If Spotify is focused on one thing, it’s personalizing the music listening experience–for better or worse. The Spotify DJ is one of the coolest ways it does this, but it could be so, so much better.
We first said hello to the Spotify DJ in February 2023, and it was described as a “personalized AI guide that knows you and your music taste so well that it can choose what to play for you.” At first, I really enjoyed listening to the DJ. However, it’s essentially stayed the same in the two years since, and it could use some love.
Let Me Customize the DJ’s Personality
There’s only one Spotify DJ that everyone gets: “DJ X.” The male-coded voice greets you by name (if it’s common), and there’s not much else in the personality department. In a world where you can have Christina Aguilera read driving instructions to you, this feels like a missed opportunity.
I think it’d be cool if you could choose from a list of personas for the DJ. Maybe you could choose from a fast-talking sports radio jock, a sultry 70s late-night radio host, or an energetic American Top 40-style show. At the very least, it’d be nice if Spotify allowed you to choose from a handful of voices.
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Pull Records From My Own Library Sometimes
The Spotify DJ is personalized to your music taste, but that personalization only goes as far as your listening history. It knows what you’ve been listening to recently, and it can dip back into the past to do things like, “Here’s what you were listening to in 2022,” etc. Why stop there, though?
It’d be neat if the DJ acted like they were sitting at a desk in my library of saved playlists, albums, songs, and artists. Imagine how fun it would be if the DJ occasionally said, “Here’s a mix of songs from your playlist called ‘Pump the Jams,’ which you created in August 2019.” Or simply play some songs from a playlist I haven’t played in a while. I want the DJ to be free to play around with my stuff.
What About Music Discovery?
One thing the Spotify DJ doesn’t seem too concerned about is surfacing new music. It seems to generally play artists from my listening history, whether it’s current or past, and not much else. That gets stale after a while (and it’s a problem with Spotify as a whole, too).
I’d love to hear some blocks of songs that I’ve never heard before. Spotify already knows whether I’ve listened to a song or not. It could easily pick a few unheard songs from a genre it knows I like. This is something I do on my own sometimes, so it’d be great if the DJ did it for me.
Give Me Local Information
Spotify is obviously modeling the DJ after radio DJs, but I don’t think it’s gone far enough. I’d like it to be even more like old-school radio stations. One way it could do that would be to pull in short podcast episodes, similar to Spotify’s “Daily Drive” playlist–but better.
“Daily Drive” is mainly focused on national news, but to be more like a real radio station, it’d be really cool if it read some local news. That would make the DJ feel even more personalized. How cool would it be if the DJ popped in before the next segment to say, “The Michigan Wolverines won their NCAA tournament game last night…” Spotify knows where I live, so it’s not a stretch to let the DJ recite some news from my area.
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Spotify’s AI DJ Should Read the Local News Too
I thought Spotify’s AI DJ was just a gimmick, but after trying it out I find in many cases it’s my preferred way to have Spotify play in the background as as I drive, work, or relax. However, I’d love it if the AI DJ could expand on its limited “daily drive” music and news feature, and give me personalized news that will once and for all replace radio for me.
Act More Like an Actual “DJ”
That leads me to my final point: I just want the DJ to be more like a DJ. Currently, DJ X occasionally attempts to drop little tidbits of personality into its segues. There’s really nothing Earth-shattering about this, though. It’s always pretty basic, surface-level stuff.
I’d appreciate some actual information about what it’s playing for me. There’s already information available on Spotify itself that the DJ could be pulling from. Tell me where and when the band was formed. Tell me how many times a song has been streamed or how many monthly listeners the artist has. Tell me if the artist is playing a show in my city. Tell me a funny anecdote from their Wikipedia page. You get the idea.
I don’t want the DJ to be talking for five minutes in between every segment, but some personality and useful information would go a long way. It’s kinda pointless for an AI-generated voice to pop on and say canned phrases like, “That was [artist name] doing [artist name] stuff.” Okay? I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean.
Ultimately, upgrading Spotify’s DJ feature could bring a deeper sense of connection. It would transform the DJ from a generic voice into a more interesting companion. So much of the AI-driven content these days feels very soulless. There’s an opportunity for Spotify to bring some of the nostalgic charm of traditional radio. No other streaming service has anything like the DJ, and Spotify should do more with it.
