If you ever wanted a helpful music assistant, Spotify is stepping up to the plate. The company is officially testing a brand new feature called Talk to Spotify. This fresh update puts a conversational artificial intelligence tool directly inside the mobile app. Listeners can now use natural voice commands or text messages to shape their daily listening sessions.
They can also discover new music, and answer random trivia questions without tapping through endless menus.
The new feature lives on the home and now playing screens
You can access this tool directly from the main areas of the app on both iOS and Android devices. A text box and microphone icon will appear, letting you type or speak your requests just like you would with a regular messaging app.
You can tell the app to play artists you have not heard before, save a current track, or build a totally new mix based on your mood. Instead of digging through multiple pages, you just ask for what you want, and the app handles the rest.
Users can ask questions and control music with simple commands
The chatbot goes far beyond just hitting play or pause. It works a bit like ChatGPT, but it is entirely focused on your audio experience. You can ask specific questions about the music you are hearing. For example, you can ask when an album came out or what genre a specific song falls under. If you are listening to a podcast, you can even ask what other shows the current guest has appeared on.
It can also pull up details about your own listening habits. You might ask what genres you have played the most this week, or when you first discovered a certain band. The app understands your personal catalog and gives you tailored answers based on your history.
While this tool uses language models for entertainment, text analysis technology is also a major topic in other tech sectors right now. For instance, a recent safety report discussing how messaging platforms handle abuse noted a very different context for text scanning:
“The specific failure named is language analysis. Sexual extortion offenders work from recognisable scripts, the same coercive phrases repeated across thousands of approaches, and the report says platforms are not deploying the technology that would spot them”, mentioned the company.
In the case of this new music tool, the language analysis is strictly built to serve up better tunes.
The beta test is currently limited to adult premium subscribers
Right now, the feature is rolling out slowly as a beta test. You need to be an English-speaking premium subscriber who is eighteen or older to get access. The initial launch covers users in the United States, Ireland, and Sweden.
If you live in one of those regions, keep an eye on your app over the next few weeks. The company will likely collect user feedback and iron out any bugs before bringing the voice commands to a wider global audience.
Until then, you can still rely on the standard search bar to track down your favorite albums and artists.
