Spotify to add TikTok-like music discovery

Spotify continues to test a long-rumored discovery feature that looks a lot like your TikTok ‘For you page’.

A guest post by James Shotwell of Haulix.

First came Snapchat stories, and soon, every social media platform on the planet had a stories-like feature. Now, we have TikTok’s discovery feed, and soon, even Spotify will have a feed of its own.

Spotify is currently testing a personalized feed on the app’s home screen, which introduces users to new music through a feed of canvas loops (AKA, those GIFs that appear when you’re listening to certain songs).

If that news sounds familiar, we reported something similar back in November 2021. Twitter user Chris Messina shared screenshots from a test version of Spotify that included a new feature called ‘Discover.’ At the time, the feature appeared as a menu option anchored to the bottom of the app. 

Like TikTok, Spotify’s Discover tool will showcase music and the accompanying Canvas clip in a vertical feed. Users will then be able to decide whether or not to listen further. Each decision will influence the algorithm’s recommendations, strengthening Spotify’s ability to give users exactly what they (don’t know they) want. 

Every day, this feed — which is currently testing in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada — will recommend 15 songs. If you see a track you like on this feed, you can add the song to a playlist, follow the artist or share it on your social channels. 

Spotify has not provided a release date for Discover, but we expect it to launch in 2022. In the meantime, watch our video coverage of Discover from late 2021:

James Shotwell is the Director of Customer Engagement at Haulix and host of the company’s podcast, Inside Music. He is also a public speaker known for promoting careers in the entertainment industry, as well as an entertainment journalist with over a decade of experience. His bylines include Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Substream Magazine, Nu Sound, and Under The Gun Review, among other popular outlets.