Rdio is following Spotify's introduction of its Discover feature this week with some new music discoverability features of its own. The streaming music service announced five new features plus a redesigned "Now Playing" section that applies the design of its mobile apps to the desktop. New users to Rdio will now be greeted by a list of friends that they have on the service, as well as a list of influential accounts to follow. Additionally, Rdio is making it easier to find other users to follow through a curated list of popular accounts and users, just like what's already available in Rdio's iOS and Android apps.
Rdio is also taking some inspiration from streaming music stalwart Pandora for its other new features, such as thumbs up / thumbs down on songs you like, automatic radio stations based on what you've been recently listening to, and the ability to start a radio station based on a specific song, instead of just an artist or album as was previously available. Finally, Rdio has ported over the snazzy new album view that debuted on its mobile apps a while back to its web and desktop players, dressing up the Now Playing screen a bit. Users should be able to access all of these features in the web and desktop versions of Rdio now.