What do you get when you combine Spotify’s lossless audio with surround sound and a killer stereo setup fit only for prestigious listening sessions? You get the new Spotify Listening Lounge, of course – which I’m excited to visit.
In central London at Spotify’s headquarters, the music platform has launched a new purpose-built space for purposeful and focused listening. Led by Billie Baier, Joint Head of Marketing for Spotify UK & Ireland, the Spotify team collaborated with speaker design studio Friendly Pressure, founded by Shivas Howard-Brown, and Hugh Scott Moncrieff from design studio Cake Architecture to create a permanent listening environment from the ground up.
At first, only a set of black curtains separated the Listen Lounge from me. Once they pulled up, it was like walking into Wonka’s chocolate bar (a place to take off your shoes, obviously), but with a cool mid-century modern interior and the biggest stereo system I’ve ever seen – I wanted to hit the play button.
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Stereo is forever…
In a tradition where slow listening is a dying form of music consumption, Spotify Listening Lounge doubles down on the fact that listening to albums with purpose is the only way to appreciate art, all this gives only the top fans a space to feel even closer to their favorite artists. The purpose of this space is twofold:
“The launch of lossless last year started this for us – we’re thinking about how we can showcase that sound quality in the best possible way,” Baier said. “At the same time, we’re seeing a growing desire from fans to get closer to artists. Listening events are important, and this is about creating a more intimate version of that – bringing fans and artists together in a really meaningful way”. This is where Howard-Brown’s expertise shines.
The stereo setup is the star of the show. With the iconic Bluesound Node streaming in the middle, it’s equipped with a PrimaLuna DAC and paired with a PrimaLuna Evo 400 Valve Preamplifier. Two Bryston 3B Cubed Power Amplifiers sit on each side, all bookended by a pair of FP-4XXX Alnico Loudspeakers, custom fitted with SOES Resin Horns for the best lossless output.
“All of Friendly Pressure’s programs are stereo because they are about respecting the total art of music – the production, the musicianship, everyone involved in bringing the record to life”, Howard-Brown reveals, and applies these rules to his way of setting up Spotify. “Music has been recorded in stereo since the 1950s, and it remains the most authentic way to hear it. Although there are new formats like surround sound, they rely heavily on digital processing. For me, if you really want to respect the way a piece of music was created, you listen to it in stereo”, he adds.
… as well as listening a little
As well as being a Spotify subscriber, I firmly believe that albums should be listened to in their entirety. That also means setting aside time to ensure that full listening can be achieved, without interruptions. This is where the marriage of design and sound engineering really pushes the boundaries of how a listening environment can work.
From a design perspective, Moncrieff puts it this way: “As designers, we think a lot about atmosphere and emotion – and this was the first time we were able to fully bring sound into that conversation”, he tells me. “The space is designed as a journey: from the street to a dark, low entrance, before opening something soft and warm. It’s about preparing you to really listen”. That’s just one way to eliminate distractions — Howard-Brown’s custom stereo system reveals something profound.
“What has changed is that people are looking for it the exhibition (analog) – and well-designed systems have become part of that discourse. There is a real relationship between how something sounds and how it looks, and that’s what brings people back to sit and really listen”, he concluded.
So what awaits the Spotify Listening Lounge? Well, this space has many features. On the surface, it’s a pretty place, in design and setup, but at its heart is the principle that how you listen to music also affects what you listen to. Special album releases and birthday events will be the focus of the space going forward, as Baier teases, and hopefully encourage fans to make listening a bigger part of how they engage with music.
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