Spotify introduces Taste Profile controls to refine music recommendations

Speaking at SXSW on Friday, Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström announced a new feature launching in beta that will, for the first time, allow listeners to review and edit their Taste Profile. This algorithmically generated model reflects their music preferences.

The Taste Profile plays an important role in Spotify’s recommendation system, shaping personalised playlists such as Discover Weekly and Made For You, as well as the year-end listening recap known as Spotify Wrapped. At launch, changes made to the Taste Profile will affect recommendations shown on Spotify’s home page, with the company planning to expand that control to more parts of the app over time.

Spotify said it will initially make the feature available to Premium users in New Zealand. Those users will be able to view all of their listening data in one place inside the app, including music, podcasts, and audiobooks. From there, they will be able to edit the profile and even fine-tune future recommendations by indicating that they want more or less of a particular vibe. Once those changes are made, the app’s home page will begin showing a different set of suggestions.

Today, many people share their Spotify accounts with others, such as family members who use the same smart speaker or a shared smart TV in the living room, or teens who control the music through CarPlay while riding in the car.

In other cases, users may listen to audio that they do not want to define as part of their actual taste, such as sleep sounds, calming tracks played at night, or music used to entertain their children. Users do not always remember which songs or playlists to remove from their listening history, and often do not have the time to go back and clean it up. As a result, the Taste Profile can become crowded with audio that does not really reflect what the user likes.

That issue has also had a major effect on Spotify Wrapped, and for many users it has even spoiled the experience entirely — especially when children have used a parent’s account. Spotify users have been asking the company for a solution to this problem for years.

Spotify said the Taste Profile feature will begin rolling out in New Zealand over the coming weeks before expanding to additional markets.