Spotify experiments with new AI technologies and large language models to expand beyond AI DJ feature

Spotify has launched a new AI DJ feature that provides personalised music selections combined with spoken commentary delivered by an AI-generated voice.

Spotify has bigger plans for its new AI DJ feature after the positive reception it received from its consumers. 

The AI DJ curates a personalized selection of music combined with spoken commentary delivered in a realistic-sounding, AI-generated voice. However, under the hood, the feature leverages the latest in AI technologies and large language models, which Spotify believes could be used in other applications of the technology. 

To create the commentary that accompanies the music, Spotify leveraged its own in-house music experts’ knowledge base and insights. Using OpenAI’s Generative AI technology, the DJ is then able to scale their commentary to the app’s end-users. 

The actual music selections chosen by the DJ come from its existing understanding of a user’s tastes and interests, mirroring what would have before been programmed into personalized playlists. Spotify’s AI DJ’s voice was created using technology Spotify acquired from Sonatic last year and is based on that of Spotify’s head of Cultural Partnerships, Xavier “X” Jernigan. 

“The reason it sounds this good — that is actually the aim of the Sonatic technology, the team which we acquired. It is about the emotion in the voice,” explains Spotify’s head of Personalization, Ziad Sultan.