Let’s Talk to the AI DJ: Real-Time Feedback for a Truly Personalized Experience

[mysticaltech]

Hi Spotify Community,

I’m here to share my thoughts on the new AI DJ feature and suggest a game-changing improvement that could make it feel less robotic and much more human.

When the AI DJ gets it right, it’s fantastic—it delivers a lineup that feels deeply personalized and in tune with my vibe. But when it doesn’t, it becomes a source of daily frustration. Here’s where things fall apart and how we could fix it together:

---

The Problem

1. Unwanted Genres Keep Coming Back:
   I live in Spain, but I’m not a fan of Latin hits. Despite skipping them daily, the AI keeps serving them up like clockwork. It’s as if the AI isn’t listening to me.

2. No Way to Give Direct Feedback:
   I wish I could simply tell the AI, “Hey, I don’t like this genre,” or “More of this, less of that.” Right now, the only feedback mechanisms are skips and the DJ button to shuffle the genre, which clearly aren’t enough to teach the AI.

---

The Vision: Talk to the AI DJ Like a Real DJ

Imagine if we could actually talk to the AI DJ—just like having a conversation with a human DJ spinning tracks for us.

A long press on the DJ button would bring it up in an interactive manner so we can actually talk to it to set our preferences and provide feedback.

Here’s what it could look like:

• Real-Time Feedback:
  Let us say, “I don’t like this genre,” “Avoid Latin hits,” or “Play more jazz.” The AI would process this in real-time and adjust the playlist accordingly.

• Prohibit Genres or Artists:
  Allow users to explicitly ban certain genres or artists from their playlists. This would prevent the AI from pushing music we actively dislike.

• Guided Discovery:
  If I’m exploring new sounds, I could say, “Introduce me to more underground indie,” or “Play something upbeat from the ’80s.”

• Conversational Prompts:
  By integrating LLM technology, the AI DJ could ask clarifying questions:

  • “Got it, no more Latin hits. Would you like more of your usual favorites or explore a different genre?”
  • “Understood! Do you want to dive deeper into this artist?”

---

Why This Matters

This isn’t just about fixing frustration; it’s about making the AI DJ feel human. A DJ’s magic lies in their ability to read the room and respond to feedback. Spotify’s AI DJ has the potential to do this—and more—but it needs to let users be part of the conversation.

Let’s create an AI DJ that’s not just a playlist generator but a true companion in our music journey.

Does this resonate with anyone else? Would you use these features if they were available?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Cheers!

[moracca]

I second this!  I'd love to be able to describe my mood to the dj in natural language and have it cook up the perfect playlist.  And I want to be able to tell it to not play some specific type of music if I want

[Tanoe]

I would also add a way to say "I like this type of song", "Play more like this song" or "I love this artist, play more of him"

I also had a similar idea where it's a simple like/dislike button that could be next to the "save" button. If you like the song you can like it, and it will only affect the DJ, then it will pop up a selection screen where it gives 2 options, "the song?" meaning you liked the genre/beat, or "artist?" and that would play more of that artist and more like that artist

[just_another_ghost]

I literally came here to suggest this very thing only to find you had written it out much better than I would have. My use case is "Please make a playlist of all Lemon Jelly, Royksopp, and other things that fit"

[fgartland4]

These are not just great ideas, they're essential to ensuring Spotify retains its place as the go-to platform for music. Let me give you another real example: I listen to ocean sounds when I sleep. But I don't dig listening to the ocean when I'm hanging out. The current implementation of Live DJ clearly doesn't get that fairly obvious distinction -- and gives me no method I can find to stop playing "sleep sounds" when I'm trying to create or enjoy a mood.

Leveraging even lightweight AI would easily enable me to help Live DJ suppress sounds that make no sense and create the right vibe. I do love the way Live DJ can introduce great music and occasionally pick just the right song for mixing things up, etc. But it gets things so, so, so wrong so often that it's pretty frustrating. This is easy. Please iterate.