How to find songs that used to be on a Spotify playlist

Search Spotify playlists by song or artist

Searching all Spotify’s playlists for playlists containing a song or artist isn’t an easy process. The idea was suggested to Spotify here and many users voted it up (3573 at the time of writing this article). But until now it is not supported on Spotify.

Once you enter your key words (artist or song name), Spotify will automatically generate results, Scroll down to the bottom of the search results and you will find the “Playlists” section that include the playlists that just contain the search query in their name / description. They may or may not actually contain the song / artist within it. So with this tool, there is a way to search for Spotify playlists by song or artist!

How to View a List of Played Songs on Spotify?

Unfortunately, Spotify doesn’t give you the option to view your entire listening history on the desktop app. You can only view a list of recently played songs. If you want a more extended list of played songs, you can download a file with all your Spotify-related data.

What’s essential in this case is that this file includes a list of songs you played in the past year. All you need to do is ask Spotify to send you the file with this data.

1. Go to Spotify and log in to your account.
   
2. Click on “Profile” in the top-right corner of the screen.
   
3. Click “Account” in the extended menu.
   
4. In the sidebar to your left, click “Privacy & Settings.”
   
5. Scroll down to the “Download your data” section.
   
6. In the “Step 1” tab, click the “Request” button.
   
7. Check the Captcha and click “OK.”
   
8. Click “OK” again.
   
9. Go to your email inbox.
10. Open the mail you’ve just received from Spotify.
11. Click “Confirm.”
    

You should be redirected to a Spotify web page. Here, you’ll get a notice that you’ll receive your requested data in 30 days. While some people have received this file within 24 hours, you might need to wait longer or even the full 30 days. Just keep an eye on your email inbox, as you’ll get another email from Spotify once they’ve prepared your data for download.

How to see your Spotify listening history in the mobile app

There are two ways to find your listening history in the Spotify mobile app. Both are available in the iPhone app, while only one is available in the Android app.

Spotify is currently testing a feature in the iPhone app that lets you see your complete listening history — you can go back months at a time, if you'd like. You can also choose whether you'd like to see what songs you've listened to, or the playlists you've used.

Since it's only a test, this feature may be removed in the future. But for now, you can find it here:

1. Make sure that your app is fully updated, and then open the Spotify app and tap "Home" at the bottom of the screen.

2. Tap the icon in the top-right that looks like a clock. This will open up your Listening History page.

3. By default, you'll be shown all the playlists you've listened to recently. You can scroll down to see the last month or so of your playlist history.

4. To see your song-by-song listening history by tapping the icon in the top-right corner that looks like a peg — this will open a menu where you can select "Songs and episodes."

5. You can now see a full list of every song and podcast episode you've listened to for the past few months. Scroll down to see them all, and tap on any of them to play it.

You can also find a truncated version of your listening history through the "Add Songs" section. You can do this on both an iPhone and Android device.

1. Start the Spotify app and tap "Library" at the bottom of the screen.

2. Open one of your playlists. If you have no playlists, tap "Create playlist" and then tap "Create."

3. Tap "Add songs," the small button below the name of the playlist.

4. On the "Add songs" page, swipe to the left three times. You should land on the "Recently played" list. This displays the last 100 or so tracks you've played on Spotify.

5. Tap the name of any song to play a preview, or tap the plus sign to add it to the playlist.

1. Moodify: Playlists Based on Songs and Musical Features

It's easy for algorithms to create a randomized playlist based on an artist you like. Unlike most apps, Moodify wants to get specific and create a truly personalized playlist based on features you want in the songs, as well as tracks they're similar to.

You can adjust these parameters on Moodify to create the perfect playlist:

• Acousticness (digital, mix, analog)
• Instrumentalness (vocals, mix, no vocals)
• Tempo (50-200 beats per minute)
• Danceability (not proper, ok, great for dance)
• Energy (calm, fun, energizer)
• Mood (depressive, cheerful, joyful)

Apart from the parameters, you can nudge Moodify to look for songs that are similar to a few tracks you already like. Search for them in the provided box and choose from the Spotify results.

Once you click the Create Playlist button, the new playlist will appear in your Spotify app under the name "Discover Moodify." If you like it, change the name to save it for the future, or create a copy. Before you use Moodify again, clear this playlist or the new songs will be added to it.

2. MagicPlaylist: Create a Playlist Based on One Song

You have a song that you love. You want to listen to other songs like it. Head to MagicPlaylist and type the name of a track to get an instant playlist of similar songs (including the original).

You can choose the length of the playlist (one, two, or three hours) to add more or fewer songs. The playlist can be set to public or private and renamed too before you save it on Spotify. And before saving, you can search Spotify to add other songs that you want in the playlist.

MagicPlaylist isn't a complicated algorithm, so it's a mix of hits and misses. The developer says it works by searching for the original track you liked, finding related artists, and adding the top tracks of these artists.

Still, it's more hits than misses, but one of the fastest ways to get a playlist. It's especially useful to create a workout playlist for a few hours based on the kind of tempo and beats you're looking for.

Get Started

To begin, sign up for one of Spotify's two subscription options: a free, ad-supported account or a Premium version, which costs $9.99 per month. Then download theSpotify appon your devices. You can create a playlist on mobile devices or on your computer using its web player; they'll sync up across devices.

On desktop, you can listen to any song by any artist and can skip ahead or go back to a previous song to play it, whether you have the free or paid version (the free version will interrupt with ads, though).

But those with the free version can only shuffle-play their own playlists on mobile. Spotifyoffers15 "self-driving" playlists—including Daily Mixes,Discover Weekly, and Release Radar—that allow those on the free tier to play songs in any order with unlimited skips. Premium users can listen to all playlists in any order with unlimited skips, and download their playlists for offline listening, like on a plane or in the subway.

Playlist creation differs slightly on free and Premium subscriptions; here's how to get started on both versions.