Spotify announced that Discover Weekly will add a new "Personalized by Music Type" feature. Users can select labels such as "Pop", "R&B", "Funk" and so on at the top of the playlist and directly tell Spotify: "I want to listen to more of this style recently!"
The launch of this new feature means that Spotify is listening to the voice of users. In response to complaints in recent years about the "high rate of repetition in playlists" and "recommendations that deviate from tastes" in the Discover Weekly playlist, Spotify is "correcting" the deviation through more precise classification algorithms.
This article will take you through the highlights of this update quickly and guide you step by step on how to use the new features to enhance your music exploration experience.
What is Discover Weekly?
If you're not familiar with this feature yet, here's a quick overview:
Discover Weekly is an exclusive music recommendation list that Spotify pushes every Monday;
Automatically generated through analysis of your historical playback data, collection habits, and preferences;
Since its launch in 2015, this "Monday Music Blind Box" has been played more than 100 billion times by users around the world;
It was once one of Spotify's most popular features, but in recent years it has also been criticized for repeated recommendations, inaccurate genre classification, and a poorer sense of music discovery.
This time, Spotify finally responded: more accurate recommendations + user-customized control options!
New feature highlights
Spotify's update this time added user-selectable "music style tags" and simultaneously updated the algorithm and cover design. The main highlights are as follows:
1. Multiple music style label buttons
A new style selection button has been added to the top of the weekly recommendation list, such as:
Pop
R&B
Funk
Indie
Electronic
Which direction do you click? The system will move in that direction.
2. Recommendation algorithm optimization
Spotify officially stated:
"We updated the music style recognition system and recommendation logic in May to solve the problems of inaccurate style classification and repeated recommendations."
This means that from now on, your Discover Weekly is no longer determined by the algorithm, but by you.
3. new visual appearance of the cover
In addition to the functional upgrade, this update also brings a new cover design for Discover Weekly. It is no longer the same purple-blue gradient cover, but a more "emotional" visual style based on your favorite music style:
Warm red: suitable for pop and Latin music
Fresh and green: prefer folk music and light electronic music
Cool and dark: prefer Techno and Trap styles
For those of you who like to organize playlist covers, this is a "visual bonus" upgrade! The new cover design enhances the visual experience and is also conducive to sharing on social platforms.
Tutorial: How to customize your Discover Weekly playlist?
Step 1: Open the Spotify App
Make sure you have updated to the latest version of Spotify (it is recommended to check for updates in the App Store or Google Play).
Step 2: Enter Discover Weekly
Open Spotify
Find the weekly recommended playlist in "Recommended for you" or "Search Discover Weekly"
Step 3: Choose your preferred music genre
After entering Discover Weekly, you will see multiple new type buttons at the top of the playlist (such as Pop, Indie, Electronic, Jazz, etc.):
Click on the genre you like, and Spotify will strengthen the proportion of this style in the recommendations for this week and the next few weeks. You can select multiple tags to combine the music direction that suits your current mood.
Step 4: Listening to songs + liking mechanism is more important
Spotify will continue to optimize recommendations based on your listening behavior, favorites, skips, likes and other interactive data, so don't be stingy with your "Like" or "Not interested"!
Practical test suggestions: How to optimize your Discover Weekly experience?
Use the "Like" feature frequently to mark songs you like
Play Discover Weekly in full at least once a week (to improve algorithm learning effect)
Regularly clear the "History Skip" song records (can be operated in "Privacy Settings")
If you don't like a song, mark it as "Not Interested"
Your behavior itself is data. The more Spotify knows about you, the more accurate your music universe will be.
Combined with AI, Spotify is getting better at understanding you
In addition to the personalized upgrade of Discover Weekly, Spotify has also launched a number of AI features:
AI DJ: A virtual host who greets you by name and recommends music based on your preferences
AI Text-to-Playlist: Input a sentence and generate a themed playlist (e.g. "A melancholic R&B playlist suitable for late night driving")
AI Podcast Host: A virtual podcast automatically generated for you to review what songs you have listened to recently
Spotify is building a highly customized music universe, no longer just a "platform for playing songs", but a "music partner that understands your emotions and preferences."
Why is this feature worth using?
Solve the pain point of "song shortage"
Traditional Discover Weekly occasionally "crashes". Now you can accurately enter your interests and say goodbye to random song recommendations.Give the algorithm a hint
In the past, the algorithm didn't understand that you like "British independent rock + psychedelic", but now you can point it out.Discover hidden treasures
Spotify said it has updated its algorithm to better identify niche music styles and emerging artists. Combined with manual style instructions, it may unearth unexpected new idols.Continuously adjustable
you can switch styles every week according to your mood. For example, you may want to listen to R&B this week and some electronic experimental style next week.
Conclusion
If you've ever given up on using it because of repetitive recommendations or incompatible styles - now's the time to reactivate your music exploration journey!
Have you used this new feature? Do you think the recommendations are more accurate?
