r/spotify • u/JJfromSpotify • 12d ago
Playlist Question / Discussion I am J.J. from Spotify, AMA
Hey everyone! It’s J.J. here, Head of Global Music Curation & Discovery at Spotify. Yesterday, we announced our Songs of Summer and I wanted to hop on here and do an AMA today at 7am PT/10am ET to tell you all about them and how we select them.
We can talk songs of summer, we can talk music, we can talk Spotify editorial or I would love to hear what you’ve been listening to this summer 2025. Drop your questions below, I’ll see you soon.
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Update: Hey all - would love to stay on here longer but I have to run now! Thanks for having me and for all the questions! Talk again soon? 🎶
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u/34nonbinaryants 12d ago
Why does the algorithm recommend AI generated songs? Will there be an upcoming feature to disable them?
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u/2012MEGATRON 12d ago
Will artists ever get more money?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Spotify pays out around two thirds of every dollar we take in back to the music industry. And last year, we paid out over $10 billion, more than any other streaming service or retailer in history. And more artists than ever are sharing in that money – the number making $1K, $10K, $100K, and even $10M a year has at least tripled since 2017. We break it all down every year in our Loud & Clear report, if you want to dig into the data.
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u/PatronBernard 12d ago
I didn't get a single cent because I didn't reach a certain stream threshold. Why implement such a threshold at all?
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u/melpec 12d ago edited 12d ago
So...no...you don't plan on actually paying artists what they deserve.
You simply confirmed that the 1% of artists who can make money out of Spotify just makes more of it. But fewer and fewer artists can even survive with pennies you're sending them.
This means Spotify is actually aiming at just pushing artists out and use AI so they can keep all the $.
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u/SkippyTheKid 12d ago
Do you have any further information or perspective to share on the recent story of the Seattle band Among Authors, whose music was flagged and removed by Spotify which resulted in their music being pulled from all services and the band being charged penalty fees?
Original thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/spotify/comments/1mzw92d/spotify_is_erasing_thousands_of_real_bands_from/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
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u/Existing_Ice_1005 12d ago
And how similar things will be prevented in the future and how bands that have been caught in this will be compensated
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u/DramaticTechnology68 12d ago
Why has Spotify transitioned into making so many "made for __(me)_" playlists using AI when the platform used to be pride itself for its editiorial playlists? How do you navigate this shift?
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u/Fun-Fix-6445 12d ago
Hey, thanks for doing this AMA. A few things I’ve been wondering:
What’s Spotify’s stance on AI generated music? How do you see it impact artist revenue, discovery, and listener trust. Is Spotify seeing this as a valid replacement for actual music?
The HiFi plan has been “coming soon” for years. Is there any real timeline for it or is it shelved?
The app feels more cluttered lately. Features like direct messaging will likely make it even more so without making the music experience better. Is there a plan to go back to a more music-first design?
Would love to hear your honest take.
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u/phthalomhz 12d ago edited 12d ago
Has there been any internal discussion on giving users the ability to have a “true” shuffle option for playlists? Specifically, a way so that in a playlist of X songs, each song is played once before any are repeated? Or just equally random for each play. This is why people (most people I would say, or at the very least a sizeable minority) create playlists in the first place and I’ve never understood why Spotify doesn’t at least give us that option.
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u/TheArkansasChuggabug 12d ago
Yeah, Spotify shuffle feature is garbage. I work in IT and analyse tens of thousands of thousands of rows of data, sometimes hundreds. I can re-order those with an algorithm in a heartbeat and none of them will be repeated - it really isn't hard.
My initial thoughts on this are that labels/major agents pay Spotify/arrange a deal or something where their artists feature more prominently in the algorithm. Essentially a pay to play kinda thing which again, smaller artists who don't have that leverage will just fall into the abyss as they get played less and less over time.
My bands most recent track got like, nearly 50% popularity score, we got on discover weekly and got... 104 streams. We are fully independent - independent and smaller artists are getting way less help than they need. I got Metallica - Enter Sandman on my discover weekly playlist, I have a large portion of their discography across multiple playlists. I don't need them in my discover weekly, I'm well aware of Enter Sandman by Metallica.
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u/spacecadet1979 12d ago
This! I've been saying this for years. It's mind blowing that Spotify hasn't figured out what is the most basic feature of a streaming platform. The shuffle algorithm is nonsensical and seems to lock on to certain songs/groups repeating things without ever playing other songs once. I literally forgot many of the songs on my playlists because they never get played. I'm at the point now where if the subscription price increases again before they figure out how to make the shuffle feature actually shuffle, I will happily cancel. It's a middle finger to the user base.
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u/octavionultodoritor 12d ago
I moved to yt music because of this and i will move back to spotify if an actual true shuffle is released
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u/barbecuesam 12d ago
What are your thoughts on Daniel Ek (Spotify CEO) investing €600 million into Helsing, a start-up company specialising in AI military software?
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u/Strong_Ad_8959 12d ago
By doing this AMA how much will it raise Spotify prices by? How does Spotify justify removing features and then bringing them back a decade late to justify raising prices (direct messaging). Where is hi-res and Dolby?
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u/HighwayAlive8995 12d ago
How can we block AI generated 'music' from showing up in our daily lists and recommendations?
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12d ago
[deleted]
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
The label a song is released through doesn’t factor into consideration when making editorial decisions, and our editorial playlists include quite a lot of independent artists. As a matter of fact, the only time we do take distributors into consideration is for playlist brands like Fresh Finds where we specifically focus on tracks that are released independently. Check it out if you haven’t yet and let me know what you think.
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u/PatronBernard 12d ago edited 12d ago
Why can't you implement real shuffle functionality? Why can't we disable AI music suggestions? Why does jazz and classical radio always give the same songs, and why does radio not work for classical subgenres (if I put on radio based on Bach I don't expect to hear Debussy, etc.)? Why do you keep raising the prices, even though your product does not actually improve? Will you answer any of these questions? Of course not.
Edit: fuck you.
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u/Sea_Appointment8408 12d ago
Why can't you block bot playlists from the platform?
Apple Music doesn't have this problem.
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u/Kreiger81 12d ago
Hey JJ, any plans to release a higher audio quality on Spotify? I love so much about Spotify but if I want to have a real listening session, Apple Music or Tidal just offer better sound quality out of the gate (although not as good as raw flac). Id love to be able to have a one-stop solution for my music needs.
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u/AsianAzze 12d ago
Howdy!
First, with other platforms offering higher sound quality, what is stopping Spotify from implementing higher quality across their platform? I know it has been mentioned the past few years, but no definitive answer has been given.
Second, curious on why pay to artist is abysmal to listen to their music and is this why there is a shift in AI generated music? I’m sure I know the reason and know why, just wanted to confirm if what I thought is in the ballpark.
Thanks
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u/_wurli 12d ago
Like many users I find the shuffle experience on Spotify somewhat lacking :( E.g. lots of repeated patterns, lots of songs which never seem to be surfaced by the algorithm. That said, it does seem that these issues have gotten slightly better than they used to be.
Can you give users more control here? I'd love 'true' shuffle, e.g. that just picks a random number from 1 to (n songs in playlist) and plays that song next, unless it is the currently playing song. An option to switch between a few shuffle algorithms would be a super nice feature IMO.
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u/theoneforone 12d ago
This once existed by the name of 'playlist radio', until removed to be replaced by the lacking smart shuffle experience. There have been multiple petitions for it to be reinstated, but they're just ignored.
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u/melpec 12d ago
Hey J.J., are people at C level at Spotify aware of the disastrous reputation they now have?
If so, are they planning to stop pushing AI and raise payout to artists so that it doesn't look so much like a complete racket?
Also, are people at Spotify aware they are actually killing the music industry rather than helping it?
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u/Striking_Border6905 12d ago
We're still waiting for Hi-Res and Dolby Atmos. There's no news from your side (Spotify) either. What's the latest on this?
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u/MrrCookieman 12d ago
Why can’t we for the love of god have a real shuffle function? And not a replay of the same 100 songs…
and stop promoting certain artists to be played more? I’ve become a top 0,1% listener of an artist that I’ve never put on on my own
And little tip, AI artists will surely be the downfall of your application
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u/Falke145 12d ago
You get 100? You're lucky, I get 20.
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u/CumDwnHrNSayDat 12d ago
I must be really lucky, I shuffle my liked songs all the time (15k songs) and I don't get the same songs at all.
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u/Floschi123456 12d ago
Why is Spotify getting so much worse all the time? What are the plans to tacke AI Fake releases being uploaded in the Artist Profiles of real artists? When is lossless finally coming?
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u/InterestingChampion6 12d ago
Will there be some kind of label that helps us identify which “artists” are actually AI?
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u/-s-t-e-v-e- 12d ago
How do you justify hiking the price every year when the service gets worse with each update?
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u/wormwoodscrub 12d ago
How do you feel about destroying creativity and the CEO funneling the money you've stolen into war?
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u/Any_Size_9111 12d ago
How long do we still have to wait for lossless streaming? How can you live up to the loyal fans of Spotify worldwide?
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u/PreferredSelection 12d ago
Is Spotify going to be one of the first to recognize the ai bubble and move away from ai slop?
Or are y'all in "go down with the ship" mode like in the last tech bubble?
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u/demonic_slime 12d ago
When will you stop people in my country (Turkey) that use bots to launder money?
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u/chikennuggetluvr 12d ago
Hi JJ, thanks for your bravery coming on here and I look forward to how you will answer the questions already posted about the overwhelming presence of AI on the app and paying your actual human artists more.
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Of course - glad to be here. It's not really what I work on, but I know a lot of people at Spotify who do. What I do know is that Spotify doesn’t own any AI content, and we’re not prioritizing it or making more money off of it. AI generated content is distributed by third parties, just like all of the content on Spotify. On artist pay, Spotify pays out more and more to the music industry every year. We pay out around two thirds of every dollar we take in back to the music industry and we hit $10 billion paid out last year.
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u/PatronBernard 12d ago edited 12d ago
You are sidestepping the question. Artists != music industry. You're not here to answer real questions. This is just marketing.
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u/SwampYankee 12d ago
Why should I subscribe to Spotify if a single nickel of my subscription went to Joe Rogan? How about a cheaper, podcast free subscription where we don’t have to subsidize hate?
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u/Otherwise_Parsnip640 12d ago
Why does Joe Rogan get hundreds of millions of dollars but somehow you cant afford to even mimic a working shuffle algorithm that doesnt repeat the same 8-12 songs, even when a Playlist is hundreds or thousands of songs? EXPLAIN YOURSELF.
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u/xfdm 12d ago
Are you proud to work for a company that donated such a large amount of money to Trump’s inauguration?
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u/RexParvusAntonius 12d ago
I have built an AI music detection software and your platform (out of 100,000 songs randomly selected) had 25,854 songs being highly - likely AI generated, with 15,739 songs being Suno and Udio confirmed generation s. Would you like to see my program and results?
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u/___HeyGFY___ 12d ago
Why is there not a way to opt out of podcasts, audiobooks, etc. for those of us who only listen to music?
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u/iSeaStars7 12d ago
It’s pretty shameful that I pay for premium and I’m still getting sponsored recommendations
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u/SericNermon88 12d ago
What is Spotify going to do about a growing problem: playlists that call themselves '[Artists name] Greatest Hits' and then insert artists who are not the artist in question, to artificially generate listens.
I'd love to put myself into 'The Beatles Greatest Hits', but that would be taking the p#ss somewhat wouldn't it?
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u/RrentTreznor 12d ago edited 12d ago
Hey JJ,
There's a huge discussion to be had about what's the best modern avenue to take for music promotion when it comes to unlocking and activating that algorithm that's been so elusive to artists like myself.
I wouldn't recommend it, but if you take a deep dive, you'll find thousands upon thousands of promotional services - ranging from clear-cut bot slop to legitimate playlist pitching at quite a premium cost.
As I work on promoting my own emerging electronic moniker, it's easy to get discouraged when it feels that those with the most likelihood of achieving success are those that are willing to spend the most.
Every artist believes in their work - but reconciling the ocean-sized divide between the reality and the dream can be discouraging, as you can imagine. It's unfathomable how many incredible musicians there are out there that will never be discovered, simply because they don't have the means to reach an audience in an age where tens of thousands of songs a day are being put out (not even factoring in AI slop, as well).
Care to share your thoughts on this and perhaps offer any sort of encouragement to folks like myself that feel like the system is working against them?
Thanks!
Edit: ...and he's gone.
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u/theoneforone 12d ago
Are you the reason spotify removed the playlist radio function? Which helped people find songs similar to a self-defined vibe. Ie, a playlist of 5 songs that I define as similar will find me plenty that match, as opposed to a singular song radio or an album radio..
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u/Salty_Guava6442 12d ago
What role do music editors play in personalized features like DJ?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Editors help craft the things DJ says in between recommendations, select music highlights, and surface tracks that feel timely and meaningful. So when DJ talks about an artist’s comeback or recommends something new, there’s human perspective guiding it. It makes DJ feel personal while also being personalized.
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u/flyingchocolatecake 12d ago
What’s up with Spotify’s extremely slow release of new features? The AI DJ launched over two years ago and still isn’t available in most countries. Why is it in Sweden but not a couple kilometers away in Denmark? Why is it taking so long?
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u/CatabolicMystic 12d ago
I recently came across the Cph+ playlist, which highlights alternative sounds emerging from Copenhagen. How does Spotify identify and curate microgenres or local cultural moments like this, and what’s the process for deciding when a scene or sound deserves its own playlist?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
We have editors and music culture experts all around the world, so we are actively looking for moments, communities and scenes that we can highlight to a broader audience. To the second part of your question, the inspiration for a new playlist can come from a variety of places, but is usually either something we’ve identified that users are searching for or something that we have noticed ourselves by going to local shows or being engaged with music culture IRL in one way or another.
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u/Wowohboy666 12d ago
Why is it so easy to upload copyrighted material and profit from it off your platform as someone who does not hold the copyright?
How do you feel about bombing children?
Why does Spotify hate it's user base so much and offer nothing in the way of innovation?
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u/eyefetish 12d ago
Will the DJ function be able to be controlled by voice commands someday?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Yes, we actually already have that feature in over 60 markets now! You can ask DJ for specific vibes using just your voice.
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u/walteroblanco 12d ago
Why not make songs of winter for us down in the southern hemisphere?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Great question! While this global Songs of Summer list lines up with the Northern Hemisphere, we do highlight Songs of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere when it’s your summer too, just at a different time of year. Plus, our local editors are always curating playlists and moments that reflect what’s trending in your region all year round.
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u/Grassanth 12d ago
Hey JJ,
Do playlists still have a 10k song cap? My main playlist is getting close and i need to know if i need to start cleaning it up soon?
Cheers
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u/Marcqui_Blvck 12d ago
As a artist who drops music consistently what is the criteria for playlist pitching
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
There is no criteria! Anyone can submit their tracks for editorial consideration through Spotify for Artists.
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u/Low-Significance6282 12d ago
How do you balance picking crowd favorites with highlighting emerging artists?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
If you mean our songs of summer, this balance is what our editors love about this list. We want to reflect what listeners are already loving (like Alex Warren’s “Ordinary”), but also surface tracks and artists who might’ve flown under the radar. sombr is a perfect example. “back to friends” became a phenomenon, not because of huge promo, but because people connected with it. So we make space for both: what’s everywhere and what deserves to be.
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u/airportparkway 12d ago
Why was Golden by HUNTR/X left out of the Songs of Summer, despite its massive success the past 2 months?
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u/echoinbytes 12d ago
Why cant I receive podcasts recommendations in English and Italian (I am Brazilian and live in Brazil)?
Why am I obliged to keep receiving this dumb unfunny comics interviews in PT-BR?
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u/lazer-blazer 12d ago
Hi! Why wasn't there a single song of summer like in years past?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Summer doesn’t revolve around one big anthem anymore, it’s shaped by different moods, genres, and cultures. People aren’t all listening to the same song on repeat the way they might’ve in the past. It’s way more personal, more global, and every listener’s summer looks a little different. This is actually the second year in a row that we’ve picked a Top 5 instead of naming just one song. The idea of a single “song of the summer” doesn’t really tell the full story anymore, and we’ve already been leaning into that shift.
And to your second question, It’s a balance. We use data to understand what listeners are connecting with on Spotify, but our editorial teams bring context, like spotting emerging trends, factoring in cultural moments, and identifying tracks that might not top charts but define a season and have high exportability globally.
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u/SoFla-Grown 12d ago
Hey JJ,
Thanks for being here and taking the time to do this. As someone who is relatively fresh to entering the world of music management, what are the best ways to go about getting a lesser known artist on Spotify's larger editorial playlists? I appreciate the time and insight. 🙏
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Great question, and welcome to the music industry! Once you have a song scheduled for release, you can pitch your song for editorial consideration through Spotify For Artists. Our editors listen to songs that are pitched by new and emerging artists all the time and that’s the best way to get your song started in our editorial ecosystem. Once a track is released, we look at how it performs in our editorial lists as well as how it performs organically and, depending on how it performs we add it to more and more playlists. Including our larger flagship playlists.
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u/GlossySalad 12d ago
Will we ever get the ability to tell the AI DJ what we want it to play for us? Text prompts would be great
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12d ago
[deleted]
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u/HyShroom 12d ago
Playlists are for curating music to which you already listen which music you want grouped together for consecutive listening.
OP is referring to generative playlists based off written descriptions to find music that you and perhaps of which noöne that you know has heard, but which is exactly what you’ve been wishing to hear all of your life and to listen to it in real time.
They are completely different, in almost every way.
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u/GlossySalad 12d ago
Yeah. Right now I get suggestions from Discover Weekly and Release Radar. Those typically skew to what I’ve been listening to recently.
What if I haven’t listened to rock music in months, but get an itch for new rock music? I’d love to type into DJ “play some rock music I haven’t heard before”.
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u/fkprivateequity 12d ago
its already there! theres a voice command thing you can use to ask for specific artists and genres
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
You can now! Premium users in over 60 markets can ask DJ for specific vibes using just your voice. You can ask DJ X to play you songs based on your favorite genre or whatever mood you’re in (like “play some indie tracks I haven’t heard before” or “give me hype music for a party”). DJ is still in beta, but maybe one day you’ll be able to type to DJ X 😉
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u/GlossySalad 12d ago
Oh wow, I didn’t even realize. I listen a lot on desktop and I can’t find the feature on there, but I can probably just control from my phone and play on my desktop for now.
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u/lidia99 12d ago
Thx for the AMA! Do you have any tricks for showing up in Spotify search for playlists? As someone who curates the largest, most updated 'Cali reggae' list on Spotify (r/CaliReggae | Cali Reggae Playlist) updated weekly, we've tried everything to show up ahead of dated, stagnant playlists in the search results.
Just trying to spread our genre to the world. ! Thx for your help!
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u/CryptographerBig4510 12d ago
What feature do u use the most and think more people should know about?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Jam, probably. I've always connected with people through music, so Jam really helps me do that. Try it out and let me know what you think!
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u/KairuSenpai1770 12d ago
If I have an EXCELLENT idea for the app , that I would like to see implemented.. who would be the best person to give my ideas to so they could ponder and maybe enact them? Has anyone ever suggested something that the team agreed with and implemented before ?
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u/Low-Significance6282 12d ago
What trends were big on Spotify this Summer?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Audiences seem to be gravitating towards more downtempo, story-driven pop music which definitely stands out particularly in summertime where we usually see big uptempo pop bangers. Additionally we're continuing to see country music grow and evolve and this summer there have been a lot of collaborations between country artists and pop and hip hop artists, which I think is also indicative of a younger generation being far more open to listening to music across a variety of genres as well as the constraints around what is considered country music continuing to fall away.
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u/mahdroo 12d ago
How much are your choices for song data driven versus feeling a vibe?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
We like to say that we’re “data-informed, rather than data-led.” The editorial job is a combination of understanding how songs are reacting with audiences and using our own taste and intuition to anticipate how we think audiences will respond to new discoveries.
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u/w000dsyOwl 12d ago
How do you let a once in a generation talent like Ryen Russillo get out the door?
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u/_nehrd 12d ago
Do you think songs of the summer have to be released during the summer/current year?
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u/JJfromSpotify 12d ago
Not at all! The perfect summer song just has to resonate with people in the right way during the season. Charli xcx’s “party 4 u” is a great example, and a song that was included on our predictions list this summer. It dropped back in 2020 and was always a fan favorite, but never got a big spotlight. After she started performing it on tour, it completely took on a whole new life and saw a massive streaming spike. Our editors look at both recent releases and songs that are having a cultural resurgence, no matter when they originally came out.
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u/WelcomeImportant 12d ago
Why is there no song of summer this year like in years past? And how much is this list based on data vs. spotify opinion?
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u/Cali_Reggae 12d ago
r/calireggae have a 5,000 song Spotify playlist of Cali reggae. We're all about summer !
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u/Clear-Ad6161 12d ago
Hey, J.J.! Thanks for doing this! Only one question: I live in Florida, I have a Samsung S22, when do I get the Mix update?
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u/ToucanToodles 12d ago
How do I get all my playlists to shuffle through all of the songs? I keep getting the same 5-6 daily and even songs repeated during the day on my 8+ hour work playlist. I’m desperate for a solution.