Discover Weekly on Spotify can now be customized by genre

Discover Weekly has been one of the most popular user playlists on Spotify for 10 years - every week it provides millions of listeners with new music perfectly tailored to their tastes. Recently, however, there have been increasing reports that the quality of the recommendations has declined. Spotify is now responding with an exciting update: Premium users can now select up to five genres to personalize their Discover Weekly even more specifically.

What's new about Discover Weekly?

For the first time since the function was launched in 2015, Spotify is giving users direct influence over the type of recommendations. The most important new features:

• Choice of up to 5 genres, including pop, hyperpop, electronica, jazz, indie, techno and more.
• Improved genre recognition through Spotify algorithm
• More precise recommendations through finer categorization
• Function currently only available for Premium users on mobile devices

Users can adjust the settings directly from the Discover Weekly playlist by accessing a new customization tool

Why this update is important

Discover Weekly was a pioneer in algorithmic music recommendations - but as the platform grew, so did the diversity of listening habits. Spotify has clearly taken the criticism of generic suggestions seriously. With the introduction of genre selection, the streaming service is once again focusing more on individual discovery rather than mass recommendations.
This update means:

• More control for users
• More targeted suggestions for niche genres
• Fewer irrelevant recommendations
• A clear focus on music discovery instead of repetition
  
   

Premium only - for now

Important to know: The new function is currently only available to Spotify Premium users on mobile devices. Free accounts and desktop users will have to be patient. As with many Spotify features, the function will initially be rolled out gradually - but it can be assumed that it will be made more widely available in the long term if the response is positive.

What does this mean for artists?

If listeners can select specific genres, the chance that your music will be suggested to exactly the right fans also increases. This means

• Greater discoverability for niche acts
• Better targeting for releases
• More relevance for algorithmic placements
• Positive effects for long-term fan growth

That's why it's now more important than ever to tag your tracks correctly and pay attention to metadata quality in your distribution.

Spotify brings control back to discovery

The Discover Weekly update is a strong signal: Spotify is listening to its audience - and putting music discovery back at the center. The ability to manually set genre preferences brings a new level of personalization that many users have been missing.
Sign up with us now - we'll make sure your releases are optimally placed and that Spotify actually reaches your target audience.