The ever changing playlist that analyzes the type of music you listen to depending on the time of day has changed many lives, including mine. Spotify recently unveiled a new feature for its users titled “daylist” that auto generates a new playlist depending on the time of day, meaning it is never boring and uniquely tailored to you. According to an article detailing the feature available on Spotify’s website, it “[brings] together the niche music and microgenres you usually listen to during particular moments in the day or on specific days of the week.” It is available to both free and premium users, simply search for “daylist” in the search bar where you normally search for artists or songs and it will automatically generate a new playlist for you that updates multiple times a day.
Personally, I have had a lot of fun playing around with this new feature as I felt that the usual auto-generated playlists Spotify has made for me all began to sound repetitive and boring. My “discover weekly,” another auto-generated playlist courtesy of Spotify, felt inaccurate to my music taste and left me unsatisfied. This new feature has introduced me to new songs and artists I have come to love and its quirky trendy titles have given me a giggle every time I open my ‘daylist’ of the hour. The titles of this playlist are meant to change and match with the set of songs of that time and day meaning they are always random leading to incredibly niche phrases like “art deco dark paradise sunday evening” or “angst alternative wednesday morning.” It has also been very interesting to see how my ‘daylist’ compares to my friends and just how much it varies person to person. Spotify has even made the sharing aspect of this new feature fun, when you take a screenshot it opens up a pop up with a selection of three different ways to share; a ready-made screenshot, a sticker perfect for social media that captures the spirit of your ‘daylist’, and a share-card with four different background graphics that changes depending on the time of day you decide to post it.
As an individual who is annoyingly indecisive and who truly listens to all types of music (yes even country), I truly have come to appreciate this new feature as it allows me to listen to a variety of genres and artists in one day without having to lift a finger. In a day and age where society has become obsessed with labels and subcategories for every little thing and frequently coins new phrases like “hot girl walk” or “in my [insert blank] era”, Spotify has taken the opportunity to capitalize off this obsession and further feed into the need to curate hyper-specific identities and I for one am loving it.