Mondays and Fridays are eagerly anticipated by music lovers on Spotify who are looking to uncover new artists. Each Monday, Discover Weekly, a playlist that serves listeners with tracks they might like based on their past listening histories, is updated. Friday is Release Radar day, when the playlist refreshes with brand-new songs from a user's favorite artists. And there's even more personalization happening daily on Spotify across playlists our editors curate and playlists users create.
In fact, personalization begins right within the home page, shortly after a new user downloads and signs up for Spotify. New users are prompted to select a few of their favorite artists. From that moment on, the app begins to spin up creators a listener might love based on those they're already familiar with. But that only accounts for a small portion of how we personalize the Spotify listening experience, said Spotify's Vice President of Personalization, Oskar St l, in an interview with For the Record.
How personalization came to life Personalization is what it sounds like: It ensures that the content you receive on Spotify is tailored to you based on the audio you love. It's now regarded as key to the Spotify experience-but Spotify did not always focus there. Spotify was originally created 15 years ago to function more like a library, where you could go and play the songs you were interested in that you already knew about. But over time, our engineers realized that you enjoy Spotify more if you discover more, and most people don't have time to discover on their own, said Oskar.
Perhaps you're a 46-year-old dad with three kids and no time to discover music by yourself, Oskar joked, gesturing to himself, or a student looking for inspiration. It's most helpful when you're served something up and know it will be a mix of what you like and what you might like. Then you'll stay for more.
Personalization, he explains, was an empowering experience for listeners who didn't have the time or knowledge to create endless unique playlists for every dinner party or road trip. It opened up discovery on a broader level, enabling hundreds of artist discoveries per person per year. And most important, personalization helps create a better app experience because it ensures that people want to be on the app-but not spend all their time there. Spotify's approach is to ensure listeners have a fulfilling content diet.
If we really wanted to make you stay on the app three more minutes, we would play your favorite song, Oskar explained. All we'd ever have to do is play your favorite 20 songs on a loop. But that would mean you're not discovering anything, and you'd eventually get tired and bored of the audio experience.
Spotify operates several personalization features within the app for listeners to enjoy beyond the classics like Discover Weekly and Release Radar. Earlier this year, we debuted Spotify Mixes sorted into genres, artists, or decades with music a listener loves or will love. Just last month, we introduced Blend, which merges two listeners' taste profiles, creates a playlist that combines both of their favorites, and allows them to share the results on social media. And most recently, we launched Enhanced playlists, a feature users can toggle on or off that allows Spotify to suggest new songs that might fit in well to a user's custom-made playlist.
All this is in addition to what we call our algotorial playlists: sets of songs our editors put together to evoke a certain mood or moment that are also tailored to the individual user. Songs to Sing in the Car might not look personalized, but it is, said Oskar. Each person is seeing music that fits that categorization, but that is also in line with what they enjoy listening to. In fact, there isn't just one Spotify experience. There's more like 365 million different experiences-one for each user-that's deeply personalized to their wants and needs.
How does personalization actually work? The answer is machine learning, a complex code-based system with thousands of inputs, all laddering up to one song recommendation, done faster than the blink of an eye. But Oskar broke it down:
Imagine you and another person have similar music tastes. You have four of the same top artists, but your fifth artists are different. We would take those two near-matches and think, Hmm, maybe each person would like the other's fifth artist' and suggest it. Now imagine that process happening at scale-not just one-on-one, but thousands, millions of connections and preferences being considered instantaneously, and always updating. Every day, half a trillion events, whether they are searches, listens, or likes, take place on Spotify, powering and guiding our machine learning system.
Machine learning technology has raced forward as Spotify has matured, with enhancements we only once only dreamed of now becoming reality. This reality, too, affects where we can go with personalization and what we can serve up to listeners. Breakthroughs in machine learning have really allowed us to rethink how we can help users discover new audio content. While in many instances machine learning has remained focused on solving for the immediate click- You like this song. Let me offer you more of the same kind of music'-we're now able to better understand content and the ways listeners and creators relate to it.
The future of Personalization at Spotify Podcasts, in particular, pose a significant opportunity, in part because of user input: It takes a bit longer to determine whether you like a particular show or episode or not-much more so than the 20 seconds most people take to pass judgment on a song. But as Oskar points out, we already had a great head start helping you discover podcas
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
15/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
15/05/2026
Rebranded show announced
Ahead of their 2026 return, Music Expo have announced that they have now officially changed their name to the MONO Music Conference...
15/05/2026
Fuzz pedal joins UK companys line-up
UK-based pedal makers Buzzing Bugs Audio Devices have recently unveiled their latest creation, the Bolster. Said to pay...
15/05/2026
Join Calrec at MPTS 2026 | May 13-14 | Stand A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media ...
15/05/2026
The six-part series is a co-commission with BritBox and Sony Pictures Television...
15/05/2026
Against that backdrop, IAB UK has added retail media to its Gold Standard. Jan Pitt, Commercial Director at ABC, spoke with Liv McCullagh, Retail Media Lead at ...
15/05/2026
Further to RT 's statement released yesterday and in the interest of full transparency, with the full permission of Derek Mooney, we are now publishing the ...
14/05/2026
At Spotify, we're focused on making every listening experience feel intentio...
14/05/2026
Spotify recently welcomed songwriters, artists, executives, and music students t...
14/05/2026
New articulations, ostinatos, Motion Scoring Articulation Sets & more
Sonuscore's flagship cinematic string library has just been treated to a significa...
14/05/2026
World-class studio opens on T rkiye's Aegean coast
P r Recording & Residence have announced their official opening, introducing a new world-class reside...
14/05/2026
Now supports channel layouts up to 9.1.6
Nugen Audio have just released an update for their AI-powered dialogue intelligibility and compliance tool. Set to ...
14/05/2026
New recordings & one-key chord tool
UVI have just announced the release of Orchestral Suite 2, a ground-up redesign of their all-in-one symphonic orchestra ...
14/05/2026
Two new arrivals & expanded factory content
Rob Papen's all-encompassing plug-in and virtual instrument collection has just been treated to another upda...
14/05/2026
Embed QR codes into DAW sessions
FSK Audio's latest plug-in doesn't process audio, but serves as an organisational tool that allows QR codes to be e...
14/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz transforms spectrum complexity into situational awareness and ef...
14/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Quantum Systems join forces to redefine EW and C-UAS-enabled...
14/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases STANAG aligned ARDRONIS Counter UAS capability at NATO...
14/05/2026
Code of Silence has won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series at Sunday night's ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall.
The series, starring Rose Ayling-Ellis and w...
14/05/2026
Vivid Broadcast was embracing remote production long before it became the industry norm. Now, with Calrec's True Control 2.0-enabled Argo M and Type R conso...
14/05/2026
Comscore Reports First Quarter 2026 ResultsRESTON, Va., May 14, 2026 Comscore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating...
14/05/2026
RT is today publishing the earnings of its top 10 highest-earning presenters for 2025, ahead of the publication of RT 's Annual Report 2025 later this year...
14/05/2026
What can I watch on UKTV and stream on U this week?
This week on UKTV and the free streaming service U, viewers can watch a range of new and returning programm...
14/05/2026
The high-stakes chase thriller from Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated writer Matt Charm...
14/05/2026
Back From The Brink airs Sunday 17 May and Sunday 24 May at 6.30pm on RT One an...
13/05/2026
13 May 2026
VEON Delivers Strong Start to 2026 1Q26: Revenue 17.0%, EBITDA 17...
13/05/2026
Thousands of props donated from Skys longest-running original seriesWednesday 13 May 2026
How a neon windmill from A League of Their Own ended up in a dogs'...
13/05/2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 13, 2026 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that I...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
FOX Announces Schedule for 2026-27 Season FOX'S POWERFUL NEW SERIES PIPELINE FUELS A BREAKOUT SEASON WITH RETURNING HITS AND BOLD NEW STORYTELLING ACROSS ...
12/05/2026
Customer demand for data continues to grow in the first quarter of 2026 at Magya...
Mondays and Fridays are eagerly anticipated by music lovers on Spotify who are looking to uncover new artists. Each Monday, Discover Weekly, a playlist that serves listeners with tracks they might like based on their past listening histories, is updated. Friday is Release Radar day, when the playlist refreshes with brand-new songs from a user's favorite artists. And there's even more personalization happening daily on Spotify across playlists our editors curate and playlists users create. 
