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Pandora launches automatically generated personalized playlists

Pandora launches automatically generated personalized playlists

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Pandora has announced it is testing personalized playlists with select Pandora Premium users that are automatically generated based on a person’s individual listening habits, as reported by TechCrunch. The playlists will appear over time and auto-populate in up to 60 different categories, like “Your Party Soundtrack” or “Your Chill Soundtrack.”

Pandora is leveraging its Music Genome Project to power these playlists. The Music Genome Project uses over 450 attributes, or “genes” that describe various elements of a song, like the type of background vocals or the gender of the lead vocalist, in order to classify songs. Pandora is then taking this raw data and using it in combination with a series of over 75 machine learning algorithms, collaborative filtering (automatic prediction) methods, and human curation to build the personalized playlists.

As you listen to music, Pandora will take note of your activity and create a playlist based around that. As an example: if you listen to a lot of high-energy music that spans from rock to dance, it might create a playlist called “Your Party Soundtrack.” These playlists will be refreshed with new music on a weekly basis and will include songs you’ve given thumbs-up to, but also new tracks Pandora thinks you’ll like based on your history.

Pandora customized playlists
Image: Pandora

These customized playlists will appear in the “Browse” section under “Featured Playlists” on the mobile app. Pandora says the more you differentiate your listening habits, the more playlists you’ll get, and, if you like what’s been created for you, there’s the option of saving them to your collection.

Spotify has engaged in personal playlists, like Discover Weekly and Daily Mix, along with specially promoted themes. These have included a personalized playlist called “Your Time Capsule” that picked 30 throwback songs based upon a user’s individual tastes, and similarly, “Summer Rewind,” a playlist of a user’s favorite songs from summers of years past.

Last year, Pandora launched 250 “featured playlists” on its premium tier, a move that appeared to echo Spotify’s success in the same arena, though its playlist titles and descriptions were a little ridiculous, comparatively. (An example: “Beast Mode Electronic: Are you all about #gains bro?”) Pandora’s personalized playlists, however, could be a unique differentiator from Spotify, if it can nail dozens of different moods and genres.