Mixtapes are something from the last century. They were popular in the 90s and 90s, ways before people could burn CDs or creating MP3 playlists.
Netflix, the provider of streaming films and television series, has announced a new feature called Flixtape. Inspired by those mixtapes, but for Netflix.
According to the company, Flixtapes are meant to be built around specific themes, moods or particular message.
The feature took its inspiration from the glorious time when love-lorn teenagers expressed their emotional leanings through a carefully curated collection of their latest favorite songs.
On its own, the Flixtape feature is particularly unable in maximizing the potential of a playlist function on Netflix: users were already able to queue up things and keep track of shows and movies they want to watch. But what Flixtape does, is allowing you to make a list of TV shows in general for you or your friends to check out.
Using Flixtape, users can do more than just their friends about the best show on Netflix. In short, Netflix has just become more social.
When first visiting Flixtape, you have to main options: "make your own" or view the ones "made for you".
To create a Flixtape, you can give it a representative name first. Using that name, Netflix will analyze the label and suggest three movies or show titles in which you can customize. You can also add your own to up to 6 in total.
After choosing the shows to compile, you can then customize Flixtape with Neflix's pre-made designs, as well as mentioning a name if the Flixtape is meant for someone. You can also customize your playlists cover art. And after all is set, you can then share it via Facebook, Twitter, email of just text. But in order to do so, the recipients are still required to have an active Netflix account.
Netflix is struggling when its share price dropped 15 percent in the U.S. after a disappointing 2016 quarterly report. Netflix's prediction about its user growth missed, and the number falls significantly lower.
"Our global member forecast for Q2 was 2.5 million and we came in at 1.7 million. Gross additions were on target, but churn ticked up slightly and unexpectedly," said Netflix said.
Netflix was seen to improvise less than expected. The result was fleeing customers.
The company's CEO Reed Hastings blamed the disappointing performance on cancellations by subscribers facing price increases of as much as $2 per month, following the expiration of a two-year rate freeze for existing customers.
So Flixtape couldn't come any sooner. But there is no doubt that the Netflix wants it to boost engagement, attracting more users, and regaining old fleeing users.
Flixtape aims to make the service more shareable and social media-friendly. Netflix hopes that this will increase the emotional investment of its subscribers.