YouTube Music’s AI Playlists: A Glimpse into the Future of Personalized Music
YouTube Music has joined the AI playlist generation race, offering Premium subscribers a feature similar to Spotify’s recently launched tool. But is it enough to sway listeners? We dove in to test the feature and see how it stacks up.
How Does It Work?
The AI Playlist feature is exclusively for YouTube Music Premium subscribers. To access it, navigate to the Library section, tap the Latest button, and select AI Playlist. You can then choose from pre-generated prompts or create your own, and YouTube Music will quickly assemble a personalized playlist.
A Good Use of AI?
The process is remarkably straightforward. The app generates playlists in just a few moments. Initial impressions are positive, with the feature proving surprisingly adept at understanding prompts.
What Are the Playlists Like?
YouTube Music’s AI playlists offer a mix of familiar favorites and new discoveries. The pre-generated options are a good starting point, with suggestions like “South Korean pop divas” and “Catchy Japanese songs” catering to specific tastes. The list of options refreshes regularly, providing fresh inspiration.
Good at Understanding Prompts
Testing with both general and specific prompts yielded interesting results. A prompt for “Songs with cute and charming vibes” produced a playlist with a balanced mix of known and unknown tracks from artists the user was familiar with. The results were genuinely listenable.
What About Discovery?
Even as the AI excels at curating playlists based on existing preferences, its discovery capabilities are somewhat limited. A prompt requesting “Music that’s new to me” yielded only a handful of unfamiliar songs. Similarly, asking for songs from artists the user likes but hadn’t heard before resulted in the app being unable to generate a playlist at all.
Not Its Strong Point
The AI seems to prioritize songs within your existing musical landscape, rather than venturing into truly uncharted territory. To maximize discovery, it’s best to use broad genre-based prompts or highly specific requests.
Anything Else That’s Good?
The feature allows for unlimited playlist generation and encourages frequent use with its constantly updating prompt suggestions. A particularly sensible design choice is the ability to listen to a playlist before saving it, preventing your library from becoming cluttered with unwanted lists.
Sensible Choices
This streamlined approach ensures that users only save playlists they genuinely enjoy, making the feature more efficient and user-friendly.
How Does It Compare to Spotify?
While a direct comparison requires a Spotify subscription, initial observations suggest that Spotify’s Prompted Playlist feature offers greater granularity and control. Spotify allows users to see the prompt used to generate a playlist and remove individual songs while providing feedback to the AI. YouTube Music lacks these features.
My Subscription is Safe, For Now
YouTube Music’s AI Playlists are a solid starting point, but Spotify appears to offer a more refined and personalized experience. However, the broader benefits of a YouTube Premium subscription – including ad-free viewing and background playback – are enough to preserve many users from switching.
FAQ
Is the AI Playlist feature free?
No, the AI Playlist feature is exclusively available to YouTube Music Premium subscribers.
Can I edit an AI-generated playlist?
You can listen to the playlist and save it, but you cannot remove individual songs without deleting the entire playlist.
How often are the pre-generated prompts updated?
The pre-generated prompts refresh each time you open the AI Playlist feature.
Does the AI learn from my feedback?
Currently, there is no direct way to provide feedback to the AI to influence future playlist generation.
The AI Playlist feature on YouTube Music represents an exciting step towards more personalized music experiences. While it has room for improvement, it’s a valuable addition for Premium subscribers and a glimpse into the future of music streaming.
