• by Colin Kirkland , April 8, 2024

Spotify is furthering its investment in generative artificial intelligence. The music streaming platform has launched a beta version of its newest feature: artificial intelligence (AI) playlist creation.

Premium users can now generate and refine playlists based on written prompts. For example: “make us a fiery playlist for lighting up the dance floor.”

The feature, which is currently available to premium users in the U.K. and Australia, can be found in “Your Library” tab in the Spotify app after pushing the plus button at the top right of the screen. “AI Playlist” will appear as an option beside “Playlist” and “Blend.”

From there, users can describe exactly what they want to hear combined into a mix, including “an indie folk playlist to give my brain a big hug,” or “relaxing music to tide me over during allergy season,” or “a playlist that makes me feel like the main character.”

“You can use prompts that reference places, animals, activities, movie characters, colors, even emojis,” Spotify wrote in a blog post. “The most successful playlists are generated with prompts that contain a combination of genres, moods, artists, or decades.”

To power AI Playlist creation, Spotify is using large language models to gauge a user's request as effectively as possible. The platform then takes into account a listener’s individual tastes and history to deliver the final playlist.

After the playlist is created by AI, users can choose to “refine this playlist” by typing in new suggestions and tweaks, such as “more bass” or “less R&B.” Swiping left on a song also removes it from the playlist. If users like the mix, they can save it to their library.

Prompts mentioning current events, specific brands or offensive subject matter will be considered by the AI, Spotify says.

Last year, Spotify expanded its launch of an AI DJ feature globally, which uses multiple generative AI technologies, including OpenAI, to suggest songs to users in the voice of Spotify’s head of cultural partnerships, Xavier “X” Jernigan.

The company says it will continue to tweak the new AI Playlist feature before rolling it out to more users.