Spotify is adding a new element to how its music discovery algorithm works.

Now, artists have the ability to identify music that they want to promote and Spotify's algorithm will prioritize those tracks.

How Do Spotify's Personalized Recommendations Work?

Spotify is not only a great way to listen to music that you love, but also to discover new things.

Spotify surfaces music in different ways, like curated playlists or the radio stations that play music from artists you like and those similar to them.

Apparently, 16 billion Spotify users a month listen to an artist that they have never heard before.

These personalized recommendations are made up of many inputs: the time of day you listen, languages you listen to, song length, listening habits of people who have similar tastes, and more.

According to the company, there are "thousands" of these inputs that make up the recommendation algorithm.

Artists Can Now Input on the Algorithm

As announced on For the Record, Spotify is adding an input to the algorithm, and it's one that artists have an input on.

This is currently being rolled out as a test and it's one that will let artists have a say on which of their songs are promoted.

It will mean that artists and labels can "identify music that’s a priority for them" and Spotify's system will "add that signal to the algorithm that determines personalized listening sessions".

For example, this could be to celebrate an album's anniversary, a song that has suddenly become TikTok famous, or a new track that they want to gain traction.

The ability to do this won't cost the artist or label anything, in a move Spotify claim is to make it accessible to those at any stage of their career.

However, rather than the standard fee that artists receive when their song is played on Spotify, plays registered as a result of this new surfacing will be paid at a "promotional recording royalty rate".

When The Verge contacted a Spotify spokesperson to seek clarity on the rate, the company wouldn't divulge further than saying that "the idea is for artist teams to be able to earn a positive ROI by using the tool".

Of course, the hope would be that users would enjoy the tracks and add them to their personal playlists where the usual royalty fee would be paid.

For now, this feature is in test and is being applied to the radio and autoplay functions of Spotify. As the test progresses, it will be rolled out to other personalized areas of Spotify.

Discover New Music on Spotify Sites

If you want to discover even more great music, you can expand on what Spotify offers and use websites and apps to get suitable recommendations.