Spotify launches Release Radar as its battle with Apple Music continues [Poll]

Spotify may still comfortably be the market leader in streaming music, with 30M paid subscribers against only half that for second-placed Apple Music, but it’s had a full decade to reach that number – against just over a year for Apple’s service. Playlists are a key battleground in the competition between the two, and Spotify’s latest weapon is Release Radar.

Release Radar, launching today, is a personalized For You-style playlist updated weekly. Unlike Discover Weekly, a playlist focused on discovering new music, Release Radar focuses primarily on the artists you already know and love …

Rolling out today, staying on top of the latest singles by your favorite artists has never been easier. With Release Radar, we’re giving you a weekly selection of the newest releases that matter most to you in one convenient playlist. You’ll get all of your new favorite music, without any of the effort that goes into searching for the latest gems.

Updated every Friday, Release Radar gives you up to two hours of the newest drops from the artists you follow and listen to the most, sprinkled in with some new discoveries based on your recent listening habits.

Spotify says that once the new playlist is available in your account, you’ll reach it within Discover > New Releases for You.

Apple’s personalized playlist tool For You is a more eclectic mix of favorite artists with new ones. It combines multi-artist playlists, many of which are curated by hand, with recommended albums that again aim to introduce you to new artists as well as resurfacing old ones. Apple has also been scoring a number of exclusive releases, with Britney Spears’ ‘Glory’ the latest of these.

The battle between the services isn’t just taking place in the music apps themselves, but also in a public spat over alleged anticompetitive practices, which Apple denies. Apple, meantime, continues its global expansion, adding South Korea to the list just yesterday.

How are the two services doing for you? If you’ve used both services, please take part in our poll, and let us know your views in the comments.