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Spotify seeks hardware pro, sparks smart speaker speculation

The streaming service is looking for its next smash hit.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
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Richard Trenholm
Noam Galai

The next big hit for Spotify ? Hardware, maybe.

The Swedish streaming service is advertising a vacancy listed as, "Operations Manager - Hardware Product". The successful applicant will "contribute in the creation of innovative Spotify experiences via connected hardware", managing distribution, logistics and customer service for unnamed physical products.

Last year, a different job posting hinted at a Spotify wearable of some kind.

Any music service needs speakers or headphones to deliver their service into your ears, so Spotify currently uses a system called Spotify Connect to link up with audio hardware of all kinds. If Spotify were to make its own hardware -- earbuds or a smart speaker system don't seem like too much of a stretch -- it could claim some of the money currently made by other companies using the Spotify brand to sell products.

Spotify declined to comment on this news.

Could we see Spotify build a rival to the Amazon Echo or Apple HomePod , or even the Apple EarPods? Somewhere there's a hardware expert polishing their resume who may have the answer.