Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:
How does Discovery Weekly work?: The Verge went behind the scenes to learn more about how Spotify’s Discovery Weekly playlists get made each week for the service’s many millions of listeners. The elegantly produced feature also reviews the streaming industry’s renewed focus on curation tools and what they can offer to music fans.
A conversation with a Spotify Asia exec: Sunita Kaur, managing director of Spotify Asia, talked about the company’s strategy in a recent interview. She discussed the particular challenges of launching a service paid for with credit cards in the Philippines, where credit card penetration is very low. Kaur also addressed how distinct the various markets are that she covers. “I remember having to present the strategy to the Spotify board, and in doing so I had to explain that there was no ‘Asia strategy’,” she said. “There was a Singapore strategy, a Malaysia strategy, a Hong Kong strategy and a Philippines strategy.”
Weird and wonderful genre names: Lastly, we have a fun new post from the ever-informative Spotify Insights blog. This one lists some of the more unusual genre names that can be found in the platform’s metadata. For instance, we’ve never heard of ‘deep discofox’ or ‘solipsynthm,’ but are fascinated (and just a little afraid) to learn more.