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Will Spotify’s DJ make disc jockeys obsolete?

AI is coming for all the jobs

LiFTED | Marcus Aurelius | 28 Feb 2023


To be honest, Spotify’s algorithm is one of the best in the business. If you play Mrs M’s song, it knows that you’re probably going to love a GINJIN song. It knows that you like some Old School YOUNGOHM, so you’re going to dig his latest.

This past week, Spotify debuted DJ, an AI-powered DJ right in your pocket. Luckily, it’s not a club DJ, which will put all the people in the nightlife industry out of work, even though we’re sure that’s coming soon. Instead, DJ is more like a radio on-air personality. The DJ in question is Xavier “X” Jernigan, Spotify’s Head of Cultural Partnerships. His voice was tested on Spotify’s personalized morning show, The Get Up, and it resonated with listeners. He introduces a song with something like, “You loved this summer jam in 2019,” and then plays it.

Since Spotify’s algorithm is so superb, the AI-powered voice feels like it is talking to you. DJ might even throw in facts and tidbits about the songs to add some more excitement to the personalized program. With Spotify’s knowledge about listeners’ taste in music, they are able to scale this program in a size that was never imaginable before so that every single person has their own DJ in their pocket.

Check out Spotify’s video explaining DJ below.


*DJ is only available in North America at the moment but will be released all over the world in the upcoming weeks