New York, January 22, 2026, 12:00 PM (EST)
- Spotify rolled out its AI-driven “Prompted Playlist” feature to Premium subscribers in the US and Canada.
- Listeners can guide playlists using typed prompts and set rules, with the option to refresh daily or weekly.
- The rollout follows Spotify’s announcement of a $1 hike in U.S. Premium pricing, set to raise the cost to $12.99 beginning in February.
On Thursday, Spotify launched its AI-driven “Prompted Playlist” feature for Premium users in the US and Canada, following a trial run in New Zealand. This lets subscribers create playlists by typing in prompts tied to their listening habits. “Listeners don’t just want Spotify to understand them. They want to actively shape their own experience,” said Molly Holder, Spotify’s VP of product personalization. The rollout comes as the company plans to hike its monthly Premium price by $1 to $12.99 in the US, Estonia, and Latvia starting February. (Reuters)
This launch is crucial as Spotify pushes to convert more free-tier users—the ad-supported crowd—into paying subscribers, and hold onto them. It comes at a sensitive time for subscription services, where even minor price hikes can spark cancellations.
Spotify is battling for attention in a crowded market where most services provide roughly the same catalogs. Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music all compete at similar price points, making success hinge largely on discovery features and user habits.
Spotify is testing a new feature called Prompted Playlist that lets Premium users type in a mood or situation and then fine-tune the request to steer its recommendation engine. The platform combines your entire listening history with real-time data like charts, trends, and cultural moments. Users can choose to refresh their playlist daily or weekly, with a brief note explaining each song’s inclusion. Spotify plans to launch this for Premium users in the U.S. and Canada by month’s end. “Prompted Playlist offers a more intuitive entry point,” said Sulinna Ong, Spotify’s global head of editorial. (Spotify)
Spotify is rolling out its new Prompted Playlist feature, but it’s keeping the older AI playlist tool alive for now, which could confuse users. J.J. Italiano, who leads global music curation and discovery at Spotify, said, “If you can describe a feeling, you can make a playlist.” He also emphasized that listeners “don’t need the right words” to get going. (TechCrunch)
Spotify is marketing the tool as a move away from passive listening toward giving users direct control, letting them set their own “rules” for what appears. This could involve asking for deeper cuts, spotlighting emerging artists, or outright blocking songs that have been played too often.
The company is pushing personalisation to widen the gap between free and paid listening. Prompted Playlist is locked behind the Premium tier, making one of the app’s flashier new features available only to paid subscribers.
Spotify’s price hike in February will put its new product to the test, seeing if it can ease the blow of steeper monthly fees. The company will be monitoring whether this beta feature boosts listening time, cuts down churn, or convinces free users to start paying.
Spotify hasn’t announced when Prompted Playlist will expand beyond the U.S. and Canada, and noted that some elements might shift as they collect user feedback. The big question remains: will this experiment turn into a mainstream feature or remain a niche option for power users?
