Discover Weekly - user input sources?

[maffew222]

Hi. Sorry if this has been covered - I couldn't find it exactly.

I'm loving the Discover Weekly playlists. I'm wondering exactly what they take as input? I use Spotify on mobile (Android), desktop (mainly Linux, also Windows and Mac)... but mostly I am listening via Squeezebox. Are things that I play over the API taken as input for Discover?

I don't often "save" songs to My Music - I usually add to playlists. Is that captured? Weighted heavier than a song I simply played once all the way through?

How about if I save something to My Music or a playlist but don't actually play it? It would be cool to give as input a lot of music I own (and am therefore less likely to use Spotify to play).

Also, what play activity is not included? Sometimes when I study I play a lot of minimal piano music and I don't want that to factor highly in my profile. Does playing in a Private Session take that stuff out of consideration for Discover?

Keep it up!

[user-removed]

@maffew222

Hello:

What I did is I escalated your detailed questions about Discover Weekly so that a Spotify Mod could answer more in detail about how the Discover Weekly works. 

I know from my own experiences with DW, this service seems to pull information from songs you have currently played, which artists you follow and how similar those followed artists are to what is sent to you in the DW playlist every Monday. As far as the more in depth questions about DW that is probable something a Discover Weekly team member and/or Spotify Mod might be better able to answer.

[Teresa · Accepted solution]

Hi, @maffew222.

Welcome to the Spotify Community. Glad to hear you're enjoying Discover Weekly! 

The songs suggested are based on your listening history and the listening history of others with similar tastes to you. This means you actually need to listen to music via Spotify to count that in. So things like saving a song or adding it to a playlist won't count as music played. Also, it doesn't make any difference if you use Private session or not.

The only thing that won't affect your weekly suggestions is listening to your Discover Weekly playlist.

Hope this clears things up! You can read our blog post for further info.

Cheers,

Teresa

[maffew222]

@Teresa

Thanks a lot! Sounds good.

Could you please confirm that what I play via the API (on Squeezebox) is counted? Normally that interface seems so separate from the rest of Spotify (no access to Your Music, etc)

> The only thing that won't affect your weekly suggestions is listening to your Discover Weekly playlist.

I add my favorite suggestions to a new playlist... hopefully they are counted when I listen to them from there?

Thanks again
Matt

[Pricilla]

Hey @maffew222,

That's a great question. 

Although the interface is a bit different on some devices, your listening history is the same and the tracks you listen to via the API (on Squeezebox) will count for your Discover Weekly playlist. 

Again, the only thing that won't affect your weekly suggestions is listening to your Discover Weekly playlist.

We'll be here if you need us again. 

Thanks!

[Jonners88]

It's a shame that you can't have the odd nostalgic or ironic (guilty pleasure) listening session without worrying about the impact on discover weekly. Right now I'm listening to Simply Red Stars on Amazon Prime Music (which I never listen to despite having a prime subscription) as a reminder of some great times from my early teens when this album got played to death by a girlfriend, but I don't dare listen to it on Spotify for fear of my discover weekly playlist being full of Wet Wet Wet and Deacon Blue on Monday. Should be able to listen without the listening you're doing factoring into DW.

[CashieBabie]

Related artists to those you follow and related artists to those who's songs you listen to.

[leiah8853]

I have a question, so, is there no way to stop a specific playlist from being counted when I play it? I listen to "atmospheric calm" when I sleep at night, but where it repeats the whole night, my whole discover weekly playlist is nothing but downbeat and ambient. Is there any way to stop this from happening? Any suggestions?

[1234153320]

Trying to find the same answer leiah8853... let me know if you ever found a solution?

[leiah8853]

No I didnt, I've actually stopped listening to that playlist at night, trying to reset my account back to what I normally listen to during the day. Sad that I had to go through that process to discover new music that I might like!

[saireuh]

Is there any way to exclude music from being evaluated in the Discover Weekly list creation process?

For example, I listen to ambient or classical music while working, but do not want this to impact my Discover Weekly list. It has been "ruined" recently by all of the background noise I've been listening to.

Is there a "private listening" session or anything like that I can use?

[user-removed]

@saireuh

Hello:

What device do you use mostly to listen to music using Spotify with?

There is a Private Session with regards to the Spotify desktop app. Click on the upper left corner on File ----> Private Session.

Depending on the mobile device being used, this is from the Spotify Android App. Open the Spotify app, on the bottom navigation bar tap on Me, upper right corner is a setting gear icon tap on it, scroll up some, you must be playing music from the mobile app to turn this feature on or off if you have other Spotify apps that use the connect feature on your account, there is a Private Session here as well to toggle on or off.

[frantstc]

Hey @Teresa,

I'm a little confused. Edward Newett, lead engineer for Discover Weekly, was quoted in an article (https://qz.com/571007/the-magic-that-makes-spotifys-discover-weekly-playlists-so-darn-good/) saying that DW ignores songs if played during Private Sessions. He also says that you can influence DW by skipping a song within the first 30 seconds.

Is this not true anymore? -- has something changed?

[mobergeron]

Same problem here - One of the main reason I pay for spotify is the discovery playlist that was always spot-on. 

Now that I'm listening to ambiant music to cover construction noise while I work, my discovery playlist is a mess. 

[leiah8853]

Now I read in my travels that being in private mode doesnt make a difference, it still counts as your "listens". Has that changed?

[facesofgrace]

Is there any way to block a playlist from feeding into your Discover Weekly? I use the Sleep playlist at night and it plays all night so now I have lots of lyricless music in my Discover Weekly 😞

[Bittencourt]

Hey @facesofgrace, 

Sure! You can turn on the Private Session feature, and this way the songs played won't affect your Discover Weekly 🙂

[Derek-Nor]

Another reply literally stated that this does not work. How can you be sure? Please provide source material to back your claim.