It's no lie that the Community Forum plays a very important role for us at Spotify in terms of technical solutions and feedback collection. However, we believe the Community to be a most vital aspect of our service, because music exists to bring people together and is something that binds us all together beyond all other limits.
What is our mission you wonder? We aim to foster social engagement, help solve issues and gather user suggestions. The Star Program plays a key role in achieving this - through it we give the most active and dedicated users in our forum the ability to truly make something special and help our growing userbase.
The Community is a two way street - we benefit from these interactions but so do our users and of course our lovely Stars. To celebrate this, let's hear what our Stars would like to say the Star Program means to them.
Starting with @AdamDam, who will happily give us a summary of the Star Program and it's many benefits: "To me, the Spotify Stars Program represents a breadth of opportunities through which I’m able to get more involved with my favorite music-streaming app, via posting on the Spotify Community website and interacting with the Community team who manage and moderate the forums there.
Whether it’s reading a Knowledge Base article, working with other Community team members and fellow Stars on Community-related projects like “Artists Wanted,” escalating a Help topic to seek advice from a Moderator about replying to it, testing an upcoming feature on the app before it’s rolled out, joining video calls with other Stars Program members, checking out the new Backstage updates to learn about changes that are in store for Spotify, etc., being in this program means that I have more opportunities to participate in more ways on the Spotify Community than I could if I wasn’t in the program.
I enjoyed posting in the Community before I joined the Stars Program (especially in the Chat boards), but I can say that being in the Stars Program has diversified my experiences on the Spotify Community; and in the process, it’s also made participating on the Community more fun."
I couldn't have said it better myself. As @dinomight so elegantly put it "Spotify is one of my favorite services and something I use almost every day, and the Stars Program has been an awesome way to interact with fellow Spotify enthusiasts and connect with people who work with the company. I've had so much fun over the years getting to communicate with the moderators, developers, and other members of the Stars Program. I feel like we're a close knit group of people in the program, and I've appreciated the way it encourages me to keep coming back to spend time in the Spotify Community!"
@Prague shared with us that "the Stars program means a digital place of gathering where I am able to meet new like minded friends. It gives me sense of staking my claim in this world, hoping to of helped someone in my time on this planet. It also gives me resources to become the most business friendly artist I am striving to be. At the end of the day it’s a great place to exchange music, conversation and troubleshooting tips with loveliest folks on the web."
@Jose_M was happy to share that "Being part of the Spotify Community Stars program is an amazing experience, recognizing my passion for music and dedication to the platform. It's a chance to help and engage with fellow music enthusiasts, contribute feedback to improve the platform, and connect with a diverse community of like-minded individuals. I am grateful for this opportunity to make a positive impact and support the Spotify community."
@Luan told us that "The Star Program is more than just a forum group to me. It's where I've been learning a lot and developing different skills. It is also an important way to me to keep connected with different people from all over the world and this means sharing thoughts, ideas and experiences with them, helping to shape the future of Spotify. The program is more than helping people, it's a real sense of community."
As we mentioned above, connecting with each other and bonding over shared passion is what Community interactions are all about. "For me, the Star program is a way to connect with fellow Spotify enthusiasts while having fun. I've been using Spotify for quite some time now, which allows me to assist others with any problems they may encounter. Being part of a community that shares my passion for music and Spotify is a fantastic experience." said @Amayy. "It's belonging in a community in which everyone gets the chance to learn more and to be a part of a greater thing." as @Sebasty has shared.
But it's not just one big party where the music never stops here. The Community is also a depository of knowledge that is here to help others whenever they face any issues or difficulties with the app and if there somehow isn't already a thread about any specific issue, our dedicated teams of Stars and Moderators will be sure to lend a helping hand.
Many of our Stars have shown gratitude for all the knowledge and expertise they have acquired from the program. As @Keanu_C said, "The star program means a lot to me. It is a great way to connect with other super users, learn new things, and to give back to the Spotify community. I enjoy helping others. The stars and employees in the program have helped me improve my knowledge"
@Maxim said "Helping out users in the Community has become part of my daily routine. I answer questions, solve issues of other users. Through the Star Program, I can expand my knowledge about Spotify even further. The Star Program also allows me to get cool rewards for helping other users, like free Premium or other cool Spotify merch. "
And that shows us something else, the material and especially personal benefits to being in the Star Program. As @Bittencourt so wonderfully put it "The Star Program is something that embraced me so many years ago when I was just getting to know Spotify. Because of it I was able to meet so many amazing people from the staff and other users, as well as explore Stockholm and NYC, two of my favorite cities. The possibility to help and being helped is something that I highly appreciate. Although I haven’t been as active as I’d like to in the community lately, I’m counting the days to this years’ jam" Or as @Billy-J put it "The Star Program to me is a place where I am able to build connections with people from all around the world, in which we share common interests like listening to music. The Star Program is also a community where I can express my creativity, work with others, and have fun. And I think the best part is we are from different avenues of the world, but we are able to get things done - have a positive environment and make long-lasting relationships."
And this is all just a small sliver of our mission in the Community. Our Stars are an invaluable part of our work here. They are the strongest glue that holds our community together and are the bridge between Spotify itself and its wonderful userbase. "Being part of the Community means staying connected with Spotify fans all over the world and being recognized for our contributions. We believe that being involved in the Community keeps us closer to Spotify." as @MateusM put it. Or as our veteran @MattSuda said it "The Stars Program means so much to me! I've been a member of the program for 11 years now and I'm looking forward to many more! The program has helped me develop lots of great skills and I've gotten to meet so many amazing people. " And we the Moderators are here to happily foster this connection and keep the flame alive for much much longer. After all, no plant can grow without sunlight and thus our Community cannot grow without the light of Stars. Thank you for all you do, we appreciate you very much 🙂
