Heres how to use the Discovery Station and some thoughts on finding new music in 2023.
Listen to your favorite songs, artists, and playlists on Apple Music.
Stream music in lossless audio, download songs, and play them offline.
Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek
To find the Discovery Station on an iPhone, initiate the Music app.
From there, tap on Listen Now along the bottom row of icons.
Then scroll down until you see the heading Stations for You.
Listen to your favorite songs, artists, and playlists on Apple Music. Stream music in lossless audio, download songs, and play them offline.
The Discovery Station should be in the horizontal scrolling list.
Tap on the Discovery Station to instantly start playing the continuous radio station.
Song Selection and Anecdotal Results
There are no instructions or insights into how the Discovery Station works.
Listen to your favorite songs, artists, and playlists on Apple Music. Stream music in lossless audio, download songs, and play them offline.
It just plays music related to your tastes.
Best of all, the same song wont repeat twice.
Those are the things I know.
I cant confirm how the algorithm learns, however.
How do skips factor into the songs the Discovery Station plays?
How are recent listened-to genres weighted in new recommendations?
I have a ton of questions about the nuances here, but no deep answers.
For now, Ill have to go on anecdotal results.
But those results, especially early on, have been amazing.
Within the first few songs, I discovered the alternative/pop bandMichigander.
I immediately added songs from Michigander to my library.
The bands Running Out of Miles EP may turn out to be one of my favorite albums this year.
My most recent find was Nineteen by Matthew And The Atlas, coming from the bands upcoming album.
Its a song for fans of Sting or Mumford and Sonsa truly broad tune full of nostalgia.
Not all the songs I’ve heard on the station have hit in the same way, of course.
There have been several duds along the way after more than tens of hours of listening.
But I think collectively, we tend not to remember the cruft as long as some gems are provided.
The results will be different for everyone.
The thing that has surprised me, though, is how this station still found something new for me.
Im a music discovery unicorn in this way.
Still, Apples Discovery Station found something new for me almost immediately.
Its not perfect, but it is impressive.
In fact, its downright late.
Spotifys Discover Weekly debuted more than eight years ago.
But these stations are just one form of music discovery.
We hear from people all the time about how they heard of us.
It’s honestly all over the place, said Caleb Chapman, singer of the bandColony House.
It’s fascinating how the word gets out.
None of that surprises me.
YouTube has long been the unofficial streaming music service for most people.
Why do I link songs I mention in reviews to YouTube?
Because it’s accessible to everyone on mobile or desktop.
It can be embedded and isn’t really gated in any way.
Of course, people are discovering music through YouTube.
Equally unsurprising is thatTikTok ranks so highlyfor music discovery.
Nearly every video is soundtracked with a catchy song.
“I think what makes streaming great is also what has potentially throttled the traditional listening experience.
Price and Availability
Discovery Station is included as part of an Apple Music subscription.
The new station joins other personalized radio stations and mixes already part of the streaming music service.
Should You Use Apple Musics Discovery Station?
First, the broader question.
Its certainly worth trying out.
Based on my experience, get ready to find a new favorite artist to obsess over.
