Tag: niche mixes

Beauty and Fashion Creator Meredith Duxbury Dishes On the Music That’s Been Dominating Her Playlists

January 15, 2024

Photo credit: Jared Kocka

We love helping listeners discover new music on Spotify, and when it comes to features that help them find their next favorite songs or artists, personalization tops the list. With Spotify playlists like Discover Weekly and daylist; playlist-enhancing features like Smart Shuffle and Jam; and curated, AI-powered experiences like DJ; nearly 2 billion music discoveries happen on Spotify daily.

But it’s not just fans who love discovery. Creators around the world are constantly sharing their favorite playlists, products, and people with their followers, which in turn helps fans fall in love with the next best thing. And in For the Record’s ongoing Discovery Monday series, we connect with creators to pick their brains about recent finds, from new music to podcasts and beyond.

This month, we talk to beauty guru and model Meredith Duxbury. She’s known for her candid videos where she shares her makeup routine, fashion tips, and life updates. And while Meredith’s Instagram is full of haute couture and glam, fans also love her unique lip syncs to rap hits while applying makeup—a talent that combines her passion for music and beauty.

What have you been up to lately? 

I’ve really been enjoying diving back into my creative side. I’ve been loving the new soft ’90s grunge makeup aesthetic that‘s trending. It feels very editorial and runway to me. It’s so fun experimenting with makeup styles that are inspired by ’90s and early 2000s runway shows. Pat McGrath’s archival runway looks are my favorite. 

Your beauty videos have earned you millions of fans on social media. What beauty routine is your favorite to film?

Definitely a full glam look. The colorful glam looks are the best for social media because you can be the most creative with them and they get the most attention. 

There are lots of opinions shared in the beauty space—especially online. How do you maintain your confidence and positivity?

I remind myself why I started and what impact I have on the people who are following me. For me, I want my page to be a getaway for people, something that they look forward to and something that inspires them. When you frame your mindset this way, none of the negativity matters. 

You’ve done videos where you apply makeup while lip-syncing. Which was most fun to film?

They’re all super fun for me, but the rapping/hip-hop ones are my favorite because they have so much energy to them. I can also do more dramatic facial expressions with this genre of music, which people love.

What are some of your favorite tracks to get ready to? 

I absolutely love a good 2000s throwback playlist. It makes me feel so ready to take on the day or night. 

Do you ever discover something new through your fans?

Yes, 100%. I’m learning daily from my followers and it’s amazing how tight our community is. We are all here for each other and it feels like a big family. Anywhere from new makeup tips to ways to relieve anxiety, I’m always learning new things from them. 

Any recent genres you’re loving? 

I’ve recently discovered lo-fi jazz. Spotify has such great jazz playlists, the options are endless. I discovered these playlists through the jazz genre and definitely recommend checking it out. 

What’s your favorite way to discover on Spotify?

 I love Smart Shuffle. It’s such a fun way to surprise yourself with new songs or artists you’ve never heard of. 

Our Niche Mixes playlists can really help you discover your new favorite artist or song. Any new mixes you’re into? 

I love the Feel Good Morning Mix. A lot of the songs I have on there are already on some of my other playlists, so it’s nice to have a mix of some songs I’m already familiar with and some that are newly discovered. 

 

Like Meredith, you can discover new music with your own Niche Mixes on Spotify. From ’80s Running Mix to the Driving Sing Along Mix, there’s a lot to explore.

Content Creator Irfan Junejo Shares His Favorite Restaurants, Artists, and Spotify Playlists

December 25, 2023

We love helping listeners discover new music on Spotify, and when it comes to features that help them find their next favorite song or artist, personalization tops the list. With Spotify playlists like Discover Weekly and daylist, playlist-enhancing features like Smart Shuffle and Jam, and curated, AI-powered experiences like DJ, nearly 2 billion music discoveries happen on Spotify daily.

But it’s not just fans who love discovery. Creators around the world are constantly sharing their favorite playlists, products, and people with their followers, which in turn helps their fans fall in love with the next best thing. And in For the Record’s ongoing Discovery Monday series, we connect with content creators and pick their brains about recent finds, whether it’s new music, podcasts, TV, food, beauty, technology, or fashion.

This month, we’re talking to Irfan Junejo, a Pakistani content creator who made his name exploring his hometown of Karachi. As his popularity has grown, he’s turned his attention to the world at large, where his curiosity about food, music, and cars leads him on a seemingly endless series of adventures for millions of fans to enjoy. 

What have you been up to lately? What new discoveries are you enjoying right now?

Over the past few months I’ve been experimenting with short-form content and having a lot of fun. I’ve also discovered a lot of new food places in Karachi that have now become a regular part of my life. For example, there’s a Chinese restaurant in Karachi called Wang Wang that I find myself going to again and again. Although that may be because my wife likes it more than me. 

But creating videos definitely helped me discover my passion for telling stories. And not just stories about my life, but the world around me. It could be something cool around Karachi, interesting street food, or the latest smartphone.

When you’re on the hunt for something new, what resources do you use? 

I love finding new things through word of mouth, especially from my journalist friends. Otherwise, a simple Google search is where I like to start when I’m curious about something.

Do you have a favorite video that you’ve made?

I’m especially proud of my latest video, Stories of Karachi Volume 3. This entire series holds a special place in my heart because these are the places where I have grown up. Being born and raised in Karachi, I have a deep connection to this city and my love for it resonates in every aspect of this video. Exploring the stories behind the names of Karachi’s neighborhoods has been a fascinating journey, and I was able to delve into the historical narratives, colonial influences, and events associated with these locations. I believe there’s a sense of representation in showcasing areas like Golimaar, Saddar, and Burns Road. 

You have a huge social media following—do you ever discover new things through these fans?

I get so many recommendations for new food and music when fans DM me or tag me in their stories.

What’s your favorite way to discover new music on Spotify?

Discover Weekly is a must for me, as well as Release Radar. I recently discovered a Dehli rapper named yungsta, and I’ve had his songs on repeat. 

Our Niche Mixes playlists can really help you discover your new favorite artist or song. What sort of music do you find in your Niche Mixes?

I listen to a lot of desi hip-hop so my Niche Mixes have a lot of desi rappers. But there are many indie artists that pop up there as well.

Tag along with Irfan as he discovers the world around him on his YouTube channel.

Tech Creator iJustine Shares Her Favorite Ways To Dig Deeper Into Her Latest Obsessions

August 21, 2023

You may have noticed that we’re into helping our listeners find something new. A combination of beloved personalized Spotify playlists like Discover Weekly, editorially-curated standouts like Fresh Finds, new playlist-enhancing features like Smart Shuffle, and our listeners’ thirst for auditory adventures means that nearly two billion music discoveries happen on Spotify every day.

But we’re not the only ones who love discovery. Every day, creators around the world share their favorite playlists, products, and people with their followers, helping their fans, in turn, fall in love with the next best thing. In For the Record’s new Discovery Monday series, we talk to content creators about recent discoveries, covering everything from music to podcasts, as well as food, fashion, TV, beauty, and more. 

We’re kicking off with iJustine, a tech creator, podcast host, and dog mom. The lifestyle vlogger dives into new trends, tech, and hobbies—her latest is literally diving—speaking to entrepreneurs and attending product launches. 

Your videos help build understanding of the tech world. How did you make this your niche?

Finding tech, for me, and creating content around it was sort of just an extension of something that I naturally did growing up and in my everyday life. A curiosity and wonderment of how things work is what brought me to tech. When I was younger, I used to take things apart and then my parents would be like, “Oh no, now we have to figure out how to fix this.” Till now, that approach has been amazing because there’s never a shortage of things to make videos about. There’s always new tech, and especially recently with AI. And I like to create; making videos is fun for me, and I really genuinely love all the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into the videos. There’s just so much to talk about, and it really is a never-ending source of content.

Why do you love introducing your followers to new tools, products, and people?

I love having the opportunity to interview a CEO or an entrepreneur—people I look up to. It’s been so fun to hear their journeys and then bring them into my world. 

I have a very interesting audience. A lot of them are younger women and girls who are kind of trying to figure out their way. I want them to see somebody in a space that makes them feel safe. Because when I was younger, playing video games and doing things that I am into now—it wasn’t cool. And I was being made fun of for it. But now I’m like, “Man, you guys got it made!” Because being into tech is cool now. So, I just want people to be able to explore that. Even if it’s not cool now, you never know. Might be later.

What tools or resources do you use in your research? 

I always ask my audience for suggestions. Even recently, I was asking for good diving spots in Oahu, and I would much rather hear from a person directly. I find almost all of my things from my viewers or audience or friends who are following me. It’s kind of awesome because it’s like, yeah, I could have Googled it, but I would rather hear from someone who actually has been there and experienced it and knows if it’s something that I would like. 

What have you been listening to lately? Old favorites? Something new? Or somewhere in between?

I’m definitely open to discovery, but recently, I do feel like when I open up Spotify, I go to my favorites. Recently, my sister and I went on a trip and we went back to our 2018 Hawaii playlist, and we were basically reliving the trip through our music from 2018. So, it’s kind of fun to kind of go back, and the fact that, like, we’ve both been on Spotify for so long meant we were able to go back to all these playlists and kind of relive that piece of history and memories through music, and that’s always so fun for me.

What’s your favorite way to discover on Spotify? Do you use playlists like Discover Weekly, features like AI DJ, or tools like Smart Shuffle?

I’m a huge fan of Smart Shuffle because I love being able to go back into my old playlists and use Smart Shuffle to reinvigorate them. You do spend so much time curating those, and it does bring you back to a specific moment. So, being able to just add some new songs in, and, I mean, some of my playlists are super short, so being able to add in stuff that I’ve already done is really cool.

I also almost always go to the top new songs playlist, Today’s Top Hits. I love being able to just scroll through it because it’s all genres. And, I mean, I definitely love pop, rock, and I used to be really into heavy metal, but that was, you know, a little bit of a phase during high school and college. But it is fun to kind of go back to that playlist because I love so many genres of music and that playlist does have a little bit of everything. I’m also always going back to the 90s playlists because I love nostalgic music. 

What Niche Mixes playlist would you search for?

Classical heavy metal mix. That would be pretty awesome to hear. We’re gonna be head-banging out! 

A rapid-fire round of your favorite recent discoveries: Let’s start with artists or genres.

I am obsessed with OneRepublic, so I’ve been really enjoying remixes of some of my favorite songs of theirs. It’s a good way to break out of my normal listening habits. 

Any new podcasts you’ve gotten especially into lately? How did you discover them?

I just started listening to Heal Squad x Maria Menonous. She always has so many helpful tips about healing your body, and she has so many incredible guests on. She actually invited me onto it and that’s how I found out about it, and now I’m obsessed. 

Are you an audiobooks fan? What’s your favorite way to listen?

I am addicted. I will cycle through audiobooks so fast because I need to stay distracted to keep my brain focused on things. When I’m doing laundry, cleaning, I’ll have an audiobook on. I recently got into nonfiction audiobooks, and I love listening to history and self-help. I also watched the Daisy Jones and the Six series and then have listened to every single Taylor Jenkins Reid audiobook over the past few months.

What’s your latest obsession?

That’s usually every single random new hobby that I get. And recently, I got into diving. So now I’m buying all the diving gear; I’m looking for diving creators, places to go. I’m definitely one of those people who’s like, when I start doing something, I go 100%. There’s no backing down. 

Catch iJustine and her sister Jenna in their video podcast, Same Brain, including her interview with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.

Nearly 2 Billion Music Discoveries Happen on Spotify Every Day—Here’s What Listeners Are Finding

July 20, 2023

From personalized Niche Mixes to our AI-powered DJ, Spotify is constantly helping listeners discover new music to add to their queues. In fact, what fans love most about Spotify is our array of features that are specifically curated for each person’s audio taste.

We took a journey of our own to understand how Spotify listeners explore new music. What we found spanned listeners across generations, and music across decades. 

“As humans, we are wired to explore, to seek the new and the unexpected, and to learn and expand and deepen our understanding of the world,” said Dr. Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Greater Good Science Center. “This quest for discovery is one of our greatest species-defining strengths.”

When we looked into new discoveries across generations, our data found that Gen Z and Gen Alpha are discovering music at different rates than baby boomers. While baby boomers actually discover music more often than Gen Z in the U.S., globally, Gen Z and Gen Alpha take the lead. 

“It doesn’t surprise me that Gen Z leads music discovery in the rest of the world since younger people are actively seeking new musical forms to change society and the status quo,” explained Dr. Keltner. 

We were curious what Dr. Keltner thought of discoveries among Gen Z listeners. “Today young people face many challenges,” he said. “The science of music speaks to how deeply listening and discovering music can counter this for young people. There’s the awe of finding something new; how music can lead young people to feel calmer, both in mind and body; and how music surfaces what we most care about in life.”

Baby boomers are still interested in discovering new songs. Dr. Keltner thinks this could be a product of their feeling more lonely, stressed, connected, and curious. “But discovering new music can bring us a sense of connection and contentment rather than stress, a sense of identity within a community, and awe and curiosity.”

And some generations are offering the music of their youth to younger listeners. Well, the music of Gen X’s youth, specifically. Gen Z is dipping their toes into more nostalgic songs.

Music fans looking to discover more nostalgic tracks or feel connected to past generations can check out some of our Niche Mixes like Old School Rap Mix, Throwback R&B Mix, and 70s Disco Mix.

“In many parts of the world we lack intergenerational contact. It is increasingly hard to understand and share in the emotions and thoughts of people in different groups than our own,” reasoned Dr. Keltner. “The kinds of music discoveries you found—of boomers discovering new music and Gen Z and Gen Alpha exploring music more from the past—suggests that music can be a powerful way to enhance intergenerational understanding and, more generally, foster empathy across differences.” 

We also know that other factors drive music discovery on Spotify, including, of course, cultural moments like television shows, movies, video game competitions, and much more. 

But discovery is also driven by less-obvious moments. In our research, we found that people tend to stream happier music (measured by the average valence of music streamed, which describes the musical “positiveness” conveyed by a track) more on Mondays than on the rest of the week. Dr. Keltner had an explanation for this, too.

“We listen to music for many reasons: to find peace and contentment, insights into the struggles of life, inspiration, and a sense of identity. Mondays often present challenges as we move from the weekend to the work week: stress, questions about what will inspire us that week, and why we are doing the work we are doing. Music on Mondays provides windows into answers to these aspects of shifting to Monday. 

Mondays are also when Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist, a weekly dose of recommended songs from Spotify, is refreshed. Though the playlist is personalized to each listener, songs most frequently discovered on Discover Weekly include “Glass Jaw” by chokecherry and “Heart of Gold (with Bon Iver)” by Ilsey.

Many podcasts have also become favorites to start the week. The meditation-focused The Sleep Zone Podcast is one of the most popular podcasts streamed first thing Monday mornings, giving Spotify fans some zen as they face the week ahead.

Artists like KAROL G, Shakira, and Miley Cyrus are distinctive to Mondays, when we may need an energy boost, but we found different artists and playlists trending on Sundays. Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish, and SZA help us get into our feels, while “Sad Country Mix” is the most streamed Niche Mix on Sunday nights. And it’s all about that good night’s sleep before the rush of a new week kicks off: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” by Adelmar Borrego is the most distinctive track streamed on Sunday evenings globally. 

From activating Smart Shuffle in your playlists to going on a ride with your personalized AI DJ, there are countless ways for Spotify to lead you to new music. Give them a try on your next listen.

Introducing Niche Mixes, Personalized Playlists for Almost Anything You Can Think Of

March 28, 2023

Mixes for any moment

There isn’t just one Spotify experience—and we’ve got the personalized recommendations we’re known for to thank for that. 

Some of our listening recommendations come in the form of Spotify Mixes, a favorite feature for our users. Listeners have spent countless hours tapping into their feels with personalized Mood Mixes, getting nostalgic with custom Decades Mixes, and discovering new artists we think they’ll love with Genre Mixes in their ongoing search for the perfect playlist to match the moment. And now, we’re expanding the Spotify Mixes family with Niche Mixes: a set of personalized playlists that combines all that our Mixes offer in a playful way. We’re giving listeners access to tens of thousands of Mixes unique to them based on, well, almost anything they can think of.

To access your Niche Mixes, just go to the Made For You hub within the Search tab to find 5-10 Mixes we think you’ll like. If you’re looking to get super specific, search for an activity, vibe, or aesthetic that describes the moment you’re in, and then add the word “mix” at the end. Don’t be shy. Get creative. The more Mixes you search for, the more music you can discover.

Start the day with the Feel Good Morning Mix, get moving with some retro bops from the ’80s Running Mix, hit the road with the Driving Singalong Mix, and wind down the night and relax with the Night Time Mix. No matter what you’re doing or what you enjoy, if you can think of it, there may very well be a Mix of it. 

No matter the moment or occasion, you’ll receive a personalized Mix rooted in familiarity, combining music from artists, genres, and decades you already know and love with songs we think you’ll enjoy that match the moment. And to keep things interesting, each Mix will update daily so you can always find your next favorite vibe.

Mixes are available globally to Free and Premium users who search Spotify in English.

Discover for yourself what super-specific playlist is out there for the moment you need music.