YouTube Music's AI Playlist Generator

Written by: Sitara Nair

Our world is becoming increasingly automated every minute, with generative AI models like ChatGPT and Claude assisting with daily user requests or helping big businesses manage certain tasks. Businesses have capitalized on AI, using it to enhance the user experience, as YouTube Music has with its playlist generator. Let’s learn a little history about YouTube Music, as well as their new playlist generator.

History Of YouTube Music

YouTube Music was launched in 2015 and revamped in 2018, with the goal of monetizing the massive volume of music content on the platform. Eventually, it was able to replace Google Play Music and was integrated with the YouTube Premium service. The general video-sharing platform itself, YouTube, launched in 2005, and the first video was “Me at the zoo”, uploaded in April 2005. Google later acquired it in 2006 fro $1.65 billion. Before YouTube Music, the first widely accepted major music-sharing service was Napster, which launched in May 1999. Napster launched as a platform for free music sharing, revolutionizing access, but it faced legal challenges over copyright infringement. Back to YouTube Music: in 2015, the service rebranded as YouTube Red and offered ad-free videos and music, which users were excited about. Later, in 2023, the app just got better and better, with the addition of podcasts, a feature that it failed to offer users, although competing platforms like Apple Music and Spotify already had it. For an individual subscription, YouTube Music Premium charges 10.99 per month, which is great in comparison to competing platform Spotify’s rate of 12.99 per month.

YouTube Music’s AI Playlist Generator

The main concept of YouTube Music’s AI is that users can access the Library tab in the YouTube app, tap the new button, select 'AI Playlist,' and then see a prompt where they can enter their request. They can either type a prompt or use text-to-speech to guide the AI, like saying things such as “sad pop” or “hype rock”. YouTube isn’t the first music streaming service to roll out an AI playlist generator; Spotify has its own AI “DJ X” who can create music playlists for users or even introduce new users to music with the click of a button. This AI feature is currently rolling out to Premium users in the U.S. (English language) and includes a feature that lets users generate custom AI-powered artwork for their playlists. An advantage of the AI playlist feature is that it helps users discover new artists. Because the AI pulls from YouTube’s massive music catalog, it can introduce listeners to songs they may have never searched for on their own. This benefits both listeners and smaller artists who may gain exposure through these generated playlists. In a competitive streaming market, discovery is extremely important, and AI tools help keep users engaged by constantly refreshing their listening experience.

However, there are also questions about how much control AI should have over music choices. Some people enjoy manually curating playlists and may feel that automated systems take away the personal touch. Additionally, AI-generated playlists depend heavily on data collection and user behavior, which raises privacy concerns for some listeners. Despite these concerns, the feature represents a larger shift toward AI-driven entertainment. Would you make an AI playlist?