Spotify’s beta added something that felt bigger than a small interface change: an Apps menu built directly into the desktop player.
Instead of only searching for music or browsing playlists, Spotify was testing a way to bring charts, reviews, lyrics, concerts, recommendations, and social listening into the same place where you already listen.
Quick Answer
The new Spotify beta Apps feature adds a left-side Apps menu and an App Finder. From there, you can add supported apps to Spotify and open them inside the player.
In the beta I tested, there were about 11 apps available, including Billboard charts, Fuse, The Guardian, Last.fm, Moodagent, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Songkick Concerts, Soundrop, TuneWiki, and We Are Hunted.
How The Apps Menu Works
In the beta version of Spotify, the new Apps section appears on the left side of the desktop app. Under it, there is also an App Finder where the available apps are listed.
Adding an app is simple. You click the add button, and the app appears in the left-side menu. Once added, it behaves like another built-in Spotify section that you can open from the sidebar.
For this preview, I added all of the available apps and went through them one by one to see what Spotify was trying to build.
Charts And Music Discovery
Billboard Top Charts was one of the clearest examples of how these apps could be useful. It brings Billboard lists into Spotify, including charts like the Billboard 200 and hip hop charts.
From there, you can browse the chart lists, subscribe to them, share them, or start playing individual songs. That makes the app feel less like a static chart page and more like a playable music discovery tool.
We Are Hunted also appeared to focus on discovery, especially around indie albums and artists. It gave another way to browse music without having to leave Spotify.
Reviews And Music News
Several of the apps were built around music writing and recommendations. Fuse appeared to focus on music news, while The Guardian offered critic-style reviews around specific songs and bands.
Pitchfork and Rolling Stone were also included. In the beta, these apps surfaced recommended albums and songs from those publications.
The useful part here is convenience. If you already trust a publication’s taste, Spotify’s app system could let you read or browse recommendations and immediately start listening.
Last.fm And Listening History
Last.fm was one of the more interesting apps in the preview because it connected listening history with recommendations.
Inside the app, I could see recommended albums, what I had played over the last three months, and recent tracks. That kind of data can make music recommendations feel more personal because it is based on actual listening behavior.
For people who already use Last.fm or care about tracking listening habits, having that information inside Spotify makes sense.
Moodagent Playlists
Moodagent was built around creating playlists based on the type of mood you are in.
The idea is straightforward: instead of starting with an artist, album, or playlist name, you start with a feeling. For everyday listening, that can be more natural than manually building a playlist from scratch.
Songkick Concerts
Songkick Concerts stood out because it connected Spotify listening with live music.
After signing in, the app scanned my playlist and library to track artists. It then showed concerts from artists in my collection, including who was playing and when.
That is a practical use for music data. If Spotify already knows what you listen to, it can help surface shows you might actually care about instead of making you search for each artist manually.
Social Listening And Lyrics
Soundrop appeared to be focused on shared listening. After logging in with Facebook, the idea seemed to be that you could listen to something and have other people listen along with the same playlist or room.
TuneWiki brought lyrics into the experience. During the preview, the lyrics followed along with the music, which worked pretty well in the brief test.
Those two apps show two different directions for Spotify Apps: making listening more social and making the current song more useful without opening another site.
What This Means For Spotify
The important part of this beta was not that every app felt finished. It was that Spotify was opening the door for the player to become more than a music library.
Charts, reviews, lyrics, concerts, social listening, listening history, and mood-based playlists all fit naturally around music. Putting those tools inside Spotify reduces the need to bounce between websites and services.
At this stage, it still felt like an early preview, but the potential was easy to see. If Spotify continued building this out, apps could become a useful layer on top of the listening experience.
Key Takeaways
- Spotify’s beta added a new Apps menu and App Finder in the desktop app.
- Apps could be added directly to the left sidebar with a simple add button.
- The beta included apps for Billboard charts, reviews, music news, Last.fm history, mood playlists, concerts, lyrics, and social listening.
- Songkick used Spotify library data to show concerts from artists you listen to.
- TuneWiki added synced lyrics inside Spotify.
- The early app system showed real potential, even if some apps still felt like previews.
Watch the Video
The video above above for the full walkthrough of the Spotify beta Apps menu and a quick look at each app inside the desktop player.
