Tag: Xavier Jernigan

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.

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

VidCon 2022: Spotify and SZA Give Gen Z Fans and Creators an Unforgettable Experience

June 27, 2022

Last week, more than 75,000 people came together for VidCon 2022, one of the largest creator and consumer conferences in the U.S. Over the span of four days, Gen Z stars, industry leaders, and fans enjoyed talks, meet and greets, games, and live music performances. As an official sponsor, Spotify was there to make sure fans had an incredible experience. 

Spotify had something for everyone: Creators gained wisdom from Spotify leaders like Jessica Angeles, Senior Partner Manager at Anchor, and Tracy Rivas, Creator Partner Manager, who explained why they should be including Spotify in their video content strategy. Fans, meanwhile, could receive an audio tarot reading based on their mood and music tastes, have their audio aura captured in a photo (which correlated with collaborative, aura-specific playlists), and collect exclusive Spotify swag. 

 

The Handmaid’s Tale, The O.C., and 7 Other Shows That Have Formed Our Music Tastes

April 25, 2018

If you ugly cry during This Is Us, it could be that The Cinematic Orchestra’s heartbreaking song is tugging at you just as much as Rebecca and Jack. And if Phantom Planet or Snow Patrol have shown up in your Spotify playlists, chances are it’s because you’re feeling nostalgic for The O.C. or Grey’s Anatomy. TV shows of a newer era are known not only for evoking an urge to binge watch, but for uncovering new artists and influencing the music we listen to.

When shows began writing music into the key moments in their scripts as opposed to doing it after the fact—shows of the early 2000s like The Sopranos and The O.C. get much of the credit for jumpstarting the approach—audiences became even more addicted and artists had a new platform for their music to reach the masses.

“There’s a difference between finding music just to bridge scenes and be a part of the background, and using the music to help move the narrative along. Music has actually become a character in itself,” says Xavier Jernigan, Spotify’s head of North America for shows and editorial and host of Showstopper, Spotify’s podcast that takes listeners inside the playlists of favorite TV shows. (Bonus: Every episode of Showstopper has an accompanying playlist so you can really dive into the music.)

Jernigan names The Sopranos season finale—that unforgettable diner scene featuring Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”—as a turning point. “It marked such a seminal moment in a TV series and gave that song a whole new life—it jumped up the charts,” he notes. Maggie Phillips, music supervisor for Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, agrees: “TV has grown and changed since then. There is so much great content now and thus the soundtracks are better and more elevated,” she says.

For example, season two of The Handmaid’s Tale, which premieres April 25, features a mix of indie and older but perhaps forgotten female artists. “Primarily, songs are used as a tool to illustrate what’s going on in June’s head. They act in the same way as the voiceovers do. June as a handmaid can’t speak up, or talk about her life, but we connect with her by hearing what’s going on in her head through voiceover or song,” Phillips says.

To further showcase the synergy between show narrative and soundtrack, Spotify and Hulu recently expanded their partnership through a new all-you-can-stream subscription plan, Spotify Premium, now with Hulu.

“Hulu is doing the storytelling, and Spotify can help extend that story with the music and delving into the playlists. It extends the life of these shows,” Jernigan says. Below, he shares what TV-music marriages are on his must-see, must-listen lists.

Insecure: “Sometimes a particular song by a particular artist can be a statement the show is making. It’s exactly what encouraged them to have Kendrick Lamar’s song right as the first song. It was like, ‘We are here.’ When you’re in the world of Insecure that’s a different LA then say, NCIS: Los Angeles. This is L.A., but it’s not Hollywood.”

Dawson’s Creek: “In the ‘90s, shows like Dawson’s Creek used contemporary music like the Paula Cole theme song to tap into the sound of the moment.”

The O.C.: “They took what Dawson’s Creek was doing because it’s the same kind of show, updated it, and took it to another level.”

Glee: “That one was dope because it introduced people to the world of a capella. It used the common thread of music to help aid in acceptance.”

How to Get Away with Murder: “Music added a cool factor. How to Get Away with Murder brought out a different layer of emotion that people really identify with.”

This is Us: “The soundtrack is hopeful. It’s grounded in the journeys that this family is going through, collectively and individually.”

Big Little Lies: “They use some current songs that just have that older sound; they use a lot of Leon Bridges, for example. It makes the show feel a little more timeless.”

Atlanta: “They’re using music to highlight that city in a way that hasn’t been done before. It’s an insider view, and it’s the kind of music people who actually live in Atlanta listen to.”

Craving more music and TV insights? Watch the above shows and more onHulu, and relive your favorite soundtracks on Showstopper.