Spotify"s first steps into the AI world launched in February of this year, titled DJ, it is a personalised AI guide that learns from users music tastes to choose what to play next. It originally launched in the U.S. and Canada, further expanding to the U.K. and Ireland in May, and today Spotify has announced that it will be expanding to even more countries, all across the globe.
Spotify DJ is available to users with an active Spotify Premium subscription in select countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as Australia and New Zealand, if they are using the English language version of the app. Spotify has not yet given any indication of expansion to other languages.
Countries included in the expansion are as follows: Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Belize, Botswana, Burundi, Dominica, Eswatini, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Tonga, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Spotify claims in the announcement that "when DJ listeners hear commentary alongside personal music recommendations, they"re more willing to try something new" and that "fans [are] spending nearly one-third of their listening time with DJ," showing that the addition of the AI tool is proving to be a success.
To access DJ, Spotify users can open the Spotify mobile app on iOS or Android, and DJ is listed within the Music feed on the Home tab, or in the Made for You hub within the Search tab. There is no confirmation of when this will be directly accessible on the desktop versions of the app (but there is a workaround by playing it via computer speakers on the phone app).