What is Spotify Radio?
Spotify Radio is a function of Spotify that lets you create your own semi-custom radio stations. Basically, you start by picking a song, artist, album, genre, or playlist that you like. Then, Spotify will play that song [or a song from the artist, album, genre, or playlist that you chose], and then play a random sequence of songs that are from similar artists or genres.
You can then either like or dislike each song that you hear. Based on how you rate what you hear, Spotify will play more songs that are similar to the ones that you like, and avoid songs that are similar to the ones that you dont like.
In other words, you can use your Spotify music collection and Spotify Playlists to keep the songs you already like in order, and use Spotify Radio to discover new songs that you might enjoy. You can even use your music and playlists to power Spotify Radio, making its recommendations even more accurate!
How does Spotify Radio work?
Open the Spotify application on your device of choice and log in.
Click Radio in the left-hand menu.
In the top-right corner of the main window, click New Station.
This will cause a search window to appear. If you havent typed anything in yet, it will simply display popular artists on Spotify. When you do begin typing in search terms, it will display songs, artists, albums, or playlists whose names match. Click one to start a radio station.
In the main window, you will see the current song playing for this station, as well as a history of songs that have played previously. When you have the current song selected, click the thumbs-down icon to dislike the song [which will automatically skip it], or click the thumbs-up icon to like it [which automatically adds it to a playlist called Liked From Radio]. This will help Spotify learn what songs to play for you and which ones to avoid.
You can also simply click the arrow icon here to skip the song.
If you move your mouse cursor over a songs album artwork, you will have some additional options.
Click the + icon to add the song to your collection of music, or click the icon for advanced options, such as starting a playlist by adding this song to it, or sharing this song with your friends on Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr.
You can also click the Queue icon to see what songs are coming up, or click History at the top of the screen to see a complete history of the songs youve listened to on this radio station.
You can have up to 20 radio stations at once. Click Radio and scroll down to the Your Stations section. Click on the button in the middle of a station to play it, or click the X in the top-right corner of a station to get rid of it.
[NOTE: You cant delete the station that youre currently listening to.]
Thats a brief walkthrough on how to use Spotify Radio!