Spotify is expanding its AI toolkit for music discovery with Prompted Playlists, a new feature now available to Premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. The tool allows users to create personalized playlists simply by describing what they want to hear, in natural, conversational language. Unlike traditional playlist creation, which requires manually searching for songs or relying on curated lists, Prompted Playlists uses advanced AI to interpret user prompts and deliver a fully personalized listening experience.
This feature builds on Spotify’s earlier AI playlist product, launched in 2024, which allowed for simpler commands like “get pumped up with fun, upbeat songs” or “focus at work with instrumental electronica.” With Prompted Playlists, users can provide more detailed instructions, such as “Find me one artist I haven’t listened to much but would probably love, and introduce me to their catalog, putting the best songs at the top.” The AI then analyzes the user’s listening habits and global music trends to generate a playlist uniquely tailored to them.
Spotify emphasizes that users don’t need any musical expertise to take advantage of this tool. J.J. Italiano, Head of Global Music Curation and Discovery at Spotify, explains: “For most people, music curation isn’t part of their day-to-day job. You don’t always have the time or energy to build the perfect playlist every time your mood changes. This feature gives listeners access to that creative process without needing to know genres, years, or industry terminology. If you can describe a feeling, you can make a playlist.”
The AI doesn’t just consider what a user has listened to recently; it looks at their full listening history, trends, cultural context, and global music charts. Users can also choose to ignore their history entirely, allowing the AI to recommend entirely new artists, genres, or songs they might never have encountered otherwise. This feature encourages musical exploration, making it easy to break out of one’s usual listening patterns.
Prompted Playlists also opens up a potential new type of music creator: people who design shareable AI prompts. While the playlist generated by a prompt is personalized to each user, sharing prompts allows others to experience a similar music journey while still reflecting their own tastes. Users can further customize these playlists, fine-tuning the order, skipping songs, or adding new tracks.
Spotify notes that Prompted Playlists will coexist with its earlier AI playlist feature, meaning users can choose between simple AI-generated playlists or more advanced, conversationally-generated ones. While the feature is still in beta, limited to English, and comes with some usage restrictions, Spotify sees it as the “next evolution” of AI-driven music curation. The company has not confirmed when it will expand the tool to global markets, focusing first on refining the feature based on user feedback in the U.S. and Canada.
This move highlights Spotify’s broader investment in AI-driven personalization, aiming to make music discovery more intuitive and creative. By giving users the ability to generate playlists based on anything from moods, TV shows, weather, or personal prompts, Spotify is making it easier than ever for listeners to connect with new music in ways that feel meaningful and unique.
Emmanuel Umahi
