Discover Weekly, Release Radar and Radio: How Spotify Recommends Music
Direct answer: Spotify recommends music in two ways — human curation and algorithms — and documents much of the rules. Release Radar delivers new releases to followers every Friday; Discover Weekly, Radio and the mixes are built by algorithm, account by account, based on what each person listens to, skips and saves. None of these playlists are for sale.
The short version
- Spotify classifies every play by source: active (the person went looking for it) or programmed (Spotify or another listener chose it for them).
- Release Radar has a published rule: followers receive new releases, and pitching the track 7 days in advance guarantees inclusion.
- Discover Weekly, Radio, AutoPlay and Daily Mix are algorithm-generated and different for each listener.
- The signal the platform describes is behavior: listening, skipping, saving, adding to a playlist, following.
- "Stream source" in the dashboard shows where the play came from — it's not the same as having been recommended.
How Does Spotify Decide What to Recommend?
The company explains this on an official page, how Spotify's recommendations work. There are two paths. One is editorial: people choose what goes into a playlist. The other is algorithmic, and it's individual — "no two listeners are alike," in the platform's words.
For the algorithmic part, the text lists the information used:
- Each person's music profile. Actions like searching, listening, skipping or saving to the library influence how Spotify reads the listener's taste.
- What the person provides. Language, general location, device and who they follow.
- The behavior of people with similar tastes. When many users act in a similar way toward a piece of content, the algorithm learns who else it might suit.
- The content's characteristics. Genre, release date and similarity to what the person already listens to.
Notice what's not on the list: the track's play count, the artist's follower count, profile size. What the platform describes is listener behavior, account by account.
What Is Release Radar and Who Gets Your Music on It?
It's the most well-documented case. The page how to get songs on Release Radar says the playlist is full of new releases and updates every Friday, and that it also brings new music from other artists that Spotify thinks the listener will like. And it states, plainly: your followers receive your releases on Release Radar.
The published rules are straightforward:
- If you pitch a song to the editors, that's the track that goes into your followers' Radar. Without a pitch, Spotify chooses.
- The pitch must be submitted at least 7 days before release for the track to make it into the first week.
- Each listener receives one song per artist in the same week, and it stays available for up to 4 weeks if they haven't listened to it yet.
- If the listener has already heard the track, it won't appear in their Radar.
- Re-releases of music already on Spotify, multi-artist compilations, remixes you made yourself, and some alternate versions (acoustic, karaoke, live) don't qualify.
That's why followers have a concrete function on Spotify: they're the delivery list for your next release. The platform adds a data point in the listeners and followers help page: on average, after following an artist, a listener is three times more likely to hear their music in the following six months. That holds for followers who actually listen — the difference between a bond and a number is covered in followers and saves on Spotify and SoundCloud.
What About Discover Weekly, Radio and the Mixes?
They're personalized playlists. In types of Spotify playlists, the platform explains that they're different for each listener and created by algorithms that analyze what the person is listening to and when, what songs they add to their playlists, and the streaming habits of people with similar tastes.
Unlike Radar, there's no page with entry criteria for Discover Weekly, so be wary of anyone publishing a magic number of saves or plays. What can be stated with a source is the type of signal: listening, skipping, saving, adding to a playlist. Radio follows the same logic from a starting point — an artist, an album or a song.
What Does "Stream Source" Mean on Spotify for Artists?
It's the report that shows where each stream came from. The stream source page divides sources into two groups:
| Group | Source | What Spotify Describes |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Catalog and Artist Profile | Profile, Album Pages and the "This Is…" Playlist |
| Listener's Library and Playlists | Liked Songs, Saved Albums and the Person's Own Playlists | |
| Queue | When the Person Adds the Song to the Queue | |
| Programmed | Editorial Playlists | Selected by Spotify's editors, including the charts |
| Personalized Playlists, AutoPlay and Mixes | Algorithm-generated: Discover Weekly, Release Radar, Radio, AutoPlay, Daily Mix, daylist and AI DJ | |
| Other Listeners' Playlists | Created by Another Spotify User |
An active source is where a person listens after deliberately searching for the music; a programmed source is where they listen because Spotify or another listener selected it for them. A healthy track usually has both: the programmed source brings new people, the active one shows who came back. It's the same split that separates active listeners from programmed listeners, explained in how monthly listeners are counted.
There are play packages where the source is recorded as Discover Weekly, Release Radar or Radio — that's what algorithmic-source plays on Spotify describes. What they change is the line of the report where the streams show up.
What Works, According to the Platform's Own Rules
- Pitching the track 7 days in advance. It's the only action with an effect guaranteed in writing: the song goes into your followers' Radar. The platform notes that pitching doesn't guarantee an editorial playlist.
- Turning a listener into a follower. Each follower is one more delivery for your next release.
- Working the signals described. Saving and adding to a personal playlist are the actions the documentation cites — and a pre-save campaign concentrates both on release day.
- Getting into listener playlists. Spotify states that when fans add a song to a playlist, the platform learns what to recommend to them.
Frequently asked questions
How Do I Get My Music on Release Radar?
According to Spotify for Artists help, your followers receive your releases on Release Radar. To choose the track and guarantee inclusion in the first week, pitch the song to editors at least 7 days before the release date.
How Many Saves Do You Need to Get on Discover Weekly?
There's no published number. Spotify describes personalized playlists as generated by algorithms that analyze what a person listens to, what they add to their playlists, and the habits of people with similar tastes. Any fixed number that circulates has no official source.
Are "Descobertas da Semana" and Discover Weekly the Same Thing?
Yes. Descobertas da Semana is the Portuguese name for Discover Weekly, just as Radar de Novidades is the Portuguese name for Release Radar. Spotify's Brazilian documentation uses the translated names.
What Is an Active Source and a Programmed Source?
In stream source data, active sources are the places where a person listens after intentionally searching for the music — artist profile, library, their own playlists, queue. Programmed sources are the ones where Spotify or another listener chose the music: editorial playlists, personalized playlists, radio, AutoPlay and other users' playlists.
The next step
If you have a release scheduled, there's just one task with a deadline: pitch the track on Spotify for Artists seven days ahead. If you don't, open the stream source data for your most-played track and see where the listening comes from — that's where it shows whether the song is being sought out or just playing. The Spotify services overview shows the catalog with the risk of each item.
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