As a long-time Spotify Premium subscriber and avid music listener, I've relied on the Web Player for its convenience—no downloads required. It changed how I discover and enjoy music, replacing my old habit of buying CDs. But the recent redesign has turned a solid tool into a frustrating experience. While Spotify calls it an improvement, it feels like a clear downgrade: harder to navigate, visually unappealing, and stripped of key features.
Try it yourself if you dare, or let our hands-on review highlight the biggest issues.
The new interface is a disappointment. Somehow, Spotify approved a UI that's cramped and counterintuitive compared to the previous version.
Check the landing screen:
Only four icons fit, which feels incredibly limiting for a service with over 30 million songs.
The same issues plague Discover and New Releases sections. Zooming out resizes content but shrinks the left menu to unusability.
And that red tint? It clashes with Spotify's iconic green branding.
Playlists fare no better—only the first seven tracks show by default, forcing endless scrolling for larger collections.
Artist pages, like Shakira's, bury top hits, bio, and albums behind excessive clicks and scrolls.
Worst of all, no built-in navigation means relying on browser back buttons—clumsy at best, negligent at worst.
Design aside, Spotify axed standout web-exclusive features with no easy way to restore them. It's a textbook case of 'less is more' gone wrong.
Last.fm scrobbling is gone—your listening history won't sync anymore.
Radio mode vanished; no more effortless artist-based recommendations.
Queue lists? Removed. You're stuck manually managing playback.
Other casualties:
We're spotting more omissions daily—share yours in the comments.
Basic functions falter. Volume resets to 100% when switching tabs, risking hearing damage—not just annoying, but unsafe.
Playback glitches abound: Starting a new track mid-song often fails; pause then play as a workaround.
Playlists frequently won't load. Collaborative adds fail, and keyboard shortcuts are broken (though extensions can help).
One potential upside: Now-playing sync across web, desktop, and mobile. But it's inconsistent—even worked on my account, not my wife's. More bug than feature?
Score: 23 major issues vs. 1 minor positive.
I adore Spotify—it's my go-to streaming service. Yet this web player misses the mark on every front. Is it pushing users to apps? Poor testing? Label pressures? Whatever the cause, it's a letdown.
What's your take on the new Spotify Web Player? Share in the comments.
