Spotify is no stranger to niche playlists. Looking at its AI-powered Daylist function today, I've been prescribed a "throwback 2010s Friday morning" playlist, that's pretty specific. Well, it looks like soon you'll be able to create playlists from pretty much any prompt.
Spotted by one TikTok user, "Spotify's ChatGPT" seems to create bespoke playlists in response to text prompts. In the video, the feature is accessed in a similar way to creating a normal playlist, by tapping the '+' button under the 'Your Library' tab which leads to a new 'AI Playlist' option which reads 'Turn your ideas into playlists using AI'. The user then is prompted to enter their own inspiration or use one of the suggested prompts which in the video included "get focused at work with instrumental electronica,” and the funky-sounding "Witch House".
@robdad_ ♬ Heavy Metal Lover overlapped - jinxknsaudios
While this kind of thing could be easily faked, Spotify has confirmed that it is real. But don't get too excited yet, In a statement to TechCrunch they said “We routinely conduct a number of tests. Some of those tests end up paving the path for our broader experience and others serve only as an important learning,” whether this test sees broader release isn't clear. I'd love to know where it pulls the songs from, is it just your liked tunes or the whole pool of millions of tracks?
Spotify has introduced more AI features this year too, including its own AI DJ which creates playlists of your favourites from over the years, with radio-style interludes. Of course, AI can also be used to create songs in the style of established artists and plagiarise their likenesses, so there has to be a limit to AI on the service.
In truth, what we really really want (to quote the Spice Girls) is a Hi-Fi audio tier but fun features like these and Spotify Wrapped are cool.