Spotify playlists are a surprisingly large part of my life. I make several new, curatorial, choreographic for the spin classes I teach each week, as well as carefully curating quarterly playlists designed to reflect the general vibe of specific three-month periods of my life. I only edit them for 12 weeks of the quarter and then leave them alone so I can go back to them and relive that era. This means I'm constantly working with the current playlist to get it right, looking for songs that exactly match how I'm feeling. It's actually a time-consuming hobby, but the other day I came across a feature that makes creating rotating playlists and soundtracks for Q1 2026 easier than ever.
New Spotify Feature
The best way to describe the feature I came across is that it's like Tinder for songs. If you're listening to a song on the app, scroll down. Go past the buttons to Play And Nextby About the artist section, past the text and stop when you see Research [artist name]. Then you will have three options like Similar to: [artist name] And Similar to: [song name]but they may differ slightly.
Clicking on one of them opens a new function. Tell me what you choose Similar to: [song name]. You'll be given 30 seconds of a song that Spotify's algorithm deems “similar” to the one you just listened to, along with the artist's name, number of Spotify subscribers, and a three-dot menu that allows you to like the song, add it to a playlist, go to the artist's page, and more. If you liked the 30-second clip, you can add the song to your playlists. If not, you can keep swiping down to hear a new one.
See how similar this is to Tinder? You make pretty quick decisions based on the quick preview and the small amount of detail you get, then swipe the screen if you don't like it. I found community forum post Spotify's website talks about it, but otherwise there's not much chatter. All I can say is that it's been out since about May.
Why I like this feature
I prefer this option over other music search options on Spotify because it gives you a quick preview of the song and makes the search process easier. I'm of course a big fan of pre-generated Discover weekly playlist or New releases Spotify makes a playlist for me every week, but it takes a long time to listen to all the songs on them and it's not intuitive to find them. another new songs based on the playlists themselves. 30-second quick taps and a simple swipe to disable a new feature help me determine if a song is worth my time, whether for spin classes or personal use, add it to the appropriate playlist if so, and keep moving.
What are your thoughts so far?
What I especially like are the three hashtags under the artist's name. These are genre descriptions that fit whatever song you're browsing, and I found them helpful because I have a hard time describing what kind of music I generally like. Apparently because of the new feature I like something called “speed garage”. Clicking on the #speedgarage hashtag that appears in song previews takes me to another a scrolling preview panel full of exceptionally faster garage – whatever that actually is. I still can't define it, but I realized that I like it, and in itself it is more rewarding than a year's work. Discover weekly playlists.
I used this feature during an Uber ride to the airport the other day, and by the time I got through TSA, I had 29 new songs in my Q1 playlist. I listened to them on the plane, weeded out the ones that didn't fit well enough with the vibe of the quarter, and then sent them to my friends, who all gave the collection rave reviews, like, quote, “it's a slap in the face.”
