All roasts
spotify.com as our browser saw it on 3 Nov 2026
spotify.com, roasted on 3 Nov 2026.

Medium

Shows the charts, skips the pitch: it assumes you're already a fan.

What we saw: Spotify's logged-out web player home showing trending music

Three things we noticed

  1. 'Your Library' is empty and offering playlist help to a visitor who hasn't even signed up yet.

    left sidebar library
  2. 'Log in' gets the big white button, while 'Sign up' mumbles beside it in small grey text.

    top right buttons
  3. Nothing on this screen says listening is free; the menu's first word for visitors is 'Premium'.

    menu and missing headline

The one fix

For logged-out visitors, swap the empty 'Your Library' panel for one plain promise, such as 'Listen to millions of songs free', with a big 'Sign up free' button. Make 'Sign up' the white button at the top and let 'Log in' be the quieter text link.

The full roast

The 5-second test

I think it's Spotify, a music site showing what's popular in Japan right now. I can't tell if I can play songs here without an account, or what it costs. I'd click 'Log in' because it's the brightest button, then remember I don't have an account.
What I think you sell
Music and podcast streaming
Who I think it's for
People who already use Spotify and are coming back to listen

Headline and value

4/10

On desktop, the biggest words on the first screen are 'Trending songs'.

Nothing at the top says what this is, who it's for, or why to pick it over the radio or another music app. The only sentence that sounds like a promise is the grey search box text, 'What do you want to play?', which asks a question instead of answering one. The phone version has a real pitch, 'Listen without limits. Try 1 month of Premium Individual for SGD 0.', so the words already exist. Desktop just doesn't use them. Right now Vaundy, who shows up twice on one screen, is doing more selling than the page is.

Quick win: Above 'Trending songs' on desktop, add one bold line taken from the phone page: 'Listen without limits. Try 1 month of Premium for SGD 0.'

Call to action

4/10

The loudest button on the page is for people who already have an account.

'Log in' is the only solid white button at the top, while 'Sign up' sits beside it as small plain text. That treats every visitor like a regular. The left panel adds 'Create playlist' and 'Browse podcasts', which suggest a library a new visitor doesn't have yet. There's no single obvious first step for a newcomer, plus four other top links ('Premium', 'Support', 'Download', 'Install App') pulling in different directions.

Quick win: Swap the styles: make 'Sign up free' the white pill button and turn 'Log in' into the quieter text link.

Look and layout

7/10

Clean, dark, and full of good album art, but the cookie notice eats the bottom of the screen.

The album covers and round artist photos catch the eye straight away and make the page feel alive. The dark background and white text are easy to read. The empty left panel takes up a quarter of the width with two small grey boxes and a lot of black. The cookie notice covers the 'Popular albums and singles' row and uses more words than the whole rest of the first screen.

Quick win: Shrink the cookie notice to one short line with an 'OK' button so it stops covering the third row.

Trust and proof

6/10

The charts quietly prove there's real music here, but price and 'free' are missing on desktop.

Real names like Mrs. GREEN APPLE, RADWIMPS, Aimyon and ILLIT show that the catalogue is current and local, which reassures people. What a cautious visitor wants to know on desktop is whether it costs anything, and the first screen never says. The phone page answers it clearly: 'Only SGD 11.98/month after. Cancel anytime.' That kind of plain price-and-exit line builds trust, and desktop leaves it out.

Quick win: Put 'SGD 0 for 1 month, then SGD 11.98/month. Cancel anytime.' under the new desktop headline.

Copy

5/10

The few words there are friendly, but they talk to people who've already signed up.

'It's easy, we'll help you' and 'We'll keep you updated on new episodes' are warm and plain, which is good. They speak to someone already inside the app, not a stranger deciding whether to join. There's no jargon problem here. The problem is that there's almost no copy at all where the pitch should be, and the longest paragraph on the screen belongs to the cookie notice.

Quick win: Rewrite the left panel heading for logged-out visitors as 'Sign up to save songs and build your first playlist'.

Mobile

7/10

The phone version actually makes the pitch that desktop forgets.

'Try 1 month for SGD 0' is a big green button that's easy to tap with a thumb, and the price and 'Cancel anytime' sit right above it. That's clear and honest. Two snags: the top button says 'Open App', which assumes you already have it, and the cookie notice covers roughly the bottom fifth of the screen with large text. The offer card also has an X, so one tap removes the only explanation of what this is.

Quick win: Change the top button from 'Open App' to 'Get the app' for visitors who haven't installed it, and shorten the cookie notice to two lines.

Top fixes, in order

  1. Give logged-out desktop visitors a pitch

    Why: The empty 'Your Library' panel and the 'Trending songs' heading are the first things a stranger sees, and neither says what Spotify is or what it costs.

    How: For logged-out visitors, replace the library panel with one plain promise and a big button. For example, 'Listen without limits. Try 1 month of Premium for SGD 0.' with a green 'Sign up free' button underneath.

  2. Make 'Sign up' the loud button

    Why: 'Log in' is the only solid white button at the top, while 'Sign up' is small grey-white text, so newcomers get pointed at the wrong door.

    How: Give 'Sign up free' the white pill style and make 'Log in' a plain text link next to it.

  3. Bring the phone offer to desktop

    Why: The phone page has a clear deal ('Try 1 month for SGD 0', 'Only SGD 11.98/month after. Cancel anytime.') and desktop shows no price or offer before anyone scrolls.

    How: Add the same offer card at the top of the desktop main area, above 'Trending songs', using the exact phone wording and the green 'Try 1 month for SGD 0' button.

  4. Shrink the cookie notice

    Why: On desktop it hides the 'Popular albums and singles' row, and on the phone it covers about a fifth of the screen with the biggest text block on the page.

    How: Cut it to one line, such as 'We use cookies for ads and analytics. Cookie Policy.', with a clear 'OK' button, and pin it as a thin strip.

  5. Fix 'Open App' on the phone

    Why: The top button on mobile says 'Open App', which only makes sense if the app is already installed. Everyone else taps it and lands somewhere unexpected.

    How: Show 'Get the app' to visitors who don't have it, or swap it for 'Sign up free' so the top button matches what a newcomer actually needs.

Rewrites to steal

Headlines

Listen without limits. First month SGD 0.

offer first

Play what's trending, from Mrs. GREEN APPLE to Vaundy.

proof first

Music and podcasts, ready when you are.

plain and literal

Subheadlines

Try 1 month of Premium for SGD 0, then SGD 11.98/month. Cancel anytime.

price up front

Search any song, follow your podcasts, and build your first playlist. We'll help you.

what you can do

Sign up to save the songs you find and hear about new podcast episodes.

reason to join

Button text

Sign up free

plain and literal

Try 1 month for SGD 0

offer first

Start my first playlist

outcome first