First there was Wordle, and then came Heardle. And while The New York Times bought Wordle earlier this year, Spotify is now buying the audio-driven spinoff Heardle.
If you haven’t played, here’s how it goes. Instead of guessing individual letters of a word, like in Wordle, Quordle, Octordle, etc., Heardle challenges players to pick out a song by hearing only small pieces of it. The first clue is one second long, and the subsequent clues each get longer, totaling six chances for players to correctly guess the song.
Spotify announced the planned acquisition on Tuesday, noting that its team sees Heardle “as more than a trivia game: It’s also a tool for musical discovery.” Spotify hopes that Heardle players will not only find a rekindled love for old songs, but also discover new ones — “or finally put a title to that wordless melody you’ve had caught in your head forever.”
Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“We are always looking for innovative and playful ways to enhance music discovery and help artists reach new fans,” Jeremy Erlich, Global Head of Music at Spotify said in a statement.
He added: “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.”
According to Spotify, Heardle will still look and feel the same as it does now, and will remain free to play. As an added feature, effective today, players can follow a link to listen to the full song from the puzzle on Spotify at the end of the game.
The streamer also intends to expand the game so that users worldwide can play and guess songs in their native language. Spotify added that it is “also planning to integrate Heardle and other interactive experiences more fully into Spotify to allow music lovers to connect more deeply with artists and challenge friends — and have some fun in the process.”