Spotify launched Fresh Finds Forward, a new artist-development program built to carry emerging musicians past their first playlist placement and into sustained career support such as studio time, digital tools, and mental health resources.
The program builds on Fresh Finds, the playlist system Spotify's worldwide team of music editors has curated for more than a decade to surface unsigned and early-career acts across genres and markets. Fresh Finds has introduced more than 80,000 artists across 127 countries, with past picks including Laufey, Clairo, Doechii, and Ice Spice before those acts built wider audiences. Since 2024, the playlists have driven more than 128 million new-artist discoveries, according to Spotify, with close to 70 percent of those streams representing a listener's first exposure to the artist.
Starting January 1, 2026, any artist added to a Fresh Finds playlist qualifies for Fresh Finds Forward through Spotify for Artists, and once onboarded can draw on the program's benefits for a year. Spotify lists free studio time at partner spaces including Electric Lady Studios in New York and Ocean Way Nashville, early access to in-development Spotify tools and features, priority consideration for tour and music-video partnerships, and a Fresh Finds badge displayed on the artist's public profile.
The program also folds in third-party creative and wellness tools: Spotify names LANDR Studio Pro and Splice's Creator Plan among the software perks, plus six months of free therapy through BetterHelp. Joe Hadley, Spotify's global head of music content and partnerships, framed the addition as building infrastructure around a moment of discovery rather than stopping at a single placement. "Fresh Finds Forward takes everything we've learned from a decade of discovery and builds a support system around it," he said.
Spotify's own materials describe what Fresh Finds Forward offers, not whether it changes outcomes for the roughly 10,000 artists it plans to enroll annually; the company has not disclosed how it will measure that impact beyond citing Fresh Finds' decade-long discovery record. Notifications are rolling out to eligible artists through Spotify for Artists, with more artist case studies promised as the program completes its first cycle.
