Spotify is bringing greater variety to its auto-generated playlists
Spotify is aiming to make its automated playlists more varied with a new set of personalized playlists called Niche Mixes.
The streaming service already offers a whole host of automatically generated playlists, including Daily Mixes, Discover Weekly and Release Radar, but if there’s one major criticism of Spotify’s selections, it’s a lack of variety. Spotify customers regularly gripe about the same songs appearing in multiple playlists.
The company is now aiming to cut through the tedium with Niche Mixes. “We’re giving listeners access to tens of thousands of Mixes unique to them based on, well, almost anything they can think of,” according to Spotify’s announcement blog.
There’s no doubt the Niche Mixes are more varied than the typical playlist fare, if the selection provided for me is anything to go by. The Niche Mixes suggested for me include an Australian Indie Mix, an Aggressive Heavy Metal mix and a Hype Running Rap mix. Quite why Spotify decided to thrust these particular mixes under my nose is unclear: I’m not Australian, I can’t stand heavy metal and I wouldn’t run for a bus, but the selection is certainly different to the 90s Indie tracks that Spotify normally shoves in my direction.
Where to find Spotify Niche Mixes
The Niche Mixes aren’t that easy to find. First, you need to make sure that your Spotify app has been updated to the latest version that was released yesterday.
Then (on the mobile app) enter the search facility and scroll down to the Made For You section. You should find a selection of pre-selected Niche Mixes waiting for you there.
You’re not restricted to the Niche Mixes that Spotify pre-selects for you, though. If you search for pretty much any musical genre or activity and add the word “mix” to the end of the search, you’ll normally find a relevant Niche Mix on offer.
For example, I was offered mixes for Morning Indie Chill, Electropop Experimental and Upbeat Gardening when entering either those genres or activities into the Spotify search bar (yes, I’ve absolutely ruined my Spotify profile by writing this article).
It seems Spotify tries to find relevant songs when you enter an activity such as gardening, too. The Upbeat Gardening mix included songs such as The Beatles’ Good Day Sunshine, Nothing But Flowers by Talking Heads and Green Garden by Laura Mvula, along with selection of less obvious tracks.
