Spotify is testing more personalized, AI-powered ‘Prompted Playlists’ | TechCrunch

Spotify announced on Wednesday that it is giving users more control over the streaming service’s algorithm for the first time. At least that’s how the company is rolling out the launch of its new “Promoted Playlists,” a feature that will initially be available to Premium subscribers in New Zealand.

The feature, which is currently only available in English, is still in beta and will evolve before rolling out to other markets, according to Spotify.

The new tool allows users to describe what they want to hear in a personalized playlist that the company says reflects the “full arc” of their tastes. That means the playlist focuses not just on the songs you like now, but on your entire Spotify listening history from day one – something that sets the feature apart from other playlists, the company says.

The feature is an evolution of Spotify’s existing AI playlist option, which debuted last year, and also works via written prompts. Similar to AI playlists, the new Prompted Playlists allow users to request what they want to hear with written instructions. However, they can now write much longer prompts with more specific instructions. That’s because the new AI feature adds to global knowledge, a Spotify representative explained to TechCrunch.

Plus, the ability to go further back in your listening history and schedule how often the playlist refreshes makes it different from Spotify’s other AI playlist offerings.

Spotify, for example, suggests that subscribers can use the new feature to ask something like “music from my top artists from the past five years” and then customize the prompt to include a request for “in-depth pieces I haven’t heard yet.”

In another example of a longer prompt, Spotify said you could ask for “energetic pop and hip-hop for a 30-minute 5K run that keeps a steady pace before hitting relaxing songs to cool down” or “music from this year’s biggest movies and most talked-about TV shows that suit my tastes.”

Additionally, you can further refine the prompt to make it even more specific, and set how often you want it to refresh, such as daily or weekly. The idea is that users can essentially create their own version of something like Spotify’s flagship playlist, Discover Weekly, but one that’s focused on a type of music, genre, or time period they want to follow, or their own version of something like Spotify’s genre-focused Daily Mixes.

The company says the playlist will include descriptions and context so you know why you’re getting the recommendation. Additionally, it provides a series of prompts to help users get started.

Spotify isn’t the only social app showing how users can take control of its algorithm. Instagram also introduced a new feature today that allows users to control the type of reels they see. Bluesky, a decentralized X competitor, also lets users swap their algorithm for one of their own.