Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
When Google shut down its Play Music app in 2020, I switched to Spotify — like many others, nearly out of spite, but additionally as a result of the brand new platform wasn’t almost as totally featured because the one it changed. However almost 4 years have handed since then and Spotify’s frequent value hikes have lastly made me take into account switching to YouTube Music as a substitute. In spite of everything, I have already got a YouTube Premium subscription for ad-free movies. Only a week into the swap, nonetheless, I spotted how a lot I’ve come to depend on Spotify’s latest AI options. And surprisingly, although Google has made an enormous deal about AI in latest months, YouTube Music hasn’t witnessed the identical tempo of innovation.
Working example: Spotify’s AI DJ turned my go-to each time I began a brand new music session. In case you’ve by no means used it, the DJ is a comparatively new function that creates a simulated (however customized) radio station. It analyzes your listening habits to curate a stream of outdated and new songs. Better of all, an AI voice offers transient commentary in regards to the alternatives. For my part, it’s a implausible method to uncover new music as I’m extra prone to join with unfamiliar tracks after somebody introduces them to me.
Now, I’ll be the primary to confess that I don’t like the whole lot about Spotify’s AI DJ function. It has the tendency to repeat songs from my playlists and blend genres nearly at random — I may very well be listening to one thing melancholic one second simply to have it abruptly swap to an upbeat or digital monitor instantly after. It may well typically really feel extra like a chaotic playlist than an AI-powered radio station. I’m not alone both — discussion board posts on-line, nearly everybody agrees that the idea, whereas very cool, is woefully underbaked. It simply doesn’t really feel private sufficient.
As an off-the-cuff music listener, Spotify’s AI DJ is flawed however nonetheless a godsend.
However regardless of all of these downsides, the DJ and different AI options like Daylists have saved me tethered to Spotify. I’m not very keen about music so I don’t are likely to spend hours on finish discovering new tracks. DJ permits me to dump that job — I can begin listening to a mixture of new and acquainted tracks inside two faucets from my telephone’s house display. Evidently, that feels fairly liberating as an off-the-cuff music listener.
YouTube Music does have a sturdy advice system, but it surely’s nowhere close to as painless. And I can’t assist however really feel that Google is sitting on untapped potential with all of its generative AI developments. In spite of everything, the corporate may use its Gemini language fashions to embrace and prolong each single AI function Spotify has launched so far.
Think about a situation the place, as a substitute of a haphazard playlist, an AI just like Spotify’s DJ initiates a quick chat in the beginning of every session. It may ask questions on your present music preferences or temper and even location and tailor-fit the expertise accordingly. Frequent complaints like repetitive tracks can be mounted if the chatbot might be given customized directions. What I’m primarily describing is a customized GPT, centered round music and accessible from a music streaming app like YouTube Music.
I’d love nothing greater than to open the YouTube Music app, faucet an AI button, and say one thing to the impact of “I’m going out for a run.” Generative AI can then use its reasoning abilities to select tracks that match the event. And it doesn’t have to finish at music choice both — since massive language fashions can perceive pure language, I’d be glad to offer suggestions on why I skipped sure tracks. Studying that the earlier monitor was too digital for my tastes, for instance, would give the AI a lot extra context than merely tapping the skip or thumbs-down buttons.
I do not need AI to dictate my complete music session, particularly since trendy chatbots can preferences under consideration.
After all, these will not be simple issues to resolve. That’s very true if Google needs to combine such capabilities into the present Gemini chatbot. Amazon, for example, reportedly hit a brick wall whereas coaching its upcoming Alexa LLM for diverse duties. In keeping with a former worker, fine-tuning the mannequin for a specialised use case like music compromised its efficiency in different areas, equivalent to good house management. An answer may very well be to create generative AI fashions localized totally inside the YouTube Music app, however that might make Google’s chatbot much more fragmented than it at the moment is.
Regardless, if any firm has the sources and experience to drag this off, it’s Google. If they will harness their AI prowess to construct a really customized and intuitive music expertise, YouTube Music may simply turn into the popular streaming platform for a lot of, myself included.
