About

spo.tl is a link shortener designed exclusively for sharing Spotify links. When you get a link to a track or artist in Spotify it is long and the resulting page doesn't tell your friends much about what you linked to.

Put that same link into spo.tl and you will get a much shorter link (ideal for sharing on Twitter or other networks with limited space). When your friends click on that link they will see what you are sharing with them without opening Spotify (also useful if they don't have Spotify). Finally, because spo.tl only shortens Spotify links it will be recognised as a Spotify link, instead of masking your links with Bit.ly or another generic link shortener.

Who built this?

spo.tl was designed and built by Phil Nash, a developer from London who also created Spotifitunes. You can find him on Twitter as philnash.

FAQs

What links can I shorten?
You can shorten any links to artists, albums or individual tracks in Spotify.
Why would I want to shorten a link?
Because http://spo.tl/O7g1C is 33 characters shorter than http://open.spotify.com/album/2F9QXXQKnqqyzI1u4UK1Ss and every character counts on short messaging sites like Twitter.
What is wrong with the normal Spotify page for an artist?
There is nothing wrong with the page you land on when clicking a Spotify link. It tells you the artist or album or track name and links you through to that item in Spotify. However, a page on spo.tl tells you more, grabs album artwork and provides handy links for sharing on Twitter or Facebook.
Why can't I shorten playlist links?
Currently, there is no way to query Spotify for any details about playlists. Once that is available, you will be able to shorten playlists in Spotify too.
Why is there no album artwork with some albums?
The artwork comes from Last.fm, and while they have an enormous catalogue of artists and albums, they don't have everything.
It's called what?
It's called spo.tl, pronounced spottle. The name came from a combination of a clever combination of the words Spotify and little and the fact I could find such a short url.
Beta?
This service is new, so there might be some kinks to work out. If something does go wrong, give me a shout on Twitter