Spotify is well known for being one of the top streaming music services on the Internet. If you have already used this service then you may have only streamed tracks the usual way by searching for the name of songs / artists, or manually selected ones by browsing through Spotify's vast library. However, the built-in radio feature can be a particularly useful option to use when you want to explore Spotify in a 'radio style' environment and create your own personalized stations that play the music you really like.

But, what exactly can you do with it and how does it work?

If you fancy a change in how you normally use Spotify, and want to also expand your musical horizons at the same time, then read this short primer article on Spotify Radio to find out.

What is Spotify Radio?

Spotify Radio is part of the Spotify streaming music service and offers a way to tap into the service's music library in radio style. It works by using stations to group songs together that are related in some way -- such as by a particular artist or genre for instance. However, the big difference between how this part of Spotify works and traditional radio that is broadcast over the Internet is the flexibility you get in how you can listen to music -- it provides a more personalized way than DJ compiled radio which obviously can't be changed by the lsitener.

In fact, being able to configure the type of stations you listen to makes Spotify Radio an extremely useful tool for discovering new music. It tends to provide a quicker route than if you just picked music at random from Spotify's smörgåsbord for example.

How Does it Work?

To help tailor your search parameters, Spotify Radio uses intelligent algorithms (that work in the background) to build up a profile of the sort of music you like to listen to. As well as looking at your past listening history to improve the accuracy of its suggestions, Spotify Radio also uses a thumbs up / down system (like Pandora Radio, iTunes Radio etc.) which gives you a way to provide feedback in order to tell Spotify about your likes and dislikes.

Spotify Radio comes with a selection of pre-compiled stations. These are mainly genre-based which includes retro-music compilations from certain decades like the 60s, 70s, 80s, etc. If you are looking for something more specific then Spotify Radio also allows you to create your own customized stations from scratch. There are plenty of ways that you can start creating custom stations in Spotify and you don't have to be in the radio section to get started. You can for example quickly create one from a song that is playing or even from an artist's page. There's also a convenient 'Create New Station' button on the main radio page too.

Where Can I Listen to Spotify Radio?

You can listen to Spotify Radio from either your computer or mobile device. If streaming to your computer then you've got two options -- either use Spotify's desktop software which can be downloaded from the service's website, or you can use it straight from your Internet browser via Spotify's Web Player.

For mobile devices, there are free apps available to download for most of the popular mobile operating systems such as iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.