Heardle Spotify move hits sour note with some fans

Spotify has bought popular interactive music guessing game Heardle.

The streaming giant says the look and feel of the game, which challenges players to identify a short burst of a mystery track, will not change.

Heardle is inspired by the hit five-letter word guessing game Wordle, bought by the New York Times (NYT) in January.

But some Heardle fans have been using four-letter words in response to problems following its sale.

Issues with game statistics were a common complaint.

"Heardle, and my Heardle stats, have been a regular source of tiny daily joy for me," tweeted writer Brendan Hay, "so, naturally, Spotify has to ruin that by taking over and deleting my old stats."

BBC News has approached Spotify for comment.

Its press release promises the "look and feel of the game will stay the same and it'll remain free to play for everyone".

"Effective today, players can listen to the full song on Spotify at the end of the game," the company announced.

"We are always looking for innovative and playful ways to enhance music discovery and help artists reach new fans," Spotify's Jeremy Erlich wrote.

"Heardle has proven to be a really fun way to connect millions of fans with songs they know and love and with new songs."

Statistics from SimilarWeb suggest 41 million people visited Heardle's webpage last month.

The New York Times attracted tens of millions of new users following its purchase of Wordle, for a low seven-figure sum, the technology-news site noted.