Spotify's Fresh Finds Forward Offers Independent Artists A Year Of Support After The Playlist

Every independent musician knows the feeling. A song lands on an editorial playlist, the numbers jump for a week, and then the graph flattens out again. Spotify's new Fresh Finds Forward programme, launched in September, is its attempt to do something about that second part.

The scheme is built on Fresh Finds, the platform's set of playlists for independent, unsigned and early-career artists, run by its editorial team. Spotify says Fresh Finds has featured more than 80,000 artists across 127 countries over the past decade. Fresh Finds Forward aims to support around 10,000 of them a year.

What artists get

Eligible artists get a year of benefits. These include early access to selected Spotify tools and features, opportunities through the company's touring and music video partnerships, and a Fresh Finds badge on their artist profile.

There are in-person and virtual sessions with Spotify staff and with artists who have come through Fresh Finds before. The package also includes access to outside services, among them LANDR Studio Pro and Splice's Creator Plan, as well as mental health and wellness support.

Some benefits, such as free studio time, are limited to particular countries, so not every perk travels. Indian artists should check what applies to them when they sign up.

How to get in

Any artist added to a Fresh Finds playlist on or after 1 January 2026 can join through Spotify for Artists. Those who have not been featured yet can pitch upcoming releases to the Fresh Finds editors through the same dashboard.

Why it matters here

Spotify's own figures show what the playlists already do. Since 2024, Fresh Finds has generated more than 128 million first-time artist discoveries, and close to 70 per cent of its streams come from a listener hearing an artist for the first time. More than half of Fresh Finds artists later turn up on other editorial playlists.

Joe Hadley, Spotify's global head of music content and partnerships, said the programme came out of conversations with independent artists about the help they needed beyond playlist exposure.

For Indian independent musicians, many of whom release without a label and handle their own distribution, the most useful parts may be the least glamorous ones: production software, access to people inside the platform and wellbeing support. Discovery was already the playlist's job. The harder thing is turning a listener who heard you once into one who comes back, and that is what this programme is trying to address.

(Source: Spotify press release)