How to exclude artist and/or genre from recommended music and new issues

[crabby7]

Hello,

We are using Spotify Family since a very long time and are all happy with it. But I do have a problem since 1 year now and I'm starting to get mad about it.

So, what happened is that last summer, my son used my phone to cast music during a party. He played rap, then rap, and rap again. After that, as expected, rap artists appeared on my automatic playlist (recommended, new issues...). I thought, after a while, all this rap would disapear as i don't listen rap at all myself.

After 1 year, I still get maybe 5-10% of recommended tracks or new issues as rap and I'm getting mad about it as i need to jump quick on my device to move to next track hopping Spotify will not count it as listenned.

After one year of fighting, I'm really sick to be forced to listen rap when I relax or even sleep (yes, I often sleep listening music).

So here is my question/demand : is it possible to block artist / genre so spotify won't ever include it in the weekly playlist again?

[CarlosE · Accepted solution]

Hey there @crabby7,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community and welcome!

Currently, it isn't possible to block a genre, but you can hide the artists you don't want to listen to so they don't show up on your recommendations. When listening to a song you don't like on your Made for You playlists, you can tap on the minus button to hide it from the playlist and to avoid that type of songs to be recommended again. On mobile, you can also go the page of the artist you don't want to listen to > tap on the three-dot menu on the top right corner > Don't play this artist. 

As you constantly hide the songs/artists you don't like and like the ones you do enjoy, the app will adjust to your taste and give you more accurate recommendations.

We hope this helps. If you have any questions or need a hand with anything else, give us a shout.

Cheers 🙂

[crabby7]

Thank very much, I feel stupid I have never pay attention to this icon. I guess it wasn't there when i started using spotify ...
I confess i can't see a "Don't play this" item in the menu with 3 dots on the artist page (I'm using the PC 's app), but i see can say i don't like an artist from the playlist. With a little bit of patience, Rap shall stay in my son's ears 😉

[CarlosE]

Hey @crabby7,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

Just to clarify, the option Don't play this in the artist page is only available in the mobile app, but as you mentioned, on desktop you can select I don't like (artist name) directly on your Made for You playlists.

Hopefully you'll stop receiving those recommendations soon.

For anything else you need, we're always a post away.

Have a good one 🎧

[crabby7]

All clear. Thanks for the quick replies, that was helpfull. Take care !

[YeloJelo]

I personally cannot find the “Don’t play this” thing in the artist page. Even after pressing the three dots.

[Alex]

Hey @YeloJelo,

Thanks for the post.

Can you let us know what device you're trying on, since this option is available on Mobile only.

Keep us posted.

[YeloJelo]

I was using my iPhone 7 Plus at the time of posting.

[Kiril]

Hi @YeloJelo,

Thanks for your fast response.

Are you still not able to see the 'Do not play this' option for a given artist profile, when clicking on the 3-dots menu at your end? If yes, then could we ask you for some screenshots or even better - a short screen recording of the situation, so we can advise you better.

Also it'd be very helpful if you can share with us the versions of the Spotify app and the iOS you currently have on, It's also a very good idea to check if they both need to be updated as well.

Let us know how things work out, we'll be keeping an eye out for your reply.

[Lefeenders]

How do you get this to work on desktop also?
For me the same Issue persists with several "Classic Metal" acts, just even crazier, since I never even listened to any of them.
The three dot menu on the artist page only shows the options "follow, to artist-radio, report artist, share"

[Vt1991]

ChatGpt, summarize this answer for me:

We can't or won't provide simple and basic feature to our paying customers.  Instead, we will make them jump through hoops to get it to not annoy them to **bleep**

[peterfuhren]

Spot on!!!

Spotify can use their "Advanced AI" to suggest songs based upon/via whatever fancy stuff.

But a basic setting, like excluding some of Spotify's delusion, is an issue that has persisted for many years.

The monthly price is increasing, but support isn't.

I'm astonished that only playing kids' songs for 2 * 30 minutes per week (when driving with my granddaughter) keeps messing up suggestions for the rest of the week.

[Yordan]

Hey @peterfuhren,

You can exclude playlists from your profile taste so that when you listen to them, the app doesn't take them into consideration for your future recommendations. Just tap the playlist's three dots menu > Exclude from taste profile.

You can also further improve the algorithm's suggestions by optimizing your Music and Podcasts & Shows feeds: if there's a particular suggestion that's not to your taste, you can tap the three dots > Not interested. More info in the Status Update here.

There's also this idea about having a similar feature available in all sections of the app, which I'm sure you'll find interesting, so feel free to check it out and show your support by giving it a thumbs up - that way it has a better chance of being considered.

Hope this info was useful. Cheers!

[emmaruigt]

I have a similar issue: I tried a podcast and decided I didn't like it - however now it keeps popping up in my podcast suggestions, even playing it after I played another one from my suggestions. I've tried the three dots and 'don't recommend things like this', but this one still keeps popping up. Can I block this artist somehow?

[Elena]

Hey @emmaruigt,

Thanks for reaching out on the Community!

It's not possible to block specific podcasts or episodes, however, you should be able to mark the episode as played. This way, it should no longer play when another episode ends. To mark it as played, head to Your Library > Podcasts & Shows > New episodes > Click the checkmark on the right side.
 

You may also find this idea about being able to remove podcasts from your Home feed interesting so feel free to check it out, if you haven't already. Note that despite its status, the idea is open for voting, so you can still give it a thumbs up. We revisit such ideas on regular intervals and it just might be that their time would be right in the future.

We hope this helps!

[machineabuse]

Would very much appreciate if Spotify would look to implementing a genre/artist dis-include feature moving into the future for all platforms.

Having to use the mobile app is both opaque and inconvenient especially when it comes to trying to automate streaming music with the intent of sticking to specific themes or even discovering new music.

As result; curating a new playlist is more laborious than it needs to be because of all the "pruning" that needs to be done.

[Lyubka]

Hey @machineabuse,

Thank you for your reply in this thread.

 We really do appreciate you letting us know your thoughts as we ensure opinions like this are passed on to the team backstage. 

We’ll be here if you ever need anything else, or have any other feedback 🙂 

[Scratticus1]

So is my understanding correct that if I do not want to hear particular tracks in my taste profile, the best way to achieve this would be to create a playlist called "Songs I don't want to hear" add songs to it that I dislike and then use the 3 dots to remove from my taste profile?

How sustainable is that? Like if I then add another track to the playlist will it automatically also exclude that track from the playlist or will I need to click the three dots every time?

Does this method mess up the AI calculations and lead to spotify suggesting these tracks even more because I placed them in a playlist?

[CHR_M]

I still can't find the option do remove an artist from am "Mix" playlist. I can exclude the whole playlist from my taste profile. But how can I block an artist (not only a track) on a playlist? And with "block" I don't mean "Don't play". Spotify should just not add them automatically to any playlist. I guess it's the "exclude from tast profile" option but on artist level.

I have a 2010 Mix Playlist and there are audiobook tracks included. I don't want them in any automatically generated  playlist. But I still want to listen to them manually.

[Yordan]

Hey @CHR_M,

Here's an alternative method you can try out to see if that does the trick for you:

1. Go to the Home page on the mobile app and open the Music feed at the top.
2. Look for the artist you don't want to see in your recommendations. Once you find it (or if you find anything else that doesn't reflect your music taste), you can tap the three dots menu of the card > Not interested. More info in the Status Update here.

Hope this helps. Note that it may take the app some time to reflect the changes.

Cheers!