Contrary to what some doomsayers would have you believe, Spotify’s still very much alive and kicking in the wake of Apple Music. But despite an influx of new cash and subscribers, the streaming music service isn’t resting on its laurels — the company is going at Apple Music head on. Starting today, Spotify’s rolling out Discover Weekly, a personalized compilation of songs updated each Monday just for you.
Discover Weekly, which Spotify says will roll out to all users within the next few weeks, uses algorithms to base musical recommendations on both your listening history and the tastes of people who tend toward the same genres and artists as you.
The feature appears at the top of Spotify’s playlists tab on both mobile apps and the Web. The feature gives preferential treatment to newer releases — it’ll try to serve up albums and artists you haven’t played before, Spotify says — but won’t completely exclude old favorites. That’s important, because there’s no way to fine tune the music Discovery Weekly playlists.
Spotify’s betting you’ll trust Discovery Weekly to know what you like. But the subscription service is also attempting to simplify music discovery, which before pretty much required a tedious, cyclical trudge through a litany of sources — Spotify’s new releases, activity and mood-based lists, curated collections, and perhaps even friends’ top plays. Discovery Weekly, in theory, aggregates the best of everything into a single playlist.
Spotify’s continued success (i.e., $562 million in new funding and 75 million active users worldwide) hasn’t stopped the service from aggressively targeting would-be defectors. The company recently sent out a guide to iPhone customers who pay through the Apple store to help them avoid the higher rates by subscribing through Spotify’s website.
Spotify has also partnered with Uber to power music in the former’s cars and Starbucks to become your coffee shop jukebox. And back in May, the streamer announced the rollout of a new platform with podcasts, exclusive “video capsules” from Vice, Comedy Central, and the Nerdist, and Spotify Running, a music feature that recommends music based on the tempo of your steps.
If the fierceness of the streaming music competition wasn’t already palpable, it definitely is now.
