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<ul><li><keyword id="685487" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="spotify" source="Orion">Spotify</keyword>'s mobile app home screen gets a new design to simplify music and video discovery.</li><li>The new design includes personalized audio and visual previews, <keyword id="16740890" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="smart-shuffle" source="Orion">Smart Shuffle</keyword>, and more.</li><li>Also, autoplay for Podcasts is now available on Spotify's mobile app.</li></ul>Spotify app’s home screen gets a complete redesign to simplify the process of discovering <keyword id="1591044" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="new-music" source="Orion">new music</keyword> and video content. The new design features a visually-rich interface with a heavy emphasis on vertical scrolling, replacing the traditional album cover layout with an Instagram-like feed. The goal is to make it easier for users to browse through content and find new favourites across the entire Spotify ecosystem as they scroll through the feed.<br /><br />During its Stream On event, Spotify unveiled its plans for a mobile app redesign, featuring a new home screen that offers users the ability to quickly preview music, podcasts, and audiobooks. The app update also includes a new ‘Smart Shuffle’ button, improved search discovery features, and an autoplay feature for podcasts. <br /><br />For more details on all the changes coming to the app, see the list below.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Music, Podcasts and Audiobook previews on Home" comment="subhead" text="Music, Podcasts and Audiobook previews on Home"><span data-til="noop">Music, Podcasts and Audiobook previews on Home</span></cmsannotation><br />With the new Spotify mobile app redesign, simply tapping into the Music, Podcasts &amp; Shows, or Audiobooks feed offers personalized audio and visual previews. From there, users can save or share content, and explore artist or podcast pages in more depth.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Smart Shuffle" comment="subhead" text="Smart Shuffle"><span data-til="noop">Smart Shuffle</span></cmsannotation><br />The redesigned Spotify mobile app provides a fresh listening experience with personalized recommendations that match the vibe of user-generated playlists. This feature enhances the listening experience by shuffling tracks and offering perfectly tailored suggestions.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="New feeds for discovery in Search" comment="subhead" text="New feeds for discovery in Search"><span data-til="noop">New feeds for discovery in Search</span></cmsannotation><br />By scrolling up or down on the Spotify app, users can browse short Canvas clips from tracks across a range of favourite genres. The redesigned app makes it easy to save the song to a playlist, follow the artist, or share it with friends. Additionally, users can explore related genres using hashtags within the feed, allowing for the effortless discovery of new favourites. <br /><br />Furthermore, the app also offers the ability to preview tracks on popular playlists such as Discover Weekly, Release Radar, New Music Friday, and <keyword id="16743012" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rapcaviar" source="Orion">RapCaviar</keyword>.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Autoplay for Podcasts" comment="subhead" text="Autoplay for Podcasts"><span data-til="noop">Autoplay for Podcasts</span></cmsannotation><br />Similar to the music feature, Spotify now offers Autoplay for Podcasts. After an episode ends, the app will automatically play another relevant episode that matches the user's listening preferences.<br /><br />SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/how-you-can-open-the-ai-chatbot-directly-from-macs-menu-bar/articleshow/98449632.cms#:~:text=Once%20you%20have%20downloaded%20the,simply%20click%20on%20'Open.'">ChatGPT just got more accessible: Here’s how you can open the AI Chatbot directly from Mac's menu bar</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/tally-health-unveils-innovative-platform-to-enhance-longevity-in-humans/articleshow/98387387.cms">This US-based startup claims to have cracked the process of reverse aging</a><br />

Spotify unveils home screen redesign with endless vertical scrolling feed like Instagram

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="685487" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Spotify">Spotify</keyword> generally pays between $.003 and $.005 per stream, meaning you'll need about 250 streams to make a dollar.</li><li>What you'll be paid per Spotify stream depends on your distribution contract and listener base.</li><li>If you want to make more money from streaming, release more music and apply to have your music placed on official Spotify playlists.</li></ul><p>Over the last decade, several downloadable streaming platforms (also called DSPs) have emerged, including Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, and Pandora. Spotify in particular has made its name as a streaming juggernaut.</p><p>But how are <keyword id="6367711" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="musicians">musicians</keyword> faring? For all the benefits that Spotify gives listeners, they aren't tremendously generous when it comes to paying artists. They also aren't transparent about how much artists should expect to make per stream.</p><p>Many factors affect how much you'll be paid per stream on Spotify, including where your listeners live, whether they have a Spotify premium account, and what sort of distribution contract you have.</p><p>Here's what you should know about payments on Spotify.</p><h2>How much Spotify pays per stream</h2><div type="image" title="Audio engineer in studio" height="1060" width="1885" msid="81200373" hostid="261"></div><p>According to the <a href="https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Mid-Year-2020-RIAA-Revenue-Statistics.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)</a>, paid subscriptions have taken the place of album sales. And if physical sales weren't struggling enough, the RIAA also reported that the pandemic decreased revenue from physical products by 23%. With that part of their income declining and in the face of industry-wide shutdowns on live events, <keyword id="808056" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Music-streaming">music streaming</keyword> revenue has become even more critical for artists.</p><p>Yet, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-apple-music-and-spotify-pay-music-artist-streaming-royalties-2020-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Insider found that Spotify has paid artists as little as <strong>$.0033 per stream</strong></a>, with other sites reporting upwards of <strong>$.0054</strong>. Translated, you'll need about 250 streams to earn a dollar.</p><p>"This is why rappers make their money through merchandise, endorsements, and features," 27-year-old New Jersey-based rap artist Brandon Pain told Insider.</p><p>This hasn't always been the case - Spotify's payout rates have changed over time. In 2014, they paid $.00521 on average, but two years later, the average rate dropped to $.00437. By 2017, the average pay rate had been reduced again to around $.00397, according to artist-rights site <a href="https://thetrichordist.com/2018/01/15/2017-streaming-price-bible-spotify-per-stream-rates-drop-9-apple-music-gains-marketshare-of-both-plays-and-overall-revenue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Trichordist</a>.</p><h2>How Spotify's streaming royalties work </h2><div type="image" title="Singer in recording booth." height="1126" width="2002" msid="81200374" hostid="261"></div><p>Royalties are the payments that an artist earns from streams. Spotify royalties are specifically distributed from the net revenue collected from ads and Premium subscription fees. </p><p>Artists are paid monthly. When Spotify pays artists, they tally the total number of streams for each of an artist's <keyword id="6355236" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="songs">songs</keyword>, and determine who owns each song and who distributes it. First, the rights holders are paid. Next, the distributor is paid (this may be the same as the rights holder in some cases). And finally, you're paid.</p><p>"Each DSP has its payout, and it's your distribution company's responsibility to get the correct payout. They help set you up and walk you through how much you're being paid per stream, and the royalty payout process," Pain said.</p><p>Independent artists and their managers typically use distribution services like <a href="https://www.tunecore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tunecore</a> or <a href="https://distrokid.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Distrokid</a> to get their music onto Spotify. Bigger artists signed to major labels go through an in-house process.</p><p>"Now that there are more distribution outlets, that sector of the industry is starting to scale. Meaning the cost is starting to lower," said Sharlea Brookes-Keyes, manager for Boston rapper Vintage Lee. "Tunecore does 100% royalties [meaning they don't take any of your streaming revenue], but you have to pay an annual fee of $50 for an album and $10 for a single." </p><h2>How to increase how much you earn per Spotify stream</h2><p>A study conducted by <a href="http://www.digitalmedia.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/UC_report_final_171213.pdf">Digital Media Finland in 2017</a> focused on the pro-rata system used for Finnish Spotify Premium subscribers. This system pays rights-holders according to how their streams hold up against popular songs during a set amount of time. </p><p>More popular artists have their music streamed more, which means they earn more. So for artists to obtain more money, they need more streams.</p><p>The most surefire way to grow a fanbase, many artists have found, is by releasing music consistently and often. A new <em>magnum opus</em> every year is great, but a sporadic release schedule will mean a smaller pool of listeners.</p><p>But other factors can influence how much a musician earns, too. </p><div type="image" title="A group listening to music." height="1060" width="1885" msid="81200375" hostid="261"></div><p>Not all listeners are the same. Spotify Premium listeners pay more per stream than Free tier listeners. And the pay-per-stream also changes based on what country a listener is from; according to <a href="https://www.igroovemusic.com/blog/wie-viel-erhalte-ich-pro-stream-auf-spotify.html?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">music distributor iGroove</a>, listeners from the US pay $0.0035 per stream, for example, while Italian listeners will pay $0.0019.</p><p>The role of Spotify's 4 billion playlists shouldn't be sold short either. "Popularity and getting on their editorial playlists are two huge factors," manager Brookes-Keyes said. "[Vintage Lee's] song was already hot in the streets and doing relatively well, but when 'NBA 2k18' came out [and it was put on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/24tXRZl2wek2K3Tyu53nPt?si=gHQUXT2qQ_y6RPll9IFIvw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the official playlist</a>], her streams grew and are still steadily consistent."</p><p>RapCaviar, curated by Tuma Basa, is one of the most popular editorial playlists. His strategic curation has helped propel artists towards a wider audience and showcased underground music, with <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2017/09/spotify-rapcaviar-most-influential-playlist-in-music.html">Vulture</a> even dubbing it "the most influential playlist in music." </p><div type="image" title="Rap Caviar Playlist" height="1346" width="2880" msid="81200376" hostid="261"></div><p>If artists are on smaller playlists like Mellow Favorites, there's still an opportunity to move up to a larger, better-known one like Chill R&amp;B. Once an artist makes it to a more notable playlist, it increases the likelihood they'll gain more followers and more streams.</p><p>In 2018, Spotify also introduced their <a href="https://artists.spotify.com/blog/behind-the-playlists-your-questions-answered-by-our-playlist-editors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">playlist submission tool</a>. The feature gives artists a choice to submit unreleased music to Spotify, for a chance at having that music put on a playlist as soon as it comes out.</p><p>Once an artist chooses their track and submits it, they can tailor the song's settings according to mood, style, genre, type of recording, and more. This helps Spotify decide which editorial and algorithmic playlists your music belongs in and how to introduce the track to more fans.</p><a data-type="600752a5e2bb9f5e652b9a5f">How to upload local music to Spotify so you can play songs stored on your computer, even when offline</a><a data-type="5e45b16b3b62b7770c6f3383">How to find concerts on Spotify on desktop or mobile, and get a list of show recommendations near you based on your music tastes</a><a data-type="5d5ad999cd97845a293374b5">How to sign up for Spotify Premium on your iPhone or desktop computer, and get a free trial</a><a data-type="5fcab094f74e3070732dc992">How to find your Spotify 'Wrapped' story and playlists for year-end stats on your listening habits</a>

How much does Spotify pay per stream? What you'll earn per song, and how to get paid more for your music

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Andy Kropa/Invision/AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Spotify filed to go public Wednesday in a "Direct IPO."</strong></li><li><strong>In its SEC paperwork, Spotify used the example of Lorde to show how it could launch a music artist's career.</strong></li><li><strong>Spotify says Sean Parker helped catapult Lorde to stardom by putting her on his playlist, "Hipster International."</strong></li></ul><p><br />Spotify filed to go public on Wednesday (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-files-for-ipo-2018-2">in a weird way</a>), and the music-streaming giant used the opportunity to take credit for launching pop star Lorde's career.</p><p>In its SEC paperwork, Spotify emphasized that it could help both emerging and established artists by allowing their music to be discovered. </p><p>"One prominent example of how Spotify enabled an aspiring artist to reach a global audience is international pop star Lorde," Spotify wrote.</p><p>Here's how Spotify describes Lorde's rise to stardom:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Lorde started out as a singer-songwriter from New Zealand looking to break out with her new single, 'Royals,' when Sean Parker added her single to his popular playlist Hipster International. After approximately one month, Lorde had jumped past prominent artists such as Katy Perry, Drake, and Lady Gaga to land at the top of Spotify's Viral Chart, and after eight months, she had reached over 100 million streams on Spotify and was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100."</p><p>According to Spotify, we need to add another accolade to tech disrupter Sean Parker's already long resume. After founding Napster when he was a teen, Parker went on to become the president of Facebook (before stepping down), and an early investor and board member at Spotify. Then in 2013, using his ironically named Spotify playlist, "Hipster International" (which currently has 748,778 followers), he shot Lorde to the heights of Katy Perry, Drake, and Lady Gaga.</p><p>"I feel like in many ways she's the antidote to disposable pop music," <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2013/11/26/how-spotify-made-lorde-a-pop-superstar/#6cd4601d76b4">Parker told Forbes at the time</a>. "I feel like it was accessible to the same people who listen to Katy Perry, for instance, but there's obviously something more authentic and personal to Lorde's music. I got the sense she represents the return to a singer-songwriter approach to songwriting, and yet she has a knack for writing incredibly infectious melodies."</p><p>While the extent to which Spotify's existence allowed Lorde to become a star can be debated, it is clear that a placement on Spotify's prominent playlists (like RapCaviar) can help boost an artist's profile.</p><p>It is also evident that Spotify wants to position itself to investors as a service that is <em>good</em> for artists, and can help jumpstart their careers.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-all-nine-2018-best-picture-oscar-nominees-are-connected-academy-awards-movies-2018-2">You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common - here's how</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Spotify says Sean Parker launched pop star Lorde's career by putting her on his 'Hipster International' playlist

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Greg Sandoval/Business Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Daniel Ek, Spotify cofounder and CEO at the 2018 Code conference.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p> </p><ul><li><strong>The top record labels are unhappy that Spotify isn't including more of their songs in its curated playlists, according to a note published by Deutsche Bank's analysts.</strong></li><li><strong>For Spotify's users, curated playlists are popular way to access songs.</strong></li><li><strong>While this may sound like a way that Spotify can gain some leverage over the labels and use it to negotiate better royalty rates, the analysts were skeptical. </strong></li><li><strong>Spotify doesn't have the same market dominance that it once did, and the labels have plenty of other places, including Apple, to distribute their songs.    </strong></li></ul><p>The largest music labels are unhappy that Spotify isn't providing them with more access to an important part of the streaming music service, according to a report published Thursday by Deutsche Bank. </p><p>These curated playlists are put together by a combination of algorithm and hand-picked choices by Spotify employees, and represent an important way for users to find new music, especially from smaller artists. In late 2017, <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/spotify-rapcaviar-most-influential-playlist-in-music.html">Vulture called Spotify's RapCaviar</a> "the most influential playlist in music," reporting that its millions of listeners help turn unknown artists into mainstream successes. </p><p>According to Deutsche's report, the three top labels are unhappy that not enough of their music is being included in these lists.  <span>The bank cited as the source of the info an unnamed 25-year music industry veteran, who sat with the analysts and tried to help them understand Spotify's economic position. </span></p><p><span>"Algotorial playlists on Spotify have a lower share of major label content," the bank's analysts quoted their source. "As this grows in the listening mix the major labels stand to marginally lose share. </span>Our featured speaker noted this as a major thorn in labels' sides."</p><h2>Razor-thin margins</h2><div title="Page 1"><p><span>This is a major revelation, if accurate. Curated playlists are popular. They account for 30 percent of listening on Spotify and the percentage is growing, Deutsche Bank wrote. </span>A Spotify spokesperson, as well as representatives from all three of the top labels, Warner, Sony and Universal, did not respond to requests for comment. </p><p><span>Ths curated playlist seems to suggest that Spotify has more leverage over the labels that could help managers negotiate lower licensing fees. </span>But according to Deutsche's analysts, it's more complicated than that.</p><p>Spotify was founded 12 years ago and <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/spotify-stock-price-earnings-per-share-profit-loss-revenue-2018-5-1023149988">became a public company </a>in April, but it isn't yet profitable. Part of the problem is the business' razor-thin margins. Deutsche's source said Spotify pays the major labels 52 percent of the revenue generated from their songs. Independent labels receive 50 percent and of course none of that includes the royalties paid for music publishing.</p><p>Consider that before Spotify pays its staff, rent, office furniture and all the other costs of doing business, more than half of its revenue is lopped off and handed to content producers. </p><h2>Spotify has less leverage because of Apple</h2><p>As for finding more leverage over the labels, Spotify's is on shakier ground there. Apple's subscription service has <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/music/why-is-apple-music-beating-spotify-in-us-market/">grown more rapidly </a>than Spotify's and cut into <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8098161/apple-music-spotify-streaming-wars-subscribers-advantage">its market share</a>. The labels have other distributors, including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-and-apple-terrify-music-execs-youtube-music-exec-insists-2018-5">YouTube's new paid </a>service. </p><p>When it comes to finding new sources of revenue,<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/barry-mccarthy-former-netflix-cfo-in-another-knife-fight-to-make-spotify-profitable-2018-5"> Spotify's managers </a>have told the market they see potential in selling user data. Like all music services, Spotify has  accumulated data about users tastes and listening habits. But Deutsche's source noted that the value of such data is questionable. </p><div title="Page 1"><div><div><div><p><span>After listening to the music industry insider, Deutsche's analysts wrote: "We came away still somewhat cautious around the magnitude of long-term margin upside for Spotify. We feel incrementally less optimistic on the potential to monetize data in any meaningful way."</span></p></div></div></div></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/we-controlled-a-light-display-with-our-brain-activity-science-2018-7">We used a headset that transforms your brain activity into a light display - here's how it works</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The major music labels are upset that they don't get more play on Spotify's mega-popular playlists, says Deutsche Bank

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>OVO</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Spotify has released its end-of-year statistics, and Drake reigns supreme, topping 1.8 billion streams in 2015. Rihanna took the top spot for a female artist, clocking in at 1 billion streams.</p><p>The biggest hit of the year was Major Lazer's "Lean On" featuring breakout Danish pop star Mø. It racked up 540 million streams and became the most-streamed song of all time.</p><p>One notable absence was Adele, who has refused to put her new album "25"on Spotify. Even so, her single "Hello" is on Spotify, but it didn't rank on Spotify, likely due to its late release in the year.</p><p>Here is the full data from Spotify, including top artists, tracks, albums, and more. </p><p><strong>Top Five Artists in U.S.</strong></p><ol><li>      Drake</li><li>      The Weeknd</li><li>      Kanye West</li><li>      Ed Sheeran</li><li>      Eminem</li></ol><p><strong>Top Five Males in U.S.</strong></p><ol><li>      Drake</li><li>      The Weeknd</li><li>      Kanye West</li><li>      Ed Sheeran</li><li>      Eminem </li></ol><p><strong>Top Five Females in U.S.</strong></p><ol><li>      Nicki Minaj</li><li>      Beyoncé</li><li>      Rihanna</li><li>      Ariana Grande</li><li>      Lana Del Rey </li></ol><p><strong>Top Five Tracks in the U.S.</strong></p><ol><li>      Trap Queen - Fetty Wap</li><li>      The Hills - The Weeknd</li><li>      Earned It (Fifty Shades Of Grey) - The Weeknd</li><li>      Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson</li><li>      Lean On (feat. MØ &amp; DJ Snake) - Major Lazer</li></ol><p><strong>Top Five Albums in the U.S.</strong></p><ol><li>      If You're Reading This It's Too Late - Drake</li><li>      Beauty Behind The Madness - The Weeknd</li><li>      Fetty Wap - Fetty Wap</li><li>      Dark Sky Paradise - Big Sean</li><li>      SremmLife - Rae Sremmurd  </li></ol><p><strong>Top Five Viral Tracks in the U.S.</strong></p><ol><li>      Here - Alessia Cara</li><li>      Hotline Bling - Drake</li><li>      Sugar (feat. Francesco Yates) - Robin Schulz</li><li>      Ex's &amp; Oh's - Elle King</li><li><span data-term="goog_1315413445"><span>Sunday</span></span> Candy - Donnie Trumpet &amp; The Social Experiment (tied for 4th place)</li></ol><p><strong>Top Five Playlists in the U.S.  </strong></p><ol><li>      Today's Top Hits</li><li>      Hot Country</li><li>      RapCaviar</li><li>      TGIF</li><li>      Afternoon Acoustic</li></ol>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/model-who-quit-instagram-says-its-okay-to-feel-2015-11">The 19-year-old model who quit Instagram says 'It's okay to feel!'</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZpNWdyeDrCZNUC9xT0iQlcmzH0GqMTVV" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

These are the songs everyone was listening to in 2015, according to Spotify

<p><span class="s1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Tech Insider / Spotify</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span class="s1">There's a playlist on Spotify I love called Discover Weekly. It's</span><span class="s1"> updated every Monday with a mix of songs, some I know and some I've never heard, crossing into almost every genre with no discernible pattern. </span><span class="s1">Like magic, it just knows what I want to hear.</span></p><p><span class="s1">It's one of the reasons why I'm listening to Spotify more than ever. And I'm not alone.</span></p><p><span class="s1">The nine-year-old streaming service </span><span class="s1">has doubled its paid subscribers to 20 million in the past year, and has an additional 55 million free users who sit through occasional ads and forgo the ability to play any song in an album or playlist without shuffle enabled.</span></p><p>What's most remarkable is that Spotify is seeing this kind of growth and buzz during what was supposed to be the summer of Apple Music.</p><p>While Apple claims its new service can sort through millions of streamable songs better than anyone else, thanks to the help of human tastemakers, Spotify has kept pace and more with a series of innovations ranging from Discover Weekly - launched in July - to its own human-powered playlists.</p><p>We visited Spotify's New York office to see how the Swedish company is trying to make the most personalized music listening experience ever.</p><h2>How people really listen to music</h2><p>Spotify's progress in sorting its library of 35 million songs can be traced back to T<span>he Echo Nest, a music intelligence company that was created within the MIT Media Lab a decade ago. Spotify bought The Echo Nest last March in <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/07/spotify-echo-nest-100m/">what was reported to be</a> a $100 million deal.</span></p><p><span><span>Jim Lucchese, CEO of The Echo Nest, tells Tech Insider that his team of about 70 people are focused on delivering "the right listening experience at the right time" within Spotify.</span></span></p><p><span><span>They do this by analyzing the makeup of every song, how people are talking about music online, and how people are listening to it. </span></span><span class="s1"><span>While the company continues to work with clients like Rdio, Microsoft, Sirius, and Vevo, as it did before it was sold, its most cutting-edge work is developed and honed for Spotify.</span></span></p><p><span><span><span>One of The Echo Nest's first projects for Spotify, <span><span><span><a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/spotify-knows-me-better-than-i-know-myself/">reported last September on </a></span></span></span><span><span><span><a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/spotify-knows-me-better-than-i-know-myself/">FiveThirtyEight</a>,</span></span></span> was developing dossiers of every user's listening habits, which are now called "taste profiles."</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>Ajay Kalia, who oversees the project, tells us they realized early on that</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> there's an important distinction between the music you listen to and music you actually like.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">For example, just because I play a lot of instrumental, ambient music while I'm at work doesn't mean that I have a particular affinity for those kinds of artists. And just because your significant other plays a lot of country music while you're both in the car doesn't mean you want a bunch of country playlists shoved at you.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We believe that it's important to recognize that a single music listener is usually many listeners, and a person's preference will vary by the type of music, by their current activity, by the time of day, and so on," says Kalia. "Our goal then is to come up with a nuanced understanding of each portion of your taste."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>The Echo Nest / Spotify</span></p><p class="caption">How Spotify sees my taste in music.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Kalia showed me my taste profile, and it was surprisingly accurate in terms of which artists I like. Different kinds of artists that span multiple genres but are still somewhat related are grouped into what's internally referred to as "taste clusters."</span></p><p>My largest cluster is 98 artists, which includes primarily hip hop artists like Kanye West, Drake, Miguel, and Jay­ Z. My listening is relatively well­ distributed within the cluster, meaning that I listen to each artist with roughly the same frequency.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If this cluster is what I actively seek out and listen to the most, whether it be in playlists or the search bar, then my second largest cluster could be considered what I listen to when I just want to have something on in the background, or what Kalia calls a "lean back" listening experience. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My second cluster has about 20 artists that are primarily instrumental, like This Will Destroy You, Explosions in the Sky, and Caspian. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I usually work while listening to that kind of music, and The Echo Nest groups it separately and considers my activity within that cluster differently than the first cluster. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Its decision to group clusters separately is informed by how this kind of music is usually found in playlists like "Deep Focus," explains Kalia. People primarily listen to ambient, instrumental music in Spotify without skipping a lot of tracks and for longer periods of time, which shows The Echo Nest that such music encourages a more passive listening experience than a playlist filled with the latest pop hits.</span></p><h2>Building a better playlist</h2><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Tech Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span><span class="s1">There's another Spotify playlist I subscribe to called "RapCaviar," which is described as "the</span><span class="s1"> freshest fifty songs on the rawest hip hop playlist ever."</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">This playlist, which is updated weekly, is the brainchild of Spotify's resident hip hop expert, Tuma Basa, a veteran DJ with decades of experience at networks like BET and MTV. </span>It's one of 4,500 playlists, with names like "Air, Sex &amp; Water" and "Pop Punk Mania," produced by Spotify's team of 32 music experts around the world.</p><p>Although Spotify has had humans making playlists for years, its efforts got a major boost last year with <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/19/the-sonic-mad-scientists/">the introduction of Truffle Pig</a>, an internal tool from The Echo Nest that<span class="s1"> breaks music down into thousands of categories like <span>"wonky," "chillwave," "stomp and holler," or "downtempo."</span></span></p><p><span class="s1"><span>Doug Ford, <span>Spotify's director of music programming, walked us through how a Spotify playlist comes together.</span></span></span></p><p>"Every curator has to come up with a hypothesis," Ford says. "You brand it with an image and you give it a cool description that gives you an indication of what you're diving into if you're about to listen."</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Tech Insider</span></p><p class="caption">This playlist was made by Spotify's head of music programming.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">For example, Ford says he used Truffle Pig extensively to make the playlist "Your Favorite Coffeehouse," but that his most important criteria for picking a song was if it "gave me the chills."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ford never could have combed through the tens of millions of available tracks on Spotify without help from Truffle Pig, but it was his "data-supported gut," as he puts it, that made the final call.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spotify's most popular playlist, "Today's Top Hits," is 100% human curated, says Ford, but <span>the songs that make it into the list are surfaced with the help of Spotify's complex algorithms in a matter of seconds.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It really kills me when I see people say that Spotify is just algorithms," Ford says. "Well, what does that make us? We're running a team of curation experts."</span></p><p>What you hear from everyone at Spotify is that humans using data insights are key to curating music on a large scale. Naturally, they're also using data to evaluate how well playlists are working.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span>"You can tell instantly if it's a win or not because we're so fed by data," Ford says. "All of the playlists live or die by the data."</span><span><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span>Looking forward, Spotify is thinking about a big expansion of the playlists it offers.<br /></span></span></p><p><span class="s1">Ford describes a future in which Spotify treats genres less like a collection of playlists and more like radio. He tells me to envision Tuma Basa's RapCaviar expanded to include the culture of hip hop globally, with "top hits" playlists for reach major region of the world, a "gold" playlist with songs that are older but still relevant hits, a playlist for crossover pop and R&amp;B tunes, and an "early bets" playlist that features what Basa thinks is going to be hot.</span> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span>"I'm envisioning it like we own a big, large network," he says, hinting at what's to come.</span></span></p><h2>Just what you want to hear</h2><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Alex Heath / Tech Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Matt Ogle (left) and Doug Ford (right) photographed at Spotify's New York headquarters.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spotify's work with The Echo Nest has culminated (so far) in this summer's launch of Discover Weekly, that custom playlist that magically predicts what I and every other Spotify listener wants to hear. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even though the feature is barely a month old, the overall reception <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/spotify-discover-weekly-2015-8">in reviews</a> and on social media has been overwhelmingly positive.</span></p><p><span><span>"Discovery can feel like work, and we wanted it to feel very human and natural like the selec<keyword id="72550" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="TI">ti</keyword>ons that are powering it," Matt Ogle, the guy in charge of Discover Weekly, tells TI.</span></span></p><p><span><span>Ogle previously worked at</span></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Last.fm, a startup that pioneered a lot of work on analyzing music data, and a now-shuttered startup called This Is My Jam, which let you choose one song a week to share with your friends. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since joining Spotify earlier this year, Ogle has tried to combine both approaches to blend big data with a human touch.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Tech Insider</span></p><p class="caption">My Discover Weekly.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ogle gives a simple analogy for how Discover Weekly works:</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> You've been playing song A and song C a lot, but it turns out that when other people play those songs together in their playlists there's a song B that you've never heard before.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Discover Weekly gives you song B.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We look at what you've been listening to and what are the songs playing around these songs that you've been jamming on," Ogle tells Tech Insider. "We're trying to find the missing tracks."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">During internal testing, his team realized that if you don't recognize a single artist in a playlist, you might question if it's actually geared for you. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">That's why the playlist is intended to have a mix of mostly new tracks with a few songs you've heard before.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Having a little bit of familiarity is key to building trust. It can be exhausting to just listen to stuff you've never heard of before," he says.</span></p><p>Now it's true that the songs on Discover Weekly are chosen by algorithm, not humans, but Ogle insists that this misses the point since the whole thing is built on data created by humans<span> - it's just that algorithms are connecting the dots on a massive scale.</span><span><span><br /></span></span></p><p><span></span><span>"There's something compelling about this humans versus robots narrative: a lovingly curated playlist versus an algorithm screwing up your sexy time," says Ogle. "That whole distinction no longer really describes how we work. Discover Weekly is humans all the way down. Every single track that appears in Discover Weekly is because other humans being have said, 'Hey this is a good song, and here's why.'"</span></p><p>As popular as the new feature is, it's just the beginning for Spotify.</p><p><span>"We want to make sure that as mainstream or hipster as you are, Spotify can cater to you," says Ogle. "That will involve humans and machines, and ideally it involves them skipping down the street hand-in-hand, because practically that's the only way to get things done."</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"I see Discover Weekly as one of the first products from this new era of personalization, but ultimately we'd love for everything you interact with on Spotify to feel like there's a bit of you in it."</span></p><h2 class="p1">Music streaming is here to stay</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Tech Insider</span></p><p class="caption">Spotify's playlist recommendations vs. Apple Music's.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whatever differences there are between Spotify, Apple Music, and their competitors, it's clear that streaming music is the future.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><a href="http://www.melodicrock.com/sites/default/files/Nielsen%20Music%202015%20mid-year%20report.pdf">A recent Nielsen</a> study found that on-demand music streaming in the US increased by 92% during the first half of 2015 compared to the same period last year. </span><span class="s1">And revenue from streaming music services grew 29% to $1.87 billion last year, accounting for 27% of the industry's total revenues, according to <a href="http://riaa.com/media/D1F4E3E8-D3E0-FCEE-BB55-FD8B35BC8785.pdf">The Recording Industry Association of America,</a> a music industry trade organization.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Revenue from sales of downloadable music, like you'd buy from iTunes, <a href="http://riaa.com/media/D1F4E3E8-D3E0-FCEE-BB55-FD8B35BC8785.pdf">peaked in 2012 and has declined each the last two years</a>, accrdoing to the RIAA. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"></span><span class="s1">The growth of streaming doesn't mean Spotify won't have roadblocks as it continues to build the on-demand listening experience it thinks people want. It has yet to roll out <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-spotifys-new-plan-for-video-streaming-2015-5">the video platform it debuted back in May</a>, which will include a mix of podcasts and short video clips from partners like ESPN and Comedy Central.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">And last month, the company had to respond to a brief moment of subscriber outrage over <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/spotify-privacy-policy-change-explained-2015-8">an update to Spotify's privacy policy</a> that said it would monitor a phone's location and access its photos and microphone. To combat privacy concerns, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek <a href="https://news.spotify.com/us/2015/08/21/sorry-2/">wrote a blog post</a> that clarified the policy, and explained that the information would only be used to "customize your Spotify experience."</span></p><p>Ultimately, Spotify doesn't seem too panicked about its place in the music streaming race or going head to head with most valuable company in the world.</p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Hopefully, it will spur a lot of innovation on both sides," says Discover Weekly's Matt Ogle when asked about what Apple Music means for Spotify. "I think it's pretty cool that the biggest company in the world agrees with us now that this is how people are going to consume music in the future."</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-music-review-features-streaming-2015-7">How to use Apple's Spotify killer - now on everyone's iPhone</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="FibGx5dTrRKa9Z1biyzTU1SbW8sOl5jW" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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