Your Spotify AI DJ Now Accepts Spoken Requests
Spotify’s AI DJ is like ChatGPT deciding to change careers. The DJ compiles a music playlist based on the previous playback history of Premium subscribers, incorporating new and old songs into the mix. Of course, the main feature of the title is the DJ’s voice, as the AI bot announces which songs are coming up next, as well as some information about each. Whether you love the AI or hate it, it’s a fairly innocuous feature that seems fun to those who pay for Spotify.
Although the DJ appears to be interactive, it really isn’t. Other than skipping songs, it’s mostly a passive feature. That’s changing now: In a blog post on Tuesday, Spotify announced that you’ll now be able to send requests to a DJ using your voice. If you like a personalized playlist but want to listen to something specific – be it a song, genre or mood – you can now ask the DJ to play it.
In the video accompanying the press release, Spotify shows a user asking: “DJ, need some morning motivation ASAP… gimme some dance pop music.” The DJ answers him in the same way: “No problem. Here’s a little LISA.” In another example, a user asks, “Play me something with a Y2K vibe to celebrate.” The DJ decides to perform with Tate McRae, “with that nostalgic sound you get on repeat.”
Some other example queries highlighted by Spotify include:
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“Surprise me with some indie tracks I’ve never heard before.”
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“Give me some electronic beats for my afternoon jog.”
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“Play me some songs that make me cry in the car.”
Spotify says DJ Requests is available in English for Premium users in more than 60 countries. If you have access to a DJ, you have access to requests.
How to Request a DJ on Spotify
First, you need to subscribe to Spotify Premium and live in an area where the DJ is available. If these two points are met, open Spotify and search for “DJ”. Press the play button to start DJ, then press and hold the DJ button in the right corner. (Listen for the beep.) Now place your request.
As usual, if you don’t have a specific request but want to hear something else, you can simply skip to the next track, which will likely be completely different from what was just playing.