Looking to expand your musical horizons? Spotify is here to help. On Wednesday, the popular music streaming service debuted a new tool they’re calling Fresh Finds, which “surfaces the latest songs from undiscovered artists that are capturing the world’s interest before the music becomes popular.” So if you like to think of yourself as a trailblazer when it comes to music (or really, just want to know what’s cool before it becomes cool), this is the service for you.
Beginning today, Fresh Finds will give listeners a new, curated list of songs every Wednesday, promising to “break songs across five genres.” The playlists are an interesting conglomeration of human tastes and computer algorithms, allowing for an intriguing set of new tunes to get you through your week.
“Spotify has always focused on artists and listeners, and with Fresh Finds we’re specifically looking at new creators, digging deeper to understand how undiscovered artists can attract a huge fan base,” said Dr. Brian Whitman, principal scientist at Spotify, in a blog post announcing the new feature. “By analyzing the listening behavior of our top tastemaker users, we’re able to predict new breakout artists and filter their hits-to-be into playlists with the most promising new music out there.”
Ultimately, Spotify’s goal is to spot the next chart toppers before they even hit the charts, effectively positioning themselves as the next tastemakers. The service explains, “By combining early online buzz across blogs and music news sites with billions of listening hours on Spotify, we can identify anonymous listening patterns around fans that already listen to more up and coming music.”
Fresh Finds, however, is actually not an entirely new service. The tool was first introduced last year, but whereas it was once housed under the “Trending” section, it’s now been relocated to prime real estate in the main Browse homepage. Currently, playlists include Fresh Finds (brand new breakout tracks spread across five genres), Fire Emoji (hip-hop), Basement (electronic), Hiptronix (vocal pop), Six Strings (guitar driven), Cyclone (experimental), so if you’re getting bored of your current playlist, it may be time to check out Fresh Finds.
