Spotify: Find similar songs and artists – these are the best tips and tricks

SPOTIFY

03 August 2024 at 18:00

Are you looking for new artists and need a breath of fresh air in your playlist? There are a few ways to find new songs on Spotify. One option is “Tastemakers”.

For many people, playlists are an indispensable everyday aid and a reflection of their own personality. Nowadays, playlists are hard to imagine life without, because they bundle all your favorite music thematically according to mood or current situation. But at some point you get tired of listening to the best playlist. Then there are different methods you can use to find new, similar music on Spotify.

When your own playlist becomes “annoying”

Many of you will have what is known as a “daily driver playlist”. This is a playlist that you can use every day when you are in a hurry. This playlist often contains timeless favourite songs, classics and the latest hits.

However, you’ve probably had the experience that after a while you start skipping more and more songs. This is because you’ve gotten tired of listening to some songs. The once catchy tune quickly gets on your nerves.

What you can do to get variety

A first step to refresh your existing music collection is to divide it into several playlists. There are different approaches to this, for example by mood or season. If you divide your playlists, you automatically get more variety through less repetition.

Create seasonal playlists

A first idea for you could be to create seasonal playlists. The best way to describe this is by comparing summer and winter time. Everyone knows the classic Christmas playlist and you can approach your seasonal lists in the same way: Selected songs that match the season and your taste.

Sort playlists by genre

Sorting your playlists by genre is another helpful way to add variety to your daily music routine. This is especially true because some genres are more suitable for different times of the day. A perfect example of this is the Lo-Fi (Low Fidelity) genre, which many people listen to while studying.

How to find new songs and artists

In addition to the steps mentioned above, you can also add a breath of fresh air to your playlists. Spotify tools are ideal for this, but you can also find some hidden gems by searching manually. The search can actually be fun, even if you have to invest some time in it.

Playlist suggestions from Spotify

For each playlist you create, Spotify offers additional song suggestions. To do this, you have to scroll down in the playlist and find the “Recommended” section. There you will find a series of songs that Spotify would recommend to you based on the playlist.

You can simply click on these songs and listen to them. You can usually decide quickly whether you like the music or not. If you would like to add a suggested song, you can do so easily by clicking “Add”.

If none of the titles appeal to you, you can click on “Reload” at the bottom right and you will get a new selection of songs. This will help you find one or two suitable songs for your playlist.

Personalized playlists for you

Personalized playlists are unique for each user. Spotify uses an algorithm to create a variety of playlists for you. These are filled with music based on your listening history. Some examples are:

• Release Radar
• Discover Weekly
• Repeat Rewind

You can recognize these personalized playlists because they are marked with “For (username)” at the top. However, there are also automatically created genre playlists such as “Hip-Hop Mix” or so-called “Artist Mixtapes” in which you can find a selection of songs by your favorite artist.

There are also other personalized mixtapes like the “Chillout Mix.” You can find all of these personalized playlists by clicking on “Search” and then clicking on the “Created for you” box under “Search everything.”

Editorial-Playlists

Another way to find new music is through editorial playlists. These are curated playlists that serve a specific genre. Spotify curators, i.e. specially trained employees, manage these playlists and keep them up to date. Any artist who makes it onto such an editorial playlist can expect increased streams because these playlists are quite popular with listeners.

Very well-known examples of editorial playlists are “Dance Brandneu”, “Fresh Finds” or “Rock Rotation”. Spotify curators listen to new music every day, so they have to decide as quickly as possible whether a song fits into a playlist or not.

But editorial playlists can also have personalized versions. These lists have the same basic structure as the original playlists, but are slightly modified by the algorithm based on your taste. You can also recognize these playlists at the top by the label “For (username)”.

“Tastemaker-Playlists”

So-called “tastemakers” are individuals such as influencers and A&Rs (artist and repertoire) or music labels and music YouTube channels. They have a lot in common: they recognize trends and find new artists before you even know they exist. These people and companies deal with music every day.

Music labels and music YouTube channels usually have the greatest reach. A very well-known example that you may have already heard of is the brand “Trap Nation”. With over 30 million subscribers on YouTube and over 2 million likes on its own Spotify playlist, it is a special example of the term “tastemaker” (as of July 2024).

Other well-known “tastemakers” are people and companies such as:

• CloudKid
• xKito Music
• NCS (No Copyright Sounds)

These “tastemakers” not only help you find new music, but can also be of incredible value to artists and bands in increasing their reach. “Tastemakers” come in a wide variety of sizes and genres.

Manual search: Find similar artists

Sometimes a manual search for new artists and songs can be the right step. There is a big world of music to discover. According to Statista In March 2024, an impressive 100 million songs were available on Spotify. Apparently, around 100,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify every day.

Now you might ask yourself how you can find and filter the best music there. A simple method has already brought me personally closer to one or two artists.

If you go to an artist’s profile, you will get an overview of the most popular songs, discography and new releases. If you scroll down further, you will come to the “What other fans like” section. There you will find a selection of other artists.

Spotify places artists and bands there that are listened to by the same or similar audience. You can imagine it like this: If you like listening to the band Green Day, then it’s likely that you might also like bands like The Offspring or Papa Roach. This concept works the same for all artists, whether they are well-known or unknown.

To start, you visit an artist’s profile and go to “What other fans like”. There you can then access new profiles and listen to the music. You can of course repeat this search process as often as you like.

You will probably have the most success with this method with artists who are not very well known. If you go to Ed Sheeran’s profile, for example, you probably won’t find anything under “What other fans like” that you haven’t already heard.

In principle, this means that the method works for all artists and bands that are not played on the radio. Of course, there are exceptions.

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Finding new music is an experience

There are people who hear a song on the radio by chance and think it’s great. And there are people who are actively looking for new music. Those who actively search for artists and bands will definitely find what they’re looking for more often. You can use Spotify as a suitable tool, as it’s very useful for updating and expanding your own playlists.

Because new music triggers emotions, the search can be fun, even if you sometimes have to invest time in it. But when you find the right songs, the effort is all the more worthwhile.

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