Neville Lahiru
Back in February, Spotify launched its latest AI feature called “DJ,” which aims at optimizing your personalized music experience. The company then followed this up by introducing its new TikTok-like discovery feed less than a month later. While these new features are currently available in US and Canada, Spotify is yet to announce a global release including for markets like Sri Lanka. However, it’s expected that Spotify DJ and its new TikTok UI will make their way to the region within the next few months.
The new features mark a significant shift in direction for Spotify as the company looks to make headway with growing competition from the likes of TikTok as well as the recent surge in AI. While the TikTok-like discovery feed has been met with mixed reactions, its partly OpenAI-powered DJ feature is seemingly receiving a mostly positive reception from users.
Spotify DJ and scrolling feed coming soon to a market near you
As the name suggests, Spotify DJ curates a selection of music based on your listening habits with an accompanying AI-powered commentary. The company is banking on the idea that it hopes to know listeners’ music habits so well that the platform would know exactly what to put out when you press play.
Even though the feature is only available in beta for premium subscribers in the US and Canada, Spotify DJ is slated to release in the South Asian region over the next few months. According to Spotify’s Regional Lead for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, the company will expand Spotify DJ as well as the new scrolling discovery feed to the country in its next rollout sessions. An exact date hasn’t been specified as of yet, which puts the likeliest release window somewhere between Q2 and Q3 2023. Though, this could always change.
Despite officially launching in 2006, Spotify has been late to hit developing markets like Sri Lanka. It wasn’t until the streaming giant’s expansion effort to 80+ new markets in 2021 that the island finally received official support. Thanks to its regional pricing, Spotify quickly gained traction in the country so much so that Dialog included it in its “add to bill” service (prior to halting it due to forex issues in 2022). Even so, the platform only offers a limited experience to Sri Lankans compared to its offering in other markets like the US.
For instance, podcasts on Spotify are still unavailable for Sri Lankans. Even its globally popular #SpotifyWrapped feature has left out markets like Sri Lanka. It’s unclear if the company will open up its full platform to the smaller regions anytime soon. Although the idea of Spotify DJ and the scrolling feed potentially coming to Sri Lanka and other markets over the next few months indicates things may change soon enough.
I was on the beta version and got early access to the vertical scrolling feed. It’s terrible as you see way less content at once, and I saw that many online had the same concerns. Spotify seems to be rolling back the change, and I’ve got my classic homescreen back. Looking forward to the AI DJ feature though 🙂
Yeah, the AI DJ feature is a lot of fun for sure. As for the TikTok feed, I personally feed it’s taking things a tad too far.