Photo: Shirlane Forrest
Spotify's new 'Found Them First' feature allows users to see what bands they caught onto before they gained popularity and, naturally, became uncool.
The new online feature gives the lowdown to users about the bands they caught onto first, that have since reached more than 20 million streams and gained a substantial growth rate since early 2013... so that Polish jazz-metal trio you stumbled upon in 2012 unfortunately won't count.
Found Them First gives the date of when you first started listening to the artists, and what percentage of the first listeners you fall into. Spotify considers the "top 1-15 percent of listeners" as 'early listeners' which means you can now consider yourself, objectively, a better music fan.
See below for a photo of the feature and one writer's Courtney Barnett bragging rights
Found Them First also allows users to tweet at the artists they've been listening to since day dot to express their superfandom - it's essentially a feature that encourages one-upsmanship, but can also be used as the final judge and jury in heated debates between overly insecure music fans.
Talking about the service, Spotify's Jackei Jantos said: "We love creating fresh ways for people to interact with music. This experience is an ode to the fans who truly love discovering new artists. Users are rewarded for listening early on, and earn some bragging rights. Of course, if you haven't discovered any new artists early on, and want to, Spotify can help you with that!"
While there is no tangible 'reward' for catching bands before their meteoric rise, for many, being able to flagrantly flaunt their superior taste about the place is payoff enough.
This writer's results showed that he was among the top 5% of listeners for Courtney Barnett, Earl Sweatshirt and New Orleans rapper Pell as well as in the top 1% of listeners for Bastille.
Another Gigwise staffer is lauding their top 1% ranking for Years & Years and Bastille as well as being an early champion for FKA Twigs and Banks.
Spotify has been under huge pressure since TIDAL and Apple Music have taken to the scene and threw the streaming ecosystem into uncertainty. It's features like Found Them First that invigorates music fans' interest in their own listening habits and the discovery of new music that will help Spotify stay afloat, so to speak.
Check out this awesome new feature here.
