Spotify’s Music Map taps into the musical DNA of nearly 1,000 cities

By Adam Poltrack July 13, 2015

If you’ve ever spent hours compiling a playlist designed to capture the essence of a certain place, Spotify just made your life a whole lot easier. The streaming service has introduced a Musical Map that features close to 1,000 cities, all of which connect to playlists uniquely crafted to feel like that particular location.

The lists are designed to be “distinctive” and feature music that is popular in one locale and unfamiliar elsewhere (e.g. – locally, popular genres, tunes by local artists, city-wide anthems, songs that rep neighborhoods, and tracks with references that you wouldn’t get unless you were from around the way).

Whatever the case may be, this is built on the belief that places have musical identities and it aims to tap into those genomes. That said, Spotify is specifically looking for what makes an area musically different from others. For instance, New York City is enamored with The Chainsmokers, while Berlin is all-in on a certain song by Jakob Dylan; Manaus, Brazil is into Esteben and Dunedin, New Zealand is rocking out to Six60.

Check out the map above for more revelations but be careful: You could easily burn a whole day clicking your way around the world and cherry-picking local gems for your intercontinental playlist.

Come to think of it, you could easily burn far more time than that. All of the playlists on Music Map update bi-monthly, so as each place’s musical DNA mutates, you can make sure you stay up-to-date. These updates are completed by analyzing a startling 20 billion listener/track relationships, an example of how big data continues to customize entertainment and shrink the world.

From Reykjavik, Iceland to Honolulu, Hawaii, Music Map is available now and is free for Spotify subscribers. Take it for a spin and see what you think.

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Adam is an A/V News Writer for Digital Trends, and is responsible for bringing you the latest advances in A/V…

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