Spotify is introducing a new feature that gives listeners more control over the algorithm that powers its recommendations.
Announced at the SXSW conference by Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström, the feature allows users to review and edit their “Taste Profile” — the internal model the platform uses to understand a listener’s preferences.
This profile plays a central role in Spotify’s personalised recommendations. It influences playlists such as Discover Weekly, the Made For You collection, and even the year-end Spotify Wrapped summary.
With the new tool, users will be able to see their listening data in one place inside the app, including music, podcasts and audiobooks. From there, they can modify their Taste Profile and guide the algorithm toward different kinds of recommendations.
Spotify will initially roll out the feature in beta to Premium users in New Zealand.
To access it, users will tap their profile picture in the app and scroll down to find the Taste Profile section. Changes can be made using natural language prompts, allowing listeners to request more or less of a particular vibe or style.
Once the profile is adjusted, Spotify says the app’s home page and recommendations will update to reflect those changes. In the past, Spotify offered limited tools to influence its recommendation system. Users could exclude certain tracks or playlists from their Taste Profile, but the process was more manual and less comprehensive.
Because the system operated largely behind the scenes, many users complained that Spotify’s recommendations did not accurately reflect their musical preferences.
Shared accounts have also complicated the recommendation system. In many households, multiple people use the same Spotify account through devices such as smart speakers, smart TVs or in-car systems like Apple CarPlay.
Listeners also sometimes play content that doesn’t represent their usual tastes — such as sleep sounds, background music for children or other temporary listening choices. Over time, those tracks can clutter the Taste Profile and influence recommendations in unintended ways.
The new editing feature is designed to give users a more direct way to manage that data and steer Spotify’s algorithm toward content they actually want to hear.
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