Spotify Eyes Conversational AI for Personalized Music Experience

Spotify Bets on Conversational AI

Spotify has a history of experimenting with voice interfaces, from early voice searches to its AI DJ that introduces tunes and takes requests. During its Q2 2025 earnings call, Chief Product and Technology Officer Gustav Söderström hinted that generative AI breakthroughs could soon enable a fully conversational interface. This means listeners could speak in plain English to control their music, podcasts, and audiobooks with more natural dialogue.

Building a New Voice Dataset

• Phrase-to-song associations drawn from user voice requests
• Insights into how natural language describes mood, genre, or artist
• Rapidly growing data set that fuels personalized recommendations

By treating voice commands as a unique dataset—much like collaborative filtering on playlists—Spotify is gathering insights on which words map to songs. Söderström described this as “completely new” data, allowing AI models to learn how users phrase requests and match them to the perfect track.

From Prediction to Reasoning

Today’s AI DJ makes educated guesses about what you might like. Tomorrow’s models will go further, reasoning over your entire listening history and conversation with the AI. Instead of single-step recommendations, Spotify envisions multi-step reasoning—understanding context, refining mood, and chaining commands to build dynamic playlists on the fly.

Generative AI Behind the Scenes

Spotify isn’t just using AI on the front end. Internally, generative models accelerate product prototyping and streamline finance operations. This dual approach—customer-facing and back-end innovation—demonstrates how AI investments can drive both user engagement and operational efficiency.

Future of Interactive Streaming

As premium subscriptions climb—276 million and growing—Spotify needs fresh ways to keep listeners engaged. Conversational AI offers a path to tighter user bonds, deeper personalization, and new data insights. For media and entertainment leaders, this signals the next frontier: turning passive listeners into active conversational partners.