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Since its launch in 2008, Spotify has grown exponentially to account for an estimated 40 percent of the global music streaming market. To reach over 180 million active listeners and 83 million paid subscribers, Spotify developed a unique Agile methodology. Let’s have a closer look at their engineering culture.

Spotify Agile Methodology

Spotify has grown exponentially since its launch in 2008 and today it accounts for an estimated 40% of the global music streaming market. To reach over 180 million active listeners and 83 million paid subscribers, Spotify developed a unique Agile methodology. Let’s have a closer look at their engineering culture. The videos below by Henrik Kniberg – Agile Lean Coach serves as great examples.

The key components shown in the video below are:

Squads
- Equivalent to Scrum teams and each Squad team can consist of between 6 – 12 people. They work on one specific area.
- Free to decide what to build and how to build it.
- Each Squad focuses on a specific feature area and has a unique mission that guides their work. Squads have the autonomy to choose which agile methodology or framework they want to use, such as Scrum, Kanban, or Scrumban.
Tribes
- A group of Squads , from 40 – 150 people.
- For example, in Spotify, a tribe might consist of multiple squads working on the mobile version of the music player or another specific aspect of the product.
Chapter
- Bring unity from each tribe.
- Specialist and key individuals form a “Chapter” to resolve key issues.
- Each Chapter is typically led by a senior technology lead who guides and supports the team members in that specific discipline.
Guild
- Individuals from any squad can form a “Guild” to work on a common problem.
- Guilds are voluntary and open for anyone to join, regardless of their Squad or Tribe affiliation.
Chief Architect
- Oversees system architecture .
- Defining the architectural vision of various tribes.
- The Chief Architect is responsible for defining the architectural vision of various Tribes within Spotify, guiding the designs in each Tribe, and monitoring the release delivery schedule of each system.
Agile Coach
- Equivalent to Scrum master.
- All about coaching and enabling the Development Teams, read this blog post to gain more insight in the role. The Agile Coach role at Spotify.
Product Owner
- The Product Owner decides on the hierarchy of priorities for Squad members. They are responsible for small and frequent releases.
- The Product Owner is responsible for communicating the project vision to the team and assigning priorities. They work closely with the Squad to ensure that the work aligns with the overall objectives of the organization and that the team is focusing on delivering value to users.

Project Case Study: Music Recommendation at Spotify

Spotify’s music recommendation algorithms are crucial to enhancing user experience and engagement on the platform. These algorithms analyze user behavior, preferences, listening history, and other data points to generate personalized playlists and recommendations for each user. The project team responsible for developing and refining these algorithms likely followed the Spotify Agile method to drive innovation and efficiency in their work.

Implementation of the Spotify Model in the Music Recommendation Algorithm Project:

Squads: A Squad within Spotify’s engineering organization could have been dedicated to working on improving the music recommendation algorithms. This Squad would consist of cross-functional team members with expertise in data science, machine learning, software engineering, and product management.
Tribes: The Squad focusing on music recommendations would be part of a larger Tribe within Spotify that includes other Squads working on related features or projects. This alignment ensures coordination and collaboration across different teams within the organization.
Chapters: Specialists within the music recommendation Squad, such as data scientists or machine learning engineers, would belong to Chapters that bring together individuals with similar skills across various Squads. These Chapters facilitate knowledge sharing, best practice dissemination, and skill development.
Guilds: Given the complexity and importance of music recommendation algorithms, there might have been Guilds at Spotify dedicated to topics like machine learning or data science. Team members passionate about these areas could join Guilds to exchange ideas, share insights, and stay updated on industry trends.
Trio and Alliance: The Trio concept could have been applied in this project by ensuring alignment between product leads, design leads, and Tribe Leads involved in enhancing the music recommendation algorithms. Additionally, Alliances may have formed when multiple Tribes collaborated on overarching goals related to algorithm performance or user engagement metrics.

By incorporating these elements of the Spotify model into their project structure, Spotify’s engineering teams likely achieved greater agility, communication efficiency, and innovation in developing and optimizing their music recommendation algorithms.

How Spotify Wrapped was developed: Inside Story

Discover how Spotify engineering is used to support Spotify’s millions of users, its popular Spotify Wrapped event and its many recommendation features. Read the inside story here.