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Spotify has launched a new AI-powered feature called “DJ” which aims to personalize the music listening experience for its users. Similar to a radio DJ, “DJ” delivers a curated selection of music along with AI-generated spoken commentary on tracks and artists. The feature is currently in beta testing and is only available in English for Spotify Premium subscribers in the US and Canada.
Spotify has long been a leader in personalization technology, offering successful playlists like Discover Weekly, Release Radar, Daily Mixes, and Your Time Capsule, among others. The company has also become known for its annual personalized review, Spotify Wrapped. With the rise of AI technology in recent years, it was only a matter of time before Spotify launched its own AI-powered personalization feature.
“DJ” has the potential to turn Spotify into a more passive and lean-back experience, allowing users to sit back and enjoy personalized music recommendations without having to actively choose what to listen to next. However, there are concerns that relying too heavily on AI-generated recommendations could lead to a narrowing of musical diversity.
Despite these concerns, the use of AI in music streaming is only set to increase in the years ahead. As Spotify and its competitors continue to develop new features and services, users can expect to see even more personalized and engaging experiences. While the role of human DJs may be changing, there is no doubt that music lovers will continue to seek out great new tunes, whether they’re recommended by algorithms or by human experts.
Spotify is introducing a new DJ feature that combines personalization technology, an AI voice from its Sonantic acquisition, and Generative AI through OpenAI technology. The new feature uses Generative AI to help Spotify’s music editors, experts, scriptwriters, and data curators scale their insights about music, artists, and genres. By using Generative AI, the new feature creates culturally relevant and accurate pieces of commentary at scale.
Listeners engaging with the new DJ feature will receive a personalized stream of songs that include both new tracks and old favorites. This stream will be constantly refreshed to keep the listening experience fresh and engaging. As listeners listen to the music, they will also hear commentary that directly follows the song it refers to.
Spotify’s new DJ feature aims to improve the listening experience of its users with personalized content and relevant commentary. However, the accuracy of the feature is yet to be seen, given recent AI failures by Bing and Google. Despite this, Spotify’s new feature is a step forward in leveraging AI to create more personalized and engaging experiences for its users.
“The AI, for instance, may provide feedback like:
“Chicago rapper Polo G collaborates with Atlanta artist Future this week for his first album of the year. Although this is also the first time the two have worked together, Southside, who has collaborated frequently with both, is thought to be in charge of much of the music on Polo’s next record, unites them through production.
The user may simply hit the DJ button once more to switch to a new genre, performer, or mood if the DJ misses the mark in terms of what they want to hear. Similar to how skipping songs or enjoying a tune would educate an algorithm of your likes, the more the function is utilized, the more accurate its suggestions would become.
The DJ’s voice, meanwhile, is modeled after Xavier “X” Jernigan, Spotify’s Director of Cultural Partnerships, who formerly presented the company’s morning program podcast “The Get Up.” The fact that the business calls his voice the “initial model” for the DJ feature suggests that it has intentions to eventually broaden the selection of voices.
On the Home page of the Spotify iOS or Android app, go to the Music Feed, and then hit Play on the DJ card to start listening. The DJ will then start playing a selection of songs and provide brief comments.
In pre-launch tests of Spotify’s new AI-powered DJ feature, the personalized voice of the DJ sounded authentic as it incorporated personalized content such as the names of bands you regularly stream. However, the music selection initially did not seem to be more impressive than Spotify’s personalized playlists. The more the feature is used, the more accurate its suggestions will become.
During testing, the DJ initially made suggestions for new songs and then switched to songs the user had streamed in a prior year, which were unexpectedly separated from the newer tunes. Tapping through the recommendations again caused the DJ to switch genres and then to summer flashbacks, giving the impression of switching between playlists.
Initially, the DJ appears as a green circle on a blue background, but as music is played, it is relocated to the bottom-right of the Now Playing interface. This interface looks the same as before and provides access to the heart button, lyrics, and player controls.
As the feature is newly launched, there hasn’t been enough time to test it properly and evaluate its effectiveness. The addition of AI-powered features such as ChatGPT and Google’s Bard is creating interest in streaming services like Spotify. The company is hoping to create a unique selling point by introducing the DJ feature, which uses AI in a new and innovative way.
However, some users have criticized Spotify’s app for being cluttered and difficult to use for streaming music, due to its investments in other audio formats. Despite these complaints, the company continues to grow, with 10 million new subscribers in Q4 2022, reaching a total of 205 million subscribers and 22 million ad-supported users, totaling 295 million users.
As personalization technology has become commonplace in music services, Spotify wanted to set a higher bar by introducing something new and not easily reproducible. The DJ feature will be rolling out today in supported markets, though users may not immediately see it.
What do you think about Spotify’s new ‘DJ’ feature that uses AI-based comments to personalize music? Share your opinion in the comment section below.
