I am a certified Spotify girlie. I have close to 130 personal playlists that I’ve curated over the years, the day Spotify Wrapped drops is my Christmas and I religiously listen to my personalised Discover Weekly and Release Radar. So, last year when Spotify brought out two new AI-focused features, Spotify DJ and Daylist, you could say I was very intrigued.
Over the past year, Spotify has been dabbling in the AI space with some new features, two of which have been released recently, Daylist and DJ.
Daylist changes throughout the day and reflects the music you listen to during the morning, afternoon and evening. Spotify also gives each new playlist a chaotically creative name when it refreshes. For instance, one arvo I had chill study coding Wednesday afternoon and then I also had viral bbe Wednesday evening, or my personal favourite, happy indie coming of age Thursday morning. In one day I went from lo-fi, coding music to viral energy, strut and volleyball?
These names have also become an internet sensation with users posting some very enjoyable memes.
Regardless of the creative playlist names, it’s a great feature when I don’t know what to listen to. Instead of scratching my head on what mood I’m in, I turn to a computer program to give me a list of songs it knows I like during that time.
One of the things I like about it is the fact that it changes every single day, no playlist is ever the same, so I’ll never get bored of the music selection. And sometimes the daylist pops in a song or two, I glossed over and realised that it’s a bop.
It is the playlist I turn to when I’ve played the same 5 songs and now I’m musically burnt out. If you’re feeling a bit uninspired and need a jolt, may I suggest popping on a Daylist?
Spotify DJ
Spotify’s other new feature, DJ, stems from Spotify’s acquisition of the dynamic AI voice platform Sonantic in 2022.
The DJ featured was introduced to Aussie users in August telling listeners that the AI-powered, Xavier (but we can call him X) knows our music taste so well it can choose what to play for us.
Clicking on the DJ symbol, you’re greeted by the charming, yet very computer-generated X, which gives you a selection of songs based on various factors, your listening history, popular music at the time, and songs related to a favourite artists.
One of the most offending themes I’ve had is “songs that make you nostalgic for when you were a kid” and plays Drake’s 2016 track Hotline Bling, sir, I was 23 years old!
Despite that little snafu, I’ve very much enjoyed Spotify DJ. While I am the self-appointed playlist connoisseur, I do enjoy a mixture of music that I can control .
While my colleagues in the US, don’t have similar sentiments, due to it bringing the “bad parts of the radio”, I disagree.
While yes, this AI-generated voice is breaking up the flow of the music, and sometimes my concentration, it’s a good indication for me of what’s to come because sometimes, what X offers me during the session is questionable. For example, I have a slew of dubstep songs, which are great for workouts, but not so good when you’re knee-deep in editing content.
So I can happily skip it and see what the DJ offers next. As someone who listens to a lot of music, I can sometimes get so overstimulated by music that I need someone to just tell me what to listen to, so thank you Spotify DJ.
Image: Spotify