While traditional radio stations (a.k.a terrestrial radio) are still a popular form of at-the-ready entertainment in 2023, social media and other platforms, apps and services have long since made their mainstream debuts, capturing millions of listeners’ attentions and transforming how relevant music and podcast-esque content is consumed.
Now, what else has already been supremely relevant this year?
AI.
Combine these topics, and you get the latest from Spotify (News - Alert): the AI DJ.
Here’s the scoop. As many Spotify Premium users in the U.S. and Canada have recently discovered in their test-run jam sessions with this AI-powered feature, they’ve realized that it mirrors their music interests and really does curate DJ’d playlists for them, right on the spot.
By searching AI DJ on Spotify, the “playlist” will pop up. (Here, “playlist” is in quotes because it’s unlike previous Spotify playlists and how they’re created by individual users, brands, etc.)
As a representative from Spotify worded it in a “For the Record” post from earlier this year, “The beauty of these kinds of experiences – similar to our Discover Weekly and annual Wrapped campaigns – is how they deliver the right piece of music for exactly the right moment, connecting you with artists old and new.”
And another kicker with this AI DJ? Its stunningly realistic voice that speaks to users while sorting song and album preferences via generative AI.
“Though this is, by no means, a replacement for a DJ,” assured one Xavier “X” Jernigan, Spotify’s Head of Cultural Partnerships and the person off whom the AI DJ’s voice was actually modeled. “It’s an enhancement. Our in-house creative producers and cultural experts use all their knowledge of culture and of what’s happening in music, on top of our deep relationships with artists and labels. So it’s not a competition with radio; this is its own thing. It’s more personalized. Our AI DJ isn’t a broadcast, but a personalization play for each and every Spotify listener.”
So rather than a half-garbled, robotic AI voice popping up, “X” from Spotify personalizes music suggestions that seem to be hitting home for users that have already given the AI DJ a spin; more akin to a familiar, old school radio DJ you’ve been friends with for years.
Overall, Spotify’s AI DJ, as Forbes aptly put it, “knows your musical past, and wants to shape the future of music itself via personalization and music lineup technology.”
The AI DJ also debuted this past week in both the U.K. and Ireland.