Spotify has already found success with its popular AI DJ feature, and now the music streaming service is bringing AI to playlist creation. The company on Monday launched AI Playlists into beta, a brand new option that enables users to create a playlist based on written prompts.
The feature will initially be available to users on Android and iOS devices within the UK and Australia and might be expanded in the approaching months.
In addition to more standard playlist creation requests based on genre or timeframe, for instance, Spotify's use of AI means users can request a wider range of custom playlists, reminiscent of “Songs to serenade my cat” or “Beats for battle.” against a zombie apocalypse”. “, suggests Spotify. Prompts might be about anything, reminiscent of places, animals, activities, movie characters, colours, or emojis. However, the corporate points out that the perfect playlists are created using prompts that include a mixture of genres, moods, artists and a long time.
Spotify also uses its understanding of users' tastes to customize the playlists created with this feature.
After the playlist is created, users can use AI to revise and refine the , for instance by issuing commands reminiscent of “less upbeat” or “more pop”. Users can even swipe left on any song to remove it from the playlist.
In terms of technology, Spotify says it uses large language models (LLMs) to know user intent. Spotify then uses its personalization technology – the data it has concerning the listener's history and preferences – to comply with the request and create a customized, AI-generated playlist for the user.
The company uses a spread of third-party tools for its AI and machine learning experiences.
TechCrunch first reported that Spotify was developing AI playlists in October 2023, when reverse engineers Chris Messina and Alessandro Paluzzi shared screenshots of code from the Spotify app that referenced AI playlists that were “based in your prompts.”
Spotify declined to comment on the time, saying it could not comment on possible recent features. However, in December 2023, the corporate confirmed that it was testing AI-driven playlist creation after a TikTok video of the feature surfaced, showing what the Spotify user described as “Spotify's ChatGPT.”
The feature might be present in the Your Library tab within the Spotify app by tapping the plus (+) button at the highest right of the screen. A pop-up menu will appear with AI Playlist as a brand new option alongside the present Playlist and Blend options.
If a listener can't consider any ideas to try, Spotify offers suggestions to assist them start, reminiscent of “Focus on working with instrumental electronic music,” “fill within the silence with background music within the coffee shop,” or “Let yourself encourage “Fun, comfortable and positive songs” or “Discover a distinct segment genre like Witch House” and plenty of others.
To save an AI playlist, tap the Create button so as to add it to the library.
The company notes that the AI is guardrailed so it won't reply to offensive prompts or those focused on current events or specific brands.
Spotify has been investing in AI technology to enhance its streaming service for a lot of months. With the launch of AI DJ, which expanded globally last 12 months, the corporate used a mixture of Sonantic and OpenAI technology to create a synthetic version of the voice of Spotify's head of cultural partnerships, Xavier “X” Jernigan, who makes personalized song selections introduces the user. Last 12 months, Spotify announced that it was investing in internal research to higher understand the most recent developments in AI and huge language models.
CEO Daniel Ek also showed investors other ways Spotify could use AI, including by aggregating podcasts, creating AI-generated audio ads, and more. The company has also considered using AI technology to clone a podcast host's voice for ads read by the host.
Before AI playlists, Spotify introduced the same feature, Niche Mixes, which allowed users to create personalized playlists using prompts. However, the product didn’t use AI technology and was more limited by way of language understanding.
