Spotify’s Mobile App
For years, Spotify users have been clamoring for more control over the recommendation algorithm on the music streaming service. Now, after more than a decade of pleas, the company seems to be testing a new feature that could finally give users the ability to control the music recommendations that appear in their feeds.
The new feature, called “Taste Profile,” will give users the ability to see and control aspects of their listening preferences. Rather than simply letting the algorithm learn their preferences over time, users will be able to control their recommendations by telling Spotify what types of music they want more or less of.
The feature is currently being tested on a small group of premium users, which could mark one of the biggest changes to the service in its 15-year history.
Algorithm
The recommendation engine has been a hallmark of the platform since its inception in 2008. Playlists such as Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and personalized playlists are highly dependent on machine learning algorithms that analyze listening patterns of millions of users.
The engine looks at signals such as skipped songs, repeated listens, saved songs, and playlist engagement. It builds a comprehensive listener profile over time based on each listener’s musical preferences.
However, this process has always been opaque. Listeners could only shape the recommendations through likes, skips, and blocking artists, but they could not view or edit the profile that informed these recommendations.
This opacity has been a common complaint of listeners who feel that their recommendations sometimes veer off into left field, away from their actual preferences.
Courtesy Of Alpha Photo ( Flickr CC0)“Taste Profile”
The problem is that this information has not been directly accessible to users until now. The solution is the new Taste Profile function, which aims to rectify this situation by making this information available to users.
As reported, this service enables users to evaluate the artists, genres, and listening habits that the algorithm thinks characterize their musical preferences. They can then use this information to modify these factors, essentially fixing the algorithm when it makes mistakes.
For instance, users can instruct Spotify to:
- Play more hip-hop or electronic music
- Play less acoustic or slow music
- Play music that is more suitable for exercise or moods
They can also deselect factors that may have been influencing their playlists negatively.
Common Problem
One of the most frequent issues with Spotify’s recommendation algorithm has to do with shared accounts.
When more than one person accesses an account, usually when families share a shared device in the household, the listening patterns of each individual can get jumbled together. This could include children listening to lullabies, parents listening to podcasts, or roommates listening to different types of music.
The Taste Profile is designed to address these issues by allowing users to mark listening patterns that aren’t relevant to their recommendations.
For instance, a user who listens to sleep sounds or meditation music occasionally could choose to exclude those genres from their music profile.
Smarter Personalization
The feature also indicates Spotify’s overall effort to utilize AI for personalization.
Recently, the company has introduced a number of features that aim to make music discovery more dynamic and interactive. These include AI-created playlists, improved queue management, and joint listening experiences.
According to the Platform’s executives, the aim is to go beyond the passive nature of recommendation and give users more opportunities to control what they listen to.
Taste Profile marks a transition in this regard—to make the algorithm a controllable system rather than a black box.
Competition
The experimentation on the platform is also happening at a time when the competition is heating up in the music streaming services industry.
Other services such as Apple’s Apple Music and Amazon’s Amazon Music have been enhancing their own recommendation features and also introducing new features such as high-quality audio and radio stations.
Some of the competing services are focusing on the editorial aspect and not the algorithmic aspect, while others are focusing on the improvement of audio quality through lossless streaming.
The personalization aspect has always been Spotify’s key strength in the streaming industry.
Features
However, Taste Profile is not the only feature that is being tested within the Spotify environment.
Another feature that is being tested is called SongDNA. This feature enables users to delve into the underlying connections that exist within a particular song, such as who the producer of the song is, which songs the song samples, and other artists who are part of the same musical network.
Spotify has also been testing new features within its mobile application that enable users to share music and podcasts with their friends. This further enhances the social aspects of the Spotify mobile application.
All these new features indicate that Spotify is attempting to make its mobile application more interactive, rather than just a platform for streaming music.
When it Could Arrive
For now, Taste Profile is only available to a small set of users who are participating in beta testing, starting with premium users in New Zealand.
The Platform sometimes introduces a new feature in a controlled manner, testing it on a limited set of markets before making it available worldwide. If the test is successful, the feature could be available to millions of users worldwide as part of a future platform update.
Even then, it could take months or even longer to roll out the feature as the company continues to work on perfecting the technology and feedback from early adopters.
Turning Point
For the first time, users of the service may be able to influence the algorithm that decides their experience—instead of letting it figure it out on its own.
It has been over 15 years since fans have been asking for this feature, and the company seems closer than ever to finally delivering one of the most requested features in the history of streaming music.
Whether it will change the way music discovery works or simply become another option is still to be seen. But for millions of Spotify users, the chance to finally control their own algorithm is a welcome addition.
By William Hernandez
Journalist for Vlixx Magazine, reporting on news from around the world, ensuring timely, accurate, and detailed information to keep the public informed and educated.
Sources:
Android Authority: Spotify’s mobile app may soon get a feature fans have wanted for 15 years
Featured Image Courtesy of Focal Foto Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Alpha Photo Flickr Page- Creative Commons License
