Spotify has just unveiled an exciting new AI Playlist feature. This innovative tool generates fresh playlists tailored to your unique music taste, drawing from your listening history and preferences. But so do all the other playlists and the recently added DJ. Sure, it sounds like a promising way to discover new music, but it’s not the only thing on users’ minds. Many are very eager for improvements to basic features like the shuffle button, something that hasn’t lived up to expectations for many, and yet AI is the focus.
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Spotify AI Playlist can generate new playlists for you in just a few prompts
Shuffle needs to go back to the basics before AI enters the picture
All I want is a truly randomized playlist
My partner and I have created a collaborative playlist where we can add our favorite songs and listen to them when we’re in the car together. But whenever I play the playlist, Spotify favors her music over mine. The same thing applies when she’s connected to the car and tries to play our playlist, favoring my music, so she discovers my favorite songs.
While, in theory, this sounds cool, the problem is that it’s very consistent and always favors the other person’s songs. Spotify will play my partner’s song 7 out of 10 times (not scientifically tested), whereas all I ever wanted was a mix of our favorite songs to be played while traveling together. Neither of us wants to listen to only our songs, and we want a mixed variety for fun.
While the argument could be made that nothing is truly random, mixing music in a way that doesn’t take preferences, users, history, and other various attributes into calculation could help fix the problem. Sure enough, the platform couldrandomlyselect multiple songs from a particular user, but at least there would be some inconsistency. However, Spotify continues to ignore user requests to favor its discovery feature to help retain more users, whether they’re premium subscribers or free listeners.
AI-enhanced features solve an issue that never existed
Not everything needs to be powered by AI, but it’s nice sometimes
Spotify already offers several AI-enhanced features that draw inspiration from user preferences, listening habits, and history. Take the Discover weekly feature as an example. It’s a playlist curated by similar songs, genres, and artists that the platform thinks you might like. The Autoplay feature also recommends and plays songs when a playlist has ended, enabling you to continue listening to music you might like based on your picks and history. There’s also the new DJ, offering yet another similar playlist to the rest.
These all sound nice, and while the last few options generally work really well, a true shuffle option is something many users have been asking for. Spotify has been in the business for nearly two decades, and the company still hasn’t addressed one of the most requested features. There’s also the lack of HD audio for audiophiles, which isn’t helping things. There are many people out there who want to hear every beat and have high-end equipment to do so, so why not offer a tier that’d cater to that audience? Ultimately, there are more important things to tackle than adding yet another AI playlist to the mix.
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And don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of this new AI-enhanced era. There are lots of great new innovations, features, and solutions — some of which work really well. I understand that these features help improve retention rates and ultimately generate more money for artists, publishers, and even Spotify. However, there needs to be a compromise if Spotify wants me to keep on paying for a service that doesn’t deliver the experience I’m hoping for. There are multiple other music streaming services out there, and many offer a shuffle button that actually works as expected.
