Spotify’s New Features Might Make Me Ditch Apple Music
I’ve been an Apple Music user since the service launched ten years ago. However, I still occasionally check Spotify to see if it’s worth switching to. Now that Spotify has lossless audio , I decided to give it another try and found some cool new features worth checking out. Note that some of these are only available in Spotify’s premium version, so you won’t be able to use them without a paid subscription. I’m not sure I’ll be impressed by them, but maybe you’re different. Check out these new Spotify features to get the most out of the service.
Hide songs you don’t want to hear
Sometimes Spotify likes to play songs that I’ve heard too many times, or songs that I just don’t like. Luckily, in those cases, I can quickly hide a song from a playlist. It’s pretty simple. In the Now Playing window, tap the three-dot button at the top and select “ Hide in this playlist .” This will stop the song from playing the next time you listen to that playlist, and a red minus icon will appear next to its name. You can tap the three-dot button again and select “Show in this playlist” to undo this if you no longer want to hide the song.
Postpone song for 30 days
It’s a shame that Spotify doesn’t let you block certain songs entirely, but it does let you postpone them for a month. I stumbled upon this feature when Spotify played me The Goo Goo Dolls ‘ Iris too many times over the same weekend. I like the song, but not enough to listen to it on repeat. Luckily, I was able to hide it quickly.
While a song is playing, expand the mini-player and click the X button next to its name. In the pop-up that appears, click Don’t suggest this song anywhere for 30 days . It will take some time for Spotify to completely remove it from your algorithmic playlists and feed, but once it does, you won’t see it again until the end of the month.
Premium users get improved player controls
If you use Spotify Premium, you have improved playback controls. The song list now shows buttons for quick shuffle, repeat, and adding a sleep timer. I like that these features have large buttons because they are easy to access.
Also, if you’re on Spotify’s free plan, the service likely automatically turns on Smart Shuffle and Autoplay. Smart Shuffle analyzes the songs in your queue and adds recommended tracks to it. I don’t like this because it randomly selects tracks and makes your queue twice as long. Autoplay is a feature that adds recommended tracks to the end of your queue so that your music keeps playing even after it’s finished.
There is no way to turn off Smart Shuffle on the free plan, but you can turn off autoplay if you don’t like it. Premium users can also turn off Smart Shuffle. Click on the profile icon in the top left corner of Spotify and go to Settings & Privacy > Playback and scroll down. Here you can turn off both autoplay and Smart Shuffle.
Customize playlists to your taste
I have a lot of long playlists on Apple Music that I’ve carefully curated. Spotify has made it a little easier to manage my playlists. With the Add, Edit, and Sort buttons, I can quickly create my own playlists. I like the Add feature because it shows suggested songs, and as I add more, the list updates with similar music. This has made drafting my playlists much faster.
In some regions, Spotify now supports creating new playlists from your Liked Songs playlist. This allows you to filter new playlists by genre or mood, so you can match the mood of a particular track in your Liked Songs list and create a whole new playlist based on it. Of course, you can also easily rename your playlists and add custom artwork. You can try Spotify’s free playlist maker to create artwork, but I prefer the excellent Denim app .
Try Smart Filters for Your Music Library
Spotify Premium users can also use Smart Filters to listen to specific genres of music. I haven’t tried this feature yet as it’s still being rolled out, but it sounds pretty cool. If you’re a Spotify Premium user on mobile or tablet in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, or the US, you’ll be able to get this feature soon.
Spotify lets you try this feature by tapping the filter icon in the top left corner of the Your Library tab. Here, you’ll see a menu of smart filters. Select a filter, and the Your Library tab will update to show only the types of music you want. You can filter music by mood, genre, or activity. The good news is that smart filters include features for music, podcasts, and audiobooks, so you can try them with any type of content.
Talk to your Spotify DJ
Spotify has a built-in “AI DJ” that can find and play songs for you. This year, Spotify started rolling out a feature that lets you chat with the DJ to request specific songs. I’m still waiting for this feature to roll out in my region, but at the time of writing, it’s available in 60 countries, so it’s worth checking out. In Spotify’s search tab, search for “DJ,” hit the play button, and the AI DJ will play a mix of music and commentary. Then long-press the “DJ” button on the right and talk to the DJ so they can send you their music request.
Fix Your Discover Weekly Playlist
If you’re not happy with what Spotify offers in your Discover Weekly playlist, you can easily update it. At the top of Discover Weekly, Premium users see genre buttons, and clicking any of them will create a new playlist of 30 songs in that genre.