Spotify launches AI-powered Prompted Playlists
Spotify has launched Prompted Playlists, an AI-powered playlist creation tool, for Premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. The feature, initially tested in New Zealand, enables users to generate playlists by verbally describing their desired listening experience.
Prompted Playlists expands upon an earlier AI playlist product introduced in 2024, which accepted simpler prompts regarding mood or genre. The new iteration allows for more conversational and detailed user input.
A demonstration cited by Spotify illustrated a complex prompt: “Find me one artist I haven’t listened to yet, but would probably love, or an artist I’ve only heard one or two songs from, and introduce me to them. Build a playlist of songs that’ll give me an overview of their catalog so it feels like I’m getting to know them. Put the songs you think I’ll like the most in the top five spots.”
J.J. Italiano, Spotify’s Head of Global Music Curation and Discovery, said the feature aims to broaden playlist accessibility, stating, “For most people, isn’t a part of their job. You don’t always have the time or the energy to keep building the perfect playlist every time your mood changes, and that’s where prompted playlists will come in.” Italiano’s team manages playlists including Today’s Top Hits and New Music Friday. He added, “This gives listeners access to that creative process without needing to know genres, or years, or industry language. You don’t need the right words. You just need your words.” Italiano concluded, “If you can describe a feeling, you can make a playlist.”
The AI, Spotify stated, analyzes global music trends, charts, culture, and history in real time, alongside a user’s complete listening history on the platform. While playlists are personalized by default, users can instruct the AI to exclude their listening history, promoting discovery of new music, or generate playlists based on non-musical concepts like weather or TV shows.
Prompt sharing could foster a new type of creator focused on developing AI prompts. Each user’s generated playlist would remain unique due to personalization based on individual tastes and listening history, with options for further modification.
Spotify describes Prompted Playlists as the “next evolution” of its prior AI playlist feature, offering enhanced real-time trend understanding, comprehensive analysis of user listening behavior, and greater control. Both the new and older AI playlist features will coexist, which may cause consumer confusion. The beta feature currently has usage limits and is available only in English.
Spotify did not specify a global rollout timeline, stating it will use initial market learnings to inform future launches.