At the SXSW conference on Friday, Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström announced a new feature launching in beta. For the first time, listeners will be able to review and edit their Taste Profile, which is the algorithmically generated model of their music preferences.
This Taste Profile is key to Spotify’s recommendations. It powers personalized playlists like Discover Weekly, Made For You recommendations, and the year-end review known as Spotify Wrapped, among other things.
Starting initially with Premium listeners in New Zealand, Spotify will allow users to see all their listening data in one place within the app. This includes music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Users will then be able to edit this profile and fine-tune future recommendations by asking for more or less of a certain vibe. After making changes, the app’s home page will reflect a different set of suggestions.
To access the Taste Profile, users tap on their profile picture and then scroll down. Changes can be made using natural language prompts.
Spotify had previously offered some tools to remove music from your Taste Profile, but they were not as comprehensive. Users were only able to exclude certain tracks or playlists from influencing their profile. Because of this, and the largely hidden nature of the Taste Profile overall, Spotify users often complained that the app’s recommendations did not reflect their true interests.
Today, many users share their Spotify account with others. Family members might access an account through a shared smart speaker or smart TV in the living room, or teens might take over during a drive using CarPlay. Other times, users may listen to music they do not want to characterize as their “taste,” such as sleep sounds, quiet tracks played at night, or music to entertain their kids. Users do not always remember which tracks or playlists need to be removed, nor do they have the time to go back and do so. This can lead to the Taste Profile becoming cluttered with music the user does not actually like.
This clutter has significantly impacted, and even ruined, many people’s annual Spotify Wrapped experience. This is particularly true due to kids’ use of their parents’ Spotify accounts. For years, Spotify users have asked for a fix for this problem.
Spotify says the Taste Profile feature will roll out in the coming weeks in New Zealand before expanding to other markets.