Summary
- Spotify is testing “sub-genre chips” within its genre mix playlists for enhanced music discovery.
- These chips allow users to explore specific sub-genres (e.g., Alternative R&B, Neo Soul, Pop R&B, and more) and refresh the playlist with new music.
- Spotted by a Reddit user, this feature aims to address complaints about repetitive recommendations by surfacing less familiar tracks.
Spotify is still the leading music streaming service by marketshare, holding onto a dominant 34.64 percent of the global user base as of 2024. Spotify is not-so-closely followed by YouTube music, which is gaining new users every year, and currently holds a 17.60 percent marketshare.
For Spotify, the dominance isn’t just because of its early mover advantage — it can also be credited to its long-standing free tier with ads, paired with its yearly Wrapped recaps, smart playlists, AI DJ, social features, and more. However, over recent years, the music streaming giant seems to have dropped the ball on discovery. One of users’ biggest (if not THE biggest) gripes revolves around the platform recommending the same few popular songs — not just in recommended playlists, but also in user-generated ones.
It looks like the streaming giant might be ready to address concerns about repetitive recommendations and enhanced music discovery — at least in some capacity.
Spotify is testing new sub-genre chips to help users find new music, as highlighted by Reddit user kwabb, who seems to have gained early access to the feature (via Android Authority).
The chips offer fresh recommendations
For what it’s worth, I’m on the latest Spotify version 9.0.50.57 app build, and I’m not seeing the sub-genre chips just yet.
According to the user who spotted the chips, they seemingly only appear within the genre mixes. In the case of an R&B mix, the accompanying chips would allow users to discover songs under sub-genres like Alternative R&B, Neo Soul, Pop R&B, and more. Similarly, if you’re listening to a Rock mix, you might see sub-genres like Grunge, Metal, Alternative Rock, and akin. Reddit user kwabb also added that instead of “just filtering out songs,” tapping on any of the sub-genre chips actually updates the whole playlist with new music.
Seems to only appear on genre mixes for me but it’s successful in showing songs that aren’t the same old recommendations.
The new sub-genre chips seem to part of a gradual rollout or a controlled test. Have you gained access to the new feature? Let us know in the comments below.
