Spotify has begun rolling out "Prompted Playlists," an AI-powered playlist creation tool, to its Premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. The feature, previously tested in New Zealand, allows users to generate playlists by describing their desired music in conversational language. The new tool expands upon an earlier AI playlist product launched in 2024, which supported simpler commands.
Key Features and Functionality
Prompted Playlists enables more detailed and nuanced requests. For instance, a user could prompt the system to: "Find me one artist I haven’t listened to yet, but would probably love, or an artist I’ve only heard one or two songs from, and introduce me to them. Build a playlist of songs that’ll give me an overview of their catalog so it feels like I’m getting to know them. Put the songs you think I’ll like the most in the top five spots."
J.J. Italiano, head of Global Music Curation and Discovery at Spotify, stated that the feature aims to make playlist creation accessible to all users, regardless of their music curation knowledge or vocabulary. He noted that users do not need to use specific genres, years, or industry terms; any descriptive language is sufficient.
AI Analysis and Personalization
The underlying AI analyzes music trends, charts, culture, and history in real-time. It also incorporates the user's entire listening history. While playlists are personalized by default, users have the option to:
- Request that the AI not use their listening history as a reference.
- Direct the AI to introduce them to new songs they have not previously heard.
Prompts are not restricted to musical terminology and can be inspired by diverse themes, such as weather or TV shows.
Shareability and Coexistence with Existing Features
The shareable nature of prompts could foster a new form of content creation, where users share prompts for others to try. While the prompt remains constant, each resulting playlist will be personalized to the individual user's tastes and listening history. Users can further modify these generated playlists.
Spotify describes Prompted Playlists as an evolution of its previous AI playlist feature, offering enhanced real-time awareness of music trends and deeper user control. The older AI playlist feature will continue to operate alongside the new one.
Availability and Future Plans
The feature is currently in beta, includes usage limits, and is only available in English. Spotify has not provided a timeline for a global rollout, indicating that initial market feedback will guide future launches.