Music streaming giant Spotify released a “Guided Playlist” earlier this week, which is a US and Canada-only AI-powered feature currently exclusive to premium users.
Prompted Playlist allows premium Spotify users to tailor their playlists based on their listening habits and controls.
The feature was successfully tested and implemented for the first time in New Zealand, and this expansion is the latest among many AI-driven updates to the Swedish streaming platform, which aims to convert more users from the free tier to its subscription plans.
“Listeners don’t just want Spotify to understand them. They want to actively shape their own experience,” said Molly Holder, Spotify’s vice president of product personalization.
The company said the new feature would make users active participants who direct the algorithm based on their words and intentions, rather than passive recipients receiving suggestions provided by the streaming platform.
Unlike previous Spotify features such as the AI Playlist, the Guest Playlist will allow users to set “rules” for AI-generated content and can be customized for daily or weekly refreshes to ensure music stays up to date.
The move follows Spotify’s announcement to increase the price of its premium monthly subscription by $1 to $12.99 in the US, Estonia and Latvia starting in February.
