Spotify is one of the best music streaming services when it comes to discovering new music, and while I think Daylist is one of the most underrated features for finding your next music obsession, Spotify’s flagship New Music Friday playlists are just as reliable. Now it gets a visual upgrade.
The music streaming giant announced today (June 12) that its New Music Friday playlist will now feature short-form videos from its editorial team, who will share their thoughts on the biggest new releases.
Once rolling out to free and premium users in the US, you can find editor videos while scrolling through Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist of the latest releases. We’ve reached out to Spotify to ask if and when these videos will roll out to other regions, and a spokesperson got back to us with the following:
“At this time, we are focused on establishing and reaching editor-led videos in the US. We will share any updates on expansion plans if and when they become available”.
In addition to sharing their perspectives, Spotify’s team will also spotlight rising artists and delve into the stories behind new songs and albums. It builds on Spotify’s in-app experience, The Drop Weekly, where editors break down new releases and discuss cultural moments. This experience rolled out in the US in September 2025, but has not yet rolled out globally.
Not only does this allow Spotify playlist curators to share their recommendations front and center, but it also opens the doors for music fans to connect with and understand the minds that work hard to assemble Spotify’s playlists.
Head of North America Editorial at Spotify, John Stein, describes this in the company’s announcement:
“New Music Friday has always been about helping fans discover the best new music each week. By bringing our editors directly into the experience, we’re giving listeners a closer connection to the people behind the playlist and more context around the artists and songs shaping culture right now.”
I bet most of you rolled your eyes when you read ‘short form video’ and thought, ‘Really, Spotify?’ If it makes you feel better, I did too. I can’t think of the last time I used Spotify’s video tools to find new music, but I feel like there might be something different with its New Music Friday upgrade.
There is one thing missing on music platforms, and that is journalistic perspectives on music. While Spotify’s About the Song feature is handy for reading flash summaries of a track’s background, this information is collected from third-party websites and compressed into something you can read in seconds.
With these editors’ videos, it can introduce a lot of value to one of Spotify’s most visited editorial playlists. Not only does it open a door for you to learn more about the stories, but it also puts faces to the minds of the music connoisseurs who put together the playlist and how they think about what music to recommend.
I spend some of my time scrolling through Wikipedia pages, online magazines, and even Genius texts to get a kick out of my music trivia, and while Spotify’s New Music Friday videos aren’t going to replace these practices anytime soon, I’m sure they’ll be a welcome addition to my music research program.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds.
