YouTube is taking another step towards the future of the music experience by introducing a new AI-powered playlist creation feature. The feature allows Premium users on iOS and Android to create playlists by simply typing or speaking a few words, without having to manually search for songs or artists.
The new feature comes to strengthen YouTube's strategy, which is increasingly investing in AI tools, with the aim of offering more personalized and "smart" services to its subscribers.
How AI playlist creation works
The process is quite simple and designed to be accessible even to users who are not familiar with technological tools.
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Premium users can go to the Library, press the “New” , and then select the “AI playlist”.
From there, all they need is a prompt: a short text or voice command that describes the mood or genre of music they want to listen to. Examples suggested by YouTube include phrases like:
- "raging death metal"
- "sad post-rock"
- "progressive house mix for a chill party"
- "indie pop"
- "90s classic hits"
Artificial intelligence takes on the task of creating a complete playlist, selecting tracks that match the style and mood of the search.
AI music experience is becoming a trend
YouTube isn't just starting to experiment with artificial intelligence in the music space. The company has long been exploring how it can leverage AI models to make discovering new music more immediate and personalized.
As early as July 2024, it was testing a feature in the United States that allowed users to create custom radio stations simply through text messages.
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With the new playlists feature, YouTube seems to be expanding on this idea, giving users greater control and more creative tools to "build" the soundtrack of their daily lives.
Competition on streaming platforms is fierce
This move is not surprising, as streaming services are in a constant race for users' attention.
Platforms such as Spotify, Amazon Music and Deezer have already launched corresponding AI functions, either for creating playlists or for automatic radio stations based on the listener's preferences.
Spotify, for example, has invested heavily in algorithmic personalization, while Amazon Music is integrating AI recommendations into its Alexa ecosystem. YouTube, for its part, is trying to take advantage of its vast video and music database by combining streaming, clips, and music discovery into a single experience.
Premium: More privileges – pressure on free users
The new AI playlist feature is another "weapon" to make the Premium plan more attractive.
At the same time, YouTube seems to be gradually increasing restrictions on free users. A typical example is that it recently began limiting the display of song lyrics in the YouTube Music app.
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The company told TechCrunch that this restriction is an experiment applied to a small percentage of users, while lyrics remain available to the vast majority of free accounts.
However, such moves clearly point the way: more premium features, fewer freebies.
Google's subscription growth continues
Google has seen a significant increase in its subscriptions, with YouTube playing a leading role in this development.
Earlier this month, the company announced that it now has 325 million paid users, combined across Google One and YouTube Premium.
The integration of AI features, such as automatic playlists, shows that YouTube is not just investing in technology, but is trying to transform the music experience into something more personal, immediate, and intelligent.
The future of streaming looks like it will be increasingly… written with prompts.
