (Oh also the font of the title changed).
Spotify sees an opportunity as with Heardle because it can help you rediscover old music tracks or introduce you to new songs. In the press release, Spotify said millions of people use Heardle, and can continue to be used to connect with fans.
“We are always looking for innovative and playful ways to enhance music discovery and help artists reach new fans,” commented Jeremy Erlich, Global Head of Music, Spotify. “Heardle has proven to be a really fun way to connect millions of fans with songs they know and love and with new songs . . . and a way to compete with their friends as to who has the best musical knowledge. Since its debut, the game has quickly built a loyal following, and it aligns with our plans to deepen interactivity across the Spotify ecosystem.”
Heardle is currently available in the U.S, U.K, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, but Spotify plans on expanding that reach so that more people around the world can play the game in their native language. There are also plans to “integrate Heardle and other interactive experiences more fully into Spotify to allow music lovers to connect more deeply with artists and challenge friends — and have some fun in the process.”