Tag: new product release

Meet the Curators: New Music Friday Gets a Personal Touch With Editor-Led Video

June 12, 2026

The text "New Music Friday" appearing on a purple banner

For millions of fans, Friday means one thing: new music. On Spotify, New Music Friday has become a global go-to for discovering new releases each week. Now, for listeners in the U.S., we’re bringing you even closer to the music and the experts who curate it.

Starting today, listeners can find editor-led video recommendations directly within New Music Friday, alongside the song picks. Our editorial team will share perspectives on standout releases, rising artists, and the stories behind the songs fans are talking about each week.

The new experience brings together the reach and influence of New Music Friday with the storytelling and artist recommendations introduced through The Drop Weekly. Since its launch in September 2025, The Drop has shown that listeners respond strongly to editor-led discovery experiences, resulting in more than double the engagement through saves and likes.

Now, New Music Friday becomes a single destination for both. By combining The Drop Weekly’s short-form video with the New Music Friday playlist, we’re giving listeners a more personal way to discover music and a clearer view into how our editors think about the tracks they’re recommending.

“New Music Friday has always been about helping fans discover the best new music each week,” said John Stein, Head of North America Editorial at Spotify. “By bringing our editors directly into the experience, we’re giving listeners a closer connection to the people behind the playlist and more context around the artists and songs shaping culture right now.”

How to tune in

Free and Premium users in the U.S. can simply open the Spotify mobile app and search “New Music Friday” to find the playlist. As you scroll, you’ll find videos from our editors sharing their takes on the latest tracks.

Whether you’re looking for your next favorite artist or a deeper understanding of the music you love, we’ll continue creating new ways to explore both. Make sure to update your app to access the latest.

Spotify Expands Music Access for Young Listeners, Extending Managed Accounts to Free Tier

May 13, 2026

Graphic showing the UI set up of Managed Accounts on the Spotify Mobile App

At Spotify, we’re focused on making every listening experience feel intentional, personal, and rewarding—ensuring time spent with us feels positive. That commitment extends to all users, including parents and families. Nearly two years ago, we introduced managed accounts to Premium Family users in select markets, and today we’re excited to expand managed accounts to our free, ad-supported tier. This means more young listeners (under 13 or market equivalent) can enjoy a Spotify experience and build their own music habits, while parents and guardians on any plan have access to enhanced controls.

Starting today, managed accounts will be available for parents and guardians to create on our free tier starting in Argentina, Colombia, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, and Sweden. We know 94% of our users rely on Spotify to discover new music and artists, and more than half (54%) share what they’re listening to with their children. Managed accounts offer young listeners a space to explore music independently, while giving parents and guardians tools to guide and shape their listening environment.

Each managed account provides:

- Music-only content: Managed accounts currently support a music-only experience for focused listening.
- A platform fit for exploration: Young listeners can create their own playlists and receive Spotify recommendations for new music, including through features like daylist.
- The Wrapped experience: Like other Spotify users, managed accounts will receive their own personalized Wrapped summary at the end of each year, celebrating their unique listening journey—meaning their parents’ stats won’t be affected.
- Parental control: Parents and guardians can filter out content labeled as explicit by rights holders, as well as manage playback for specific artists.
- Disable videos and visual content: Across markets, video and Canvas looping visuals are disabled by default for managed accounts.
- Limited interactivity: Including no access to features like Messages and Jam.

Setting up a managed account is simple. Parents can head to Settings and privacy > Parental controls > Create a managed account and follow the steps. Once setup is complete, parents will have ongoing access to parental controls through their own settings, and can adjust preferences at any time.

Young listeners on our free tier will hear Spotify ads, including helpful information about how to get the most out of the app. For parents seeking an ad-free music listening experience for their young listener, Premium Family is the right plan, allowing them to add young listeners as plan members.

93% of Spotify users say they’re excited about new features that give them more control over their listening experience. We recently introduced video controls that allow listeners on any plan to easily switch music videos, podcast videos, and Canvas looping visuals on or off for themselves, and for other Family Plan members. We’re committed to ensuring time spent on Spotify feels positive for all users, and that families and young listeners have the tools to tailor the experience.

For more information about parental controls for managed accounts, check out the Spotify Parental Guide.

Spotify Expands Audiobook Features, and Printed Book Sales Go Live in the US and UK

April 15, 2026

Books have always moved with us, whether tucked in our bags or humming in our headphones. With audiobooks, Spotify is building new ways to bring our favorite stories along for the ride.

Just over two years after launching, Audiobooks in Premium is now live in 22 markets. We’ve grown our catalog nearly fivefold, from 150,000 to more than 700,000 titles. We pay out hundreds of millions of dollars annually to authors and publishers, bringing new audiences to audiobooks through a platform millions already use every day.

Now we’re rolling out a set of updates that make it easier to discover books, return to the ones you’ve started, and move between formats depending on what fits the moment.

“These updates demonstrate our continued ambition to make reading fit into modern life,” said Owen Smith, Spotify’s Global Head of Audiobooks. “Whether it’s discovering a book the same way you’d find a song or podcast on Spotify, picking up the audiobook on your commute, using Page Match to switch to a physical copy at home, or jumping back in with a Recap, we’re making it easier for people to engage with books while supporting growth for authors and publishers along the way.”

New ways into your next book

Shop Bookshop on Spotify in the U.S. and U.K.

Following our announcement earlier this year, readers in the U.S. and U.K. can now purchase physical books via the Spotify app on Android, through our partnership with Bookshop.org. By connecting digital discovery with physical book sales, we’re giving listeners more ways to experience the stories they love while supporting authors and independent bookstores. Users on iOS will be able to purchase books from next week.

Page Match expands to more languages

Page Match, which allows listeners to move seamlessly between an audiobook and their printed or e-book edition, is expanding to more than 30 additional languages including French, German, and Swedish.

Since launching the feature for English language books in February, we’ve received positive reactions from listeners who want a more flexible, multi-format reading experience. Many users have recently started streaming audiobooks on Spotify for the first time, and those who have used Page Match stream an average of 55% more audiobook hours each week than other listeners. Additionally, 62% of Page Matched audiobook titles on Spotify are books users had never streamed previously.

Recaps are now on Android

Audiobook Recaps are now available on Android, meaning listeners using both iOS and Android devices can access the feature. Recaps offer short audio summaries tailored to your most recent listening point to give you a refresher on the story so far, making it easier to jump back in.

Audiobook Charts arrive in Germany

Audiobook Charts are expanding to Germany, introducing rankings for Top Audiobooks overall and by genre, based on listening behavior and engagement on Spotify. Top genres will include sci‑fi and fantasy; mystery and thriller; self‑help; and kids and family. Like our music and podcast charts, these rankings update weekly.

A new kids and family chart in the U.S. and U.K.

Following the initial rollout of Audiobook Charts earlier this year in the U.S. and U.K., we’re introducing a dedicated chart for kids and family titles in those markets.

What this means for the book community

We believe the future of reading should fit into how people actually live, whether that means listening on the go, reading at home, or moving between the two. For listeners, these updates add more ways to find your next book, pick back up where you left off, and switch between listening and reading when it fits the moment.

For authors and publishers, expanding these features across devices, markets, and languages creates more opportunities for discovery and sustained engagement. And with more than 751 million monthly active users globally, we can help connect books with new listeners at scale.

Browse the Audiobooks hub on Spotify.