Finding artists and albums on Nova: pages, previews and the quickest routes in

Every one of Nova's 70 artists and 188 albums has a page of its own, on the website and in the app, and the two are built to work together. The website is for looking around without an account: covers, running orders, descriptions and 30-second previews. The app is for listening in full. This guide explains what the pages contain, how to read them quickly, and the shortest routes from what you know to what you want to hear.

What an artist page shows

Open any artist, say Paper Lantern, and you will see the artist's image, their country, a short biography where one has been written, and three lists: the most recent tracks, every album in order of release, and any public playlists that belong to the artist. The track count beside the name tells you how deep the catalogue goes; Paper Lantern has 114 tracks, Nova Sounds has 437, and an artist such as Vera Black has five. Each track has a preview button, a like button and an add-to-playlist button, so an artist page is also a place to listen, not just to read.

What an album page shows

An album page has the cover, the artist, the year, the number of tracks and the total running time, followed by the tracks in order with their lengths. Albums on Nova are short and themed, so the title usually tells you the brief: Morning Coffee is for mornings, Solo Piyano 1 is solo piano. A label such as EP or Single appears when a release is very short. Press play on an album in the app and the whole record queues in order; the Up Next list follows it until you change course.

What a preview tells you

On the website each track plays a 30-second preview taken from the body of the song, not the first thirty seconds, so you hear the track once it has settled. That is enough to judge tempo, instrumentation and mood, which is all most decisions need. When the preview ends you are invited to sign up; with a free account the full song plays in the app, and our guide to previews and full listening explains the handover.

Route one: from a name

If you know an artist, album or song, search. The search box on the website and in the app matches titles and names as you type, and the results group tracks, albums and artists. Searching works in any of the six site languages, and artist names with Turkish characters, such as Çatlak Motor, match with or without the accents.

Route two: from a sound

If you know what you want to hear but not who makes it, use the tags. Every track is analysed for genre, mood and instruments, and the genres and moods page lists every tag with its track count. Open jazz or violin and you have a page of matching tracks with previews; each one links to its album and artist, so a tag page is a doorway to the records behind it. Our guide to genres, moods and instruments goes deeper.

Route three: from an artist you already like

Artist pages reward wandering. From any track, open the album; from the album, open the artist; from the artist, open the album you have not heard. Many Nova artists work in series, so the next record is often a numbered volume: Nova Sounds' Bossa Atmosphere 1 to 3, Calma Productions' Picks 1 to 9, Yumae's two Breath & Horizon volumes. The all artists page and the all albums page list everything, and the browse page lays the whole catalogue out at once.

Saving what you find

When a page turns up something you want to keep, like the track or add it to a playlist from the same screen. Likes collect in your library; playlists are yours to shape. If you want the whole album later, like one track from it and the album is a tap away in the library. The playlists guide covers the rest.

Sharing a page

Every artist and album page has a share link. Sent to a friend with the app, it opens the same page in Nova; sent to someone without it, it opens the public page with previews. The links are the same in every language, so a page shared from the Turkish site opens for a German friend in German. Our guide to sharing music and links has the detail.

Frequently asked questions

Can I see artist and album pages without an account? Yes. Every artist, album, track, playlist and podcast page on the Nova website is public, with 30-second previews. Full listening needs a free account and the app.

How do I find all the albums by one artist? Open the artist's page; every album is listed in order of release, with its year and track count.

Where does the 30-second preview come from? From the body of the song rather than the first seconds, so you hear the track once it has settled.

How do I find music without knowing an artist? Use the genres and moods page. Every track carries genre, mood and instrument tags, and each tag page lists its tracks with previews.