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Hidden behind Spotify's user-friendly interface lurks a handy advanced search facility that you might not be aware of -- a set of commands that you can type while searching for music. Having the ability to optimize your searches helps to get the exact results you need while efficiently using the Spotify music service. Rather than having to look through an enormous list of results (often with irrelevant entries), why not read this article to see how Spotify's advanced search features work.
Using this tutorial will also save you a heap of time too so you can get on with building up your Spotify music library.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Time per command -- less than a minute.
Here's How:
- How to Use Spotify's Advanced Search Commands
Before you start typing in command lines in Spotify's search box, it is useful to know these syntax rules:- In the following tutorial, do not type the squared brackets []. These are just used to highlight what you need to enter in the Spotify search box.
- If a search term consists of spaces, then this has to be in quotes. For example, the command to search for the Ambient Pop genre would be [genre:"ambient pop"].
- When using Boolean logic operators (AND OR, NOT), make sure these are typed in uppercase.
- Filter by Year to Compile Retro Playlists
This is a useful command if you want to search all the music in Spotify's music library for a particular year, or even a range of years (like a whole decade). This is also a great retro search tool for compiling music playlists for the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc.- [year:1985] to search Spotify's database for music that was released in 1985 for instance.
- [year:1980-1989] to see music covering a range of years (i.e. 1980s).
- [year:1980-1989 NOT year:1988] to use Boolean logic to exclude 1988 from the previous example above.
- Search by Artist
A more useful way to search for artists is to use this command. This is because you can use Boolean logic for instance to filter out unwanted results like collaborations with other artists -- or even look for specific collaborations only!- [artist:"michael jackson"] to search for all songs that an artist was involved in (regardless of collaboration).
- [artist:"michael jackson" NOT artist:akon] to exclude an artist that collaborated with the main artist.
- [artist:"michael jackson" AND artist:akon] to only look for a specific collaboration between certain artists.
- Search by Track or Album
To filter out unnecessary results when finding music, you can specify a track or album name to search for.- [track:"invaders must die"] to search for all songs with a particular title.
- [album:"invaders must die"] searches for all albums with a certain name.
- Better Music Discovery Using the Genre Filter
One of the ways you can use the advanced search commands in Spotify is to use the Genre command to search for artists and bands that fit into this musical type.- [genre:electronica] to search for one particular genre type.
- [genre:electronica OR genre:trance] to use Boolean logic to get results from a mix of genres.
- Combine Commands for Better Search Results
To really increase the effectiveness of the above commands you can combine them to make your searches even more powerful. For instance, you may want to find all the songs that an artist released in a particular year. Or maybe a series of albums by several artists covering a certain period of time!- [artist:"michael jackson" year:1982] for example finds all the songs that an artist released in a particular year.
- [genre:rock OR genre:pop OR genre:"experimental rock" year:1990-1995] uses a combination of commands (including a Boolean expression) to broaden your genre searches while covering a specific number of years.
What You Need:
- Spotify music service account (free or subscription)
- Internet connection
- Installed Spotify software client
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