Spotify introduces AI-powered DJ function

Shania Twain just released new music.

Rachel Seo For Spotify, the creation of its artificial intelligence DJ — which launched in beta version for Premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada on Feb. 22 — represents the culmination of what the company has been working toward for years. “This has always been a north star,” Ziad Sultan, the vice president of personalization at Spotify, tells Variety. The DJ serves as a curator, analyzing user activity to play songs that it knows users already like and offering recommendations for new music. It also provides commentary and background context on the tracks and artists it plays. Playlists like Discover Weekly, which feeds recommendations to users based on their listening activity, or Spotify Wrapped, which pulls together users’ most-streamed songs at the end of the year, mimic some of the AI DJ’s functionality, but the newly debuted product serves as the embodiment for what Sultan says had been a “metaphor” for the company until now.

Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh proudly paraded their newfound royal titles on the Scottish capital's iconic Royal Mile on Friday, 10 March.The younger brother of King Charles III was bestowed the 'Duke' mantle on his 59th birthday– serving his late father Prince Phillip's wish – and while marking the one-year anniversary since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Edward spoke of feeling overwhelmed by the honour itself, according to The Independent. Addressing his audience, he shared to a chorus of cheers: "Thank you very much indeed for welcoming us to Edinburgh today on, indeed, a very special and slightly overwhelming day for – now – my wife, the Duchess." The 58 year old's former title was Countess of Wessex – equal in rank to Edward, the long-time Earl of Wessex.

Sons Of The Forest has received its first major patch since launching in Early Access, with developer Endnight Games adding a hang glider, a “mid game” boss fight, and more.Patch 1 was released last night (March 9) and includes a number of new items and features for players to dig up.In terms of new content, the patch introduces binoculars and hang gliders for players to use while exploring, along with the ability to build defensive wall gates at their base.On the topic of bases, players can now lock their doors and grab small furniture they have built.While those changes should prove helpful to players, other additions will make Sons Of The Forest much more challenging. Survivors will now run into a “mid game boss fight” in the island’s food bunker, while regular cannibals now have the ability to jump out from trees to attack players.Additionally, cannibal villages can now utilise lookout towers, making it harder for players to infiltrate or escape from the settlements.Finally, Endnight Games has teased the addition of “some additional story elements,” though has left the details for players to discover in-game.Outside of new features, the first big patch for Sons Of The Forest also brings a long list of balance tweaks and bug fixes.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Over the past couple of years, virtually every conversation about the challenges facing artists in the music-streaming economy has had one proposed quick fix: Raise subscription prices. As Milana Lewis, CEO of the distribution and payments platform Stem, told Variety last summer, “The price of everything else on earth is going up, and they all keep finding new ways to make subscriptions cheaper” via family and student plans, bundling and other initiatives. Apple Music, Amazon Music and Deezer have already done so, but others remain with the same $10 U.S. monthly price as when they started. New Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl brings a view from the other side to the top of the music industry: He was head of business for YouTube — where he led a sea change in the streaming giant’s relationship with the music industry by, guess what, introducing a paid music subscription service — and at Netflix, where he presided over the company’s shift from DVDs to streaming.

BLACKPINK have officially become the most-streamed girl group in the world on Spotify.The quartet – consisting Jennie, Lisa, Rosé and Jisoo – clinched the title with over 8.8billion streams on the service as of Wednesday (March 8), beating previous title holder British group Little Mix by 400million streams, according to Guinness World Records.A good portion of the girl group’s total streaming numbers come from their hit singles, the most popular ones being ‘How You Like That’ with 746 million streams, ‘Kill This Love’ with 672 million streams and ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ with 574 million streams.Aside from being the most-streamed girl group on Spotify, BLACKPINK also currently hold the record for having the most subscribers for a band on YouTube, per Guinness.Congratulations to BLACKPINK who have become the most streamed female band on @Spotify

Spotify has announced the rollout of a new vertical feed that will give users the ability to preview podcasts and music through scrolling, similar to TikTok.The feed – which is available now – was announced through the streaming platform’s official newsroom on Wednesday (March 8). The new interface makes previewing content on the platform easier for users and is split into two sections: music and podcasts & shows.Ready, set, discover new audio easier than ever before! Take a look at our greatest app evolution yet.

Frank Ocean has been uploading some of his old music on to Spotify under an aliasThe user blondead has so far uploaded three Ocean fan favourites from his 2010, 70-track compilation ‘The Lonny Breaux Collection’.Three tracks ‘miss you so’, ‘bedtime story’ and ‘sucka for love’ have so far been uploaded to stream from the artist page.The songs match the tracks ‘Miss You So’, ‘Bedtime Story’ and ‘Sucka for Love (Alternate Version)’.Ocean’s official Spotify account currently only has a select portion of his discography on the platform featuring major studio albums ‘Blonde’ and ‘channel ORANGE’ but older records such as ‘The Lonny Breaux Collection’ and ‘nostalgia, ULTRA’ are not officially available to stream.“how did i not clock frank ocean been uploading old music on spotify under a different moniker,” wrote one fan on Twitter, upon spotting the tracks.Another added: “Oh my GOD sucka for for love is finally on Sportify – Frank is hilarious for n this – not Blondead.”how did i not clock frank ocean been uploading old music on spotify under a different moniker— s ☆ (@certishaz) March 7, 2023Oh my GOD sucka for love is finally on Spotify – Frank is hilarious for this – not Blondead

Spotify CFO Paul Vogel said the company’s decision several weeks ago to cut 6% of its global workforce was a “a real positive” in terms of the company being willing to take a hard look at its operations and “evolve.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Spotify announced Wednesday that its all-time payouts to music-rights holders are approaching $40 billion. The company said it pays out nearly 70% of every dollar it generates from music back to the industry, the announcement continues. It generates its music revenue from two sources: subscription fees from its Premium platform paying subscribers, and fees from advertisings on music on its Free tier. These rights holders include record labels, publishers, independent distributors, performance rights organizations and collecting societies, the announcement detailed. It is important to note that the payments go to rights holders first — which is rarely the artist or songwriter —which then take their fee or percentage and pay the creators their share.

EXCLUSIVE: Spotify is continuing its move to ramp up its video podcasts business.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Hasan Minhaj’s Riddler is coming back to your earbuds. The comedian-actor made a virtual appearance at Spotify’s Stream On event Wednesday, announcing “The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark,” the next podcast series from Spotify, DC and Warner Bros. under their exclusive multiyear partnership. Minhaj had voiced The Riddler in 2022 hit Spotify podcast “Batman Unburied,” which starred Winston Duke in the title role. “Audiences are going to travel back to Gotham City with me in a story that leaves clues, puzzles and shines a spotlight on my personal favorite character, The Riddler,” Minhaj said in the video (watch the clip below).

Rachel Seo Digital creator, podcaster and filmmaker Markiplier has signed an exclusive video partnership with Spotify for his two podcasts, “Distractible” and “Go! My Favorite Sports Team.” Video episodes of both podcasts will be available to stream on Spotify exclusively. Markiplier is set to debut additional exclusive video content on the platform. “Distractible,” which Markiplier hosts with Wade Barnes and Bob Muyskens, reached the No. 1 spot on Spotify’s podcasts charts the week of its debut in 2021. The podcast centers on discussions of various, seemingly random topics such as anti-aging practices, Halloween candy and roller coasters. “Go! My Favorite Sports Team” is hosted by Markiplier and Tyler Scheid; it launched in 2022 and provides humorous commentary on the world of sports.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify is releasing what it calls its biggest app redesign to date — revealing a new “dynamic” mobile interface aimed at providing listeners a more active role in discovering new audio content and giving creators new ways to share their work. The newly redesigned Spotify app will roll out to users worldwide in waves, starting Wednesday (March 8), the company said. It unveiled the new user interface at Stream On, its second event showcasing new features, creator tools and programming. The update is most significant change to Spotify’s mobile app since it debuted more than a decade ago and is about “bringing Spotify to life,” CEO Daniel Ek said at the event.

Lu Kala, a Congolese-Canadian musician, will collaborate with Spotify to co-curate songs for its Equal Canada playlist on March 8 in honor of International Women’s Day.

A wide range of legal changes and new laws will be introduced from April as we enter a new tax year.

Heather Rae and Tarek El Moussa are opening up about welcoming their newborn son, Tristan, last month, and how the family is adjusting to the new bundle of joy. Speaking with ET's Cassie DiLaura at their home in Orange County, California, the couple gets candid about their new life and gave ET the exclusive first look at their little boy.“I didn't think I'd be this obsessed with him. I thought, you know, 'Oh, I'd be OK going to dinners' or 'I'd be OK going on the little trips' and it's hard to even go to the doctor or, like, leave the house at all or leave him at all to even shower and get ready.

Peacock released a teaser trailer for the new Damon Lindelof series “Mrs. Davis,” introducing the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence of the same name.In the 30-second clip, no footage from the actual series is shown. Instead, various people around the world walk up to another person – in a town square, at a wedding, in the middle of a stand-up comedy show – and say, “She wants to talk to you.”The “she” in question is Mrs.

The Weeknd has become the first artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Thania Garcia The Weeknd has become the first artist in Spotify history to hit 100 million monthly listeners, the streaming platform confirmed today. The news was first shared via Spotify’s social media where the streaming giant wrote, “It’s official: On February 27, The Weeknd became the first artist in Spotify History to reach 100 Million monthly listeners.” At the time of this article’s publication, Miley Cyrus holds the No. 2 spot for most monthly listeners on the app with over 82 million. Taylor Swift comes in at No. 3 boasting 80 million, followed by Rihanna who has 79 million.