Why Spotify is launching its own font, Spotify Mix

Spotify has launched its own font, the company announced Wednesday. The music streaming service hopes its new font, “Spotify Mix,” will help Spotify distinguish its own visual identity.

Spotify Mix is ​​a sans serif font designed in partnership with Dinamo Typefaces, a Berlin-based type design studio that has worked with major companies including Burberry, Discord, Nike, Patreon, and Tumblr, among others. Sans-serif fonts are simpler than serif fonts and are popular with many brands, including tech giants Google and Microsoft. The font type is also known to be more accessible because it is easier to read on smaller devices.

Spotify describes the new font as a “combination of sharp angles and gentle curves,” giving it “distinctive character,” Rasmus Wängelin, Spotify’s global head of brand design, wrote in a blog post.

“To design this font, we broke free from traditional typographic constraints and merged elements from a variety of font styles. This approach reflects the dynamic and evolving nature of audio culture over the years,” added Wängelin.

Spotify Mix replaces the current font used on the platform, Circular, created by Swiss designer Laurenz Brunner.

Spotify Mix serves as an example for startups looking to establish a unique brand identity through the use of distinct font styles. While some may view a font change as minor, others believe it has a substantial impact on how a business is perceived. A font like Comic Sans, widely considered the most hated font due to its childish and unsophisticated nature, could elicit a strong, negative reaction from users, for example.

Many large companies have been updating their fonts to give their brands their own form of visual expression. In 2021, Twitter/X introduced its proprietary font, Chirp, to give it more personality and improve content readability for users. When Instagram underwent a visual refresh, it introduced a new typeface. Microsoft’s abandonment of Calibri as the default font in Office also made headlines. And years ago, when Google unveiled its new design language, Material Design, it included an updated version of its system font, Roboto.

Spotify Mix is ​​rolling out gradually starting today and will continue over the coming weeks. It is currently only available for content written in “all languages ​​with Latin scripts, as well as Vietnamese,” the company said.