Tag: Personalization

5 Things Free Users Need to Be Taking Advantage of on Spotify

Since we launched a new version of our free app, many new and existing users on Android and iOS have gotten to experience the new, improved, ad-supported tier. With personalized music recommendations from day one and an easy-to-use interface, they can now enjoy unprecedented access to both the music they love and the favorites they’re yet to discover. Simply put, it’s the best way to get music for free.

Read on for our list of the five must-use features in the new Spotify free experience.

1. Let us get to know you with Taste Onboarding:

After you first download and sign in to the free app, you’ll be prompted to choose five or more artists you like. That means we’ll be able to learn more quickly about your favorite artists, songs, and genres. From there, we’ll make some great playlists for you—as well as tailor your home screen for easier music discovery. And the more you listen, the more we’ll learn, getting better with our recommendations and introducing you to artists you’re bound to love.

Let us get to know you with Taste Onboarding

2. Enjoy On-Demand Playlists:

We use the data from your taste onboarding to present you with 15 personalized and curated playlists that will be particular to you based on your music taste and how you stream on Spotify, meaning every user gets something different. From playlists such as Discover Weekly to Rap Caviar to Broken Heart and up to six Daily Mixes, these lists will update frequently based on how you interact with them and with the rest of the music you listen to. Within them, you can play songs in any order and skip as much as you like. Once we have enough information about what you like to listen to, we’ll update your Discover Weekly every Monday and Release Radar every Friday. The more you stream, the quicker these will become available. You can find these playlists from your home screen.

Enjoy On-Demand Playlists

3. Find new music with Assisted Playlisting:

Making your own playlist? It’s quick and easy. Just start with a title, and then choose a few tracks. In the meantime, we’ll start recommending songs for you to add with the tap of a button. We’ll show songs based on artists in the playlist, your taste profile, and even the title of your playlist—particularly songs with that theme or word in the lyrics—so make sure to choose a title that really describes the vibe you want.

Find new music with Assisted Playlisting

4. Personalize by ♡ing and Hiding:

There’s a new way to fine-tune your streaming experience: by using the new like and hide buttons. Using them can teach us about your tastes so you get recommendations tailored just for you. As you’re listening to songs, note which you “like” by tapping the heart icon . You can also do this with artists, albums, and playlists. This way, the app will get to know what you love and want to hear more of—helping with the personalization process even more. All your liked songs will appear in a new playlist called “Your Favorites,” and new tracks from artists you have listened to will appear in your Release Radar. On the other hand, tapping the “hide” icon will ensure you don’t have to hear that song, or others similar to it. You can’t win ’em all.

Personalize by ♡ing and HidingZara

5. Browse using Data Saver:

Many Spotify users around the world can’t enjoy music whenever they want because of how much mobile data streaming uses. That’s why we created Data Saver, a simple switch that optimizes the listening experience to use less mobile data. Data Saver streams at a lower bit rate so you can listen to more music with less guilt. Note that Data Saver isn’t a default setting, so make sure to switch it on in your settings tab.

Browse using Data Saver:

Between more personalization, enhanced playlists, easily creatable playlists, and a data-saving feature, what better way is there to listen to and discover music? Make sure you’re not missing out—listen now for free.

Personalized Discovery: Listen to Music You Love with All-New Free on Spotify

Music is the great connector. It unites us across markets, ages, backgrounds, languages, preferences, political leanings and income levels. At Spotify, we believe in music for everyone—and today, we are one step closer to making that a reality as we unveil a new, improved, and more personalized way to discover music and listen to what you love on Spotify, for free.

The new ad-supported Spotify is a natural next step as Spotify continues to innovate and evolve for the needs of our users, and will be rolling out globally to all users of Spotify on iOS and Android. With a new design on mobile, Free on Spotify includes a number of new features to make the listening experience more tailored to what you need to hear, now.

“Our customers always tell us that music discovery and listening is a personal experience, and we are enhancing the free experience with this in mind,” said Babar Zafar, VP of Product Development at Spotify. “This is the beginning of an evolution for Spotify and we will continue to make improvements that mirror our customers’ needs. This is not only about giving users a more customized free experience from the day they sign up, but giving them more control over their listening experience so they can easily find and stream their favorites anytime, from anywhere.”

On-demand playlists

We want all users to have more control over the listening experience so everyone can both discover new artists and return to old favorites. Fifteen new on-demand playlists offer the ability to pick and play any track within our curated lists—without skipping tracks or waiting on shuffle to bring up the music you love. These on-demand playlists will be unique to you, based on your musical tastes, and may include Spotify-curated playlists ranging from RapCaviar and Viva Latino to Ultimate Indie and Alternative R&B as well as personalized playlists like Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and Daily Mix.

More personalized

With Spotify for free, users gain easy access to favorite songs and discovering new music is made simpler—and it’s personalized for you. When you sign up, we’ll ask you about the artists you love, and we’ll deliver curated playlists that match your musical taste and personalized playlists, like Daily Mix. These new playlists are easily accessible on the new Home screen, which is always being updated based on your listening activity.

Make Spotify yours

Tell us which songs and artists you LIKE ♡ (or HIDE ) as you listen. Tap the  to quickly save songs to your Favorites playlist and tap the  icon to hide songs you don’t want to hear. Recommendations will improve the more you listen and denote preferences.

Create your own playlists

Playlists are the key to creating a mood, whether it’s morning workout or weekend dance party, and now it’s even easier to create and edit a playlist with Spotify. Just give your playlist a name, search and preview specific tracks, and add to your playlist. As you save songs, we’ll continue to suggest more songs that we think you will like.

Play music using less mobile data with Data Saver:

Music should be accessible to everyone, in every market—the love of a great song is what connects communities and cultures across the world. But many users of Spotify for free around the world aren’t able to enjoy music whenever they want, because of the volume of mobile data streaming typically uses. That’s why we created Data Saver, a simple toggle switch that optimizes the listening experience to use less mobile data when listening to music.

The new free experience will be available on iOS and Android and will be rolling out globally to all markets in the coming weeks.

Happy Streaming!