Want to hear two robots chat about your music taste?
Spotify Wrapped, the yearly recap of your music listening habits that people either adore or dread, is back—this time with a new AI-powered twist. For 2024, Spotify has added a personalized audio experience to its flashy visuals: an AI-generated podcast discussing your unique musical year.
Starting today, users can enjoy a custom podcast where two AI hosts dive into their most-played tracks, favorite artists, and listening patterns. This feature, created in collaboration with Google’s NotebookLM, uses conversational AI to create a dynamic dialogue tailored to each listener. The podcast will roll out in English across several countries, including the US, UK, Canada, and Sweden, and, like traditional Wrapped, is designed to be easily shareable.
Personalized AI Commentary
The podcast doesn’t just list stats—it makes the experience personal. The AI hosts address you by name, describe your top artist, and even offer playful insights into your habits. For instance, they might guess at your lifestyle based on your top songs or speculate about what you were doing on your biggest listening day of the year. In my case, the AI imagined me strutting in pink pilates gear to Chappell Roan’s Red Wine Supernova and pictured me belting out the Rent soundtrack in the shower.
This level of engagement builds on Spotify’s efforts to incorporate AI into Wrapped. Last year, users met “DJ X,” an AI voice providing commentary on 2023 listening trends. This year, the feature expanded to include Spanish-speaking audiences, signaling Spotify’s broader ambitions in AI-driven audio.
The Bigger Picture
Spotify Wrapped has become a cornerstone of the platform’s brand, but its new AI addition comes amid growing skepticism about Big Tech’s use of data. While Wrapped is celebrated for making user insights feel festive and shareable, critics argue it repackages invasive tracking as a charming year-end gift. AI-generated podcasts, with their uncanny attempt to mimic human conversation, have also faced resistance from listeners who find them unsettling.
Despite these challenges, Spotify sees generative AI as a way to cement its position as a leader in audio content. Since introducing podcasts to its platform in 2019, Spotify reports that half a billion users have listened to podcasts on its service. Recent additions, like user comments on episodes and improved analytics for creators, demonstrate Spotify’s commitment to growing its podcast ecosystem.
The AI-powered Wrapped podcast also highlights Spotify’s bet on the future of conversational AI. By bringing generative AI into the spotlight, the company is giving users a taste of how seamlessly machines can simulate human dialogue—potentially a wake-up call for creators worried about AI encroaching on their space.
Wrapped vs. Replay
Spotify’s AI podcast arrives just a day after Apple Music released its own year-end feature, Replay. While both services provide similar insights into users’ listening habits, Apple’s offering lacks the chatty duo of AI hosts that Wrapped boasts. Perhaps next year, Apple will step into the AI spotlight, but for now, Spotify is leading the charge in turning user data into an interactive—and oddly personal—audio experience.