How to Spotify?

December 6, 2023 8:06 AM

This thread on the Blue (as well as "best of the year" season in general) has me wondering: is there a way to make Spotify less of baffling ordeal? In other words, how do you use Spotify to: - Capture stuff you want to listen to (e.g., you hear about an album and want to check it out) - Listen to old favourites (albums and individual songs) - Discovery new music (songs, albums, artists, genres) - Organize everything?

I'm a long--time music fan. I used to have hundreds of CDs and then as everything went computer-based I meticulously ripped them all (and new ones I collected) to MP3 format for WinAmp and eventually an extremely well organized database in iTunes.

Today, I find mostly listening to the same music I listened to 10 or 15 years ago and I think a lot of it has to do with not understanding how to use something like Spotify to discover new artists, songs, albums, and genres.

But I find the whole thing confusing.

For example, in Apple Music, I have my music collection. Among those, I had my favourite songs. I could make a smart playlist to just serve me up those song when I wanted (e.g., when I am in the car and/or want some background noise). In Spotify, it seems as though everything in my library is also a favourite.

Another example: I can't figure out how to just shuffle through my entire collection—only specific playlists.

I've also heard people talk up Spotify's discovery capabilities, but I'm not sure how to do that—is it just the "Discover Weekly" and "Release Radar" playlists? Do I need to "follow" artists to use these? Is that separate from having their music in my library?

What if I hear about an album I want to hear later? How do I track that and come back to it when I have some time?

What about stuff like seasonal playlists that I don't want in my "library" but might listen to under specific circumstances? (Another example: I have a playlist of 80s montage music I listen to only when working out. I don't want those songs coming up in other situations, probably.)

I feel really overwhelmed by all the... Stuff in there.

So... How do you use Spotify to support your listening habits? Are there tips and tricks to it? Am I missing something?

(Note that I might just stick with Apple Music, but others in my household use Spotify and so I'm considering it so we can get a household account and save a few dollars. I'm also not interested in using Spotify for podcasts or audiobooks.)

posted by synecdoche to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

I use Apple Music for music I've bought and downloaded and continue to add to it. And I use Spotify to try new-to-me music and listen to for new things, more or less like radio.

Yes, I listen to my Discover Weekly and Release Radar for new stuff (although it makes me feel a bit icky, assuming that some/all of it is perhaps promoted by publishers rather than it being generated by some "pure" algorithm based solely on what I listen to).

When I hear, or read about, something I might want to listen to, I find it on Spotify and add it to a "To Listen" playlist, which I check when I'm next Spotify listening.

For some genres I'm keen on I might listen to the "The Edge of… ", "The Sound of…", "The Pulse of…", and "Intro to…" playlists. These are auto-generated playlists that contain music from that genre. e.g. search for "The Sound of Indie-Pop" and under Playlists you'll find this one, which links to others.

(You can explore all the micro genres using everynoise.com but a note on there points to a post by its creator who was recently laid off, so no idea if that or those playlists will continue unfortunately.)

If you link your account with Facebook, and have friends using Spotify who do the same, you can explore their playlists. Have a friend with really good music taste? Try their Discover Weekly and Release Radar!

I'll also search for playlists I might like. There are a lot that weren't intended to be updated, some that are used to be updated regularly but aren't, and some that are. e.g. There are a few London or UK jazz playlists that used to update a lot, although London + UK Jazz is the only one I've bookmarked that's been updated recently.

Also, if there are record labels or small stores you like, see if they have playlists. e.g. I like the Fika Recordings monthly playlist.

I feel a bit bad because Spotify is Not Good. But I figure I use it pretty much like listening to the radio – which also presumably doesn't generate a vast wealth for most artists – and buy anything I listen to more than a couple of times.
posted by fabius at 8:33 AM on December 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Spotify has made a few improvements lately with this stuff.

Everything in your saved playlists is used for your "taste profile" which the recommendation features use. If you don't want this for a particular playlist, you can right-click and "Exclude from your taste profile".

(personally I preferred it when Spotify completely ignored my preferences and didn't try to pigeonhole me, but whatever)

They also recently added playlist folders, so if you want to play a bunch of playlists together you can right-click the folder and pick "Play".

One feature I get a lot of mileage out of myself is the "Autoplay" feature (enable in settings) which continues playing recommended music after your playlist or album is finished. I don't like how this feature has started being "tainted" by my listen history though. Be more like the radio, Spotify!
posted by neckro23 at 10:03 AM on December 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

Although not directly related to the question, Wired just published an article on Dec. 4th "Spotify Is Screwed — Spotify is the world’s biggest music streamer but rarely turns a profit and just cut 17 percent of its workforce. Its business model looks increasingly precarious."

Now, more on target to the question, and specifically What if I hear about an album I want to hear later? How do I track that and come back to it when I have some time?. Personally, I use Shazam on my phone to capture a particular song and then "Share" it with "Myself". As for albums, I either share to "Myself" the associated YouTube video or, if none, just email "Myself". For that matter, that's how I track books to read, things I want to buy, etc. I realize it would be nice (more or less) for Spotify to make it easier, but capitalism, I guess (?).

FWIW and YMMV.
posted by forthright at 11:27 AM on December 6, 2023

I don't use Spotify a ton unless I learn about an album and want to give it a listen. But I recently discovered something I find super helpful to learn about new-to-me music: you listen to an album you like, and when it's finished, Spotify spins up random songs from more or less the same genre or time period. I've started using that to find, say, New Wave bands I'm not familiar with--you play a New Order album and then pay attention to the New Order style radio station that plays afterward.
posted by goatdog at 11:45 AM on December 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

I also struggle with Spotify. I use the app “MusicBox: Save Music for Later” to keep track of what I want to listen to later. I usually tag where I heard about the music from, and sometimes genre.
posted by backwards guitar at 2:58 PM on December 6, 2023

When I hear a song on the radio that I want to listen to later, I search for it on Spotify, and then save it to a spotify playlist I call "new to me". I don't hyper-curate that list, it's just kind of a dumping ground, and then once in a while I'll put that playlist on shuffle and more seriously listen to the songs. If I like the songs, I'll download the albums. Repeat as desired.

Discovery new music (songs, albums, artists, genres)

I'm you, collection-wise; a couple thousand CD's, a couple thousand albums, most of my CD's ripped to an external HD. Given that I have that, I find Spotify's new music discovery algorithms....wanting. Why? Because if I listen to, say, a Fastbacks song, it will include that same song on almost literally EVERY 'discover this new music' playlist that Spotify generates for me. This isn't discovery! It's repetition! I've already discovered this song!

The other issue I have with their recommendation algorithm may be more particular to me, because I'm maybe a Spotify edge case who came to the service with a brain full of music, both mainstream and obscure. When the service generates a "daily mix" or "discovery" type playlist for me, it invariably is 90% songs that I already know.

None of this to say Spotify is terrible at discovery! Some of those playlists are fun. I'm just saying, as a person with a reasonably large existing-outside-Spotify library and presumably also thus similarly wide/deep knowledge of music, or at least of "your" preferred styles/genres of music, temper your expectations about Spotify opening up the Whole World of Today's Musics to you. Spotify will lean hard on a) what you tell it you like through your plays and b) what other songs are like a given played song (but aren't super uncommon).

As for listening to old favorites, it's really just a "search for it and play it" thing, mostly. I have saved a bunch of records I often return to in a single playlist to make that easier, but there's no real secret sauce to that particular part of your question, it's just a question of searching for what you want. Over time, Spotify will build you Daily Mix playlists that contain songs you listen to a lot, which can also be helpful, and there's enough varieties of those that it's not a bad way to go - I have Daily Mixes that lean punk, that lean Americana, that lean metal, etc.
posted by pdb at 5:20 PM on December 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

I find Bandcamp much better for music discovery than Spotify. Its editorial side constantly recommends great new music, and the system for saving favorites is very simple. (The browse function is a nightmare, though.)

That said, Bandcamp was recently purchased and may disappear soon.
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 6:00 PM on December 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

Try other people's playlists in genres you already like. Also, if you like an artist, several similar/related artists will be linked from their profile most of the time. Check those out, esp the ones unfamiliar to you; listen to their top songs. Repeat, repeat, repeat. As someone else mentioned, the radio stations that are auto-generated when an album or playlist runs out are also very useful.

Use playlists yourself to capture new things you want to listen to. Nothing is stopping you from making a playlist called "Intriguing" or etc, and going in and deleting stuff if you're bored with it. You can add and remove at will. You can make this out of your Shazam results or really whatever you want.

See if there's an external streaming radio station you like -- on SomaFM or whatever. Note tracks you like from there.

Eventually you may be able to find one of their curated playlists that's pretty reliable for your tastes (for me, that's Sinister Sounds on Apple Music). Sometimes it can take a while to find the right ones.
posted by verbminx at 7:47 PM on December 6, 2023

> you play a New Order album and then pay attention to the New Order style radio station that plays afterward.

It can do up a radio station off a single song, via the menu in the upper right corner.
posted by sebastienbailard at 8:50 PM on December 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

If you're already using Apple Music for X, what's preventing you from using it for Y? I find Spotify impenetrable for many reasons, not the least of which is their mystery meat URLs that offer no clue as to where the link will take me. I convert Spotify playlists people insist on sharing with me to Apple Music.
posted by emelenjr at 8:16 AM on December 7, 2023

I’m not sure this answers your question, but I personality use Spotify:

1: radio replacement. Instead of turning on the radio, I have 6-7 playlists and a few podcasts I turn on.
2: jamming out to an artist. I go to their page and listen to them particularly.
3: album replacement. A few specific albums that are important to me, I will frequently go to my saved albums and select.


I think you are asking about a 4th use - a more collectors/collection aspect. In my head, I care more about the idea of my concepts, but I’m not sure why you couldn’t just save albums to accomplish that.
posted by bbqturtle at 11:01 AM on December 7, 2023

There's a really easy way to save stuff - just click on the heart next to the song title, or heart a whole album. If you add the song to a playlist, you'll be able to find it again easily. The more you provide feedback to spotify by telling it what you like, the better they will serve you up the good stuff. Whenever you hear a song you like, click/tap the "..." menu, and you'll see options to add to a playlist, add to liked songs, add to queue, go to song radio, go to artist, etc.

Spotify gives me 6 different daily mixes plus the new DJ and Daylist features, plus weekly Discover Weekly and Release Radars. Given that I have accrued a huge library over many years of being a subscriber, Spotify has a deep well to draw from. I also have curated more than 50 themed playlists, some public, and some private (this addresses the organized collection aspect). When I play one of those, I have the option to let Spotify Smart Shuffle, which means they'll throw in songs I haven't added yet that fit the playlist. Also as mentioned above, you can create radio stations based on an artist, an album, or a single song.

Crucially, the playlist features I'm talking about are only available to premium subscribers. If you're using the free version, you can't play songs in any order. Premium is well worth it to me.
posted by acridrabbit at 11:51 AM on December 7, 2023