By Riley Eisenbeil
Staff Writer
Imagine a single playlist that flows with your daily rhythm, customizing itself to match each mood. Spotify has made this a reality with “Daylist.”
Daylist is a feature designed for dedicated music streamers. It utilizes Spotify interaction data to understand what users listen to and when, thus crafting a dynamic playlist that aligns perfectly with their evolving moods. It debuted on Sept. 12 in select regions, including the U.S., Canada, the UK and a few others, and it plans to expand globally in the coming months.
This new feature takes personalization a step further compared to another recent Spotify addition, Niche Mixes, which was introduced in March. While Niche Mixes generates multiple personalized playlists, Daylist is a single playlist that transforms itself into something new to perfectly suit users’ usual vibes at different times.
It is designed to update multiple times a day, ensuring that it stays in sync with what users want to hear. Users receive a new list of both known and unknown songs at every update, a relatable title to set the mood and a set of hyperlinked subgenres and moods that bring listeners to separate playlists.
Forbes noted that the visuals of the playlist change throughout the day as well. At the beginning of the day it is lit yellow against a blue background to “brighten up the morning,” as they put it. Later, it mimics a sunset and then eventually reflects a “moonlit style” for the shift to nighttime.
Isabella Carmona Ramirez, a junior math major with a specialization in data science, was introduced to Spotify’s new feature and has been using it daily since.
“It’s actually really helpful when I have no idea what to put on,” she said. “Whether I’m getting ready or walking around, I get tired of listening to my own playlists over and over, so it’s nice that it updates it without me having to do anything.”
The convenience of it seems to be one of its biggest reasons for success, according to students from the College. The narrative of getting to the destination before picking music is real, and it’s a big problem for indecisive music lovers. Some users who only found out about the feature when being asked for their opinion on it agreed.
“I wish I knew about this sooner because sometimes when I’m doing homework or walking to class, I’m just looking through my playlists and trying to find a song that fits the vibe,” said Ebony Riley, a sophomore English major. “This knows what vibe I’m trying to find and it puts it in a playlist so I don’t have to go out of my way to do it.”
In Spotify’s “For the Record” report from the day the feature debuted, the company said their goal was to bring together the “niche music and microgenres” that users listen to. This solves the problem that a lot of listeners have, where they end up lumping a ton of songs into a “junk drawer” type of playlist, because they don’t know where it fits with their other playlists.
“It’s a great way to find new music, and Spotify is already good at that, but this is revolutionary,” said Kayleigh LaLumiere, a senior history major. “It’s like the TikTok For You Page; they’re curating it all for me.”
She added, “I mean if they’re taking our data they might as well let me enjoy it and do something fun with it.”
Some users on other platforms have mentioned feeling a bit left out since Daylist has come out. Kimmy Torres, a senior psychology major, expressed a longing for a similar feature to use.
“Apple Music has personalized playlists, but there are no fun titles and I don’t ever use them,” Torres said. “I wish I had a Daylist.”
While Spotify users are the only ones currently able to use Daylists, this highlights the uniqueness of the feature.
As Spotify continues to elevate listening sessions, the app is further enhancing the overall user experience. Users can access their own personal DJ through the “Made For You” section on the homepage or by typing Daylist into the search bar.
