Spotify today has up the volume on its free service offering that takes advantage of machine learning to recommend tunes to music fans as they listen. The changes apply mostly to the mobile app.
When customers first sign up for Spotify, they will be asked to name their favorite artists so Spotify’s machine learning algorithms can begin to churn out recommendations.
Spotify’s free listeners will gain access to the songs they want when they want them, so long as the tunes fall into the 15 personalized playlists created by Spotify. Each playlist holds 50 songs, providing free listeners with access to up 750 on-demand tracks that can be listed to over and over.
Previously, Spotify’s free tier didn’t have access to on-demand tracks. Spotify will use what it calls “assisted playlisting” to help, which means as people search for songs Spotify will automatically show them similar songs right away. This takes advantage of user interests as they build playlists for themselves.
Last, Spotify introduced a low-data mode to help conserve mobile data when on the go. Spotify claims low-data mode reduces over-the-network data use by as much as 75% while maintaining quality. Spotify is rolling out the revised mobile app and experience to free users over the next few days. I
n the long run, Spotify hopes the improved free tools will entice more people to subscribe to its $10-per-month premium service.
