Spotify expands Taste Profile to give listeners more control over recommendations
Spotify users can now shape their Taste Profile using prompts, marking another step in the platform’s push towards deeper personalization.
More fine-tuned Spotify recommendations are on the way
Spotify is doubling down on personalization once again. This time, it’s giving listeners more control over their Taste Profile.
Announced last Friday at SXSW, Spotify revealed that users will soon be able to review and fine-tune their Taste Profile (the information that shapes their recommendations). The new tool introduces a new interface where listeners can see the listening data influencing their account, and adjust it using natural prompts.
Spotify says personalization remains one of the biggest reasons listeners use the platform, with more than 80% of users saying it’s what they love most about Spotify. Giving listeners more control over their Taste Profile is the platform’s latest move to keep the listener experience fresh.
What is your Taste Profile on Spotify?
Your Taste Profile sits at the heart of Spotify’s recommendation engine. Spotify takes your tastes and listening habits, and feeds them into your profile. From that information, Spotify serves up recommendations for you, whether it be your Discover Weekly playlist, year-end insights in Spotify Wrapped, or even what you see on your Home Page.
What’s new?
Taste Profile naturally adjusts alongside your interests and habits. But now, Spotify users will be able to access all of their listening data shaping their profile across music podcasts, and audiobooks. From there, they can adjust their profile using natural language prompts to fine-tune their recommendations accordingly.
Spotify says “you can shape your Taste Profile as much as you’d like, or leave it and enjoy Spotify as usual”. You can access your Taste Profile by clicking on your profile pic.
Another step in Spotify’s personalization push
Spotify has already given listeners some control over their Taste Profile. Previously, users could exclude specific playlists or tracks from their Taste Profile that didn’t reflect their real preferences. Those tools helped solve common frustrations, particularly when shared listening ruined recommendations.
Still, many listeners weren’t convinced. The new Taste Profile aims to solve that by granting users a level of control that almost lets them fully shape their own recommendations.
The move also builds on the platform’s broader push towards greater personalization. Over the past year, Spotify has introduced a number of tools designed to give users more control to personalize their listening experience. For example, Spotify’s beta Prompted Playlists tool lets users generate a playlist using a combination of prompt inputs and their previous listening data.
For now, the expanded Taste Profile controls are giving listeners more power over the recommendations they see on feature. The tool is rolling out in beta to Premium listeners in New Zealand in the coming weeks, before a wider rollout to other markets.