> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.hypebot.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Spotify Tests ‘Tastebuds’ To Bring Back Social Music Discovery
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/spotify-tests-tastebuds-to-bring-back-social-music-discovery/
- Published: 2019-12-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2019-12-19T14:35:31.000Z
- Description: Remember the good old days of 2016 when music discovery meant listening to a friend’s recommendations instead of an algorithm? Spotify, the company that pioneered data-driven music recommendations, is testing. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2019/12/spotify-tests-tastebuds-to-bring
- Author: Bruce Houghton
- Tags: DIY Advice & Tips, Music Business, Social Media, Streaming, Spotify, Spotify Tastebuds, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 09:55

Remember the good old days of 2016 when music discovery meant listening to a friend’s recommendations instead of an algorithm? Spotify, the company that pioneered data-driven music recommendations, is testing a feature that revives an old fashioned alternative.

Spotify is testing ‘Tastebuds,’ a feature that lets both free and paid users explore the musical tastes of their friends.

> Spotify is working on Tastebuds, letting users discover music through their friends [pic.twitter.com/uqUXmRvEKo](https://t.co/uqUXmRvEKo?ref=hypebot.com)  
>  
> — Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) [December 18, 2019](https://twitter.com/wongmjane/status/1207337192453836801?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hypebot.com)

While social recommendations were once as important to music discovery as radio, Spotify chose to go all-in on data. One nod to social discovery, messaging was shut down in 2017 and other, a Friend Activity ticker is restricted to the desktop app.

First discovered by Techcrunch sleuth Jane Manchun Wong and now confirmed by Spotify, users can tap on a pen icon to “search the people you follow” and view information what those users have been playing and then listen or add songs to their own library.

> Spotify “Tastebuds” lets you explore the music taste profiles of friends. Prototype available here [https://t.co/YxfMT2qdLe](https://t.co/YxfMT2qdLe?ref=hypebot.com) [pic.twitter.com/41xQwDaxLj](https://t.co/41xQwDaxLj?ref=hypebot.com)  
>  
> — Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) [December 18, 2019](https://twitter.com/JoshConstine/status/1207361730403282944?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hypebot.com)

**You can see Tastebuds in action wild [here](https://open.spotify.com/tastebuds?ref=hypebot.com).**

### Hope For Indie Artists?

Social music discovery offers a big opportunity for Spotify and would be a big win for independent artists who feel shut out of the streamer’s corporate-controlled curated playlists and unable to compete with label marketers’ efforts to game the streamer’s algorithm.