But does it really have to talk so much?
I always suspected this was a not-so-subtle anti-piracy measure.
Is DJ chatter worth bringing back, or was it the worst part of music on the radio?
Marc Romanelli / Getty Images
Moby was one of the other DJs.
I rarely spoke at all unless it was a fresh track I was introducing for the first time.
It sounds like a terrible idea, but listen for yourself in this promo clip from Spotify.
Cecille_Arcurs / Getty Images
Its actually kind of neat.
The benefit to Spotify is clear.
One, it’s a neat gimmick that makes it stand out.
And two, it might end up with people listening to more entire songs instead of skipping tracks.
Reducing the number of streamed songs is probably also behind Spotify’spush into podcastsandaudiobooks.
Chatty AI
AI playlists are conceptually the same as regular old algorithmically-generated playlists.
Theyre just software using programmed or self-learned criteria to come up with songs you might like.
Well have to wait and see if AI does a better job than other automatic recommendation engines.
But at least Spotifys DJ has free rein over the choices it makes, unlike most human radio DJs.
Many folks have experienced a great college or local radio DJ who sings the most amazing tunes.
The problem with human DJs is that they have to be paid.
And for a streaming service serving multiple genres, youd probably need a lot of them.
