There’s some good news for Spotify users who would prefer not to see their least favourite artists in their personalized playlists anymore.
The service is currently testing a block feature, which will be released on its updated iOS app, according to tech news site Thurrott.
This is of course potentially bad news for artists and labels who rely on generating streaming revenue from playlist placements, however.
The new feature will allow users to block an artist from showing up on a radio station, chart list or personalized playlists like Daily Mix or Discover Weekly.
According to Thurrott, the block function can be used by hitting ‘Don’t play this artist’ on an artist’s page via the ‘…’ menu.
In October 2017 Spotify responded to a user thread requesting a block feature to be added to its app.
Its response said: “After serious consideration, we’ve decided not to offer blocking/ hiding/ or blacklisting artists or tracks on Spotify at this time.
“Rest assured we’re working hard to improve suggested content, such as your Discover Weekly and Release Radar.”
The platform has now appeared to have made a U-turn on that decision.
The new feature seems to be available to a select group of beta users only at the moment and a wider release date is currently unclear.
Spotify stated in a Tweet today (January 21) that this function “isn’t possible right now”.
In October 2018 MBW explored if the end of the ‘playlist era’ could soon be upon us.
In September MBW reported that the streaming platform is testing semi-personalized official playlists.Music Business Worldwide
