Spotify’s Musical Map Lets You Hear What Users Are Listening to Across the Globe

Spotify has come up with what is probably the easiest way to discover the distinctive popular music of places around the world.

Their new Musical Map tool allows users to zero in on thousands of cities around the globe to see what locals are listening to. When you click a city on the map, Spotify generates a playlist of the distinctive music that's most popular there -- they filter out the global hits and show you the music locals are spinning that no one else is listening to much.

I took the tool for a spin and felt like I was exploring the world. This is, after all, the music that makes each of these cities special. (The map is unfortunately light on Africa and Asia since not many listeners use Spotify there.)

I enjoyed listening to Mabel Matiz's eastern tinged soft rock, which is apparently being played a lot in Mugla, Turkey. I also loved "Jardín Olvidado" by Remmy Valenzuela, a fun, relaxed accordion-and-acoustic guitar tune popular with the good folks of Tepic, Mexico.

Meanwhile, my hometown of Aurora, Colo. is obsessed with Atmosphere and Luke Bryan. Sounds about right.

Explore the Musical Map for yourself: