Spotify Finally Gets Updated Radio Features

    Anyone who has used Pandora, Last.FM, or any other online radio knows that Spotify’s radio features have been “lacking” to put it politely. I’m sure not too many people used the genre / decade buttons to build a station, but those who did likely noticed the same ten songs played over and over again. I appreciate how I can find every type of music imaginable on Spotify, but sometimes I just don’t want to be in the driver’s seat. Luckily, today Spotify has announced it has beefed up its radio features so you can build radio stations around the tracks or artists you select.

    This seems to be all part of Spotify’s new plan to be more in the “music discovery” sphere. They’ve gotten their music delivery perfected, and now the announcement of new radio features and Spotify Apps seems to support users’ desire to connect with new content.

    Spotify’s new integrated applications have already been doing this nicely. Over the last couple of days I’ve grown to appreciate the Pitchfork, Last.fm, and Rolling Stone apps, just for suggestions of something new to listen to. And while writing this article I’ve been listening to the new Spotify Radio built around an artist, and it seems to be doing a decent job.

    The new radio features should hit the standard release of Spotify in a few days. If you can’t wait, you can download a pre-release to get the new radio and app features today. To use it, click “Start Artist Radio” at the top of any artist page or just drag a track to “Radio” in the left sidebar.