Tag: music feed

Spotify’s AI DJ Brings a Personalized Listening Experience to Fans in the UK and Ireland

May 16, 2023

In February we unveiled DJ, a personalized AI guide that understands you and your music taste so well that it does the choosing for you. Now we’re excited to start rolling out DJ in beta to Premium users across the U.K. and Ireland. 

At its core, DJ is all about connection and discovery. And thanks to DJ’s powerful combination of Spotify’s personalization technology, generative AI through the use of OpenAI technology in the hands of our music experts, and a dynamic AI voice, listening has never felt so personal. 

When we were deciding where to offer DJ next, the U.K. and Ireland just made sense. We have a team of local music experts on the ground in the region, and it’s where some of DJ’s fundamental technology has been developed.

We also know there’s demand: While we’ve seen fans across the globe asking for DJ, it was most commonly requested by users on social media in the U.K. and Ireland.* But don’t just take it from us . . .

 

When users in the U.K. and Ireland tune in they will be greeted by a stunningly realistic AI voice, modeled after Spotify’s own Head of Cultural Partnerships, Xavier “X” Jernigan. Plus, they’ll be served songs and context geared towards them. For example, users who tune in right around launch may hear about how Arlo Parks is releasing her newest album, My Soft Machine, at the end of May alongside her collab, “Phoenix,” with friend and longtime role model Phoebe Bridgers. And when it comes to an engaging listening experience, these moments of relevant context are winning DJ users over.

We’ve found that when DJ listeners hear commentary alongside personal music recommendations, they’re more willing to try something new (or listen to a song they may have otherwise skipped). On days when users tune in, fans spend 25% of their listening time with DJ—and they keep coming back. More than half of first-time listeners come back to listen to DJ the very next day.** 

And DJ has especially resonated with Gen Z and Millennials, who make up 87% of DJ users.***

But this is just the beginning. DJ is still in beta, and we’ll continue to iterate and innovate to evolve the experience over time.

Ready to give DJ a try? Just head to your Music Feed on Home in mobile.

*Results based on tweets between February 22, 2023 – May 11, 2023 from users with a publicly identifiable location.
**Results are based on eligible DJ users (Premium users in the U.S. and Canada on mobile) and collected from February 22, 2023 to March 1, 2023.
***Results are based on eligible DJ users (Premium users in the U.S. and Canada on mobile) and collected from April 28, 2023 to May 4, 2023.

Preview Music, Podcasts, and Audiobooks on Spotify Home

March 8, 2023

Preview on Home

There’s so much to listen to on Spotify, and so little time. We know you don’t want to spend precious hours on titles and tracks you might not enjoy. Beginning today, when you open up Home on the Spotify app, you’ll find personalized, curated previews of the songs, podcasts, and audiobooks you might enjoy. Quickly dive into what speaks (or sings) to you, or save it for later when you need that perfect soundtrack. 

As shared during Stream On, previews make for a whole new way to sample and discover whatever you might be in the mood for, all on your Home screen. And they build on the dedicated feeds for Music, Podcasts & Shows, and Audiobooks that we introduced last year. 

Our data shows that more listeners become committed fans after previewing what they’re about to listen to, making this feature simply the latest update in our larger mission to create even deeper connections between artists and fans. 


The music feed

The music feed contains personalized recommendations for singles, albums, and playlists. At the top of the feed, you’ll see some selected mixes you might like. (If you’re a Premium user in the U.S. and Canada, you’ll also see DJ.) When available, animated song canvases will accompany audio previews, providing you with a peak into an artist’s creative world. 

The Podcasts & Shows feed

Just like music, the podcast feed contains personalized recommendations for new and familiar episodes and shows. At the top of the feed, you’ll have quick access to your shows. Automatically generated previews will showcase what’s in store. For podcasts, real-time transcriptions allow you to easily preview an episode or chapter even with the sound off. Video podcast previews let you watch and listen to the conversation.

The audiobooks feed

The audiobooks feed contains personalized audiobook recommendations. At the top, you’ll have quick access to your purchased or saved audiobooks. And to give you a taste big enough to help you make the perfect call on a purchase, the audio preview may be up to five minutes long.

After previewing, you can: 

  • Save, download, or share with just one tap: Simply tap the Plus (+) icon to save your recommendations to Your Episodes or Your Library. Then, download or queue by tapping the three dots at the bottom of the preview. 
  • Play from the start: Press Play to listen to a track, album, playlist, or episode from the start. For podcasts, tap “continue listening” to play the rest of the preview from where it began.
  • Dive even deeper: Tapping a recommendation will take you to the playlist, album, or single to explore even more related audio. 

Spotify is the first platform to enable truly seamless previews across music, podcasts, and audiobooks—and they’re now beginning to roll out to Premium and Free users globally across iOS and Android. Music and podcast previews are available in all markets where podcasts are available globally. Audiobooks previews are currently available in the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

Spotify Debuts a New AI DJ, Right in Your Pocket

February 22, 2023

Meet your AI DJ on Spotify

Personalization is at the heart of what we do at Spotify—just think of fan-favorite playlists like Discover Weekly, or our annual Wrapped campaign. The beauty of these experiences is our ability to deliver the right piece of music for that exact moment in time, and maybe even connect you with your next favorite artist in the process. We’re building on that innovation by harnessing the power of AI in an entirely new way. And today, we’re excited to share that we’re taking our personalization to a whole new level with DJ. 

Ready for a brand-new way to listen on Spotify and connect even more deeply with the artists you love? The DJ is a personalized AI guide that knows you and your music taste so well that it can choose what to play for you. This feature, first rolling out in beta, will deliver a curated lineup of music alongside commentary around the tracks and artists we think you’ll like in a stunningly realistic voice. 

It 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. 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 personalization—but as an AI DJ in your pocket.

How our AI DJ works

To create the DJ we reimagined the way users listen on Spotify. The DJ knows you and your music taste so well that it will scan the latest releases we know you’ll like, or take you back to that nostalgic playlist you had on repeat last year. Never before has listening felt so completely personal to each and every user, thanks to the powerful combination of:

Spotify’s personalization technology, which gives you a lineup of music recommendations based on what we know you like. 

Generative AI through the use of OpenAI technology. We put this in the hands of our music editors to provide you with insightful facts about the music, artists, or genres you’re listening to. The expertise of our editors is something that’s really important to our philosophy at Spotify. 

We have experts in genres who know music and culture inside and out. And no one knows the music scene better than they do. With this generative AI tooling, our editors are able to scale their innate knowledge in ways never before possible.

A dynamic AI voice platform from our Sonantic acquisition that brings to life stunningly realistic voices from text.

To create the voice model for the DJ, we partnered with our own Head of Cultural Partnerships, Xavier “X” Jernigan. Previously, X served as one of the hosts on Spotify’s first (and personalized) morning show, The Get Up. His personality and voice resonated with our listeners and resulted in a loyal following for the podcast. His voice is the first model for the DJ, and we’ll continue to iterate and innovate, as we do with all our products. 

Where to find the DJ

Ready to have the DJ soundtrack your day? It’s rolling out in English starting today for Spotify Premium users in the U.S. and Canada. 

  1. Head to your Music Feed on Home in the Spotify mobile app on your iOS or Android device.
  2. Tap Play on the DJ card.
  3. Let Spotify do the rest! The DJ will serve a lineup of music alongside short commentary on the songs and artists, picked just for you. 
  4. Not feeling the vibe? Just hit the DJ button at the bottom right of the screen to be taken to a different genre, artist, or mood.

At Spotify we’re uniquely positioned to transform audio. We’re always looking for innovative new ways to improve our users’ listening experiences to meet their needs—so stay tuned for more.

*Update May 16, 2023: DJ is now rolling out in the UK and Ireland

*Update August 8, 2023: DJ is now rolling out in 46 more markets around the world