“Hey DJ, play me a song I’ll like but don’t know exists.” That would be a tall task for any human or even a computer, but the new Discovery Station on Apple Music handles it well. The personalized radio station is now included as part of an Apple Music subscription and uses a catalog of 100+ million songs to find your next audio obsession.
Here’s how to use the Discovery Station and some thoughts on finding new music in 2023.
Apple Music
Listen to your favorite songs, artists, and playlists on Apple Music. Stream music in lossless audio, download songs, and play them offline.
Pros
- Included in Apple Music subscription
- No repeating tracks
- Mostly in line with my musical tastes
Cons
- No insight into how the station recommends songs
How to Find and Use Apple Music’s Discovery Station
The new Discovery Station joins other pre-made radio selections in Apple Music. It can be found in the Music app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, as well as in the Sonos app and some other Apple Music locations (including on Android).
To find the Discovery Station on an iPhone, open 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.” The Discovery Station should be in the horizontal scrolling list. (As this article’s main image shows, the Discovery Station may be promoted at the top of the Listen Now section or show up in other places in the Music app.)
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. It just plays music related to your tastes. If you don’t care for a song it can be skipped—and you can skip an infinite amount of songs because the station is part of a paid music service subscription.
I’m told the station will constantly be updating and evolving, so the stream of new music should be endless. Interestingly, the station should also only play music that is new to the listener—related to familiar and unfamiliar artists. Best of all, the same song won’t repeat twice.
Those are the things I know. I can’t 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, I’ll 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 band Michigander. No doubt the recommendation came in some form by listening to Inhaler, Manchester Orchestra, or some other tangentially related band.
I immediately added songs from Michigander to my library. The next day, I was served up a song from Welcome Stranger—a musical act with a touch of Ben Howard and Noah Kahan. The band’s “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 band’s upcoming album. It’s a song for fans of Sting or Mumford and Sons—a 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. I can’t recall ever hearing the same song being played twice, but I definitely have heard the same artist more than once.
The whole point of the Discovery Station is a tailored song selection that dances around songs you already know and like. The results will be different for everyone. The thing that has surprised me, though, is how this station still found something new for me.
Not only do I listen to several hours of music a day, but I compulsively dig through related artists in my spare time to uncover new acts that I’ve never listened to. I’m a music discovery unicorn in this way. First with IRC and MP3.com in the early days of the internet, then Purevolume, Myspace, and finally on to multiple streaming services—remember Rdio? If a service has a recommendation engine, I treat it like Westworld and claw my way through it until I can see the perimeters and guardrails.
Still, Apple’s Discovery Station found something new for me almost immediately. It’s not perfect, but it is impressive. More importantly for the company, it should keep people finding new music, so they keep using the music subscription.
A New Form of Music Discovery
Apple Music’s Discovery Station is far from the only magical music discovery mechanism. In fact, it’s downright late. Spotify’s 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 band Colony House. “From DSPs like Spotify, Apple, and Amazon to social platforms like Instagram and TikTok to word of mouth. It’s fascinating how the word gets out.”
Midia Research has a 2023 report on music discovery for its clients in which it says, “The most common sources for discovering music are YouTube, followed by the radio—although for gen Z consumers, TikTok replaces radio for second place.” 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 that TikTok ranks so highly for music discovery. Nearly every video is soundtracked with a catchy song. It’s the modern MTV, where thousands or millions of people are creating music videos for artists on their behalf.
“It’s easier than ever before to find new music and harder than ever for me to find new music that I deeply connect with,” says Chapman. “I think what makes streaming great is also what has potentially throttled the traditional listening experience. Everything is so curated that the patience of listening through someone else’s work has become a bit of a lost art. As consumers, could we be growing too accustomed to an algorithm making our minds up for us and telling us what we want to hear instead of being patient and potentially learning to appreciate the occasional curveball?”
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 Music’s Discovery Station?
First, the broader question. Is the new Discovery Station good enough to convince a non-subscriber to sign up for Apple Music? The new radio station is great, but it’s hard to say it alone is worth plunking down $10.99 each month.
As a complementary piece to on-demand streaming, karaoke lyrics, tons of music videos, and exclusive artist content, it does help keep your listening habits from getting stale. It’s certainly worth trying out. Based on my experience, get ready to find a new favorite artist to obsess over.
Apple Music
Listen to your favorite songs, artists, and playlists on Apple Music. Stream music in lossless audio, download songs, and play them offline.