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The algorithmic Discovery Station introduced by Apple Music will play songs the user has never heard based on their tastes.
Apple Music is taking its competition with Spotify a notch higher with a new Discovery Station feature that will finally help listeners on the app find new music.
Spotify’s Discover option, which curates a personalised playlist of unheard songs based on your taste in music, is one of the app’s biggest pulls for more than 200m paid subscribers. Now, Apple Music has started offering a similar functionality to draw in more users interested in a personalised experience.
The algorithmic Discovery Station has not been formally announced by Apple yet, but multiple outlets have confirmed the feature is now rolling out on the app as well as the desktop version.
Apple Music’s Discovery Station only includes songs the user has not heard through the app yet, such as the ones on their playlists or library. The service already has a New Music Mix feature that offers a similar functionality, but that playlist is updated weekly and limited to 25 tracks.
According to reports, Apple is also offering a personalised playlist that is named after the name of the user. The station plays a mix of the user’s favourite tracks as well as other similar songs.
Reports of Discovery Station come at the same time as Spotify begins to expand its latest DJ feature globally. Earlier this year, the Stockholm-based app revealed an AI-powered DJ that acts as a personalised guide which “knows you and your music taste so well that it can choose what to play for you”.
“If you’re not feeling the vibe, just tap the DJ button and it will switch it up,” Spotify said at the time. “The more you listen and tell the DJ what you like (and don’t like!), the better its recommendations get. Think of it as the very best of Spotify’s personalisation – but as an AI DJ in your pocket.”
Spotify first launched DJ in the US and Canada in February, before extending the feature to the UK and Ireland three months later. It is now expanding – albeit only in English – to premium subscribers in 50 new markets, including Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
The music and podcast streaming giant announced two weeks ago that it has seen a 27pc surge in monthly active users to more than 550m, an all-time high for the company.
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