Spotify acquires Heardle, the popular music-based Wordle clone

By Cristina Alexander July 12, 2022

Spotify announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Heardle, the music trivia game version of Wordle.

According to a press release, the music streaming platform said that purchasing Heardle — the cost of which Spotify declined to disclose — will help improve the discoverability of songs old and new. In other words, it will help players rediscover their old favorite hits and introduce them to new artists, as well as link them to their music on Spotify whether they guessed the songs correctly or not.

Spotify and Heardle logos. — Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty Images

“We are always looking for innovative and playful ways to enhance music discovery and help artists reach new fans,” said Jeremy Erlich, Spotify’s global head of music. “Heardle has proven to be a really fun way to connect millions of fans with songs they know and love and with new songs . . . and a way to compete with their friends as to who has the best musical knowledge. Since its debut, the game has quickly built a loyal following, and it aligns with our plans to deepen interactivity across the Spotify ecosystem.”

If you’ve been playing Heardle up until now, it used Soundcloud as a music player. Now, Heardle‘s logo font has changed to match Spotify’s, along with integrating the platform’s music player, but the game remains the same.

Heardle will remain a free game and a standalone website — at least for now. Players will get to try out the new Heardle in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand before it expands to other countries and languages.

Spotify said it plans to integrate Heardle “more fully” into the app, but it didn’t say how or when that will happen. Considering that it has integrated Genius trivia cards underneath some songs, Heardle and Spotify are a match made in music heaven.

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Cristina Alexander

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Cristina Alexander has been writing since 2014, from opining about pop culture on her personal blog in college to reporting…

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