Key Points
- Spotify is testing a new beta feature called “Prompted Playlist” in New Zealand. It allows users to create playlists by writing custom text prompts.
- The AI uses a person’s entire listening history, from their very first day on the service.
- Each song in the playlist includes an explanation of why it was chosen.
- This is part of a larger tech trend of giving users more control over their recommendation algorithms.
Spotify is testing a new way to control your music recommendations: a feature called “Prompted Playlist.” The company is rolling out the beta test in New Zealand on December 11, giving users the power to create playlists simply by writing what they want to hear.
Subscribers in the test can type a custom prompt into a text field, and Spotify’s AI will generate a unique playlist. What makes this different from past AI features is that it “taps into your entire Spotify listening history, all the way back to day one,” according to the company. The prompts can be as broad or as specific as you like, from “chill music for a rainy day” to “upbeat 80s synth-pop for a workout.”
One interesting twist is that the feature will also provide a short description explaining why the algorithm chose each song, which could help users fine-tune their prompts in the future. The playlists can also be set to update with new music over time automatically.
This isn’t Spotify’s first attempt at AI-generated playlists, but the company is framing this as giving users more direct control. It’s part of a broader trend in the tech world.
Companies like Meta and TikTok are also starting to give users more ways to adjust or even completely reset their algorithmic feeds. Ironically, these powerful algorithms were designed to know what we wanted without us having to ask. Now, telling them exactly what to do is being pitched as a new feature.
