- Spotify has launched a new feature in its search hub called Upcoming Releases
- Users can now view and pre-save upcoming albums from two lists based on their listening history and the most pre-saved albums globally
- Upcoming Releases also provides listeners with a space to access Countdown Pages, merch, and more
Spotify is really doing its bit to prove that it’s still the best music streaming service, and its freshly-launched Upcoming Releases hub does just that. The platform has just rolled out the new feature, creating an in-app space dedicated to keeping tabs on new album releases.
Yesterday Spotify announced the feature in a blog post and, as the name suggests, it will allow you to view and pre-save recommended soon-to-be-released albums based on your personal listening habits all from one place. Additionally, you’ll also be able to view the top 10 anticipated new releases based on the number of global pre-saves.
One of the better parts of the Upcoming Releases hub is that it’s very easy to find in the Spotify app. Head to the main search hub and scroll down to ‘Browse all’, and there you’ll find the brand new Upcoming Releases section next to your ‘Made For You’ hub. From there, you can pre-save upcoming albums hassle-free, and can quickly access album Countdown Pages to view the tracklist, listen to singles, check out merch, and watch clips.
Upcoming Releases marks a first for Spotify and significantly enhances the music streamer’s approach to giving fans more ways of staying in the loop with new music. Last year Spotify introduced Countdown Pages for artists which not only breathed new life into album release strategies, but gave fans a new way of engaging with the pre-release hype.
Now that Spotify has launched the Upcoming Releases hub powered by Countdown Pages, it could give the platform a leg-up for bringing you closer to new music – and I’m already warming up to it.
I like what I see, I like it a lot
Like any music obsessive, having my ear to the ground with new music releases is in my nature, however it can be quite the task when it comes to keeping tabs on new albums especially if you listen to a lot of different genres and artists like myself.
But Spotify’s Upcoming Releases hub could be the answer to all my new music questions, and I don’t think I’ve taken to a new feature this quickly since Daylists landed in 2023.
So far Upcoming Releases is limited to two different categories, ‘For you’ and ‘Top 10 countdowns’, which is the only downside to the new feature but I’m hoping this is intentional.
It would make sense for Spotify to start small and then build on the feature as users get used to it, so with that said I’d like to see Spotify add genre-specific recommendations for example ‘Most popular indie upcoming releases’, or even a section that groups soon-to-be-released albums from artists touring your local area.
I think there’s a lot of room for this new feature to evolve, but it’s still early days and at the moment, I’m just excited to test the waters with it and see how often the recommendations are updated. Besides, it will save me bags of time scrolling through Metacritic’s list of new releases to find out who’s bringing out new material.
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