Spotify has launched a new AI-powered playlist generator, allowing users to create playlists based on text prompts. The feature, currently in beta, is available to Spotify Premium subscribers on Android and iOS devices in the UK and Australia.
Spotify’s AI Playlist generator will create music selections based on a user’s text prompt. For example, users can request “an indie folk playlist to give my brain a big warm hug”, “relaxing music to tide me over during allergy season”, or “beats to battle a zombie apocalypse”. The prompts can reference locations, animals, activities, film characters, colours, and even emojis. Spotify suggests that the most effective prompts blend moods, artists, genres, and decades.
Once the playlist is generated, users can further refine it by issuing additional prompts such as “more pop” or “less upbeat”, or by removing individual tracks.
The company says it is using large language models (LLMs) to understand the user’s intent and then leverages its personalisation technology – including data on the listener’s history and preferences – to create the playlist.
Spotify has been investing in AI technology for some time, with the launch of its AI DJ feature in 2023, and plans to use AI for summarising podcasts and creating audio ads.