There’s nothing better than stumbling across an artist you’ve never listened to at a music festival; the sound of your new favourite band luring you from the lengthy taco stand queue to the sweaty pit of a nearby stage, promising a furious setlist.fm search later on. On the other hand, major festival lineups can be overwhelming with choice, and the anxiety over missing an artist you might really like simply because you’ve never heard of them is real.
If you’re not one to leave music discovery to chance or your most festival-organised friend, Spotify has teamed up with Glastonbury Festival to make sure the algorithm directs you specifically to artists you might like at the upcoming UK event, whether in person or streaming at home through BBC iPlayer.
Announced Monday, Spotify’s integration into the official Glastonbury app on iOS and Android lets fans link their account for personalised lineup recommendations. Based on your Spotify listening habits, you’ll be served a top 10 list of artists you might like who performing at this year’s festival. It’s basically what Instafest can already do with your Spotify data but specifically for Glasto’s lineup.
Spotify will let you use AI to create personalized playlists
Glastonbury returns to Worthy Farm in Pilton from June 28 to 30, with the likes of SZA, Dua Lipa, PJ Harvey, Little Simz, Coldplay, Burna Boy, Cyndi Lauper, Janelle Monáe, Michael Kiwanuka, Shania Twain, SEVENTEEN, LCD Soundsystem, Jessie Ware, The National, and many more.
You’ll find the lineup recommendations feature in the “Discover” tab on the Glastonbury app. Within the app, festivalgoers can add these artists to their schedule and visit their artist page (which includes Spotify embeds of their most popular songs).
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Credit: Screenshot: Glastonbury Festival
“It’s great to launch this integration with Spotify to help Festival-goers discover artists playing this year,” said Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis in a statement. “There are so many amazing acts on the line-up and we’re really happy that the app will now help guide people towards the ones they’ll love.”
The partnership also extends to the streaming platform itself; on Spotify, there’s an official Glastonbury Festival hub where the artists on the lineup have been sorted into their specific stages including the legendary Pyramid Stage. There’s also a bunch of Glasto-related audiobooks and podcasts on there too, as well as the official Glastonbury Festival playlist.
Credit: Screenshot: Spotify
Credit: Screenshot: Spotify
Spotify says streams related to festival lineups enjoy a boost around major music events like Glastonbury, Coachella, Lollapalooza, Tomorrowland, Rock in Rio, and more, peaking when the lineup is announced and again during the event itself. For instance, last year, “Glastonbury Festival 2023 Playlist Streams increased by 323% following the full lineup announcement, and 393% the weeks of and after the festival,” reads a recent blog post by Spotify. “In the two weeks leading up to the festival, searches for “glastonbury” increased on average by 12% daily, and by 270% during the festival vs the previous week.”
So, if you’re going to Glasto in person this June or you’re planning to stream it from the comfort of your own couch, you could check out the personalised lineup recommendations to make sure your music taste is covered — there are more AI features on Spotify for that too. But it’s worth rolling the dice on an artist you don’t listen to while you’re at it. You never know what you might like outside the algorithm.
