MARQUEE PLAYERS: SPOTIFY UNVEILS SPONSORED RECS

As part of Spotify's ever-expanding rollout of music discovery, the streamery has announced a new test-run of sponsored recommendations. The new "Marquee" initiative—as Spotify and its industry partners have referred to the program internally—which is being test-run in the U.S., will enable artists and their teams to pay to sponsor recommendations across both the ad-supported and premium tiers.

Listeners will be notified about new releases from a wider range of artists, adding onto the occasional full-screen recommendations in the Spotify mobile app. The recommendations will be personalized based on listening tastes, combined with human curation.

The program has been in beta for a while, earning what's said to be largely positive feedback.

According to Spotify, "You will only hear from artists that you frequently listen to or follow." Premium subscribers have the option to turn the notifications/recommendations off.

Spotify VP Beck Kloss added, “Part of our marketplace mission is to create tools that bring artists and fans closer together. With our unique understanding of listener preferences and ability to deliver personalized recommendations, we can help artists reach the fans that care most about their music, driving value for both artists and fans. We view this as the next iteration of the popular recommendation and discovery features listeners already love on Spotify.”