How to Find New Music on Spotify

Spotify is great for not only listening to the music that you love, but also for finding new music to love in the future. If you find yourself bored of the same old playlists and albums, Spotify is packed with features that are specifically designed to help you find new music.

Spotify is always improving on these features, and its algorithm, too, so the more you use the Spotify, the better it will get at suggesting music for you.

One thing to keep in mind with Spotify is that its algorithm is always changing and keeping up to date with your own personal taste. That means the more you listen, and the more you use the features that

Spotify has in place such as playlists and liking and disliking tracks, albums, and artists, the more accurate its recommendations for you will be. So don’t hesitate to tap like on something you enjoy, because that will help Spotify recommend more in that vibe in the future.

That being said, read on to learn how to find new music on Spotify.

Discover Weekly + Release Radar

If you already use Spotify a lot, then the algorithm probably knows your listening habits and tastes pretty well by now. Every week, on Monday for Discover Weekly and on Friday for Release Radar, Spotify’s algorithm generates two personalized playlists of 30 songs each.

Discover Weekly is filled with songs that Spotify thinks you might like, and Release Radar is all new releases from artists you listen to or are similar to those you listen to.

I have personally found out about many artists that I now love by using Discover Weekly. Before this blog became the South Carolina music blog that it is today, I actually found out about SUSTO, a band who I’ve now written about and gotten to know very well over the years, on my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist, way back in 2015. The song was “Smoking Outside”, if anybody’s curious.

Fans Also Like

Pull up your Spotify app on your phone or desktop, and go to the artist page of somebody you really like. On that page you should see a section titled “Fans Also Like”. On mobile, swipe through, and on desktop click the tab, and you’ll see dozens of artists listed. This section is based on people who listen to a particular artist, and who else they listen to in that genre.

Spotify’s Fans Also Like section is a great way to discover artists that you’ve never heard of before. From there you can check out some singles or just dig into an album and might really enjoy it. You can also click around in Fans Also Like to get further and further away from the original artist page until you end up in uncharted territory, where you haven’t heard of one single artist in the Fans Also Like section. There you go. You’ve just found new music.

Spotify Radio Stations

Spotify has really upped their radio game over the years. When I first started using Spotify, back in 2013 or so, I never used the radio feature, because it sucked. Nowadays it’s honestly pretty great, because Spotify’s algorithm has come a long way. You can play radio stations based on any single artist, and Spotify will shuffle songs based on your personal taste and where it overlaps with that artist.You can directly improve the station, too, with the like and dislike buttons.

The songs just keep coming, and you’ll definitely hear some that you already know, but Spotify also throws in plenty of stuff you don’t know. If you enjoy the artist that the station is based off of, then you’ll probably find new music that you like on their Spotify radio station.

Use the Browse Feature

On both the mobile and desktop versions of the Spotify app, there is a tab called Browse. In that section, you’re presented with several more tabs that are all packed with music, and ready to be explored.

Under the Genres & Moods tab, you’ll find Spotify’s official playlists and other playlists that their editorial team has decided to feature. Check out some of those playlists and you’re bound to find something good.

The New Releases tab is good for getting a general grasp of what’s going on in the music world. Sometimes here you’ll see an artist who is featured on every music blog, but you’ve never actually listened to. You can easily let curiosity get the best of you here and find out what the hype is all about.

The Discover tab is algorithmic and based on your listening habits. Here you’ll find Spotify’s top recommendations for you, curated new releases that Spotify thinks you’ll enjoy, and recommendations for you based on what you’ve been listening to lately. The more you use Spotify and press like on tracks you enjoy, make playlists, and generally listen to music, the better this section gets. There are always some solid recommendations for new music in here.

Special shoutout to the Charts tab. It can be fun to browse through that and see what’s going viral around the world, and even by country.

Use the Friend Feed

On the Spotify desktop app, you have an option to turn on the Friend Feed to see what people you follow are listening to. That one friend who has always impressed you with their music knowledge? See what they’ve got in rotation. Head to their profile, check out their playlists and recently played artists. If you have a few friends with good music taste, you can easily dig around for a while and discover plenty of new songs that you enjoy. Add them to your own Spotify playlists and make them public to keep that gravy train rolling.

In Conclusion

Spotify is a great tool in the endless quest to discover new music. The app is designed to improve the listening experience of its users, which is why it has become so enormously popular over the years. If you really put the beast to work, you’ll have no problem finding new music on Spotify. That means listen, like, make playlists, and take advantage of what the algorithm has to offer, and the app will reward you with brand new (to you), beautiful, shiny, music.

What are your favorite ways to find new music on Spotify?