Spotify launched its AI-powered personal DJ feature back in February, which it describes as a “curated lineup of music alongside commentary around the tracks and artists we think you’ll like in a stunningly realistic voice.”
The company has now announced that the AI DJ feature is expanding to a handful of new countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa, plus to users in Australia and New Zealand.
Alongside today’s announcement on the expansion of the feature, Spotify also shares some statistics on the popularity of its AI DJ.
- AI DJ has become the “most discussed Spotify feature on social media among users.”
- Spotify users are spending nearly one-third of their listening time with DJ.
- When DJ listeners hear commentary alongside the music recommendations, they’re “more willing to try something new” or listen to a song they otherwise might have skipped.
The full list of new countries includes:
Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Belize, Botswana, Burundi, Canada, Dominica, Eswatini, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Tonga, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe
The AI DJ functionality is basically designed to create a never-ending radio station-style stream of music, based on your listening history and habits. The AI DJ voice will transition the songs, similar to what you’d hear on a traditional radio station with an explanation for why it picked the song, when you last listened to it, and more.
9to5Mac’s Take
I’ve used Spotify’s DJ feature quite a bit since it launched in February. In fact, it’s the primary reason I keep paying for Spotify even though I primarily use Apple Music.
Apple Music launched a new “Discover Station” in Apple Music yesterday, which is somewhat similar to the DJ feature in Spotify. The Discover Station is an endless “station” of music that is algorithmically based on your music taste. One of the differences, however, is that it shouldn’t play songs that are already in your library.
Apple Music also offers a personalized station that frequently mixes music that the service thinks you’ll like with artists and songs you’ve played before.
With these two stations, Apple Music is close to being able to replicate the AI DJ feature of Spotify, but the missing DJ voice is of course the key difference.
One of the reasons I like Spotify’s AI DJ feature is that the DJ explains why it thinks you will like a particular song. “I see you listen to a lot of Coldplay, here’s a song from Radiohead we think you’ll enjoy,” for example.
I’d be surprised if Apple wasn’t experimenting with something in this area, likely using Siri as a way to transition between songs with listening tidbits, quick facts, and explaining the logic behind new song recommendations.
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