Spotify is bringing its AI-powered playlists to the US and Canada

Spotify is rolling out Guided Playlists, a new AI playlist creation tool, to Premium subscribers in the US and Canada. The feature, which was originally tested in New Zealand, allows users to create a playlist by describing what they want to hear in their own words.

Guided playlists are based on a previous AI playlist product, launched in 2024, which allowed for simpler prompts such as “focus on working with electronic instruments” or “enjoy fun, upbeat and positive songs”.

Instead, the new Requested Playlists feature allows users to explain what they want to hear in more detail, in conversation mode.

In a demo to the press, for example, Spotify showed me a playlist built to a long prompt, which read, “Find me one artist I haven’t listened to yet, but would probably like, or an artist I’ve only heard a song or two about, and introduce me to them. Create a playlist of songs that will give me an overview of their catalog so I feel like I’m getting to know them. Put the songs you think I’ll like best in the top five.”

The idea behind the new feature, explains JJ Italiano, head of global music and discovery at Spotify, is to enable anyone to create a playlist, even if they don’t know much about organizing music or the right words to use.

“For most people, this isn’t part of their job. You don’t always have the time or energy to keep creating the perfect playlist every time your mood changes, and that’s where in-demand playlists will come in,” said Italiano, whose team makes popular Spotify playlists like Today’s Top Hits, New Music Friday, Rap Caviar and others. “This gives listeners access to that creative process without having to know the genres, years, or industry lingo. You don’t need the right words. You just need your words.”

“If you can describe a feeling, you can make a playlist,” he added.

The AI ​​behind the feature analyzes the world of music in real time, including “trends, charts, culture and history,” Spotify says, as well as a user’s entire listening history since they joined the service.

While playlists are personalized to their creator by default, users can also use the tool to help break away from their usual listening habits and get different recommendations. This means they can tell AI specifically no To use their listening history as a reference point, or they can direct it to introduce them to songs they haven’t heard before, as in the example above.

Claims don’t have to include any musical terms either. For example, users can request a playlist inspired by the weather or a favorite TV show.

And because the prompts are shareable, the feature could also lead to a new type of creator, one who makes AI prompts that others will want to try. Although the prompt itself will be the same, the resulting playlist for each user will differ, as it is customized to their tastes and listening history. They can then modify this playlist further, if they choose.

Spotify says Guided Playlists are the “next evolution” of its previous AI playlist feature. The new version is more tuned to real-time music trends and culture, understands the full range of a user’s listening behavior – not just what they’ve listened to recently – and provides deeper control. However, the legacy AI playlist feature will not be turned off. Instead, the two products will live side by side, which could lead to consumer confusion, given the similarities.

This feature will have some usage limits because it is still in beta, and these limits can change over time. It is also only available in English at the moment.

The company was unable to say when the targeted playlists would reach global subscribers, noting that it first wants to learn from these initial markets to inform future launches.