Spotify has officially rolled out its “DJ” tool across 50 international markets – including Australia – utilising artificial intelligence (AI) to curate playlists based on listeners’ streaming habits.
The feature was first revealed back in February, when it publicly entered the beta testing phase. It uses generative AI to determine what a user may want to listen to, creating a radio-esque playlist of songs in realtime. Upon its unveiling, Spotify said the DJ feature will “sort through the latest music and look back at some of your old favorites – maybe even resurfacing that song you haven’t listened to for years”.
So went the rest of the sell: “It will then review what you might enjoy and deliver a stream of songs picked just for you. And what’s more, it constantly refreshes the lineup based on your feedback. If you’re not feeling the vibe, just tap the DJ button and it will switch it up. The more you listen and tell the DJ what you like (and don’t like!), the better its recommendations get. Think of it as the very best of Spotify’s personalisation – but as an AI DJ in your pocket.”
Initially exclusive to the US market, the DJ feature was later made available to Spotify users in the UK and Ireland, and just yesterday (August 8) it expanded to some 43 more territories. To access the feature, you’ll need to be using the English version of the app, and have access to a Spotify Premium account (prices for which were recently hiked up).
In addition to curating custom playlists, the DJ feature offers personalised commentary – also created using generative AI – in the vein of FM radio talkback. The initial voice model for the feature is based on Xavier “X” Jernigan, Spotify’s head of cultural partnerships.
