Spotify announced Wednesday that it is giving users more control over its streaming service's algorithm for the first time. At least that's how the company plans to roll out its new “Promoted Playlists,” a feature that will initially be available to Premium subscribers in New Zealand.
According to Spotify, the feature, which is currently only available in English, is still in beta and will evolve before being rolled out to other markets.
The new tool allows users to describe what they want to hear in a personalized playlist that the company says reflects the “full range” of their tastes. This means the playlist focuses not only on the songs you like now, but also on your entire Spotify listening history from day one – which sets the feature apart from other playlists, the company says.
The feature is an evolution of Spotify's existing AI playback option, which debuted last year and also works via written suggestions. Similar to AI playlists, the new cue playlists allow users to request what they want to hear through written instructions. However, they can now write much longer prompts with more detailed instructions. This is because the new AI feature takes into account global knowledge, a Spotify representative explained to TechCrunch.
Additionally, the ability to go back in your listening history and schedule a refresh rate for your playlist makes it different from Spotify's other AI playlist offerings.
For example, Spotify suggests that subscribers can use the new feature and request something like “music from my top artists from the last five years,” and then change the prompt to ask for “deep cuts I haven't heard before.”
In another example of a longer prompt, Spotify said you can request “high-energy pop and hip-hop for a 30-minute 5K run at a steady pace, followed by relaxing songs to cool down” or “music from this year's biggest movies and most talked-about TV shows that match my taste.”
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Additionally, you can further customize the prompt to be even more detailed and set how often it refreshes, such as daily or weekly. The idea is that users can essentially create their own version of something like Spotify's flagship playlist, Discover Weekly, but focused on the type of music, genre or period they want to track, or their own version of something like Spotify's genre-focused Daily Mixes.
The company says the playlist will include descriptions and context so you'll know why you're getting the recommendation. Additionally, it will offer a set of tips to help users get started.
Spotify isn't the only social media app presenting users with the opportunity to take control of the algorithm. Instagram also introduced a new feature today that allows users to control what type of reels they see. Bluesky, a decentralized competitor to X, also allows users to swap its algorithm for their own.
