Spotify’s popular AI DJ tool has already proven successful, and the streaming music provider is now introducing AI to playlist making. On Monday, the firm launched AI playlists in beta, a new feature that allows users to create playlists based on written suggestions.
Users on Android and iOS smartphones in the UK and Australia will be able to access the function at first, and it will be improved in the coming months.
Spotify’s usage of AI means users might ask for a wider variety of personalized playlists, including “songs to serenade my cat” or “beats to battle a zombie apocalypse,” in addition to more conventional playlist building requests, such those based on genre or time frame. Prompts can make reference to a wide range of objects, including locations, creatures, activities, movies, colors, and emoticons. But according to the firm, the best playlists are made with suggestions that combine different genres, emotions, performers, and decades.
Utilizing its knowledge of user preferences, Spotify also allows users to tailor the playlists it creates.
Users can then use the AI to edit and improve the final product by giving it commands like “less upbeat” or “more pop,” for example, after the playlist has been made. In addition, users can swipe left on any song to take it out of the playlist.
Large language models (LLMs) are the technological tool that Spotify claims it uses to interpret user intent. Then, Spotify responds to the request and generates an AI-generated playlist just for the user using its personalization engine, which makes use of the data it knows about the listener’s past and preferences.
For its AI and machine learning endeavors, the corporation makes use of many third-party solutions.
The development of AI playlists by Spotify was originally revealed by TechCrunch in October 2023, following the release of pictures of code from the Spotify app by reverse engineers Chris Messina and Alessandro Paluzzi, which mentioned AI playlists “based on your prompts.”
At the time, Spotify stated it would not provide an announcement regarding potential new features and declined to comment on the findings. However, the business revealed in December 2023 that it was exploring AI-powered playlist generation following the appearance of a TikTok video demonstrating what a Spotify user called “Spotify’s ChatGPT.”
By tapping the addition symbol (+) in the upper right corner of the screen, users can access the functionality in the Spotify app’s “Your Library” menu. The AI Playlist is displayed as a new option in a pop-up menu next to the already-available “Playlist” and “Blend” options.
Spotify provides prompt suggestions, such as “get focused at work with instrumental electronica,” “fill in the silence with background café music,” “get pumped up with fun, upbeat, and positive songs,” or “explore a niche genre like Witch House,” among many other suggestions, to help listeners get started if they are having trouble coming up with prompts.
You can add an AI playlist to the library by tapping the “Create” button to save it.
According to the corporation, the AI is protected by barriers, so it won’t react to provocative questions or ones that are exclusive to certain companies or current affairs.
For several months, Spotify has been enhancing its streaming service with the help of AI technologies. With the introduction of AI DJ, which went live in more countries last year, the firm combined Sonantic and OpenAI technology to produce a synthetic voice that plays a tailored playlist recommendation for the user, Xavier “X” Jernigan, head of cultural collaborations at Spotify. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the most recent advancements in artificial intelligence and large language models, Spotify announced last year that it was investing in internal research.
Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, has hinted to investors about additional ways the technology could be used, such as podcast summaries, AI-generated audio advertisements, and more. For host-read advertisements, the business has also considered employing AI technology that mimics the voice of a podcast host.
Prior to the release of AI playlists, Spotify introduced a tool called Niche Mixes that let users make customized playlists with prompts. However, the product did not make use of AI technology and had a more constrained capacity for language understanding.
